20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’ ” John 15:18-25.
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This Scripture is tough to read. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; …” “HATED … WITHOUT A CAUSE”:
Why?
The existence of evil in the world, particularly against the righteous, has always been a tough question to answer. But, this Scripture begs for this question, and it seems right to try to present some possible answers.
First, we will start with a “Grand Canyon” answer. About every 3 years, I take a trip to the Grand Canyon to hike to the bottom and back up with 8 Western Michigan Christian High School classmates. Why do we, and so many like the Grand Canyon? It is scary. It is dangerous. It is dry. And, it is rocky. The answer is the broad view of the whole landscape.
Likewise, our Christian life is scary, dangerous, dry, and rocky. But, what a broad view! Psalm Chapters 35 through 38 contain this broad view. Yes, there is a lot of the wicked hating the righteous. But, there is that broad view of the LORD saving the righteous and punishing the wicked. It starts with “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me.” But, it ends with “But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.”
Second, there is the sharp and vivid contrast between how God punishes the wicked and how God blesses the righteous. It makes the righteous appreciate God’s grace even more. “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.” Romans 9:22-24. Psalm Chapters 35 through 38, previously mentioned, also contain many short parallel descriptive vivid contrasts between the wicked and the righteous.
In conclusion, evil gives the opportunity to God to broadly and vividly demonstrate His justice toward the wicked. Evil gives the opportunity to broadly and vividly demonstrate His lovingkindness toward the righteous. “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 