JULY 6, 2023
“Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?” (John 10:32)
The extreme wickedness of human nature was fully on display. The unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem were neither moved by our Lord’s miracles, nor His preaching. They were determined not to receive Him as their Messiah. His miracles testified Who He was, and yet for that very reason, they took up stones to stone Him. Having time to think about it did nothing to change their minds. Notice in the preceding verse, “The Jews took up stones again to stone him.”
Our Lord had done them no injury. They could not charge Him with any crime. He was no robber or murderer, or rebel against the law of the land. God ordained civil governments and the powers that be, not as a terror to those who do good, but to those whose works are evil. (Rom. 13:3) Yet as Jesus “went about doing good,” (Acts 10:38), the Jewish authorities were constantly seeking to kill Him. Jesus, as though bewildered by the absurdity of all this, asked, “For which of those works do ye stone me?”
There was no fault or inconsistency in His character. There was no wrongdoing that could be laid to His charge. So perfect and spotless a man had never walked on the earth, yet the Jews hated Him and thirsted for His blood. How true are the words of Scripture quoted in the fifteenth chapter of this Gospel:“They hated me without a cause.”
The true Christian who earnestly strives to be a follower of the Savior should not wonder if he meets with the same kind of treatment as our blessed Lord. In fact, the more like the Master he is, and the more holy and Spirit-filled his life, the greater likelihood that he will experience the truth of Jesus’ words,“The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you…”(Ch. 15:20) Just as it was with our Master, there will not be any degree of consistency. It was for no fault that they found in Him, but rather for His good deeds that He was hated. So it is with His disciples; it is not for our faults that the world hates and persecutes us, but for our graces. Let us take a lesson from the early disciples, who being imprisoned and beaten in return for preaching the Gospel and seeking the best good for men’s souls, went forth “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” (Acts 5:41)
The world hates to see anything of God’s image. The children of the world are vexed and pricked in their conscience when they see others better than themselves. Why did Cain hate his brother Abel and slay him? “Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” (I John 3:12) That is all the reason an ungodly world needs for their hatred and persecution of true believers. Why did the Jews hate Christ? Because He exposed their sins and false doctrines; and they knew in their own hearts that He was right, and they were wrong. Jesus Himself said it plainly, “The world…me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” (John 7:7) Some of our bitterest opposition comes from the religious world. True Christianity is built upon Biblical Truth – Truth that exposes the false teachings and lies upon which the false hopes of multitudes of today’s cultists and church-goers rest.
Let Christians make up their minds to drink the same cup as their Lord drank. There is One in heaven Who said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18) Let us remember these words and take courage. The day is coming ever nearer when all shall be set right, and everyone shall receive according to his works. “…there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” (Prov. 23:18)
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