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They hated me without a
cause Psalm 69:4; John 15:25
They hated me.
It is surprising that men should hate the Lord Jesus, the One who is described
as altogether lovely (Song
5:16), and that hatred was for no reason. There was no sense in it. Jesus had broken no
law, He had done no damage to the Israeli nation or to any individual. He had
gone about continually doing good, both to their souls and bodies, so that by
His works He
merited their highest esteem and love, and not their hatred. And yet they were
His enemies. He had not only done no evil, but He had bestowed countless and
priceless benefits, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the
dead, etc. Well might He demand, For
which of these works do ye stone me?
(John 10:32). Yet from His cradle to His cross, beginning with Herod and not
ending with Judas, He had foes without number, and He rightly said, they are
more than the hairs of mine head (Psalm 69:4). It was bad that
His enemies were
many, but even worse that they were also mighty. The might of the Sanhedrim, Herod,
Pontius Pilate, the Roman legions, and the mob were combined together for His
utter destruction. Away with him...crucify him...we
have no king but Caesar (John 19:15) was the universal shout. Though innocent, He
was treated as guilty. Usually, when the ruler sins the people suffer, but here
the proverb is reversed - the sheep go astray, and the Shepherd suffers.
He had moved amongst them preaching, teaching, and
healing, yet they hated Him. They rejected Him. The Lord
warned in John 15: 18-23 that because
He was hated without a cause, those that follow
Him must expect the same treatment. He gives three reasons why His followers
would be hated:
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The world hates Christians because they are not of the
world: they are new creatures. They are called out from the world.
They are in the world, but they are not of the world. They
are different. They should be separate from its thinking, its religion,
its
philosophies, its prejudices, passions, and covetousness, and because of this difference, the world rejects and
hates them.
-
The world hates Christians because they are identified
with Christ. The Lord suffered persecution; therefore, the believer will suffer
persecution. It is to be expected.
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The world hates Christians because it does not really
know God. The world thinks of God as the One who satisfies their earthly needs (John 6:2, 26). Man
has the idea of God
as a Supreme Grandfather, who protects and provides
whatever people need or want, however they behave, just as long as it is not too far out. The
world believes that God (the Supreme Grandfather) will accept and work all
things out in the final analysis. However, the Bible teaches different to
this, proclaiming amongst other things, that God is both loving and just. Loving
that He sent His Son to die on a cross that our sins might be
forgiven through faith in Him. "Just" that He
demands righteousness of us. There is no value in offering our own
righteousness, because it falls short of the standard God
requires, but through faith in Christ, His righteousness is
imputed to us. The world, of course, rebels against this concept
of God, and hence it hates Christians.
Does the world hate us? If not, why not? Has the world
become more Christian, or Christians more worldly?
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