Jewish persecution

What motivated the Jewish persecution of Christians? Paul Fredriksen ( From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Christ ) suggests this plausible explanation: “News of an impending Messsianic kingdom, originating from Palestine, might trickle out via the ekklesia’s Gentiles to the larger urban population. It was this (by far) larger, unaffiliated group that posed a real and serious threat. Armed with such a report, they might readily seek to alienate the local Roman colonial government, upon which Jewish urban populations often depended for support and protection against hostile Gentile neighbors. The open dissemination of a Messianic message, in other words, put the entire Jewish community at risk.”

Jews try to stamp out Christians as an act of communal self-protection, and this dynamic also explains the efforts to enlist Roman authorities to support them in this program.