JESUS IS HATED WITHOUT A CAUSE

John 15:22-27 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.

While reading and trying to understand the scriptural meaning of the lesson text, one may erroneously conclude that the sins of the Jewish nation resulted from Jesus coming to earth and preaching His gospel message of salvation. However, this is a false conclusion. Their sin resulted, not from Jesus and His teaching, but from their rejection of Him as the promised Messiah, and the Son of God, even though Old Testament prophecies, when correctly interpreted, conclusively established Him as filling that promise of God. To reject Him as the Savior resulted in their refusal to accept God's truths that are taught in His gospel message. Misinterpreting God's promise of a Messiah, which was delivered to them by Old Testament prophets, caused no sin until it was fulfilled by the coming of Jesus. It was as if a cloke covered their lack of knowledge. But now, with the coming of Christ, they have no cloke (no covering to hide) their sin. Their rejection of Him affirmed, once again, this truth: He that hateth Me hateth My Father also. To demonstrate their hatred by rejecting Jesus as the promised Messiah is to hate God and reject His promise to send His Son, Christ Jesus to earth, bringing salvation to the world.

By confirming the message He preached, adn confirmed by compassionate miracles, the Jews that witnessed these events, or learned of them, had no excuse for rejecting Him. Moses, and many other prophets of God, did many miraculous works, and all were recorded in the inspired writings of the Old Testament. However, the works of Christ Jesus, that is His miracles of healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons, were done openly before the Jewish people. They were mighty works which none other man did. Multitudes experienced, and were benefited by, His miracles; far more than ever recorded in the histories of mankind. The nature of the miracles He performed had never before been witnessed by human beings. Withered legs and arms were restored, sight was given to some that were blind from birth, the deaf were made to hear, all manner of diseases, including leprosy, were cured, demons were cast out of those possessed with Satanic spirits; individuals could walk, see, and hear that could never do so before, and even Lazarus was brought back to life after being dead and entombed for four days. Indeed, Jesus demonstrated the power that could only have come from God, His Heavenly Father. Considering these undeniable miracles, the majority of the Jewish nation still rejected Jesus as the Messiah, hated Him, and likewise hated His Heavenly Father.

The Jewish leaders and most of their followers hated Jesus, saying that He falsely claimed to be the Son of God. They considered Him to be an imposter that blasphemed the name of God. Yet it was these Jews that failed to recognize Jesus as the Savior, totally disregarding Old Testament prophecies that proved Him to be the Messiah, and considered the miracles He performed to be the works of Satan. What Jesus said to them fulfilled a prophetic scripture found in Psalm 35:19, part of which said, They hated Me without a cause. Not only does this scripture foretell of the Jews hating and rejecting Jesus, but it also applies to any hatred demonstrated toward Him by any person, religious body, or nation as a whole, of any age. Hatred toward Jesus, because He is the Son of God, or because of the gospel message He brought to the world, cannot be scripturally justified by mankind and is without cause. God's word justifies and proves Him to be the promised Messiah. Even today, Jesus is hated only because, He and His message, contradict the various "civil and religious" doctrines devised by human beings.

Finally, to His apostles Jesus said, the day is soon coming when He would send to them the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God. It will be His divine responsibility to testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning. That day would be the following Day of Pentecost.