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Conflict with the world

Reference: SHM-S09-026-Mw-R00-P2

(Originally spoken on 14 October 2012, edited on 15 October 2012)

Web site: http://www.ajourneyinlife.org and http://www.ajourneyinlife.com

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Let us turn to John 7: 19-24

John 7: 19-24

19. "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"
20. The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?"
21. Jesus answered them, "I did one deed, and you all marvel.
22. "For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.
23. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?
24. "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Today, I want to ponder together with you how the Lord Jesus lived His life, how He responded in His relationship with the people, in particular the Jews. In this context, we can see that there was a conflict between the Lord Jesus and the Jews.

We may ask the question: Why did the Lord Jesus antagonize the Jews? Was it necessary? Would it not have been better if He had lived peacefully with them? Could the Lord Jesus have lived His life so that the Jews could have liked Him, they could have appreciated Him, they could have praised Him, and He could have done much for them? Would that be possible?

In some ways, that could be possible.

But if we look at the meaning, the underlying reason why there was a conflict, then we will realize that if the Lord Jesus were to choose to live peacefully with the Jews, He would not be able to be the Saviour of the world.

It is very helpful for us to appreciate that the reason for the Lord Jesus antagonizing the Jews was not because He did anything wrong, not because He did anything bad, not because He was hostile to them in wanting to destroy their lives or to cause harm to them.

It was quite the opposite. The Lord Jesus came into this world because He loved us: He came into this world to save us, to be the Saviour of the world.

So why is it then, that to be the Saviour of the world, He had to live His life such that the Jews would be angry with Him?

In John 7: 7, we see the Lord Jesus responding to His brothers who at that point of time, did not believe in Him. John 7: 7, the Lord Jesus said,

John 7: 7

• The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

This tells us the reason why the world hated the Lord Jesus. This tells us the reason why the Jews were angry with the Lord Jesus, why they wanted to kill him, why they were antagonized by what He said and what He did.

The Lord Jesus loved them: He loved the Jews and He wanted to help them, He wanted to save them.

But how could he save them if they in the first place did not recognize that they were going on the wrong way, they did not recognize that they were sinful, they did not recognize they needed a Saviour?

The Lord Jesus tells us that those who are well, they do not need a physician, but those who are sick. The Lord Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

If the Jews regarded themselves as very well, they were obeying God, they were doing all the right things, they were keeping the laws of Moses then they would not need a Saviour.

So the Lord Jesus showed to them they needed a Saviour.

And if they were prepared to humble themselves, to acknowledge that they had sinned against God, they needed a Saviour - if they were prepared to repent - they would be able to find forgiveness: they could come to God and find a Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus said, "Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?" This was in contradiction to what the Jews thought that they were doing.

They thought they kept the laws of Moses, they kept the Law that God had given through Moses by observing the various instructions in the outward form. They thought that they were good Jews of the nation of Israel.

But the Lord Jesus told them: "...none of you carries out the Law". And this is the reason why they wanted to kill Him. He said, "Why do you seek to kill Me?" The two are related.

If they truly loved God, if they were truly fulfilling the laws of Moses, they would not want to kill the Lord Jesus because the Lord Jesus is the fulfilment of prophecy. Moses spoke of Him. That is why the Lord Jesus said: "...if you believed Moses, you would believe Me..."

So there was something amiss in terms of what was within their heart and they were not prepared to acknowledge and to forsake.

And so the Lord Jesus says, "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." So, the brothers of the Lord Jesus at that time, because they did not believe in Him, they spoke like the people of the world, they criticized Him and they did not trust Him. And so in that state, the world would not hate them. But if they were to follow the Lord Jesus, if they were to seek to walk in the path of righteousness, then the world would hate them.

So what does it mean then for us His disciples? If we appreciate the Lord Jesus, if we are His disciples, it means that we have chosen to follow Him and we must therefore recognize this: If we want to follow Him, the same thing will happen to us.

John 15: 18-25

1. "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
2. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
3. "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
4. "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
5. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
6. "He who hates Me hates My Father also.
7. "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
8. "But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, 'THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.'

The Lord Jesus said, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin". This does not mean that if the Lord Jesus did not come and speak to them, in reality these people would not be regarded as sinners, they would not have sinned. Of course they had sinned; they were sinners.

But what the Lord Jesus is saying here is that they would not be so conscious of their sins; they could still think that they were all right. But now, they had no excuse for their sin. They could not hide because the Lord Jesus made clear that their lives were not right.

When the Lord Jesus denounced the Pharisees, He said very clearly they were hypocrites, they were not keeping the law of God. So they could not hide behind all the things that they did that seemed to be so good. When the Lord Jesus denounced them, they could not hide, they could not excuse their sins.

"If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well." So if the Lord Jesus had not shown that He was the Son of God, He had not come with such authority, people might not have believed Him and they might instead believe the false prophets, believe the Pharisees, believe those who were not teaching the truth.

