The World Hates Jesus - Part 3

Part 3 - This is the third part of a three part blog post. Please read Part 1 and Part 2 to get proper context before continuing.

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." - Jesus, John 15:18

As I mentioned in Part 2, my purpose in highlighting these passages is not to turn people away from Jesus! Rather, my intent is to show some characteristics of Jesus that are largely ignored. When we understand the truth of what the Bible says about Jesus, it forces us to decide whether we will we still worship him. Will we worship Jesus even as he executes his righteous judgments against the earth? Is Jesus our King and our Judge, or is he only our friend? The reason the world hates Jesus is because he said these things and meant these things.

The Gospel of Matthew

- Jesus said that many are those who go through the wide gate along the easy way to destruction and that few are those who go through the narrow gate along the difficult way to life (Matthew 7:13-14). 

- Jesus taught that he would personally reject many people who call him 'Lord' who actually thought they loved him and did his works. Jesus will tell them that they were wrong (Matthew 7:21-23).

- Jesus taught that he would cause division amongst families because some people would love him and some would not and that anybody who chose to love their own family members more than Jesus was unworthy of Jesus. He then added, "And whoever does not take his cross and follow me (ie. die with Jesus on the cross) is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:34-38).

- Speaking of the end of the world Jesus shared a story about weeds in a field and then summarized it saying, "The Son of Man [Jesus] will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41-42). In case that wasn't clear enough, Jesus told another story about fishermen choosing which fish to keep and which to throw out and then gave the very same summary of his story, "So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:49-50).

- Speaking of his second coming, Jesus told a story of a master who went on a journey and upon returning rewarded his faithful servants and punished his wicked servants, "The master of that [wicked] servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that day there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 24:50-51)

- Matthew 25. Jesus followed up the story about a Master returning from a journey with three more stories about himself returning at the end of the age after being gone for a long time. In each story Jesus tells how he will deal with two broad groups of people upon his return, the righteous and the wicked. In these stories the wicked people did not know they were wicked until Jesus told them so and they were in shock at the news and in utter anguish over the consequences. We would do well to heed this warning! Jesus was not just telling pretty stories. He was warning his disciples what it would be like when he returns. 

Many people are going to be devastated when they meet Jesus because they love the idea of Jesus as far as they understand him, but they did not take his message seriously. There is this idea in our society that tolerance and acceptance are the highest good and that if Jesus is good he must pardon and accept everyone. Once people realize that Jesus will freely pardon only those who repent they will hate him for it. At the end of this age there will be a great wedding celebration where Jesus will marry his bride, the saints. The ones who are gathered at that wedding celebration are those who have washed away their sins in his blood. They will celebrate the righteous judgements of God, declaring, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgements are true and just" (Revelation 19:1b-2a). The world hates this Jesus. But what about you, will you worship this Jesus?

The World Hates Jesus - Part 2

Part 2 - This is the second part of a three part blog post. Please read Part 1 to get proper context before continuing.

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." - Jesus, John 15:18

I should give a word of caution. Following are listed passages from scripture that display Jesus as graphically violent. My purpose in highlighting these passages is not to turn people away from Jesus! Rather, my intent is to show some characteristics of Jesus that are largely ignored. When we understand the truth of what the Bible says about Jesus, it forces us to decide whether we will we still worship him. Will we worship Jesus even as he executes his righteous judgments against the earth? Is Jesus our King and our Judge, or is he only our friend?

Jesus in the Old Testament

- In Joshua 5, beginning in verse 13, Joshua meets an individual whom I believe is Jesus. This individual introduces himself as the commander of the army of the LORD. He then commissions Joshua to annihilate Jericho (literally), and all of the land of Canaan after it.

- Addressing the rulers of the earth, Psalm 2:12 says, "Kiss the Son [Jesus] lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."

- Psalm 110, one of the most quoted chapters by New Testament authors, who all ascribe it to Jesus, speaks of Jesus, saying, "The Lord [Jesus] is at your [God's] right hand; [Jesus] will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth" (Psalm 110:5-6).

- Isaiah has many wonderful depictions of Jesus as a humble servant who suffers for his people but it also has a gory depiction of Jesus at his second coming. In Isaiah 63:3b-4a, Jesus himself is saying, "I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart."

- Zechariah 14 is a shocking chapter, also with descriptions of Jesus' still future second coming. In Zechariah 14:2-3 God declares that he will gather all the nations against Jerusalem and personally, bodily (ie. Jesus) fight against them, himself, in military fashion.

- Malachi 4:3, I believe this passage is also speaking primarily of Jesus' second coming. It is not easy for me but I must submit to God's word. This verse is not speaking of Jesus but of those who fear God's name who are with Jesus when he returns, "And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts."

These passages are difficult. We must wrestle with them. We must not ignore them. We must go to God and allow Him to soften our hearts to His will. Will we trust that God is good, all the time? Or will we call God evil when we realize that He takes our sin far more seriously than we do? The world will be shocked to learn that God is not like them at all when Jesus comes back in the splendour of his majesty.

