One of the ugliest emotions must surely be hate. Some of the
ugliest words you may ever hear is, “I
hate you”. Some of the ugliest
things that people do to each other is to let their hate turn into an ugly rage.
Hitler and his cronies hated Jews,
gypsies and handicapped people, and anyone that did not conform to the Nazi
vision of a “master race”, was mercilessly exterminated. Jews and Palestinians find no political common ground, and so they
hate and kill each other. The Chinese
government and many governments in
this world hate the Christian church or any faith based movement that does not
conform to their political doctrine. The Islamist Boko Haram in Nigeria hates the Christian church. As we speak, we
see hate and mockery poured out upon Christians who hold to the authority of
Scripture, particularly in matters of creation, gender, marriage etc.
As we make our way to this passage we remember that Jesus was
hated[1]
for the gospel words that He spoke. Plans were constantly made to arrest Him
and to kill Him. In the book of Acts the early Christian church in Jerusalem was
persecuted and dispersed because the Jews hated His followers. And now Jesus reminds
us right here, “If the world hates you,
know that it has hated me before you…” (15:18 cf. 7:7).
Jesus speaks these words against the background of His
earlier words concerning being a fruit-bearing vine (15:1-8). The supreme fruit on our Christian vine are love and
joy (15:9 – 17). The Lord Jesus
says in conclusion of that section, “These things I command you, so that you will love one another” (15:17).
Love is the greatest fruit of the Christian faith. He has made this point before, in John 13: 34, 35: “A new command I give to you, that you love one another: just as
I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus is saying here that the world can only
understand Christianity, and therefore Christ, by the love which Christians
have for one another. What an awesome responsibility. Pray daily that you will
have the desire and ability to love God’s people here at Eastside, for that is
where we must begin. Love these people with a Christ-like love i.e. by the
standard of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. We are not simply
people that go to the same church. We
are called to be a visible, working, loving body of Christ!
Now this important question arises: Why on earth should this
world hate people that are filled with love and joy? The Scriptures we have
read this morning in 15:18 – 16:4
follow as an anti-climax to what has gone before. From love we come to the exact opposite: “hate“ (Greek:miseo). In this 15th chapter Jesus tells us
something about the distinguishing mark
of the church (“love”) and the distinguishing
mark of the world (“hate”). Let’s try
to understand this.
This is not saying that the church always loves, and it is
not saying that the world always hates. Sadly, the visible church has sometimes
failed in imitating the love of Jesus, particularly when she has been too
absorbed by this world. And non-Christians have sometimes shown remarkable
capacity for Christ-like love and compassion. We see that the church is capable
of failing and the world is able to show common grace. What then must we make
of Jesus’ observation here? We have to understand John’s use of the word ‘world’. He describes the world system which is opposed to the gospel system. That world system is
driven by hate, whereas the gospel system (which is not equivalent to the
visible church) is driven by love.
Let us try to understand the nature of the hate of the world.
In which way exactly does this world system hate Jesus and the gospel way? Let’s try to understand the ways in which the
word hate is used in the Bible and
also in everyday speech:
1. When I say, “I hate
spinach or broccoli”, then that use of the word hate has no strong moral
bearings. Jesus uses the word in that sense in Luke
14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate (miseō) his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own
life—he cannot be my disciple. Jesus
does not teach here that you must literally hate your family. What He says is
that your love for Him ought to be stronger than that to your family, otherwise
it becomes idolatry. It’s a relative use (excuse the pun!) of that word. I love my family relatively less than Jesus.
Marcelle and I chose to leave our
families in South Africa 32 years ago because we wanted to love and obey God in
following His call to Namibia and to this church. We love our family, but we
love God more. I cannot even begin to tell you how often our love for you has
been challenged by our desire to be close to our families. Here’s another example: In John 12:25 Jesus says, “The man who loves his life will lose it,
while the man who hates (miseō)
his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life.” Does Jesus teach that
we must literally hate our own lives? No! He is making a relative distinction
between people who love this world, and people who love Him.
2. The second sense in which hate is used in the Bible is in
terms of a right hate for something:
Paul, in Romans 7:15 speaks
about hating the sinful things that he
does. “I do not understand what I
do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate (miseō) I do.” It is morally right to hate wickedness. There
is a right way to hate!
