“And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.” Acts 4:1–3
There will always be people who don’t like Jesus. Jesus himself promised this would be the case. Why do you think this reality exists?
A major reason is that people don’t like hearing that they’re in the wrong. We see this in our text today. The Sadducees and priests didn’t like what Jesus’ first followers were preaching because it was different from their own message. In essence, it demonstrates that the Jewish leaders were wrong. And they hated those who claimed they were wrong.
The Christian message does just that: it states there is something desperately wrong with humanity. We have broken God’s laws. We are sinners. We need someone to save us from our sin because we can’t save ourselves. It’s interesting, though, that most people believe they can redeem themselves by doing good things. They think, If I can be “good enough,” then God will overlook the bad things I’ve done.
But the message of Christianity is that it’s not possible to do enough good things to earn God’s forgiveness. Instead, someone else must do good works for us and incur the punishment for our sins. This is exactly what Jesus did when he lived a perfect life and died on the cross to bear the penalty we should have paid.
But there will always be people who hate this message. Don’t be afraid, though. Jesus is with you by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he will help you.
Read
- Why do you think Jesus says the world “cannot” hate you, especially if it feels like it sometimes?
- How is someone else telling you your works are evil different from Jesus telling you that? If someone doesn’t believe Jesus is God, what difference is there when they hear Jesus or someone else telling them their works are evil?
- When someone says something hateful to you, who are they saying it against? How can you imitate Christ to them in these moments?
Prayer
Our Father, give us the strength to love those who don’t love you. Would you save them? Help us to trust you when we are persecuted and to pray for those who hate us because of you. We need your help, and you have promised to give it. Thank you so much. Amen.
This devotion is adapted from Week 8 of the Acts Study Guide.
