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Hatred Without Cause
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, June 29, 1856, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
"They hated me without a cause."John 15:25.
It is usually understood, that the quotation our Saviour
here refers to is to be found in the 35th Psalm, at the 19th verse, where David says,
speaking of himself immediately and of the Saviour prophetically, "Let not them who
are mine enemies rejoice over me, neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without
a cause." Our Saviour refers to that as being applicable to himself, and thus he
really tells us, in effect, that many of the Psalms are Messianic, or refer to the
Messiah; and, therefore, Dr. Hawker did not err, when he said he believed the Psalms
referred to the Saviour, though he may have carried the truth too far. But it will be a
good plan, in reading the Psalms, if we continually look at them as alluding not so much
to David, as to the man of whom Dave was the type, Jesus Christ, David's Lord.
No being was ever more lovely than the Saviour; it would seem almost impossible not to
have affection for him. Certainly at first sight it would seem far more difficult to hate
him than to love him. And yet, loveable as he was, yea, "altogether lovely," no
being so early met with hatred, and no creature ever endured such a continual persecution
as he had to suffer. He is no sooner ushered into the world, than the sword of Herod is
ready to cut him off, and the innocents of Bethlehem, by their dreadful massacre, gave a
sad foretaste of the sufferings which Christ would endure, and of the hatred that men
would pour upon his devoted head. From his first moment to the cross, save the temporary
lull while he was a child, it seemed as if all the world were in league against him, and
all men sought to destroy him. In different ways that hatred displayed itself, sometimes
in overt deed, as when they took him to the brow of the hill, and would have cast him down
headlong, or when they took up stones again to stone him, because he said that Abraham
desired to see his day, and saw it, and was glad. At other times that hatred showed itself
in words of slander, such as these,"He is a drunken man and a wine-bibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners;" or in looks of contempt, as when they looked
suspiciously at him, because he did eat with publicans and sinners, and sat down to table
with unwashed hands. At other times that hatred dwelt entirely in their thoughts, and they
thought within themselves, "This man blasphemeth," because he said, "Thy
sins be forgiven thee." But at almost every time there was a hatred towards Christ;
and when they took him, and would have made him king, and a shallow fleeting flood of
popular applause would have watted him on to an unsteady throne, even then there was a
latent hatred towards him, only kept under by loaves and fishes, which only wanted an
equal quantity of loaves and fishes offered by the priests, to develop it itself in the
cry of "Crucify him, crucify him," instead of the shout of "Hosannah!
blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." All grades of men hated him. Most
men have to meet with some opposition; but then it is frequently a class opposition, and
there are other classes who look at them with respect. The demagogue, who is admired by
the poor, must expect to be despised by the rich; and he who labours for the aristocracy,
of course meets with the contempt of the many. But here was a man who walked among the
people, who loved them, who spoke to rich and poor as though they were (as indeed they
are) on one level in his blessed sight: and yet all classes conspired to hate him; the
priests cried him down because he spoiled their dogmas; the nobles would put him to death
because he spoke of being a king; while the poor, for some reasons best known to
themselves, though they admired his eloquence, and frequently would have fallen prostrate
in worship before him, on account of the wondrous deeds he did, even these, led by men who
ought to have guided them better, conspired to put him to death, and to consummate their
guilt by nailing him to the tree, and then wagging their heads, bade him, if he could
build a temple in three days, to save himself and come down from the cross. Christ was the
hated one, the slandered and scorned; he was "despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief."
Now, we shall try this morning, first, to justify the Saviour's remarks, that he was
hated without a cause; and secondly, to dwell upon the sin of menthat men
hated him without a cause; in the third place, to give a lesson or two to Christ's
own people, which they may well learn from the fact, that their Saviour was hated
without a cause.
I. First, then, beloved, let us JUSTIFY WHAT THE SAVIOUR SAID,"They hated me
without a cause." And we remark, that, apart from the consideration of man's
sinfulness, and Christ's purity, there certainly is not cause, whatever to be discovered
why the world should have hated him.
