Ruminating in the Word of God: Hating Jesus and hating his followers.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 21:17,

"Everyone will hate you because of me."

As Jesus answered his disciple's questions of what lay ahead, he
pointed out that his followers will be hated because of him. Now here
is something truly remarkable! God's Son comes to planet earth to die
a miserable death to pay for all mankind's sins. He makes a way for
everyone to enter into God's family and enjoy eternal life in the
happiness and fulfillment of all God originally designed and intended
for us. He has done all the "heavy lifting" and all we need to do is
embrace him in faith. And... mankind hates him?! As astonishing as it
is, we know through the history of the church, this is the very way
things are.

Jesus pointed out to Nicodemus that many would refuse to come to him
because they want to cling to their sin. He said, "Whoever believes in
him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and
only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but
people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the
light for fear that their deeds will be exposed." John 3:18-20.

Jesus becomes a reminder that we are all accountable to God and any
mention of him to those who reject him becomes cause for that nagging
feeling that poor choices have been made and only gloom and despair
linger on the horizon... judgment day is coming.

People relish the free will they possess and rather than use it to
serve their Creator, no matter how much he loves them, many demand to
do things their own way. Cain was the prototype of this."The Lord
looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his
offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his
face was downcast." Genesis 4:4-5. The story goes on to say that Cain
murdered his brother in his anger over it. Cain wanted it his way and
because his innocent brother did it God's way, Cain hated him for it.
In observing this account John tells us, "Do not be like Cain, who
belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he
murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were
righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world
hates you." 1 John 3:12-13.

Jesus told us ahead of time. The world rejected him and the world will
reject us. The world hates Jesus Christ and the world hates us. The
world lives in a collective sinful nature that lives in hostility
toward it's Creator. Estranged and lost in deceitful hearts that are
incapable of seeing things as they really are, the people of the world
live in hostility of God's Son, his love and his offer of forgiveness.
The whole world can be pictured in God's posture toward Israel and her
hostility, "All day long I [the Lord] have held out my hands to a
disobedient and obstinate people." Romans 10:21 where Paul quotes
Isaiah 65:2.

How astonishing then to read of God's great love and patience toward
such people, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9. In
spite of the world's hatefulness and rejection, God nevertheless
continues to hold out his hands, wanting all to come to him... for
now...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com