Up to this point in time God was the only one who controlled life and death.

 Jesus had said He was the one foretold in the scriptures and He would arise from the dead.

With the news that of the resurrection of Jesus, the elders did not want their errors of faith and action to be known.

The pharisees had convinced themselves that Jesus was not the Christ.

Jesus was not the leader, to lead the Jews to war with the Romans. He spoke of love of one's neighbour where as the common Jewish approach was "an eye for an eye".

This rejection by the Jews was the reason the "good news" was passed to the gentiles. Thank God