Blind Hate

Psalm 69:1-15                       Romans 1:18-25                      John 15:18-16:4

Blind Hate

In his bestselling book, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind, Tom Holland  explores the profound impact of Christianity on Western civilization and the modern world. Holland argues that many values and beliefs considered secular and universal today are deeply rooted in Christian theology and history. The book traces the influence of Christianity from antiquity through the medieval period to the modern era, emphasizing its enduring legacy, suggesting that even those who consider themselves secular have been and still are influenced by the moral and ethical foundations laid by the Christian tradition. 

But I would think it safe to say that Christianity has not only had a profoundly positive impact on the Western World…it has also influenced countless cultures in Africa, the Near East, the Far East, the Middle East, as well as central Asia in that scientific research, hospitals, universities, orphanages, hospice care, and many mercy ministries were all initially Christian applications of biblical teaching.

And yet, Christianity is possibly the most despised and hated religion in the world. According to Gordon-Conwell Resources and the World Christian Database, more than 70 million Christians have been martyred in the course of history, more than half having been killed in the 20th Century alone. In the 21st Century approximately 100,000 to 160,000 believers were killed each year. Roughly 1,093,000 Christians were killed worldwide between 2000 and 2010 alone. Open Doors reports that about 300 Christians are killed for their faith every month. An average of 214 church buildings and properties are destroyed every month. Over 700 cases of violence (beatings, kidnapping, rape, unwarranted arrests and imprisonments, forced conversion, etc) against believers are reported every month.  I could go on, but I think you get the point. True, there are other faiths that suffer persecution from time to time, but studies have shown that when  compared with other belief systems, Christianity is by far the most hated religion in the world.

However, it is interesting to note that at the time when John was writing his Gospel, the Roman Empire was largely religiously tolerant. For the most part, multiple faiths were not suppressed. People were fairly free to worship as they pleased as long as they did not display any form of rebellion or disloyalty. Jews especially were granted special dispensation, and, at first, Christians were considered a sect of Judaism. In other words, the persecution of the Early Church as recorded in Acts and some of the Epistles, prior to Nero’s decision to blame them for the disastrous fires in Rome in AD 64, was predominantly caused by zealous religious Jews. Non-Jewish persecution came much later than when this was originally recorded.

Jesus’ language in our Gospel passage is quite specific. The “world” here is defined as those who persecuted Jesus before persecuting his followers, those to whom he came and spoke to, those among whom he did miracles, those who had the Law, those who would cast believers out of their synagogues, and so on. Luke, Paul, and others wrote mostly about persecutions of Jewish origin. So, these persecutors were the disciples' fellow countrymen - their colleagues - their family members - their friends...

The fervour and forcefulness of this initial persecution is legendary. In a fierceness that makes your head spin, the opponents of Jesus and his early followers would stop at nothing to stamp out a faith that preached good news of freedom from sin and peace with God…a faith that manifested itself in caring, healing, helping, and liberating. They would often align themselves with unlikely allies, lie and coerce thugs to offer false evidence…they would violate their own law even while claiming to uphold it. Their hatred was a blind hate in that there was no reason or logic to it. 

Then again, other than a hatred of all that is wrong and destructive, hate usually is blind. 

Now, I am sure you all have noticed the abrupt switch from love to hate in this passage. In verse 17 Jesus gave them a command to love one another but then in the very next verse he warned them that those who loved him and each other would be recipients of an inevitable and unavoidable hatred. Perhaps the abrupt change indicates that hate, like love, is never more intense than when it is focused on a specific person or a specific people. 

Now, I just said that the hatred described here is inevitable and unavoidable. Indeed, that is the first thing Jesus said. This is because opponents of the Church will hate us because they first hated him. In this sense, hatred is inescapable. If we truly follow Jesus, we will provoke hatred from those who do not follow him. For this reason, rather than promise us a care-free life on this planet, Jesus gives us tools to help us maintain our equilibrium even amidst rejection and malice and violence. According to him, it is all a matter of focus and perspective. 

The first thing to note is that it is in the nature of our opponents to hate because they follow one whose entire mission has always been to overthrow the kingdom of the one who describes himself as love. If the one true God is love, as we believe, then it follows that those who are devoid of any knowledge of him will live in hatred. Consequently, we who follow this God of love will quite naturally attract malevolence because our mere existence exposes their vitriolic nature. 

