Why the World Rejects Jesus and His Teachings

    

Jesus came into the world as the light. Satan, the god of this world, has never lost sight of his mission to keep humankind in darkness. He is on the job day and night, working to blind people’s minds so they will not learn or believe the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, the image of his Father, God. Because Satan had already captured the minds of the world’s inhabitants, closing their eyes to the light, the people were in darkness, and they were darkness. Therefore, those in darkness could not comprehend the light that is Jesus (John 1:5). Though Jesus was born of flesh and blood, he was also fully God. Jesus walked among people who were experts in the law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and the prophets (other books of the Old Testament). With all the knowledge of God, his commandments, and revelations of things to come, those professing to know God rejected Jesus, who the Father sent to save the world from death. They rejected him for many reasons, namely his contrasting values, outward appearance, and his teachings.

Jesus Is Different

In humankind’s eyes, Jesus did not fit the mold of the natural man. Jesus had come “to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). His love is eternal. The world could not understand his love for others or his prioritization of the needs of the sick, lost, and poor. Jesus did not put others down to build himself up. He knew who he was and why he had come down to the world. You see, the world’s values take only the self into account: what it desires, feels, and believes is right in its own eyes. Self-righteousness, hypocrisy, selfishness, a lack of humility, respect of persons, and worldly gain define the character and ways of man. Jesus cared about people, not about enjoying earthly pleasures or pursuing the world's lusts.

Jesus reminded people of their sins when they did not want to hear about how rotten they were. Human beings are great at boasting about how wonderful and moral they are and how sinful other people are. That boastfulness has only grown worse. Jesus rebukes the hypocrite. Let us not forget the story about the woman who had committed adultery and how the scribes and Pharisees, who were experts in the law of Moses, desired to stone her to death because that was the Old Testament law they used to judge others by but could not keep themselves. Jesus, having come because no man could keep the statutes of God, offered humanity a better way through faith in him; Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). Jesus’s statement cut like a sword right through their evil hearts. Scripture says, “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (v. 9). No one could condemn the adulteress, and they walked away in the fullness of their hypocrisy, knowing they could not afford to judge another sinner, being sinners themselves. Jesus did not condemn the woman; He said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (v. 11).

Hypocrites are always quick to point out the sins of other people. Jesus was keenly aware of the self-righteousness of hypocrites and their fondness for refusing to look at themselves, but they were finger-pointers. They appeared to be godly on the surface. Of the hypocrites, Jesus said, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). The ways of the hypocrite have not changed. They are still pointing fingers, being like the Pharisee in Jesus’s parable, who “stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (Luke 18:11). Publicans were despised tax collectors. The Pharisee could not see his own wretchedness and instead chose to put himself above every other sinner; he did not know Jesus or how to repent of his sins. He only saw the evil in others while considering himself perfect, like most of us do today. Jesus did not buy into humanity’s pretense of being without sin; He did not fall for it, and He continued to call people to repentance.

Men Judge the Outward Appearance

“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). People reject Jesus because he does not fit into what humankind considers popular or important. How much more, then, would they reject us when they perceive us to have no value? Humanity, not knowing a person’s heart, chooses to accept or reject another person based on background and what they can see with their eyes. How could they possibly see Jesus or accept him when he came into the world as he did? Jesus does not meet the sinner’s expectations.

Humanity perceives Jesus to come from nothing. To many, Jesus is just another man. To others, Jesus is not a real person but a myth. Jesus “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). How many people accept such a lowly being? It is not like the world to receive a person of no reputation who gives his life to serving others. Still, “being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (v.8).

Let us go further. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in a manger, in a stable, to poor parents who were from the nondescript town of Nazareth; his family did not have a name that popular society respected. Because of his humble beginnings, Jesus’s own people rejected him. Do we see the self-important people of the world accepting a man like that today? How could a world that lies in darkness and is smitten with appearances accept Jesus, who is of no reputation? Hear what his countrymen said and how they felt: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him” (Mark 6:3). Does not current society and those who say they know Jesus say the same thing when deciding whether or not to accept or reject their neighbors? Unfortunately, they do. Modern man will never accept such a person of low reputation; He would say, “I am not going to listen to that man. He is a nobody.” Have you not heard them? Have you seen them in action? Their actions reveal their rejection of Jesus.

Self-deceit is the tragedy of humankind: not having the truth in them, yet believing they do. Showing partiality toward some and disdain toward others is a sin. “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are [convicted] of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). The individual who shows favoritism to anyone because of status or for any worldly reason rejects Jesus and does not know God. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

Jesus Taught About Truth and Holiness

Jesus puts people in their place and calls for them to live in truth and holiness. He is the Word that lives forever, and his gospel shines the light on humanity, bringing their wickedness to the light. Hiding Jesus’s teachings in our hearts will help us more easily navigate this deceitful world, where sinful people hold us to standards they cannot meet. If we can believe that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), we will not get caught up in worrying about humankind’s assessment of us. We will realize that we all need Jesus to save us.

Jesus taught many truths concerning the evils of man and Satan. It behooves us to study and know the Lord’s teachings so “that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the [trickery] of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). We must turn away from any person teaching that humankind is perfect the way they are and do not require anything from God. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

Because Jesus requires that humankind live a holy life, the world rejects him. People want to do what they desire. They want to be one with the world, engaging in the lusts and pleasures of the flesh. To accept Jesus means to obey his word, which is, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). That call is a tall task that requires coming out of the world and putting on holiness. The call to holiness requires loving our enemies, loving our neighbors as ourselves, loving God with all our might, forgiving others when they sin against us, humbling ourselves, obeying God’s commands, repenting of our sins, and constantly examining ourselves first. Those are truths most cannot handle or accept. The rejection of the cross is why “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13). Few answer the call and find eternal life. Are you one of the few who have accepted the cross?

 

All scriptures are from the King James Version.

The photo above is by Daniel J. Schwarz: https://www.pexels.com/photo/red-and-white-striped-lighthouse-in-thisted-denmark-34770958/