“The world… hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7)
When the Apostle Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household, he described Jesus as one “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). And indeed, Jesus did. He healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, fed multitudes and even raised the dead. You would think He would have been regularly honored as citizen of the month and given the key to every city and village where He went.
But we read in the Bible of reactions by various groups of people which were very different. At the very beginning of His public ministry, those in the synagogue of His own home town of Nazareth tried to hurl Him off a cliff. On another occasion when Jesus cast out demons from a man, the people in the surrounding region collectively asked Jesus to go away. Those He fed complained about Him. The religious leaders, the Pharisees and scribes, plotted against Him, and sought to ultimately destroy Him. This finally led to their having Him put to death on a cross as a common criminal by the Roman authorities.
Why were there such negative and even deadly responses to One who did so much good? In each of the cases above, Jesus himself provided the answer when he said to His disciples, “The world… hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). There’s the problem, and it’s still a problem that most people even today have with Jesus.
Jesus confronted the Pharisees with their hypocritical abuse and misuse of the law in formulating their traditions. Jesus asked, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’… But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” – then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus, you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites!” (Matthew 15:3-7).
Now tradition in and of itself is not wrong. It has its place, but when it “replaces” God’s word, contradicts it, or is placed on the same level with God’s written divinely inspired word in the Bible, then man has presumptuously usurped God’s divine authority in giving revelation.
As you can imagine, what Jesus said was not well received by the Pharisees. They outwardly looked very pious in their re-interpretation of God’s command, but their motive in receiving this gift, which should have been used to help one’s parents, was sinful greed, plain and simple. They were lining their own pockets, and they didn’t like being exposed.
Fallen man is self-deceived, operating under the misguided conception of himself that he is fundamentally good. And so, comparing himself to his own standard of what constitutes good, he’s offended when that mindset and self-image is challenged. Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).
Jesus told it the way it really is when He said to the rich young ruler, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). And the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is none righteous, no, not one… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10,23).
As it turns out, the best thing that can happen to someone is to finally realize they’re not good, and are in fact sinners who have offended a holy and righteous God. Its then, and only then that someone will recognize their need for a Savior. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17). Thru the proclaiming of the gospel, Jesus calls those exposed sinners to Himself as the One who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for them so that they may be pardoned, cleansed and have everlasting life.
Jesus not only confronts the world with its sin, but true believers as well. He accomplishes that through His word which is, “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). And it’s the sinful “thoughts and intents” which are the most harmful and insidious because if they’re not dealt with in confession and repentance, they can finally blossom into outward and sometimes grievous sins.
King David, who was a true believer, welcomed the penetrating work of the Holy Spirit, using the law to search out the inner recesses of his heart. David understood there were still sinful inclinations there, and that he was helpless in not only having them found out, but in having them dealt with. He loved God and therefore wanted to please Him. And so, instead of being offended by being confronted with his sin, he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart… see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). David understood that prayer to be an on-going prayer through the whole sanctifying course of his life. He further prayed, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Psalm 119:133).
Out of love for our Savior and Lord, and by God’s grace, may we too regularly make those prayers of David our own.
When the Apostle Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household, he described Jesus as one “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). And indeed, Jesus did. He healed the sick and lame, gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, cast out demons, fed multitudes and even raised the dead. You would think He would have been regularly honored as citizen of the month and given the key to every city and village where He went.
But we read in the Bible of reactions by various groups of people which were very different. At the very beginning of His public ministry, those in the synagogue of His own home town of Nazareth tried to hurl Him off a cliff. On another occasion when Jesus cast out demons from a man, the people in the surrounding region collectively asked Jesus to go away. Those He fed complained about Him. The religious leaders, the Pharisees and scribes, plotted against Him, and sought to ultimately destroy Him. This finally led to their having Him put to death on a cross as a common criminal by the Roman authorities.
Why were there such negative and even deadly responses to One who did so much good? In each of the cases above, Jesus himself provided the answer when he said to His disciples, “The world… hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). There’s the problem, and it’s still a problem that most people even today have with Jesus.
Jesus confronted the Pharisees with their hypocritical abuse and misuse of the law in formulating their traditions. Jesus asked, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’… But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God” – then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus, you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites!” (Matthew 15:3-7).
Now tradition in and of itself is not wrong. It has its place, but when it “replaces” God’s word, contradicts it, or is placed on the same level with God’s written divinely inspired word in the Bible, then man has presumptuously usurped God’s divine authority in giving revelation.
As you can imagine, what Jesus said was not well received by the Pharisees. They outwardly looked very pious in their re-interpretation of God’s command, but their motive in receiving this gift, which should have been used to help one’s parents, was sinful greed, plain and simple. They were lining their own pockets, and they didn’t like being exposed.
Fallen man is self-deceived, operating under the misguided conception of himself that he is fundamentally good. And so, comparing himself to his own standard of what constitutes good, he’s offended when that mindset and self-image is challenged. Jesus said, “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20).
Jesus told it the way it really is when He said to the rich young ruler, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). And the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is none righteous, no, not one… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10,23).
As it turns out, the best thing that can happen to someone is to finally realize they’re not good, and are in fact sinners who have offended a holy and righteous God. Its then, and only then that someone will recognize their need for a Savior. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:17). Thru the proclaiming of the gospel, Jesus calls those exposed sinners to Himself as the One who came to live, suffer, die and rise again for them so that they may be pardoned, cleansed and have everlasting life.
Jesus not only confronts the world with its sin, but true believers as well. He accomplishes that through His word which is, “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). And it’s the sinful “thoughts and intents” which are the most harmful and insidious because if they’re not dealt with in confession and repentance, they can finally blossom into outward and sometimes grievous sins.
King David, who was a true believer, welcomed the penetrating work of the Holy Spirit, using the law to search out the inner recesses of his heart. David understood there were still sinful inclinations there, and that he was helpless in not only having them found out, but in having them dealt with. He loved God and therefore wanted to please Him. And so, instead of being offended by being confronted with his sin, he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart… see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). David understood that prayer to be an on-going prayer through the whole sanctifying course of his life. He further prayed, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me” (Psalm 119:133).
Out of love for our Savior and Lord, and by God’s grace, may we too regularly make those prayers of David our own.