Putting out of the synagogue means total excommunication, the loss of all Jewish fellowship. It would be hard on them to have their relationships all severed, but it could serve to their advantage as Joan of Arc said, “It is better to be alone with God.” Barclay notes that “Sometimes loneliness among men is the price of fellowship with God.” Woe, however, to those who unjustly do the excommunicating (Isa 66:5).

Isaiah 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word; “Your brothers who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame.

“offering a service” = the same phrase found in (Heb 8:3; 9:7). The rabbis felt that when they crucified Jesus and when they persecuted the disciples they were doing so righteously as a service to God (Acts 6:13; 7:57). Sadly, it is not persecution by a secular state that Jesus is warning about, but persecution set in motion by religious people who supposedly knew God. Pilcher notes that “A sermon was preached at the burning of Archbishop Cranmer, and the horrors of the Inquisition were carried out with a perfectly good conscience.” Paul was a perfect example of this fanatical zeal (Acts 26:9, Gal 1:13-14). It is the tragedy of the church that love for Christ could be associated with hatred toward men. Sadly enough, the church can sometimes be the truest example of what Jesus calls “the world” and often is the enemy of what He wants to accomplish on earth. Even today, Christians are persecuted by other Christians because they do not agree with their particular doctrines. An example is the enmity between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland. Much of the devil’s work has been done in the name of Christ.

Hebrews 8:3  Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer.

Hebrews 9:7  But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

Acts 6:13  They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.

Acts 7:57  At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him,

Acts 26:9  “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Galatians 1:13-14  For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.  I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.