We all cringe at the thought of being disliked, abused, avoided, discriminated against or possibly hated, yet we are told that these are the very things Jesus Christ experienced as a man on earth and still experiences as the risen Saviour.
We all cringe at the thought of being disliked, abused, avoided, discriminated against or possibly hated, yet we are told that these are the very things Jesus Christ experienced as a man on earth and still experiences as the risen Saviour.
It was Jesus who said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first.” John 15:18 and in verse 25, He said, “They hated me without reason.”
The Scriptures remind us that none could find fault with Him. He was sinless, absolutely righteous, holy and good, sacrificial in the giving of His own life for sinners yet hated by many and he is still hated by many.
Why is this? Jesus gives us the answer in John 7:7. In addressing his brothers who did not believe in Him, He said: “The world cannot hate you but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.”
Christian friends, when you hold to the truths of Scripture and seek to live the truths of Scripture know that many may hate you.
This is not because of any wrong you have done but because the light of the truth reveals the evil in their hearts.
This crime of hatred against Jesus is also directed against the Father and is viewed as a severe crime, as we read in John 15:23.
“He who hates me hates my Father as well.” “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29) May no level of rejection, discrimination, abuse or hatred ever deter us from living the truth of the Word of God. To His Glory, Amen.
Dirk Coetzee,
Grahamstown Baptist Church
