Mockery
1Co 1:18 For the message
about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God's
power to us who are being saved.
Down the
centuries Christians have been held in derision all over the world for their beliefs.
Jesus anticipated this when he stated in Matthew 5:11,
12 “Blessed are you when people
insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in
heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you”.
The very
name ‘Christian’ was probably given to the early Christians disciplines in Antioch Gujarat had described Jesus as a ‘demon’. When this was
brought to the notice of those in power, they callously replied the error would
be corrected next year and that was that. If the founder of any other religion
were insulted thus, there would have been riots all over the country!
The preaching of salvation through the sufferings
and death of the Son of God on the cross appears to be foolishness to most – to those on the way to destruction
according to St. Paul in 1Corinth 1:18. There
were two dominant cultural groups in the first century in Judea .
One group was the Jews. Millennia ago God had promised them a Messiah, a king
who would rule justly. There were about 350 prophecies that predicted the
arrival of this Deliverer, a great leader who suffers terribly, “a suffering
servant” who would take upon Himself the sins of the mankind. Through His
wounds He would win a great victory; His death would make possible a future
when all that is wrong with the earth would be set right.
But the idea of a suffering servant did not really catch on among the Jewish nation.
They longed for a victorious Messiah, not a suffering one. The image of the suffering servant went
underground, lying dormant for centuries. When Jesus did not confirm to their
image of a conquering hero, a triumphant army general, who would overthrow the
Roman rule and establish an earthly kingdom in Israel
The
other group was the Romans – the ruling elite. They had adopted the Greek
culture including their religion and language. To say the Word becoming flesh
was nonsense to them. According to them God was the embodiment of virtue and
wisdom. He was holy and pure beyond description. The human body was corrupt and
no righteous God can ever live in it. Thus, they refused to believe that Jesus’
claim that He was the Son of God. A poor carpenter’s son from the provincial
town of Nazareth
1. NOAH:
Genesis 6 speaks of an ancient time when
God had decided to wipe out mankind off the face of earth because of the
spiraling violence and increase in wickedness among the earthlings. He wanted
to spare Noah and his family from the coming violence, as he was blameless
before God and walked in close fellowship with God. God asked Noah to build a large boat of certain specification which will accommodate
his family and selected animals and protect them when the cataclysm strikes. But
public reaction to this mammoth project and Noah’s warning was ridicule and indifference. They ignored
Noah’s entreaties and went about their way. Noah offered to take into safety
anyone who believed in God’s word, but there were no takers.
Noah stood his ground. He ignored the
mockers and went ahead. He didn’t mind opposing the whole world. Hebrews 11:7 says “ it was by faith that Noah built a large
boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about
things that had never happened before. By his faith, Noah condemned the rest of
the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith”. Consequences
of deliberate disobedience to God’s words bring disaster.
2. DAVID – We read in 1
Samuel 17 about David arriving
at the battlefield as the Philistines and the Israelites were getting ready to
fight. His brothers who were in the army mocked him and accused him of being
there only to watch the fun. When Goliath, the Philistine giant mocked
Israelite army and God, David offered to
go fight him. King Saul was not very enthusiastic about this young stranger
making tall claims. But David ignored them all, proceeded to fight, confessing
God’s name, killed the Philistine and secured great victory for Israel
During his elevation of the king
of Israel
3. HEZEKIAH: We read his story in 2Chronicles 32. The Holy Bible grades him as a “good
king” not only for his righteousness
and steadfast faith but also for the
extensive religious reformation works he carried out. When he was attacked by
the Assyrian emperor, Sennacherib he
found himself no match for the enemy’s mighty army and turned to the Lord. The enemy
general sent several letters to
Hezekiah and made direct contacts with
the people mocking them, insulting the king -- and worse of all -- mocked and
blasphemed the Lord. He even claimed
that it was God who told him to attack Judah
Hezekiah
went to the temple in the company Isaiah, the prophet, spread the insulting
letters at the altar, cried and prayed. The Lord answered their prayers. The
Bible says that very night the angel of
the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. So
Sennacherib returned to Nineveh
4. NEHEMIAH
Nehemiah
carried a great burden on his heart since he heard Jerusalem Jerusalem
the
wall. This Herculean task he undertook in great faith and courage.
The
opposition to the project was enormous. Amidst mockery, insult, threat of
violence and political interference, he persisted in prayer and with the help
of his assistants and residents he completed the wall in 52 days. The walls have been lying
in ruins for 142 years! You read about his extraordinary story, narrated in the first person, in Nehemiah 4, 5, 6.
5. JESUS CHRIST
No story of mockery can be complete
without mentioning our Lord’s experience. He who warned his disciples about the
ridicule and insult they would have to face in the near future Himself became a
victim of its most serious form – perpetrated by mortals.
Mockery was a great ingredient in our
Lord's woe. Judas mocked him in the garden; the chief priests and scribes
laughed him to scorn; Herod’s treatment was the most disgraceful; the servants
and the soldiers jeered at him, and brutally insulted him; Pilate and his
guards ridiculed his royalty; and on the cross all sorts of horrid jests and
hideous taunts were hurled at him. Ridicule is always hard to bear, but when we
are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it cuts us to the quick.
Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess,
and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting
out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim!
Did King David experience such taunts
from his enemies? He wrote 900 years before Jesus in Psalm 22:7 “All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip,
they shake the head’’.
Even when he was
going around doing good, he has been subjected to mockery. See Mark 5:38 When they arrived at the house of
Jairus, Jesus saw the commotion and the people weeping and wailing
loudly. He went inside and asked, “Why all
this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him. But the dead girl got up and sat!
His disciples were mocked on Pentecost. They were filled with
Holy Spirit and were prophesying and onlookers said they were drunk. These
unfortunate men were actually mocking the Holy Spirit.
People may taunt you when you tell them about the
free offer of salvation; are you prepared to be ridiculed and humiliated for
your faith? Rejection of Gospels is common; ignore the personal feelings of
insult, rejection. Our task is to invite others to God, to let them hear the
good news. The Holy Spirit will take over from there.
Anyone
who doesn’t accept Jesus is the son of God who came in flesh,
anyone refusing
to believe in the redemptive work Jesus did in Calvary ,
anyone
who denies that Jesus is the way to God and there is no other way – he/she is
guilty of mocking God.
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