Goodness, could we talk a lot about all
the various so-called reasons for sectarian prejudice and violence. I do not
see Christianity as sectarian, but as soon as I quote a verse like Jn 14:6,
well, I am labeled a bigot and intolerant of other views though I am quoting
straight from the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and practice, the Book
of books, and not even offering an interpretation on what Jesus said!
Let’s at least try to take the “wondering”
out of why Christians are hated (I borrowed it from Jesus); then I will give my
opinion on what I believe to be the main theological explanation that fuels the
hatred of Christians which I guarantee to be as clear as mud because it will
sound more like a reason, particularly to the opposition, maybe to you, too!
Perhaps it should be thought of as more of a paradox than a contradiction. I
will make my proposal; you do with it as you will.
God considers all opposition to Him as
unjustified because it suggests that the reason He is being opposed is that He
may not be as lily white as He claimed to be, done something wrong, inconsistent,
slipped up, or contradicted His own position by allowing, for instance, wars or
untold suffering in the world while He has asserted to be a God of love. We
must never forget that accusations of wrongdoing on God’s part run contrary to
His eternal, infinite, and unchanging goodness and holiness.
There is a reckless tendency to charge
God foolishly over this or that situation because we spend more time
interacting with the things of earth, glorying in wisdom (education), might (power),
or riches (things) rather than glorying in the things of God (Col 3:1-2) like
understanding and knowing Yahweh who exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth. Significance is found only in Him. These are the
things He delights in (Jer 9:23-24).
Because we think God is failing to deliver on
love by all the bad in the world we unwisely question His goodness which breeds
mistrust in Him. It is easy to criticize someone you don’t know much about. Where
do you think that seed of mistrust is coming from? It is coming straight out of the darkness that feeds off of ignorance. Let me take us back to the cross to
remind us that spiritual warfare is a reality and so is the love of God toward
us (Rom 5:8).
Satan is really saying, “Trust me for I am bent on destroying you (Remember Eve?),
and don’t trust God who is trying to save you!” Of course, he is not going to
say that, but that is precisely what is happening. It is vital we seek to
understand and know the God who sent His only Son to the cross in our behalf. We
need to quit listening to any given situation and be all ears to the teaching
of Scripture to interpret that situation from a biblical point of view.
I realize my explanation will be
debatable. The reality behind the hatred is there is no cause for the hatred even
though the hatred is real, senseless, and irrational. If there is no cause, how
can there be an effect, like hatred directed our way in the Way, right? Now,
that’s the 64-million-dollar question! Well, there is this principle that goes
something like this, “As goes the Master so goes the servant.” Read Jesus’
words to His disciples,
“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A
servant is not greater than his master?’ If they persecuted Me, they will also
persecute you.” (Jn 15:20a; cf. 15:21).
If it’s any consolation, the world hates
God the Father, too (Jn 15:23)! If Christ is in you, the world hates God the
Son and God the Father when the world hates you. You might be thinking that the
reason they hate Christ is that He revealed their sin (Jn 15:22)? Nope, exposing
their sin is not a cause according to Jesus; He quoted from Psalm 69:4 to His
disciples, “They hated Me without a
cause” (Jn 15:25, emphasis mine). This hatred is a choice; this is the enigma of sin.
I would quit wondering and worrying
about why you are hated for your belief; the hatred is simply baseless,
unfounded but still heading our way. I take that on good authority. This is why
people going the extra mile not to be offensive is a fruitless endeavor. As
soon as you tell others you believe in John 14:6, you are branded. Do you truly
believe in John 14:6 and walk according to that truth, or do you try to
justify being an “underground” Christian in order not to offend others (cf. Lk
7:23)? Many people, not all, are going to be offended by Jesus in us without a
cause anyway. Now, enough about us.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was so
hated (Jn 1:11; 3:32; 15:18 Isa 53:3; Lk 19:14)? Jesus was crucified like some
common criminal. I don’t ever recall Jesus ever intimidating or beating anyone
up. He and His followers didn’t go around terrorizing the communities. To the
contrary, read what Jesus told some disciples of John the Baptist to tell him in prison, who had
been incarcerated
by Herod Antipas, the Tetrarch over Galilee and Perea, for John’s public rebuke
of Herod taking his brother’s wife [Lk 3:19-20],
“Go and tell
John the things you have seen and heard [Lk 7:21]: that the blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed
is he who is not offended because of Me” (Lk 7:22-23; cf. Mk 6:27-28).
