Jesus is widely admired, including by non-Christians such as Mahatma Gandhi, for his ethical teaching. But in his lifetime he was accused by his Jewish critics of being ethically lax. Judaism was known and highly regarded by many in the pagan Roman world as an ethical religion; but Jesus’ notorious liberalism in mixing with sinners and his conspicuous emphasis on God’s generosity towards the immoral led to him being seen by his religious critics as a lawbreaker and as someone who was lowering the Jews’ ethical standards.