True, I do believe that many times the Church has said and done things that deserve censure…indeed, the modern Church often seems to delight in doing things that range from mildly embarrassing to downright dumb, stupid, and offensive…but for the most part, as Tom Holland discovered, the Church has been and still is a force for good. Besides, our Lord himself…faultless, holy, good, righteous, compassionate, generous, and kind…one who taught that we ought not to hate our enemies, but rather to love them…even he was not exempt from their animosity. And so if we follow him we ought not to presume to have it any other way.

However, there is great consolation in this negative reaction of the world…their unfounded and illogical hatred shows our true association with the one they hate without a cause. “If you were of the world,” Jesus said, “the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” 

This is a mind-blowing statement as it reminds us that many of us were once part of those who hate Jesus …we were once enemies of Jesus…and yet, because of his underserving love and his amazing grace, he chose us while we were still slaves to sin and brought us to himself and made us his own. Always remember then, especially in times of trouble or struggle, from where he took you and to where he has brought you and is bringing you. That thought alone ought to be sufficient to produce in you a grateful joy as well as a godly pity for those who hate us. 

Of course, Jesus knew that unrelenting hatred, especially unfounded hatred, has the ability to grind us down, and so he reminds us that the hatred we experience is chiefly directed against him and not us. It is our association with Jesus that makes us abominable in the sight of his opponents. And so, as we saw with those who ganged up against Jesus, those who are of the world stand united in their hatred for God and all those connected to him even though they are so divided among themselves.

This should serve as a sobering reminder that it is impossible to associate with the world and to please the world if you wish to associate with God and please him. The two are mutually incompatible.  Too many believers have sought the approval of the world through compromise only to find that compromise is not enough…the world demands total renouncement and abandonment of the biblical Jesus. A so-called sinner-friendly Gospel pleases no-one.

But herein lies the guilt of the world. Although they identify in us the God of all Creation, they persist in suppressing the truth that is painfully obvious in Creation itself.  And because God is revealed through what theologians call “general revelation”, those who refuse to see are without excuse as Paul tells us in Romans chapter one. If God had not declared himself in and through what he has made, then they could claim ignorance, but a designer is evident in what has been designed. However, he has made himself known mainly through what we call “special revelation”…through his Word as well as through his Son…and yet…despite all this, they still persist in their blind hatred against him and those who follow him.

Jesus said that hatred against him is hatred against God and that a rejection of his message means a rejection of both him and the Father. This teaches us that no matter how ‘good’ non-believers appear to be, a rejection of Jesus is ultimately a rejection of truth. There is no such thing as a half-Gospel. It is either everything or nothing. Either the Gospel is the truth, or it is false, and if it is the truth, then a positive acceptance of it is crucial. 

Now, as I have mentioned before, the people Jesus was referring to here specifically were those who witnessed firsthand all he said and did. The words Jesus spoke and the signs he did clearly indicated that he and the Father (the God they professed to believe in) were one, and so their dismissal of Jesus’ words and works exposed and confirmed their dismissal of God himself. But this only goes to prove that the best teaching – both verbal as well as practical – does not necessarily result in belief. This rejection of God is totally illogical. There is nothing more contrary to reason than a hatred of God. Why would you hate what is good? 

But what made the Jew’s rejection of Jesus even more pitiful is that he was the embodiment and the fulfilment of their own Scriptures. Of all people, they should have loved him and claimed him as their own, but to love him and to embrace him would be to deny their all too human craving for self-governance – a desire upheld by a largely self-made religion where their oral law with its myriad requirements sustained their thinly disguised worldliness…which sounds uncannily like some modern evangelical churches.

Moving away from himself for the moment, Jesus focussed on his followers and the consequence of their witness concerning him. As the haters turned their attention away from Jesus to focus on his disciples after his ascension, believers would find the Scriptures and the indwelling Holy Spirit to be a major source of comfort. Both the indwelling Spirit and the Word would serve to strengthen believers and prevent them from stumbling even when all hell seemed to break loose. 

At this point, it is important to note that, while the Holy Spirit and the Word bear witness to us, so we too, in return, ought to bear witness to the world. This, dearest beloved brethren, is the best way to confront hatred. In the face of illogical, irrational, unwarranted, and unjustifiable rejection, whether that rejection take on the form of mild verbal mockery or of severe physical violence, we must boldly continue to unflinchingly declare the truth despite the anger it may unleash upon us.

