Then Took They Up Stones

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-24-2023

John 8:56-59

 

Introduction:

 

A.  In verse 59, we find the result of rejection and hatred for Christ.  They not only wanted Him gone, but they also sought to kill Him for the words that He spake.  I have often said that Jesus Christ was the most hated man who ever walked on this earth.

 

1.  Hated by the Jews.  These Jews were “His own” earthly people.  This verse would have been easier to understand if Christ had been a Gentile, as the Jews had little to do with other races of people.  (Peter ate with Gentiles until the Jews approached, then he disassembled from them. Galatians 2:11-12.)

 

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 

 

2.  Hated by Religion.  Mark 15:11-13  But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.  (12)  And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?  (13)  And they cried out again, Crucify him.

 

3.  Hated by the world. John 15:18-20  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 

 

Matthew 7:13-14  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

 

4.  But so loved by many who came to Him by faith and love.  John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

 

John 20:28-29  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.  (29)  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

 

B.  Their hatred was unfounded.  John 15:25  But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

 

C.  As with most people the problem these people had with Christ was an authority problem.  Many were highly educated so naturally, humanly speaking, thought they knew more that Christ.

 

D.  He was despised, rejected of men. Why did they hate Him so?

 

Isaiah 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 

1.  They despised who He was.  John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

 

2.  They despised what He did.  John 15:25  But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

 

3.  They despised what He said.  Luke 4:22  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

 

E.  Some reasons He Was hated.

 

1.  He was hated by the people He grew up around because He said that God loved the Gentiles as He did the Jews.  Jesus changed their world view.  Though Israel continues to be the Covenant People of God, in the end-time, God broke off the natural branch and grafted in the wild branch, the Gentiles.  Christ died for the sins of the world, not just Israelites.

 

Luke 4:28-30  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,  (29)  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.  (30)  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

 

2.  He was hated by the Pharisees because He challenged their traditions.  The Pharisees were traditionalists, but they had begun teaching their traditions of washing, etc. as a command of God.   When His disciples plucked ears of corn and He healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11)

 

Matthew 12:14  Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

 

Mark 3:6  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

 

Luke 6:11  And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

 

3.  He was hated by the Pharisees when He placed His authority above theirs.  Today’s problem is still an authority problem.  Jesus Christ was and is the Authority and He gave the Sabbath and He is the God of the Sabbath.  He made the lame to walk again on the Sabbath.  (John 5:1-16)  The authority of the Pharisees was not to be challenged but Christ did.

 

John 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

 

4.  He was hated when He made Himself equal with God. Jesus was God!  God is one God, manifesting Himself in three Persons,  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  These three are all co-equal in power and attributes.  (John 5:17-18)

 

John 5:17-18  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.  (18)  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

 

5.  He was hated when He called Himself that name that was only for God.  He placed His name above that of the fathers of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  “Before Abraham was, I am”  (John 8:48-59)

 

John 8:57-59  Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?  (58)  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.  (59)  Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

6.  He was hated because He claimed to be one with the Father and eternal life found only in Jesus Christ.    (John 10:27-30)

 

John 10:31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

 

7.  He was hated because the marvelous works that He performed.  The works that Christ did made Him the undeniable Son of God.  (John 10:31-38)

 

John 10:39  Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,

 

8.  They hated Him because He raised Lazarus from the dead.  As He raised Lazarus from the dead, we who die in Christ will also be resurrected.   (John 11:45-52)

 

John 11:53  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

 

9.  They hated Him when He cleansed the Temple.  Christ did not leave their unbiblical practices in His house to stand.  Man loves religion but God does not.  Religion is a man-made set of rules and practices that are not found in the Bible.  (Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-48)

 

Mark 11:18  And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

 

Luke 19:47-48  And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,  (48)  And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

 

10.  They hated Him because He said that the Kingdom of God would be taken away from the Jews and given to the Gentiles.  (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-2; Luke 20:9-19)

 

Matthew 21:45-46  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.  (46)  But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

 

Mark 12:12  And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

 

Luke 20:19  And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.

 

Conclusion:  Every word He spoke was gracious.  Every miracle He performed was right and good.  Every message He preached was Biblical.  Every prophecy He prophesied would come to pass.  He fed them, He led them, He healed them, He raised their dead, He calmed their storms, and He loved them—forgave them—and died in their place.

 

They hated Christ and they will hate us!

 

John 15:18-20  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  (19)  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  (20)  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.