By Pastor Chad
Sunday morning, I preached a message from John 15:18-25. My message focused on the world’s attitude toward Christian faith and practice. If we follow Christ as He commands, the world isn’t going to like us very much. In fact, according to Jesus, the world will likely “hate” us. Paul explicitly says, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Thus, followers of Jesus Christ will always be outsiders. That doesn’t mean we are oddballs, but the world will always be apprehensive toward those who question their sin.
The last verse of our focal passage is quite significant. In verse 25 Jesus says, “But the word that is written in their [the religious Jewish leaders] Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’”
Israel, the one that was given Scripture and knows Scripture–the people that have translated and shepherded God’s divine revelation for thousands of years–were unwittingly fulfilling the very Scripture they held sacred. Let me state it another way, those who hated Jesus were doing what was prophesied. And Jesus really takes this idea one step further; those who rejected Jesus were doing what “must” be done in order to fulfill God’s Word. What are we supposed to do with that?
Let’s be good biblical detectives and start with the basics. First, God knows everything that is going to happen. He is all-knowing. Thus, He knows the past, present, and future perfectly. When the Spirit-inspired psalmist prophetically declared some would “hate [Jesus] without cause” (Psalm 69:4), God knew the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would fulfill that prophecy.
Second, we are responsible for our actions. If God forced someone to do evil, He would be evil. God does not force anyone to do wrong; he allows evil. He created conditions and a world that is conducive to evil, but God does not make someone willingly commit evil acts.
Third, God uses the evil intentions and actions of man to fulfill His purpose and plan. In Acts 4:27-28, Peter and John declare that Herod and Pilate did what God’s “hand and [His] plan had predestined to take place.” If God planned the crucifixion, then God orchestrated the outcome. It isn’t that God forced men to do evil, but God used the evil actions of men to accomplish His plan. Interestingly enough, God used the actions of evil men to accomplish His plan while these very evil men were seeking to thwart the plan of God.
So, here is what we can conclude (at the very least): The religious leaders that hated Jesus did so in accordance with the sovereignty of God. God did not force them to hate Christ, but, in His providence and foreknowledge, He used these men to fulfill a prophecy given hundreds of years in advance.