We must never forget that somewhere in that sea of humanity are people just like you and I once were, waiting to be liberated by the living Word if we would but speak it to them. Also, remember that their negative response to or rejection of our words only reveals what is already going on in their hearts. While faith does come by hearing the Word (Romans 10:17), it is made manifest by the seal and deposit of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Our witness is received by those whose hearts have been prepared beforehand by God, so instead of being disheartened by rejection, we should be encouraged by the fact that God knows all those who are his and because we know that God’s Word never returns to him empty, but it always accomplishes that which he purposes (Isaiah 55:11). And so our witness is never in vain. In the end, those who reject what they have heard will serve as witnesses against themselves. 

But Jesus also warned his disciples that there would be times when some who reject their message would be so hardened and calloused that they would believe that their rejection was actually pleasing to God. Saul of Tarsus is the most obvious example of such a person, but there have been many throughout history who have been so misguided…some even in high positions of authority in the church. Personally, I think it is more painful to endure arrogant attacks from those who claim to be followers of Jesus than from those who make no such claim. The sense of betrayal can be so demoralising that it strips you of all confidence in yourself and of trust in other brethren. 

Yet, this passage helps us to regain perspective. As they drive us out of their presence, an enormous sense of relief should flood over us as we realise that we have only been banished from an assembly from which Jesus himself has been banished before. They do what they do because they do not know or acknowledge God and as a result, they do not know or acknowledge his ambassadors. As Jesus said earlier to the unbelieving Jews, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.” (John 8:44)

But Jesus did not teach these things to make us afraid or make us feel insecure. To the contrary. He told us these things so that when we are faced with unwarranted anger, we are able to bring to mind all that he taught us…we are able to bring to mind that which provides guidance, strength, and comfort. It is as we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest God’s Word…it is when we hide his Word in our hearts that we are able to stand during times when others would buckle and break under the sheer weight of blind hate. 

Note that Jesus said that he did not tell them this earlier in his ministry. As young, eager, yet fragile followers of Jesus, the disciples were initially spared the talk of trial and trouble until the time when they were able to bear it…and that time had now come. They had been taught well and, after our Lord ascended into heaven to take up his universal reign, he equipped them even further as he poured out upon them the promised Holy Spirit who would live within every believer assisting them in the application of what they had been taught.

This is all part of our development as fruit bearing vines…indeed, growth demands maturity and responsibility. The more we grow in our faith the more resistance we are able to offer as wheat growing in a field alongside the weeds. The ultimate goal of God for his children is that he would fashion in us a joy that no distress or difficulty would ever be able to extinguish. A joy that is solidly founded on a vibrant and growing relationship with the one who faced a blind hatred we will never have to face ourselves. 

In fact, it was at that point of vulnerability…when the world had unleashed all its malice against him…it was at the cross that God’s glory shone the brightest. Likewise, it is when we are the recipients of that same illogical rage and resentment, that the reality of our faith shines most clearly. It is at that point that the world is confronted with the sheer brilliance of his majesty and his splendour that shines through the cracks of our human fragility. Blind hatred is never more baffled than when confronted with an unshakeable and unbreakable joy…when fury is met with a profound peace.

Dearest beloved brethren, very few of us in the Western Church truly know what persecution looks like. We may experience some mild opposition or even some surprising anger from time to time, but very few of us will ever have to fear for our lives. Nevertheless, a cold shoulder or a snide remark is a painful thing to deal with especially if it is unprovoked. So, when that does happen and you are left licking your wounds, hopefully proverbially speaking, then bring these three things to mind.

First, remember that Jesus told us the world would hate us because we are his and therefore it should not take us by surprise. In fact, we should anticipate it and be ready for it. 

Second, remember that we have the eternal Word of God that speaks of promise and fulfilment and that reminds us that we are not meant to be the same as those of the world. We are meant to be different, and difference invariably causes friction. The world seeks after the things of the world. We seek after the things that are not of the world – we seek the things that are spiritual and therefore, we ought to find our joy and maintain our joy in that which is not of the world.

And finally, we must remember that the Spirit of the one who spoke these words lives in every one of us. And he is there to comfort us, strengthen us, guide us, and lead us on to maturity.

If you keep these three truths in mind at all times, you should be able to maintain your equilibrium when you bear the brunt of the world’s blind hatred of the one you love. 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024