We intuitively say that the leaders and the mob in Jeruesalem put Jesus to death because they rejected his message. But, human nature being what it is, isn’t it just as likely that they rejected his message because they killed him?

Whether it is in the heat of the moment, anger and fear becauase you feel threatened, or being misled by others, once you have killed someone it takes something miraculous to change course. From then on it become imperative to justify the deed. You must never reconsider, never think that you may have misunderstood or been too hasty. You must recruit all your friends ot the cause. You cannot consider any possibility in which you are not the hero of the story and the Nazarene is the villain. You must seek new converts and find new and more bizarre justifications for what you did.