First let us regard Christ in his person. Was there anything in Christ's person as
a man, when he lived in this world, which had a natural tendency to make any person hate
him? Let us remark, that there was an absence of almost everything which excites hatred
between man and man. In the first place there was no great rank in Christ to excite
envy. It is a well known fact that let a man be ever so good, if he be at all lifted above
his fellow-creatures by riches, or by title, though one by one men will respect him, yet
the many often speak against him, not so much for what he is, as for his rank and his
title. It seems to be natural to men in the mass to despise nobles; each man,
individually, thinks it a wonderful fine thing to know a lord; but put men together, and
they will despise lords and bishops, and speak very lightly of principalities and powers.
Now Christ had none of the outward circumstances of rank, he had no chariot, no long
sleeves, no elevation above his fellows; when he walked abroad there were no heralds to
attend him, there was no pomp to do him honor. In fact, one would think that Christ's
appearance would naturally have engendered pity. Instead of being lifted above men, he
did, in some sense, seem to be below them, for foxes had holes, and the birds of the air
had nests, but the Son of Man had not where to lay his head. Many a democrat has railed
against the archbishop when he has gone by Lambeth palace; but would he curse or despise
him if he were told, the archbishop had not where to lay his head, but simply toiled for
the truth's sake, and had no reward? The envy naturally excited by rank, station, and
such-like, could not have operated in Christ's case; there was nothing in his garb to
attract attention; it was the garb of the peasant of Galilee-"of one piece, woven
from the top throughout." Nor was there anything in his rank. He might have been the
son of an ancient royal family, but its royalty was apparently extinct, and he was only
known as the Son of the carpenter. The hated him, then, in that sense, "without a
cause."
Many persons seem to have envy excited in them against those who exercise rule or
government over them. The very fact of a man having authority over me stirs up my evil
passions, and I begin to look at him with suspicion, because he is invested with that
authority. Some men naturally fall into the groove, and obey simply because the ruled is
made; principalities and powers are established, and they submit themselves for the Lord's
sake; but the many, especially in these republican times, seem to have a natural tendency
to kick against authority, simply because it is authority. But if authorities and
governments were changed every month, I believe that in some countries, in France for
instance, there would be revolutions as much under one government as under another; in
fact, they hate all government there, and wish to be without law, that each man may do
what is right in his own eyes. But this did not operate in Christ's case, he was not a
king; he did not assume sway over the multitude. It is true he was Lord over tempests and
seas; it is true he could command demons, and, if he pleased, men must have been his
obedient servants; but he did not assume power over them. He marshalled no armies, he
promulgated no laws, he made himself no great one in the land; the people did just as they
liked, for all the authority he exercised over them. In fact, instead of binding laws upon
them which were severe, he seemed to have loosened the rigidity of their system; for when
the adulterous woman, who, otherwise, would have been put to death, was brought before
him, he said, "Neither do I condemn thee." And he relaxed, to a certain extent,
the rigidity of the Sabbatical ordinance, which was in some respects too burthensome,
saying, "The Sabbath was made for man." Surely, then, they hated him
"without a cause."
Some men make others dislike them because they are proud. I know some men that I
should have liked very well if the starch had been left out of them; I should really
sympathize with them and admire them if they had the least degree of condescension, but
they seem to walk about the world with such a style of pride! They may not be
proudvery likely they are not; but, as an old divine said, "When we see a fox's
tail sticking out of a hole, we naturally expect the fox is there." And, somehow or
other, the human mind cannot bear pride; we always kick against it. But there was nothing
of that in our Saviour. How humble he was! Why he stooped to anything. He would wash his
disciples' feet; and when he walked about among men, there was no parade about him, as if
he would say to them, "See my talent, see my power, see my rank, see my dignity,
stand by, I am greater than you." No, he takes his seat there. There is Matthew, the
publican, sitting beside him, and he does not think he is hurt by the publican, although
he is the worst of sinners; and there is a harlot, he speaks to her; there is another with
seven devils, and he casts the devils out of her, and another, who has the leprosy, and he
even touches the leper, to show how humble he was, and that there was nothing of pride
about him. Oh! could you have seen the Saviour; he was the very paragon of humility! There
were none of your forms of etiquette and politeness about him; he had that true politeness
which makes itself affable to all men, because it is kind and loving to all. There was no
pride in the Saviour, and consequently there was nothing to excite men's anger on that
account. Therefore, they hated him "without a cause."
