John's Comments on Jesus's Rejection

John seems to break into the historic details and reflect on how his people have responded to Jesus. His comment that many were secret followers seems to refer to later events, perhaps even in the time he was writing this.

During the time covered in Acts and the writings of Paul, John was still alive and active. During that time, both the acceptance and rejection of Jesus as the Messiah grew among the Jewish people. Rabbinic Judaism would have come into being and replaced Sacrificial Judaism upon the destruction of the temple. In that time of great national stress, loyalty to the synagogue would have been demanded. It would grow to the point of adding a thirteenth blessing in the worship service that was a curse on the followers of the Nazarene. It still exists today, but has been softened to not refer specifically to Jewish Christians.

John then adds a teaching of Jesus, but doesn’t link it to any specific time.