Manifested love Pt 23: You’ll be hated
John 15:21-25 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them; they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
Acts 4:13-20 13When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
We have seen that the world system hated Jesus and hated the disciples, but one might wonder why that should be. The simple answer is the religious leadership of Jesus’ day was threatened by him because he represented a disruption of what they considered to be the natural order of things. But that simple answer does not go far enough; there is much more involved in both the 1st and 21st Centuries.
Because of my name
There is an old cliché which says, “The pen is more powerful than the sword.” This is true because ‘pen’ represents words which represent ideas, and ideas that catch the imagination of humans cannot be stopped. The death of an individual by the sword doesn’t kill the idea whose spread he started. It is similar with the word ‘name’. In a group of people if the name Joe Biden or Donald Trump is mentioned a galaxy of thoughts and opinions enters the mind of the listener even though those two individuals are not actually present. Although alive, Jesus has departed the earth, but even so his name remains. The entire world knows it to some degree, and that name brings to mind the gospel, holiness, righteousness, and the revelation of God.
Today’s world system hates that name for those same reasons. The world stands for relativistic morality, lack of accountability, and deflected responsibility. Jesus stands for high moral accountability, universal standards, and responsibility cleansed by forgiveness. So of course Jesus’ views threaten the world system because they are in direct opposition to the world’s views. We believers live in a very ungodly world so it should come as no surprise that the world will hate us because of Jesus’ name.
No excuse
I’ve heard it said that human beings are suckers for fool’s gold, by which is meant that we are attracted to anything that glitters no matter its intrinsic worth. One of Satan’s most successful lies is that while Jesus was once alive, he’s dead now and no longer relevant to the modern world. Over the centuries he has successively attempted to chop down pillars of faith like Jesus and the Father are one, or while hating our sin Jesus loves us no matter what, or that submitting our life to Jesus cleanses our soul. But one thing is sure, people know good from evil. The lie is that their particular brand of evil can’t be forgiven. The current ‘glitter’ is the idea that morality, or sin, or value are all relative to an individual’s point of view.
These same people know the name of Jesus; it is ubiquitous. That name has survived for over two thousand years. It’s message is everywhere; in churches of course, but also in radio, movie theaters, and on billboards. Particularly in America one cannot travel, even in the more secular parts of the country, without being reminded of the name. So at some level, those suckers for fool’s gold do know there is a better way. They just ignore the name and stick to their own deceived view of the world. And yes indeed, they are without excuse.
They have seen
You might think I’m being overly harsh, but the need for people to be healed of their deception, injuries, and illnesses is so important that a strong effort has to be made. And yes, often unbelieving people are deceived. Almost every unbeliever I’ve ever known has said some version to me of, “I’m not good enough to go to church.” This is a lie which is easy to believe because each of us recognizes how frail and sinful we are inside.
But every one of us has friends or acquaintances who have been healed of some disease, but we put it down to medical science. Or we know of a person who’s life has changed when they were saved. We put that down to foolishness. Or the person who turn from crime to God. We call that hypocrisy. My friend, miracles are not relegated to the 1st Century. They happen today too.
What about me?
So will you let the world system tell you what is true, what is correct? Will you believe the lies Satan plant in your heart? Will you continue to go to bars on Friday nights to drown your sorrows in alcohol in a vain attempt to heal your soul? And will you continue to bend your head over the porcelain throne the rest of the weekend?
Or will you believe the evidence of your eyes. Will you realize alcohol, drugs, and pornography are vacuous means of self-medication. Will you recognize that one person of your group who no longer seems to be around because he recently began going to church? What about that friend who has been healed of leukemia—twice? I recognize it is hard to believe in something you can’t see—God is God after all. But there has to be a better way, doesn’t there?