There are others that you cannot help disliking, because they are so snappish, and
waspish, and angry; they look as if they were born on some terribly dark stormy
day, and as if, in the mixture of their body, no small quantity of vinegar was employed.
You could not sit long with them, without feeling that you have to keep your tongue in
pretty tight chain; you must not talk freely, or there would be a quarrel, for they would
make you an offender for a word. You may say, "Such an one is, no doubt a good man;
but really, that temper of his I cannot bear it. And when a man stands prominently before
the public, with a nasty sour disposition, one feels inclined to dislike him. But there
was nothing of this about our Saviour. "When he was reviled, he reviled not
again;" if men spat in his face he said nothing to them; and when they smote him, he
did not curse them; he sat still and bore their scorn. He walked through the world, with
contempt and infamy constantly poured upon him; but "he answered not a word;" he
was never angry. You cannot find, in reading the Saviour's life, that he spake one angry
word, save those words of holy wrath which he poured, like scalding oil, upon the head of
Pharisaic pride; then, indeed, his wrath did boil, but it was holy wrath. With such a
loving, kind, gentle spirit, one would have thought that he would have gone through the
world as easily as possible. But, notwithstanding all that, they hated him. Truly, we can
say, "they hated him without a cause."
There is another set of people you can scarcely help disliking; they are selfish
people. Now, we know some persons who are very excellent in temper, who are extremely
honest and upright, but they are so selfish! When you are with them, you feel that they
are just friends to you for what they can get out of you; and when you have served their
turn, they will just lay you aside, and endeavour to find another. In trying to do good,
their good deed has an ulterior object, but, somehow or other, they are always found out;
and no man in the world gets a greater share of public odium than the man who lives a
selfish life. Among the most miserable men in the universe, kicked about the world like a
football, is the selfish miser. But in Christ there was nothing selfish; whatever he did,
he did for others. He had a marvellous power of working miracles, but he would not even
change a stone into bread for himself; he reserved his miraculous power for others; he did
not seem to have a particle of self in his whole nature. In fact, the description of his
life might be written very briefly: "he saved others, himself he did not save."
He walked about; he touched the poorest, the meanest, and those who were the most sick; he
cared not what men might say of him; he seemed to have no regard for fame, or dignity, or
ease, or honor. Neither his bodily nor his mental comforts were in the least regarded by
him. Self-sacrifice was the life of Christ; but he did it with such an ease that it seemed
no sacrifice. Ah! beloved, in that sense certainly they hated Christ without a cause; for
there was nothing in Christ to excite their hatredin fact, there was everything, on
the other hand, to bind the whole world to love and reverence a character so eminently
unselfish.
Another sort of people there are that I do not like, viz., the hypocritical; nay, I
think I could even live with the selfish man, if I knew him to be selfish; but the
hypocrite, do not let him come anywhere near where I am. Let a public man be a hypocrite
once, and the world will scarcely trust him again; they will hate him. But Christ was, in
this particular, free from any blame; and if they hated him, they hated him not for that,
for there never was a more unvarnished man than Christ. He was called, you know, the child
Jesus; because as a child speaks itself out, and has no reserve, and no craftiness, even
so was it with Jesus; he had no affectation, no deceit. There was no change about him; he
was "without variableness or shadow of turning." Whatever the world may say of
Christ, they never said they believed he was a hypocrite; and among all the slanders they
brought against him, they never disputed his sincerity. Had they been able to show that he
really had been imposing upon them, they might have had some grounds for hating him; but
he lived in the sunlight of sincerity and walked on the very mountain-top of continual
observation. He could not be a hypocrite, and men knew he could not; and yet men hated
him. Verily, my friends, if you survey the character of Christ, in all its loveliness, in
all its benevolence, in all its sincerity, in all its self-devotion, in all intense
eagerness to benefit man, you must say, indeed, "They hated him without a
cause." there was nothing in Christ's person to lead men to hate him.
