Good Friday Sermon

“They hated me without a cause”

(John 15:25 and Psalm 69:, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 2, 2010)

John 15:25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

The Word
It is one of the many encouragements that my very weak soul needs that there are so many clear passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that teach the essential doctrines of the apostolic Christian faith. Those Scriptures reveal a God who knew all about the things that we believe long before the Son of God was born in Bethlehem, died outside the walls of Jerusalem, and rose again from the dead. Long before those great events, the words of the Hebrew Bible were written. That assures me that God is real, that the Bible is true, and that heaven is not a myth. One way to look at the life of Jesus is to see it as the fulfillment of Genesis through Malachi.

When we talk about foundational Christian doctrines being taught in the Old Testament Scriptures, there are no other doctrines that are of greater importance to us than the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and the truth that in three days He was risen again for our justification. Tonight we think especially about the first of these. One of the places in the Bible that gives us ample and amazing testimony to the life and death of Jesus is Psalm 69. It is this psalm, sung for centuries before Christ, which prepares us for a Messiah who will cry out to God for help, and be heard. He will live out a love for the temple that will fulfill 69:9, “Zeal for your house has consumed me.” He will die with people looking on who are against him, so that it could be said as in 69:21, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” He will seek vindication in fulfillment of 69:29, “Let your salvation, O God, set me on high!” This resurrection and ascension of Jesus on high will be a great source of encouragement to many who will follow Him, this according to 69:32, “When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.” All of this will lead to the most overwhelming worldwide resurrection victory in accord with the closing verses in 69:34-36 “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.” It is also this psalm that contains the important words for our text tonight in 69:4, “They hated me without a cause.”

They
Who are they? We are told in the psalm that whoever they are, they are numerous, “More than the hairs of my head.” We are told that they have power, and that they would want to use their power to kill the suffering servant of God; “Mighty are they who would destroy me.” We know that they are dishonest in their schemes, since we are told “they attack me with lies.” We learn more about them in John 15. These vicious enemies of God are of the world, and they do not know God. Jesus had spoken in their presence, and He did His mighty works in front of them, but despite the beauty and power of His healing Word, they hated Him.

Hated
But what do we mean when we use the word “hated?” While hate and love are words of emotion, there is more to hate than just emotion, just as there needs to be more to love than just our feelings. Real love is expressed in actions that may be costly. It is willing to give so that someone else can receive. True hate is also expressed in action. Hate does not want the one who is hated to have anything good, but to have all good taken away. Do you want to know whether you have fully forgiven someone who has wronged you? Here is a test: Do you sincerely want that person to receive every good blessing? Do you love, or do you still hate?

Jesus was hated. Earlier (13:26) He had given some bread, a morsel dipped in wine, to his friend Judas. He said to Him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Judas was already committed to hate. He had met with the chief priests and others who had taken counsel together with the elders plotting to kill Jesus. He had received the thirty pieces of silver. He went out after eating the morsel, and John writes, “It was night.” When you take money to betray your friend, when you plot murder, even if you kiss your victim or say nice things about him, you still hate him. Judas, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the elders, the chief priests; they all hated Jesus.

Me
Psalm 69:4 says, “They hated me.” Who is this “me” who is hated? We know that Jesus is the one, but who is Jesus? He is the eternal Son of God. He said earlier in John's gospel, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and the people took up stones to kill Him (8:58-59). This Jesus was without sin. His was the sacred head wounded for our transgressions. He was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, and He would soon fulfill His ministry when “the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). He taught with authority. He made the lame walk, the blind see, and He called His friend Lazarus back to life after four days in the grave.

Not only that, this Jesus was the One through whom all things were made, and He would be the heir of all things, the firstborn from the dead, and the King of the Kingdom of heaven. He is the One of whom it is written that every eye shall see Him, and before Him whom every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Without a Cause
It should be very obvious, that if it was this great God/man Jesus who important people hated, then they hated Him without a cause. There was nothing bad about Jesus. He had harmed no one, though He was appointed for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and many were envious of Him. Crucifixion was thought to be the worst of all deaths by the Romans who used it extensively. The point of this kind of death was the public exposure, as if to say, “Here is a man who deserves to die. Here is an enemy of the community. We will all be safer when He is gone. Do not imitate Him unless you are willing to die as He is dying.” Crucifixion insists that there was much cause for the humiliation and pain of this death.

But Jesus had done nothing deserving of death. Yet we must insist that though there was no cause in Him that would justify this brutal punishment, there was just cause in us, in our sins against God, for the Lord to demand this and more from us for our lies and rebellion. Here was the only cause for the death of Christ: Me. Did the Jews kill Jesus? Did the Romans? I don't know, except that Roman soldiers mocked Him, and a Jewish crowd yelled “Crucify him.” I can say this. “Mine, mine was the transgression, and thine the deadly pain.” Jesus was hated without a cause, but God had the greatest purpose in the pain, your salvation.

The Power of the Cross
This grave scene of injustice, where a completely innocent man, dies the death of a guilty sinner, this has now become not only the justice of God, but also the wisdom of God. And it is love, love to be received. There is another word that describes it: power. Outwardly it looks like pitiful weakness, but it worked the death of death and the cancellation of the great debt of your sin. God is calling you to be reconciled to Him tonight through the cross of Jesus Christ. He has determined, because of the power of the death of Jesus, a man that was hated without a cause, to count you as someone who has no sin. This forgiveness is very powerful. Receive it from the Lord, and worship Jesus not only as your substitute in death, but also your inspiration and source of power in resurrection.