If you find yourself reading this and asking, "what is the point? Why does it matter if the world hates Jesus?" That is an excellent question. The reason it matters is because if we are able to realize that we actually hate the real Jesus, it gives us opportunity to repent and be saved! But if we think we actually love him, when we don't, we are deceived and rather than celebrating the return of Jesus we will be shocked and offended when we see him as he truly is. Further, for those who do love Jesus, it is a comfort to know that the reason the world hates us is because the world hated Jesus first (John 15:18).

In Part 3 I will conclude with some more passages from the book of Matthew.

The World Hates Jesus - Part 1

Part 1

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." - Jesus, John 15:18

As I ponder this verse I find myself thinking, 'who really hates Jesus?' Do people of different religions hate Jesus? Or communists? Or what about secular humanists? The thing is I can think of people I know personally from all kinds of different world-views who may adamantly refute Christianity but would never admit to hating Jesus. I know that the first century Jews and Romans killed Jesus, but did they really hate him? Sure their motivations in doing so were wrong, and terrible but was it really hatred?

Lets take muslims for example. Jesus is actually a significant prophet within Islam. They even believe he is going to come back at the end of the world to prepare the world before the coming muslim messiah. So for muslims to hate Jesus doesn't make any sense! Except for one fact. Christians around the world die daily at the hands of muslims. Those who are most like Jesus, are killed for loving Jesus by people who would say they also love Jesus. How can this be?

Or what about communists? They don't hate Jesus, per se, they just hate insurrectionists. Since Christians refuse to 'step in line' with political dogma they are a threat to order and stability. But Jesus? What reason do they have to hate him?

Even secular humanists don't necessarily hate Jesus. Quite reasonably they feel the need to stand against any individual, group or idea that threatens them. Since Christians are often outspoken against homosexuality, abortion, evolution etc. which confronts the core of what secular humanism stands for, then of course those who espouse secular humanism would oppose, and sometimes even hate Christians. However, Jesus stood for the downcast and those on the outside of society. Jesus stood for justice against the powerful and the oppressors. Secular humanists who recognize this actually find inspiration in Jesus. Why then would secular humanists ever hate Jesus?

It is actually quite simple. It is because the real Jesus is not the same Jesus as people suppose. The idea of Jesus that most people have includes that Jesus is loving, kind, gracious, patient, gentle, and humble. Jesus stood up to those in authority who abused their power and he protected vulnerable people. He praised people nobody else recognized. He healed the sick, raised the dead and delivered people from demonic torment. Who would not love Jesus?

Even though the characteristics of Jesus just mentioned are completely true and more true of Jesus than of anyone else in history, the world hated him. Jesus said so. How is it that the world can believe they like Jesus when in fact they don't? Well, a brief survey of a small sampling of some of the things that Jesus has said (or were said of him) should help us understand why most people, if they knew more, would really hate Jesus.

In Part 2 and Part 3 I highlight some scriptures about Jesus that show how many people, if they really knew Jesus, would hate him.

Spirit of Religion

"Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in  him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." - Romans 4:4-5

"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." - Galatians 2:21

For a long time I have struggled with trying to earn God's pleasure. In fact, there is still a tension in my thinking that causes me to wrestle with the fact that from Isaiah 64:6 I learn that all my own righteous deeds are as filthy rags and yet God is my father and I want him to be proud of me. I want to hear Jesus say, 'well done good and faithful servant.' Is not the faithful servant in Matthew 25 the one who gets a good return for his labours? The one who works harder than his fellow servants?

I believe that many times when I have thought that my motivation was to please God there was actually something much more sinister at work in my heart. And I believe that many times in Christian ministry when saints are pouring themselves out with blood, sweat and tears, there is a veiled darkness hard at work. I am speaking about the spirit of religion. Just to be clear I am not meaning the religion of Christianity as opposed to the religion of Islam or Hinduism etc. What I mean by religion is the attitude or belief that we are good because of what we do. In this sense, religion is a terrible plague that was one of the innumerable things nailed on the cross when Jesus died. Religion even exalts itself against the work of Jesus on the cross and scoffs at the righteousness which he purchased for us by his own blood. Religion says to God, "you owe me, look at me and all my effort."

However, the Bible is abundantly clear. Salvation is a gift. Our righteousness is actually Jesus' righteousness placed upon us. There is nothing we can do to earn God's forgiveness.

If while serving in the Kingdom of God we think that we are better than our fellow servants because of what we do we have got it wrong. If we find ourselves comparing our service with others or if we find ourselves complaining about other ministries or other churches, beware! A spirit of religion may be creeping in the dark. Was the 'good and faithful servant' commended for his hard work? No, he was commended for his faithfulness! "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:21).

What are we to do if we recognize in ourselves a dangerous religious attitude? I think we should repent of having a religious attitude and rejoice in the mercy of God for highlighting our sin so that we can repent!