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.