Opposition of the Spirit of Jesus
We cannot see the opposition Jesus faced as some local affair. Jesus was arrested and condemned not just because of the religious and political circumstances of the time, but also because he stood firmly for goodness and justice. He was so committed to these qualities that he immediately showed up the corrupt and oppressive for what they were.
Jesus told his disciples that the opposition he experienced would be their experience too. They also would be attacked for their commitment to the goodness of God. So what did Jesus say about the way his followers should regard persecution?
`Take up the cross’
Jesus talked about the consequence of following him in the worst possible terms : carrying a cross. One who carried a cross knew that ahead lay ridicule, pain and death. So the opposition Christians must face is not an accident, it is a direct result of following Jesus.
This does not mean that Christians should look for opposition, or go out of their way to create it by being unreasonable, obnoxious or unkind.
Jesus talked about being persecuted for following him, and for no other reason.
`Follow me’
Christians have often thought of following Jesus Christ in purely personal terms: overcoming personal sins and learning to pray and become familiar with the Bible. All these things are important, but it means more than this.
Jesus drew fire from his enemies because of his determination to bring God’s love to the working people, even to those who were despised. He stirred up trouble for himself by his outspoken attacks on the oppressive behaviour of those who were supposed to be religious leaders. He attacked them as ‘blind guides’, who led the people into great misery. Jesus lived out the goodness and justice of God in an evil and unjust society — and Christians are called to do the same.
Unfortunately, Christians have often avoided following Jesus in that way. We fail to follow the Jesus who rocked the boat and put people’s backs up over the real abuses in society. Many Christians are so concerned not to give offence nor to be seen as in any way revolutionary, that they fail to be true disciples of Jesus. There are real abuses in the world. If we do not feel the need for those abuses to be attacked as strongly as Jesus attacked the shortcomings of the Pharisees, we are stopping short of following Jesus properly.
Love your enemies
You have heard that it was said, `Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.
Again Jesus asked his followers not to give in to their natural, and evil, desires when they went through extremes of opposition.
The kingdom of God
Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God as God’s alternative to the way that the rest of the world lives. In his time, as in ours, people felt free to live according to socially acceptable standards: taking revenge on those who wronged them; despising the outcasts of society; making the accumulation of personal wealth an aim in life. Jesus rejected these standards of behaviour and told his followers to love in aradically different way. Once he said,
You know that the men who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be the slave of all.
Those who live in the kingdom of God challenge the world by their behaviour, and also by their opposition to injustice. Sadly, the church has often failed to follow Jesus in this way. We have allowed wrong attitudes, prevalent in society, to become the norm within the church. So there has been racial prejudice, for example, or prejudice based on income or reputation. We have become preoccupied with raising our standards of living, ignoring the needs of the poor. These are attitudes we need to turn from in the church today. The world should look at us and see that we are different. We are meant to be God’s alternative society.
Happy are the persecuted: Jesus once spoke some bewildering words to his disciples:
Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted. Read more