But now, He came and He spoke with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees, and so, they hated Him. Their sin was uncovered, they were recognized as moving in the wrong direction and therefore, they wanted to kill the Lord Jesus.

We do not live in the time of the Lord Jesus when He walked on earth, when He spoke to the Jews, when He denounced the Pharisees.

But God has recorded these for us so that as we read them, as we ponder over them, we can enter into that situation. We can recognize who the Lord Jesus really is; we can appreciate Him as we read and as we consider what God has recorded for our learning.

So it is very important for us, even though the events seem to be very far away, to recognize that in reality, the meaning of these principles and the moral and spiritual realm are just as real to us today as it was two thousand years ago. The spiritual meaning is still there and is still the same.

As we look to God, to seek to understand what He has to say to us; as we ponder over the Scriptures, what God has recorded for us - the life of the Lord Jesus, how he responded, how He died, what He came to do - it can help us to understand how God wants us to live our lives and we can then respond meaningfully.

So if we want to be true disciples of the Lord, we cannot at the same time want to be popular in the world - popular in the world in the sense that we are appreciated by those who want to follow the spirit of the world, those who want to go their own way, those who enjoy their own power and ability and glory. We cannot expect that kind of popularity with them.

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." We must be prepared to go through life such that there is opposition, there is difficulty, there is pain because we belong to the Lord Jesus.

The greatest enemy that we have is the evil one and he is constantly seeking to destroy, to attack and to hinder all those who want to follow the Lord Jesus, all those who want to be good, who choose to be good.

There will be opposition. So if we are not prepared for that opposition, we cannot properly follow the Lord Jesus.

And so, it is important that we determine in our hearts that we are prepared to follow Him, whatever it may cost us, that we will not follow the world, we will not follow the ruler of this world, the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air, but we will follow the Lord Jesus, the Prince of peace, the One who is our Saviour.

But it does not mean that if we live our lives well, if we choose the path of righteousness and follow the Lord Jesus, that people will hate us, people will regard us poorly, we will have a lot of opposition. It does not mean that either.

In fact, the Lord Jesus was described as having favour with God and men. What does that mean? Why is it both are present?

He was in favour with God and men and yet, the world hated Him. It is important for us to see both of these aspects.

Many Christians may live their lives in a very self-centred way, inconsiderate, preoccupied with what they want and for that reason, their friends, colleagues, family members are very angry with them. We should not be like that.

The Lord Jesus was not like that. There was favour with God and men because He lived a life that was good. He was kind, He was considerate, He loved the people and those who could recognize and appreciate this were very appreciative of it; they loved Him.

But the conflict arises when we want to go our own way; the conflict arises when there is a spirit of the world that is influencing us.

So, when we want to go according to the spirit of the world, we are following the path of the evil one. In that state, we will reject what the Lord has to say to us and then, there will be a conflict.

So if we live our lives well, both of these elements will be present: We will have friends who appreciate what is good, but we will have enemies who are not prepared to follow the Lord but who would attack what is good, and they can be sarcastic, they can be hostile, they can be malicious.

Yet, in the midst of all this, the Lord expects us to continue to love others, to seek their well-being, but be wise. We keep our distance where it is not helpful; we learn how to respond with the wisdom of God, but our attitude is not one of revenge, of seeking to do harm to others.

The Lord Jesus was crucified by wicked people and yet, He sought still to help them.

So as we ponder over the life of the Lord Jesus, there is much for us to learn, to seek to understand because if we want to be what we ought to be, then He is our perfect example: We need to concentrate on His life and how He lived, and to follow Him.

Although the Lord Jesus did all the things that were good - He healed on the Sabbath because of compassion and love - yet the crowd said, "You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?" They were angry with Him because to them, He broke the Sabbath, He did not keep the Law of Moses.

The Lord Jesus came to help us understand the true purpose of God's instructions.

So if we desire to grow in our fellowship with the Lord, we want to develop the quality of our being, we want to understand God's ways more deeply, then we need to ponder over what God has taught us over the years.

What are the important things that He has dealt with us in our lives? What has He shown to us to be the right path?

It is good for us to remember what is good and important in the eyes of God. And all of us who have benefited from the grace of God, we have tasted of His goodness, but the sad thing is we are more occupied with the things of the world and with what we like, rather than with all the good that God has done for us, all that He has taught us, sometimes warned us, but we may not sufficiently pay heed to this. And so, we may then seek for the favour of the world, we may seek God for the things that we like rather than seek to do the things that are truly meaningful to Him, that will bring joy to Him.

So, let us as we come before the Lord, ask Him to help us ponder over our lives, and in that context seek to consider the example of the Lord Jesus, how He lived. Are we following Him or are we following the world and our own natural inclinations?

If we love the Lord Jesus, let us consider what it should mean. Are we prepared to express our love for Him in practical ways, or will they just be words that we say from time to time, but we live our lives the way that is more convenient to us?

All this will have consequence for eternity. Our time on earth is short. It is good for us to seriously ponder over how we should live now, that we may meaningfully prepare for eternity.