Did this
warrant crucifixion, healing others!? Jesus primarily performed miracles to
validate that He was the true Messiah, “the Coming One” (Lk 7:20) and secondarily to relieve
suffering. Let’s hear from the Apostle John,
“And there
are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that
would be written” (Jn 21:25).
The Jewish ruling political and
spiritual authority, the Sanhedrin, didn’t really care for Jesus’ brand of
righteousness nor His messaging. They saw Jesus as upsetting their apple cart.
They were looking for a political Messiah to overthrow the Roman yoke, not a
spiritual Savior; the spiritual ruling class saw sin in others (cf. Jn 9:24),
but they could never see themselves as sinful (Jn 9:41); they were the archetype
of self-righteousness. Though they made claim to be of Abraham, Jesus saw it somewhat
differently (Jn 8:39)!
Jesus made authoritative statements like
this that the spiritual leadership was uncomfortable and appalled with, “The Sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27). Jesus was clearly making the case that the
spiritual leaders deliberately drifted away from God’s original intention for
the Sabbath, a day of rest and blessing, by burdening the people with a host of
manmade rules and regulations. Some were pretty ridiculous, like the
prohibition of “carrying” anything on the Sabbath. Facetiously speaking, if a
person said of the wife of a Pharisee on the Sabbath day, “She carries her
weight well,” would they have to stone her to death? Okay, bad joke.
After
healing a man on the Sabbath, Jesus commanded the man to take up his bed and
walk (cf. Jn 5:8-9), but the Jews didn’t like that (Jn 5:10-11). After the Jews
found out it was Jesus who healed him on the Sabbath and encouraged others, God
forbid, to subvert keeping the Sabbath holy (Jn 5:15), they sought to
kill Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and subversion (Jn 5:16). Even the ruling
authority interpreted healing as work; it had to be a new ruling because prior
to Jesus nobody was going around healing people.
Their hatred
hit a higher gear when Jesus answered His accusers for healing on the Sabbath
by saying My Father is continuously working, and I am continuously working (Jn
5:17). They rightly interpreted that Jesus was claiming that God was His
Father, making Jesus equal with God (Jn 5:18). It’s too bad the JW’s can figure
that out. The Jews “sought all the more to kill Him.”
Jesus was in
fact stating He had sovereign authority over the Sabbath (Mk 2:28). He
illustrated that authority in the very next chapter in Mark by healing a man’s
withered hand on the Sabbath (Mk 3:1-5). The opponents of Jesus reacted just
like the opposing political party of “anything related to Trump” in our country
today (Mk 3:6). To the spiritual leadership in Jesus’ day, “Anything Jesus was
taboo.” The difference in this simple analogy is that Jesus was perfect; our
president is not.
The
similarity between the Pharisees and the opposing party of our day is the
condition of the heart, “hardness” (insensitive like a callous buildup, Mk
3:5). Jesus will drain “the swamp” during the millennial reign from Jerusalem.
Our president (cf. Dan 2:21) will have some formidable challenges ahead with
the Divisivecrats (the neo-Democratic party), elected officials, that subscribe
to resisting rather than unifying for the good of the nation and the organized
far-left subversives that characterize, once and for all, the divisive nature
of the former administration. What is concerning is a house divided will fall. Blessed is the nation whose
God is the LORD.
Rabbinical interpretations of the Law over
the centuries became established and entrenched traditions that somewhere along
the line transcended the very law of Moses. Israel was steeped in Jewish
traditions, shackled by their sins, blinded by unbelief, unable to recognize the
very embodiment of the spirit of the law was in Jesus, and they rejected His proofs that He was
the Messiah. He was holy; they were hypocrites who had nullified the commandments
of God they claimed to uphold by their politicizing and polarizing traditions in Jesus’ day (Mt
15:3; Mk 7:5-13). <><
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| To Part 2 |