In the next place, was there anything in Christ's errand which could make people
hate him? If they had asked him, for what reason have you come from heaven? would there
have been anything in his answer likely to excite their indignation and hatred? I trow
not. For what purpose did he come? He came, first of all, to explain mysteriesto
tell them what was meant by the sacrificial lamb, what was the significance of the
scape-goat, what was intended by the ark, the brazen serpent, and the pot of manna; he
came to rend the veil of the holy of holies, and to show men secrets they had never seen
before. Should they have hated one who lifted the veil of mystery, and made dark things
light, and expounded riddles? Should they have hated him who taught them what Abraham
desired to see, and what prophets and kings had longed to know, but died without a
knowledge of? Was there anything in that to make them hate him? What else did he come for?
He came on earth to reclaim the wanderer; and is there anything in that that should make
men hate Christ? If he came to reform the drunkard, to reclaim the harlot, and gather in
the publicans and sinners, and bring prodigals to their father's house again, sure that is
an object with which every philanthropist should agree; it is that for which our
governments are formed and fashioned, to bring men to a better state; and if Christ came
for that purpose, was there anything in that to make men hate him? For what else did he
come? He came to heal the diseases of the body; is that a legitimate object of hatred?
Shall I hate the physician who goes about gratuitously healing all manner of diseases? Are
deaf ears unstopped, are mouths opened, are the dead raised, are the blind made to see,
and widows blest with their sons? Are these causes why a man should be obnoxious? Surely,
he might well say, "For which of these works do ye stone me? If I have done good
works wherefore speak ye against me?" But none of these works were the cause of men's
hatred; they hated him without a cause. And he came on earth to die, that sinners might
not die? Was that a cause of hatred? Ought I to hate the Saviour, because he came to
quench the flames of hell for me? Should I despise him who allowed his father's flaming
sword to be quenched in his own vital blood? Shall I look with indignation upon the
substitute who takes my sin and griefs upon him, and carries my sorrows? Shall I hate and
despise the man who loved me better than he loved himselfwho loved me so much that
he visited the gloomy grave for my salvation? Are these the causes of hatred? Surely his
errand was one that ought to have made us sing his praise for ever, and join the harps of
angels in their rapturous songs. "They hated me without a cause."
But once more: was there anything in Christ's doctrine that should have made us
hate him? No, we answer; there was nothing in his doctrine that should have excited men's
hatred. Take his preceptive doctrines. Did he not teach us to do to others as we would
they should to us? Was he not also the exponent of everything lovely and honorable, and of
good report? And was not his teaching the very essence of virtue, so that if virtue's self
had written it, it could not have written such a perfect code of lovely morals, and
excellent virtues. Was it the ethical part of his doctrines that men hated? He taught that
rich and poor must stand on one level; he taught that his gospel was not to be confined to
one particular nation, but was to be gloriously expansive, so as to cover the world? This
perhaps, was one principal reason of their hating him; but surely there was no justifiable
cause for their indignation in this. There was nothing in Christ to lead men to hate him.
"They hated him without a cause."
II. And now, in the second place, I come to dwell on MAN'S SIN, that he should have hated
the Saviour without a cause. Ah! beloved, I will not tell you of man's adulteries, and
fornications, and murders, and poisonings, and sodomies. I will not tell you of man's
wars, and bloodsheds, and cruelties, and rebellions; If I want to tell you man's sin, I
must tell you that man is a decidethat he put to death his God, and slew his
Saviour; and when I have told you that, I have given you the essence of all sin, the
master-piece of crime, the very pinnacle and climax of the terrific pyramid of mortal
guilt. Man outdid himself when he put his Saviour to death, and sin did out-Herod Herod
when it slew the Lord of the universe, the lover of the race of man, who came on earth to
die. Never does sin appear so exceedingly sinful as when we see it pointed at the person
of Christ, whom it hated without a cause. In every other case, when man has hated
goodness, there have always been some extenuating circumstances. We never do see goodness
in this world without alloy; however great may be any man's goodness, there is always some
peg whereon we may hang a censure; however excellent a man may be, there is always some
fault which may diminish our admiration of our love. But in the Saviour there was nothing
of this. There was nothing that could blot the picture; holiness stood out to the very
life; there was holinessonly holiness. Let a man hate Whitfield, one of the holiest
men that ever lived, he would tell you, he did not hate his goodness, but he hated his
ranting preaching, and the extraordinary anecdotes he told; or he would pull out something
that dropped from his lips, and hold it up to derision. But in Christ's case men could not
do that; for though they sought for false witnesses, yet their witnesses agreed not
together. There was nothing in him but holiness: and any person with half an eye can see,
that the thing men hated was simply that Christ was perfect; they could not have hated him
for anything else. And thus you see the abominable, detestable evil of the human
heartthat man hates goodness simply because it is such. It is not true that we
Christian people are hated because of our infirmities; men make our infirmities a nail
whereon to hang their laughter; but if we were not Christians they would not hate our
infirmities. They hold our inconsistencies up to ridicule; but I do not believe our
inconsistencies are what they care about; we might be as inconsistent as all the rest of
the world if we did not profess religion, of if they did not think we had any. But because
the Saviour had no inconsistencies or infirmities, men were stripped of all their excuses
for hating him, and it came out that man naturally hates goodness, because he is so evil
that he cannot but detest it.