3. The third way in which the word “hate” is used relates to unreasonableness and evil. We find a number of these in John’s gospel (i) John 3:20: For everyone who does wicked things hates (miseō) the light, and does not come to the light lest his works will be exposed. Why should you hate the light which is good? It is evil to love darkness more than light. (ii) John 7:7: “The world cannot hate you[2], but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil”. Why does the world hate Jesus? How can you hate someone who comes to love you and heal you and save you? This is irrational and evil. The irrationality of this evil sense of hate is found in 15:25: “But the word that is written in their Law[3] must be fulfilled: They hated me without cause (reason)”. Jesus here says that their hate is irrational. It does not make sense. Now this is the predominant way in which ‘hate’ is used here in John’s gospel. How do we explain this unreasonable hate? Let’s see Jesus’ response:
1. 15:18 Christians must know that they must expect to be hated as Christ was hated.
2. 15:19a The world has no love for gospel logic. The world loves its own anti gospel logic and it loves those that endorse the same way of thinking.
3. 15:19b Christians, by virtue of having been chosen by Christ do not belong to the world; they belong to Christ. They no longer identify with the world, and therefore they are hated.
4. 15:20 A reference back to 13:16 and a further amplification of 15:18.
5. 15:21- 24.The real reason for the world’s hate given. The world hates Jesus and His followers because it does not know God the Father who sent Jesus (21). In fact, now that Jesus has come and explained the gospel system and gospel logic (which they have rejected) the world has become even more culpable of its sin (22). And in so doing they do not only reject Jesus, but they reject God the Father who sent Jesus.
6. 15:25 Here Jesus exposes the irrationality of hate: It is in fulfilment of the law. He quotes Psalms 35:19 and 69:4.There is no logical reason, except a sinful stubbornness against God. Truly, sin makes the world irrational.
7. 15:26-7 Ultimately, only the Helper (Paraclete) the Holy Spirit can cure the world’s stubborn resistance/ unbelief and irrationality (cf. 14:16,17). He enables the believer to believe and bear witness to the truth as it is in Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can dissolve that natural hate/ unbelief of the human heart- the world system.
Why these are important facts for us to remember? (16:1 – 4)
1. 16:1 Having understood the root of hate in this world, particularly against gospel believers, we will not fall away when persecution comes, but understand whence it comes from.
2. 16:2,3 So that we may know that this hate can take on serious proportions. The world system which hate Christ and gospel churches believes that it offers a service to God. The Pharisees who embodied this system in Jesus’ day thought that they offered a service to God by having Christ killed. We must understand however, that this is no service to God , for they do not truly know the Father or Jesus.
3. 16:4 To be forewarned is to be forearmed
APPLICATION &
CONCLUSION
Just as the experience of the love of God and of joy in becoming a Christian is profound, so also the discovery of the irrationality of the hate of the world can sobering experience. In fact, it is one of the most mystifying and disturbing experiences in becoming a Christian when we experience the hate of the world. Many of us are naïve when it comes to understanding the world’s capacity for irrationality and evil. Jesus teaches us not to be naïve and not to be surprised when these things happen to us. I have seen it and experienced it. You start living the Christian life with joyful optimism. You have every intention to help the lost and the hurting of this world. You want to do them good. You want to share the gospel with your family and friends and strangers. Initially there may be some interest and response, but as the truth and gospel implications settle upon their hearts, and as the light of God’s word begins to expose them, they turn against you with a surprising hate.
As a pastor and preacher I see and experience this all the
time. I have been surprised how in the
act bringing God’s healing Word and His
healing touch to broken people, in love with this world system, suddenly withdraw in an angry manner, when the light of God’s Word demanded change
and repentance. They withdraw when the
Word of God demands of them to extend forgiveness to their enemies. They
withdraw when the Word of God demands that they should lay aside their pride
and be humble and gentle. And all of a sudden their hearts, so invaded by this
world system, explode with hate, and
I can do nothing right after that!
Be aware of this irrational reaction to your loving attempts in being faithful stewards of the
gospel. Understand where this hate comes from, and it will save you from
unnecessary discouragement. I remind you,
that often, like the opponents of Jesus,
that
such people will claim to be church members and religious
people. Keep that in mind, and do not be intimidated. Remember that the true measure of a Christian
is not that they name the Name of God. A true Christian is known by their fruit
(see John 15:1-9). The Pharisees were
religious but they were far from God. Ultimately
they do not know God and
Jesus.
Remember above all things that Jesus has given you His Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (15:26). He alone can convict people of sin and unrighteousness, and so,
while you speak to
the people of this world in love, at the same time you must pray and trust the Holy Spirit for
effecting the change of heart. Take risks to love wayward, stubborn people anyway, because, amongst these many
lost ones, there are Christ’s sheep also
(see John 10: 1 – 21) You have
been given the Great Commission to find
them.
We will have to deal with the irrational hate of this
world by understanding where it comes
from. It may be a very painful experience, but we gladly bear it, for in so doing we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. Thank God for His
word.
No comments:
Post a Comment