As John continues his gospel, he records an interesting comment/moment in Jesus's life. The festival of Tabernacles (or Booths) was at hand and Jesus does not go with His brothers. But the reasoning for why he doesn't leave with them for Judea is interesting.
This is Jesus' response to his brother’s invitation:
6 "My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it-- that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come."
What I want to focus on is not really why Jesus did not go, although this does bring huge implications to theology. Rather, I want to focus on this dynamic between Jesus (God), people, and the world. I think it is interesting that Jesus says "the world cannot hate you (us humans)."
As I wrestled through this verse, two questions came to my mind:
Does this statement by Jesus make sense?
What are we to do about it?
DOES THIS STATEMENT MAKE SENSE?
The first thing I want to address is that I believe this is a correct statement. The world not hating us makes sense as we are of and from the world! God literally created Man from dust (Gen. 2:7), which is the world. We also have desires that are worldly that are innate in us (Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5-10). This makes the world comfortable with us and us with the world. I believe that this is what Jesus is referring to as the world not being able to hate us. Our desires and comforts are the same. As long as our desires coincide with the world, conflict does not arise and hate is not produced.
It would then be logical to wonder why the world hates Jesus? It would make sense to conclude that if the world cannot hate us because we are like the world, then the world must hate Jesus because He is not like it. I believe this is why Jesus is hated and rejected from the world.
We, as humans, do not like the uncomfortable. We do what we can to get rid of pain, we chase after sinful pleasures, we stay in close groups that have the same tendencies as us, and we enjoy the comforts of the couch over the turmoil of working the field. When we get close to Jesus, He makes us uncomfortable because (1) we realize how different He is than us and (2) He shows us our spiritual deficiencies and frailty as humans.
Jesus is hated by the world because He was not like it. Where we do what we can to avoid pain, Jesus pursued death on the cross for the well being of another. Where we chase after sinful pleasures, Jesus was tempted in every way that we were and yet remained without sin. Where we stay in close groups that have the same tendencies as us, Jesus steps beyond the borders of comfort in order to offer salvation to all people. Where we often choose slothfulness, Jesus perfectly carried out the will of the Father all throughout his life.
Not only does the world hate Jesus because He is not like it, but it also hates Jesus because He testifies against it, “that it’s works are evil.” When sin is revealed there are two options to take: hide and remove yourself from the exposure, or confess and seek reconciliation.
Our natural default as humans is the former, not the latter. When Adam and Eve first realized their sin they covered and hid (Gen. 3:7-8). We can see this in our own lives as our weaknesses and sins are exposed, we get uncomfortable, feel attacked, and sometimes feel pain. This is what Jesus does to our sin. He exposes evil, condemns it, and brings to light the dependency we have regardless of how independent we think we are. It is therefore logical to conclude that Jesus is to be hated if he is exposing the sin of the world.
WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?
So then what do we do about this conundrum? Well, the good news is that we really don’t do anything. Rather, God does. Jesus not only exposes our sin, but He also offered Himself up as a sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 10:10) and, through faith, reconciles us to God (Rom. 5:9-10). This takes us out of hiding and running and transforms (2 Cor. 3:18) us to a new creation that loves the light and God's company (2 Cor. 4:2, 6). When we have faith in this truth we no longer have the world alive inside us (Rom. 6:11) but rather have the Spirit of God alive in us (Gal. 2:20; 3:14).
If these truths stand then we have another question to answer. If God now lives in us, then won't we be hated, too? Scripture answers this question for us very easily. In Luke 21:17 Jesus says "you will be hated by everyone because of my name." Once you allow Jesus to be Lord of your life, and the Holy Spirit indwells your being, the believer will see a bigger gap and separation from themselves and the world. Just as Jesus was abandon by His disciples once He switched from teaching the physical to teaching about the spiritual (Jn. 6:60-66), so will the Christian receive this kind of hate.
Conclusion
It is clear from scripture that we, as physical human beings made from dust, are worldly. We are born into sin and have an innate desire to follow our passions and lusts. This brings us (and the world) comfort, but ultimately leads to destruction.
But just as we have an innate desire for sin, we have a desire for a relationship with God. God made us in His image and for His purposes wanting us to be relationally involved with Him forever. God sent Jesus down to earth to reconcile our division from God. Jesus does this by being of the Spirit. He is Both Spirit (Son of God) and flesh (having a physical mother). He is able to show humans our true identity, hitting the spiritual issues that we try to hide, revealing our sinful identities. This makes us uncomfortable and is intended to push us closer to Him rather than farther away.
The world rejects Christ and when He is in us, we join in that rejection of/from the world. The world might hate us, but it has hated Christ first. When we encounter such hatred, may we celebrate the fact that we are that much more mirroring Christ!