And now let me appeal to every sinner present, and ask him whether he ever had any cause
for hating Christ. But some one says, "I do not hate him; if he were to come to my
house I would love him very much." But it is very remarkable that Christ lives next
door to you, in the person of poor Betty there. She goes to such-and-such a chapel, and
you say she is nothing but a poor canting Methodist. Why don't you like Betty? She is one
of Christ's members, and "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these,
ye have done it unto me." You say you do not hate Christ. Now, look across the
chapel. Don't you know a man, a member of this place, a very holy man, but somehow or
other you cannot bear him, because he told you of your faults once. Ah! sir, if you loved
Christ you would love his members. What! tell me you love my head, but you do not love my
hands? My dear fellow, you cannot cut my head off and let me be the same person. If you
love Christ the head, you must love his members. But you say, "I do love his
people." Very well, then you have passed from death unto life, if you love the
brethren. But you say, "I am not sure that I am a changed character, still, I am not
aware that there is any opposition in my heart to Christ and his gospel." You may not
be aware of it, but it is your not being aware of it that makes you case all the more sad.
Perhaps if you knew it, and wept over it, you would come to Christ; but since you do not
know it and do not feel it, that is a proof of your hostility. Now come! I must suppose
you to be hostile to Christ, unless you love him; for I know there are only two opinions
of him. You must either hate him or love him. As for indifference with regard to Christ,
it is just a clear impossibility. A man might as well say, "I am indifferent towards
honesty." Why, then he is dishonest, is he not? You are indifferent to Christ? Then
you hate him. And why is it that you hate him? Many a time you have been wooed by the
gospel; you have resisted appeals, many of them; come, now, for which of Christ's works do
you hate him? Have I a persecutor here? Sinner! for what dost thou hate Christ? Dost thou
curse him? Tell me what he has done, that thou shouldst be angry with him. Point to a
single fault of his in his carriage towards thee. has Christ ever hurt thee?
"Oh!" says one, "he has taken my wife and made her one of his children, and
she has been baptized and comes to chapel, and I cannot bear that." Ah! sinner, is
that why thou hatest Christ? Wouldst thou have hated Christ if he had snatched thy wife
from the flames, if he had saved her from going down to death. No, thou wouldst love him.
And he has saved thy wife's soul. Ah! if he never saves thee; if thou lovest thy wife,
thou wilt have enough cause to love him, to think he has been so good to thee. I tell
thee, if thou hatest Christ, thou not only hatest him without a cause, but thou hatest him
when thou hast simple cause to love him. Come, poor sinner, what hast thou got by hating
Christ? Thou hast stings of conscience. Many a sinner, by hating Christ, has been locked
up in jail, has a ragged coat, a diseased body, a nasty filthy house, with broken windows,
a poor wife, nearly beaten to death, and children that scamper out of the way as soon as
father comes home. What hast thou got by hating Christ? Oh! if thou wert to estimate thy
gains, thou wouldst find that getting Christ would be a gain, but that hating him is a
dead loss to thee. Now, if you hate Christ and Christ's religion, I tell you that you hate
Christ without a cause; and let me give you one solemn warning, which is this, that if you
keep on hating Christ till you die, you will not hurt Christ by it, but you will hurt
yourself most awfully. Oh! may God deliver you from being haters of Christ! There is
nothing to get by it, but everything to lose by it. For what cause do you hate Christ,
sinner? For what cause do you hate Christ, persecutor? For what cause do you hate Christ,
ye carnal, ungodly men? What do you hate Christ's gospel for? His ministerswhat hurt
have they done you? What hurt can they do you, when they long to do you all the good in
the world? Why is it you hate Christ? AH! it is only because you are so desperately set on
mischiefbecause the poison of asps is under your lips, and your throat is an open
sepulchre. Otherwise, ye would love Christ. They hated him "without a cause."
