"You [all] do not be marveling, brothers, if hating you the world [is]."
-That which is a marvel or a wonder, amazing, which causes one to marvel or wonder, it causes amazement. Often we are talking about something marvelous, of wonderous, even miraculous proportions - Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8.27), casting out demons (Matthew 9.33), healing the sick (Matthew 15.31). We also see Pilate wondering at the silence of Jesus before his accusers (Matthew 27.14), and Jesus wondering at the faith of the Roman centurion (Matthew 8.10), as well as the hard unbelieving hearts of the Jews (Mark 6.6). He had given them His best stuff, and still they didn't believe! Amazing! Now that would be something, wouldn’t it? To amaze Jesus? Lord, please let me be more like the Roman centurion than the unbelieving Jews... What we are seeing here, though, is an encounter with that which is out of the ordinary, something unexpected. Zacharias’ unexpectedly delaying in the temple (Luke 1.21). Jesus expiring earlier than Pilate expected (Mark 15.44). Encountering that which is REALLY unexpected.
-What we don’t really expect is to be hated for following Jesus. It IS amazing on a certain level that those around us, in the world, would in fact HATE those who are pursuing love and doing what is good and right. To be sure, HOW we follow does play into it, but THIS you would not expect, to be mistreated for doing good to others, right? Particularly not in the West, the cradle of Christendom. Ultimately, regardless of where you live or how you might be following, if/when you begin to name the Name of Jesus, you're gonna get it. Expect it, John says. It’s the whole Jesus thing, the Light of the world and darkness hating the Light thing. Jesus actually told us to expect this - John 15.18. It was already happening in those days (John 17.14). It should come as no surprise. The two millennia of church history are littered with the debris of persecution and martyrdom - the children of the devil hating the children of Light, mistreating them and even killing them, primarily because - by virtue of loving the darkness - they HATE the Light. Jesus said we are the light of the world. When we align ourselves with the Light, we become a beacon ourselves, reflecting the very same Light from which those who walk in darkness try to hide. In their proud unsurrendered rebellion they do not want what they do to be exposed, to be exposed as falling short and missing the mark. They will reject us and our message. They WILL hate us.
-Question: is there anyone who hates me? Not because of how weird I might be or something I did to offend them, but because I am following Jesus? If not, it is probably fair to ask myself, am I shining the Light? How much? How much am I shining the Light around others, towards those who need it? To what degree am I aligning myself with Jesus, living to make Him famous? Is it truly loving to dim or otherwise obscure my light to keep from offending eyes accustomed to darkness? May God give us the grace and wisdom and discernment - and boldness! - to let our (not so) little light shine, like a lighthouse, a beacon of hope (hopefully!) in a dark and stormy sea of darkness. Come what may...
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