Why do some people hate Jesus?  John 3:19-20 gives us part of the answer to that question.  ¹⁹“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  ²⁰“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  These verses tell us that people living in the dark hate the light of Christ.  They don’t want their actions and motives exposed.  As a high school student I attended some awful parties.  They were full of drunkenness and immorality.  How do you think the lights were set at the party?   Low, we didn’t want our conditions or actions exposed.  We craved darkness.  When some student would turn up the lights as a prank, that prank wasn’t well-received.  People cussed at the person: “Turn ‘em off, ______,” was the response.  That’s how most people feel about Jesus.  They hate Him like they hate the person turning on the lights at the party.  Let’s pray for our friends who love the darkness.  Only a work of God will bring them out of the darkness and into the light of Christ.

Yesterday, a friend got rid of a virus on my computer.  That virus took over my computer.  I didn’t do anything without this virus popping up to warn me of my need to buy their anti-virus software.  At first, I felt scared.  Could I be arrested for spamming?  Was someone hacking into my records?  The virus suggested issued these kinds of threats.  Once I realized the source was a virus, I just wanted that virus gone.   But it wasn’t that simple.  My friend worked most of the day.  Part of the problem was that my computer’s speed was crippled by the virus.

            What a picture of sin.  It controls us.  It cripples us.  It doesn’t go away easily.  No wonder Paul wrote these words in Romans 8:22-24:

²²For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, ²³but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.  ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 

The cries of anguish:  I am a prisoner.  Who will set me free?   Only god can set us free.  Let’s throw ourselves on God so that He will do for us what we can’t do ourselves:  Set us free.

Have you ever been controlled by fear?  The people of Jesus day were.  Jesus was creating quite a stir.  So much so, that people were looking for Jesus at one of their religious celebrations.  Look at John 7:11:

¹¹So the Jews were seeking Him (Jesus) at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” 

Not only that but, in John 7:12, we see that people were talking about Jesus. 

¹²There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” 

Among themselves people were discussing Jesus.  Surely this would lead to some public debate.  But, in John 7:13, we see that wasn’t the case. 

¹³Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

Why not?  Fear.  People feared the response of the Jewish leadership.  So they kept quiet about Jesus.    Sadly, fear sometimes keeps me from discussing Jesus.  I fear rejection.  I fear offending someone.  I fear being perceived as a religious nut.  So I don’t talk about what matter most.  I pray that God would move in my heart so fear doesn’t control me.  I pray that I’d value Him more than the acceptance of others.

In John 6, Jesus drew a crowd because of His power over sickness.  Consider verse 2. 

²A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.

The crowd followed Jesus because they saw the miraculous.  But Jesus wasn’t motivated to keep the crowd.  He was motivated to give the crowd life.  Look at John 6:35.

³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

In John 6:41, look at the crowd’s response. 

⁴¹Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.”

They didn’t want life.  They wanted the fantastic.  Jesus wasn’t interested in meeting their wants.  He cared about meeting their needs. 

            Am I willing to sacrifice my popularity to meet people’s needs?  Am I willing to let go of the desire for popularity to give people what they need?  Tough questions in our self-absorbed world.  But we have to answer them.  Let’s pray that God gives us the conviction of Christ in answering these questions.

This fits in the “Are you kidding category.”   In John 5, Jesus heals an invalid.  Before meeting Jesus, the guy hadn’t walked or stood for 38 years.  That’s worth celebrating – a bad-ridden guy walking around.   But the religious leaders didn’t celebrate.  Look at their response in John 5:10.

¹⁰So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 

            The Jewish leaders harped on this guy because of a technicality.  He carried his mallet on the Sabbath.  What was wrong with these leaders?  They were afraid of losing their power.  They feared Jesus would take their position and power.  John 5:18 says they were looking to kill Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.  That’s what happens when we try and hang on to position or power or popularity or prestige.  We miss the work of God.  We find a technicality to pick apart the movement of God.  I’m praying that I’m not so desperate for power, position, popularity or prestige that I miss the work of God.  How about you?  Would you recognize the work of God?

The apostle Paul amazes me with his unflagging spirit. He faced so much opposition, persecution and rejection, yet he didn’t lose heart.  I lose heart 3 or 4 times in the course of a week.  So I’m intrigued by what kept Paul going. Part of the answer comes in 2 Corinthians 4:1:

¹Therefore, since we have this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

Paul recognized that his ministry belonged to God.  He had his ministry by the mercy of God.  That would be a good start for me.  I don’t own anything, including my ministry.  It belongs to the Lord.  I’m controlled by what I think I own.  We all are, aren’t we?  Remembering that “my” ministry belongs to God will help me to not lose heart.

What happens when people ignore God and take life into their own hands?  Consider God’s commentary on Jerusalem in Zephaniah 3:1-2:

¹Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,

The tyrannical city!

²She heeded no voice,

She accepted no instruction.

She did not trust in the LORD,

She did not draw near to her God.

There’s the rebellion.  The city heeds no voice, accepts no instruction, doesn’t trust God and doesn’t draw near to God.   What’s the result?  Look at Zephaniah 3:3-4:

³Her princes within her are roaring lions,

Her judges are wolves at evening;

They leave nothing for the morning.

⁴Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;

Her priests have profaned the sanctuary.

They have done violence to the law.

            Everybody’s corrupt:  Officials, judges and clergy.  Instead of serving the people, these authorities take advantage of the people.  You can’t trust anyone.  Everyone is living for themselves.  We see that the root of corruption in any society:  people rejecting God and living for themselves.  Let’s pray we as a society would find God before we consume ourselves.

            Denial, disbelief – choose your description, but I think one way or another we all try and pretend God’s judgment won’t happen.  The Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk lived in a time of rampant evil.  Finally, in Habakkuk 1:2-4, he called out to the Lord asking how long he had to look on evil.   Habakkuk probably wished he’d never asked the question because in verse 5, the Lord answered him. 

⁵“Look among the nations! Observe!

Be astonished! Wonder!

Because I am doing something in your days—

You would not believe if you were told.

God tells Habakkuk, “You won’t believe what I am going to do.”  But this isn’t good news.  God talks of bringing the Chaldeans to Israel as His instrument of judgment.  And the destruction described in the rest of chapter 1 will be very ugly. 

            God’s judgment is that way – we’d rather not know.  And we wouldn’t believe it even if we did know.  But our pretending that judgment won’t happen doesn’t make it disappear.  God’s judgment of sin is as certain as His grace and mercy.  God sent Jesus so we won’t have to personally experience His judgment.  Join me in praying that our nation would turn to God.  I’d rather not live through Habakkuk’s experience.