John 15:25

Rejection without reason, prophesized and now Jesus states, fulfilled. Surely there is a “stupidity in wickedness” as well as “the madness of folly” as Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 7. The love of the darkness among mankind proves more palatable than their love for the light. Earlier in John we find:

19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:19-21 (NIV)

I am reminded of Isaiah’s words describing the suffering Servant:

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV)

Christ – the Light – exposes the evil hidden in the darkest corners of a man’s heart. Flesh loves to cover its flaws does it not? Hiding behind our masks of purity and holiness, sin lurks. It’s a Halloween costume in reverse to be sure – the monster lurking behind the mask of righteousness. Yet God sent His Son to this earth not only on a salvation mission but also on a mission to demonstrate a perfect life lived. Not too dissimilar to the time of the Judges, those in Jesus’ time as well as now, have a tendency to do what is right in their own eyes. We create God according to our own definitions – not Scriptures:

25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. Judges 21:25 (NIV)

The light of Jesus’ life and Words exposes the evil within us prompting us to turn to turn to Him and be saved. Scripture tells us there is no one righteous – not even one and that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Scripture also tells us the wages of our sin is death – separation from a holy and perfect God who cannot commune with sin. People do not yearn to be saved until they realize that they have a need to be saved.

“I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life – an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation – it is useless to God and a nuisance to man.” Oswald Chambers

Jesus came showing us our need and flesh often fights it. We seek to cover our shenanigans (as if God cannot see all), we run and hide as Adam and Eve did in the garden, we stop us our ears and stomp our feet because, quite frankly, we enjoy our wallowing. In our ignorance we forgo God’s best for a cheap imitation offered by the world that will never satisfy. We enjoy the Burger King mantra of having it our own way. The reality is that men often do not change their ways because they simply do not want to change their ways - choosing the disguise of piety as the Pharisees did rather than the true repentance of a broken and contrite heart that is never despised by the Lord:

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalms 51:16-17 (NIV)

God desires for us to be fully penitent over our sin – to be grieved as He is grieved. Sin is not simply a slight in God’s eyes, it breaks our relationship with Him, it always brings death to everything its tentacles touch - not life - and it ultimately never brings good only harm. That is why we are constantly told to flee from it for our own good.

32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Acts 20:32 (NIV)