The
Hate Crime Of All Time
John 7:1 “After these things Jesus walked
in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him.
2
Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.
3 His brethren therefore said unto
him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy
disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth
any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be
known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself
to the world.
5 For neither did
his brethren believe in him.
6
Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come:
but your time is alway ready.
7
The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because
I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go
not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet
full come.
9 When he had said
these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
10 But when his brethren were gone
up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly,
but as it were in secret.
11
Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said,
Where is he?
12 And there was
much murmuring among the people concerning him: for
some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but
he deceiveth the people.
13
Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the
Jews.”
Three things we need to see in these thirteen verses.
1. The Hunt To Kill
2. The Guts To Call It …
For What It Really Is
3. Someone Is Causing
Divisions Among The People
No one in the world seems to want to talk about this one. It is too hot of an issue. The hate crime committed against the Son of God stands above all crimes.
1. The Hunt To Kill
Verse one: “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.”
The King of the Jews is hunted by the Jews. [John 1:11] “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
What can be stranger than this?
• He came to the earth to save them.
He came to the earth to deliver them.
[Isaiah 19:20] “And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.”
• He came to the earth to save them from their troubles.
[Jeremiah 14:8] “O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?”
• He came to the earth to redeem them.
[Isaiah 60:16] “Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
• He came to this earth to minister to them.
[Matthew 20:28] “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
A stranger thing has never happened!
• Why would one hate his Saviour?
• Why would one hate his Redeemer?
• Why would one who is ministered to hate the One who ministers to him?
Verse two: “Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.”
This was the third FEAST commanded by God for Israel to observe each year.
[Deuteronomy 16:16] “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.”
For verse five: “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”
I have commented earlier on this when we were in John 1:11.
2. The Guts To Call It … For What It Really Is
Verse six and seven: “Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.”
Did you see something here? The testimony from God in verse seven is that the world hates him. Does that shock you? It doesn’t surprise me.
Now look at verse seven again. Jesus Christ is hated because HE tells them the TRUTH. Sometimes the truth hurts. Now here is the TRUTH.
The works of the world are EVIL. Ouch! That hit them hard!
And if you and I are honest, it hits us hard too.
This statement pretty much matches the condemnation by the Spirit of God in the book of Romans.
[Romans 3:10-18] “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
The Bible is sharper than any two-edged sword! Amen! [Hebrews 4:12]
Now we see why the Jews were seeking to kill him.
[Like Saul hated David – a type of Jesus Christ - in 1 Samuel 24:9-15]
Their rabid hatred for HIM was the reason for the incessant running down of him.
The Jews intention was for doing of HIM in [KILL HIM].
This explains why they were always tying to trap him in his words. [Luke 11:54] “Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.”
No surprise here! The Scripture prophesied that this would happen five hundred years before it would happen. [Jeremiah 5:26] “For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.”
The Bible is unlike any other book on this earth.
Read it! Study it! Mediate it! Memorize it! Amen!
3. Someone Is Causing Divisions Among The People
Verse eleven and twelve: “Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.”
Now it will always come to this.
The BOOK will show this. In this world it will come down to just two camps. Ready?
Some will like HIM and some will hate HIM. Jesus Christ has always had this affect on men down through the years.
Some will say that HE is GOOD, and some will some say that HE is BAD.
It has always been that way, and it’s the way it is today.
Jesus Christ always will create a STIR.
And contrary to the average Christian’s opinion Jesus Christ will cause a DIVISION among family and friends.
Now seems to be a little known truth today.
Turn to the book of Luke chapter twelve. Come on down to verse fifty-one.
[Luke 12:51] “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division.”
Do you see it?
Every person who has ever lived, or is living today, will need to decide what they will do with the SON of GOD … Jesus Christ.
Ultimately … there will be no one allowed to straddle the FENCE in this matter.
No FENCE STRADDLING allowed!
Decide what you will do with him.
Who is HE?