Jesus said they hated me without a cause in John 15:25. There are many things that cause people to
hate but one of the number one things that cause people to hate is the name of Jesus.
It has been that way since Jesus walked
the earth and it seems to get worse every day.
What did Jesus do to cause people to hate Him so much? Jesus lived life the way it should be lived
and He was hated for it by many, but there have been many that loved Him also. Jesus also said in verse 23, “He that hateth
me, hateth my Father also.” One of the
reasons the world, or the non-believers, hate Jesus is because of His
teachings. Their flesh recoils when they
are confronted with sin or the truth.
Think about liberals and conservatives, how do they react to
one another and why? It is because they normally do not think alike which will
cause divisions, separations, fights and arguments. Just take those in our government; the democrats
and republicans, normally they are at odds with one another and it is very hard
to come to a bipartisan agreement amongst them.
Now think of what Jesus taught and the way the world thinks.
Jesus came to save the lost and it cost
Him severe pain and suffering and His very life to be our redeemer, but He willingly
paid the price. But it took more than
suffering and dying and being raised back to life to save souls from their life
of sin, it took confrontation, confronting people with their sin. If Jesus suffered, died, was buried and rose
again, which He did, and that was the end of the story no one would have hated
Jesus because no one other than His disciples would have known that it happened.
Don’t forget there were hundreds of
people that were crucified at that time and it wasn’t a shock to them, they were
used to it, but I don’t think any of them suffered as much as Jesus and none of
them were perfect and sinless like Jesus was.
The reason why Jesus is hated by the world (non-believers)
is because of Him they are now confronted with their sin. Like I said the flesh recoils when it hears
the word sin. When Jesus confronted
people with their sin there was usually one of two responses, repentance or
rejection, which would result in love or hate. But the hate doesn’t stop there, Jesus also said
in John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before
it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Now we realize that hate falls on the believer
also, from the world or non-believer, because we associate ourselves with
Jesus.
Like Jesus and the disciples confronted people with their
sins, we as Jesus’ followers will have to confront people with their sins. I know that we are taught not to offend people,
but it is inevitable if we are true to the Word of God we will have to confront
people with their sin which will cause some people to be offended whether we
try to or not. If you speak the truth
you will no doubt offend someone. Did
you ever hear this, ‘The truth hurts?’ Think about it and don’t be shocked if
someone gets offended and angry with you when you witness by sharing the truth,
it is part of living a godly life. Paul
said if you live a godly life you will be persecuted, so don’t be overwhelmed when
people act like they hate you because you are a believer, it is part of taking
up your cross and following Jesus. Rejoice
if you are counted worthy to suffer for Christ and take heart and don’t forget
to love those that persecute you and pray for them.
God bless you and yours and have a great day. And don’t forget to thank and praise the
Lord!!
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