And now, Christian men, I must preach at you for just a moment. Sure ye have great reason
to love Christ now, for ye once hated him without a cause. Did ye ever treat a friend ill,
and did not know it? It has been the misfortune of most of us to do it sometimes. We had
some suspicion that a friend had done us an injury; we quarrelled with him for weeks, and
he had not done it at all. What he had done was only to warn us. AH! there are never tears
like those we shed when we have injured a friend. And should we not weep when we have
injured the Saviour? Did he not come to my door one cold damp night, and I shut my door
against him? Oh! I have done what I cannot undo; I have slighted my Lord, I have insulted
my friend, I have thrown dishonors upon him whom I admire. Shall I not weep for him? Oh!
shall I not spend my very life for him? for my sins, my own treachery spilled his blood.
Monuments, ah! monuments I will build; where'er I live, where'er I go. I'll pile up
monuments of praise, that his name may be spread; and where'er I wander, I'll tell what he
did, with many a tear, that I so long have ill-treated him and so fearfully misunderstood
him. We hated him without a cause; therefore, let us love him.
III. TWO LESSONS TO THE SAINTS.
In the first place, if your Master was hated without a cause, do not you expect to get
off very easily in this world. If your Master was subject to all this contempt and all
this pain, do you suppose you will always ride through this world in a chariot? If you do,
you will be marvellously mistaken. As your Master was persecuted, you must expect to be
the same. Some of you pity us when we are persecuted and despised. Ah! save your pity,
keep it for those of whom the world speaks well; keep it for those against whom the woe is
pronounced. "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you." Save your pity
for earth's favorites; save your pity for this world's lords, that are applauded by all
men. We ask not for your pity; nay, sirs, in all these things we rejoice, and "glory
in tribulations also, knowing that the things which happen unto us, happen for the
furtherance of the gospel;" and we count it all joy when we fall into manifold
temptations, for we rejoice that the name of Christ is known and his kingdom extended.
The other lesson is, take care, if the world does hate you, that it hates you without a
cause. If the world is to oppose you, it is of no use making the world oppose you.
This world is bitter enough, without my putting vinegar in it. Some people seem to fancy
the world will persecute them; therefore, they put themselves into a fighting posture, as
if they invited persecutions. Now, I do not see any good in doing that. Do not try and
make other people dislike you. Really, the opposition some people meet with is not for
righteousness' sake, but for their own sin's sake, or their own nasty temper's sake. Many
a Christian lives in a housea Christian servant girl perhaps; she says she is
persecuted for righteousness' sake. But she is of a bad disposition; she sometimes speaks
sharp, and then her mistress reproves her. That is not being persecuted for righteousness'
sake. There is another, a merchant in the city, perhaps; he is not looked upon with much
esteem. He says he is persecuted for righteousness' sake; whereas, it is because he did
not keep a bargain sometime ago. Another man says he is persecuted for righteousness'
sake; but he goes about assuming authority over everybody, and now and then persons turn
round and upbraid him. Look to it, Christian people, that if you are persecuted, it is for
righteousness' sake; for if you get any persecution yourself you must keep it yourself.
The persecutions you bring on yourself for your own sins, Christ has nothing to do with
them; they are chastisements on you. They hated Christ without a cause; then fear not to
be hated. They hated Christ without a cause; then court not to be hated, and give the
world no cause for it.
And now may you who hate Christ love him; Oh! that he would bring himself to you now! Oh!
that he would show himself to you! And then sure you must love him at once. He that
believeth on the Lord Jesus will be sure to love him and he that loveth him shall be
saved. Oh! that God would give you faith, and give you love, for Christ Jesus' sake! Amen.
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