sermon break ... an observation

I'm teaching this weekend from Acts 26 about the implications surrounding how we answer the question "What do you I believe about Jesus?" The chapter is essentially Paul retelling the story of his conversion before Festus and King Agrippa. As I was reading through it I was struck by this section:

"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them" (Acts 26:9-11).

What struck me about it is this: the opponents of Jesus often take him more seriously than his followers.