Allen Dvorak
04/07/09
Peter described Jesus to the household of Cornelius as One "who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). The gospel writers observe several times that Jesus was "moved with compassion" at the plight of various individuals.
At first glance, it is difficult to understand how anyone could possibly hate such a compassionate and good man. Yet the Jewish leaders clearly hated Jesus. We understand from the Scriptures that they were envious of Him; the multitudes offered to Jesus the attention and respect that the Jewish leaders coveted for themselves (Matthew 27:18; John 12:19).
Their hatred for Jesus was bred, not by His compassion, but by the truth that He spoke. Whether Jesus was talking about His identity as the Son of God or just shining the light of divine opinion on the Jews’ behavior, the truth that He offered was often met with virulent reaction.
They reviled Him and plotted to kill Him because He told them the truth (John 8:40). They were furious at Him and took up stones to kill Him on more than once occasion. Sometimes they were shamed by His implicit rebuke of them (John 8:1-11), but more often anger was the result of the teaching of truth by Jesus.
Jesus identified the word of God as "truth" (John 17:17) and taught that the reaction of people to truth would depend upon the condition of their hearts (Luke 8:4-15). First century responses to truth can still be seen in people living today nor has the passing of nearly 20 centuries dulled the explosive response that truth elicits from some.
The truth still makes some people angry. It runs counter to their own preconceived ideas of morality and religion. Rather than re-evaluate their beliefs in the light of revealed truth, they become angry and sometimes attack the one presenting the truth, even as some did Jesus. Their anger is selfish, reflecting their frustration that things are not the way that they want them.
Others try to "adjust" truth. They also have their own ideas of morality and so they view the truth of the Bible through the colored glasses of "critical perspective" and "informed reconstruction" and magically discover that the truth is really saying what they believed all along! God’s truth, however, is constant; it doesn’t change to accommodate differences in culture nor does it compromise to please the theories of men.
Truth divides (Matthew 10:34-36). Some are convicted by truth and humbled by their revealed inadequacy before God. The vast majority simply reject divine truth and seek some other "truth" more to their liking. God’s truth is too restrictive in the pursuit of their desires and so they decide to feed on the lies and foolishness of "human wisdom" instead.
Man can respond to the truth with anger, the attacks of human wisdom or even indifference, but it remains the same…and we will be judged by it on the