 Hated
Without A Cause
By Eben Jacobs
When we review the suffering of Jesus Christ during
the Lord’s Supper service, we usually think about His physical pain. We
are reminded of how His back was ripped open; how the nails pierced His
hands and feet and how the blood dripped from under the crown of thorns
over a face that was unrecognisable from being beaten by His oppressors.
But have we ever thought of how He might have
suffered in respect of emotional trauma? In John 15:25 Jesus said He would
be hated without a cause, as prophesied in Psalm 35:19. Furthermore,
Matthew 26:59-60, tells us that false testimony was sought and
false witnesses testified against Him. Psalms 35, 69 and 109, speak of
the utter loneliness, and mental agony He would experience as the deceit,
desertion and false accusations occurred before His crucifixion.
Personal trauma
As flawed human beings, we can sometimes bring real
or imagined persecution upon ourselves. Nevertheless we are from time to
time the victims of deceit and false accusations, and it can be traumatic.
For example, some decades ago I was riding the crest
of my corporate wave. When counselled for baptism, I was asked whether I
had counted the cost. I had an idea of what may come my way as a
Christian, and considered myself willing to pay the price. In retrospect I
wonder if I would have been as confident had I known what awaited me.
Shortly after being baptised, a business colleague
tried to oust me from my position by means of subtle inferences. I was
accused of misappropriation of funds, but there was no evidence of this,
as I did not deal with accounting or paying out of funds. I was suspended
for eight months while an audit investigation took place. Then I had to
face my accusers and be cross-questioned in the presence of friends and
colleagues from all over South Africa. The accusation was neither spelt
out nor explained to me. I had no way of knowing how to answer.
As I opened my Bible early on the morning of the
enquiry, it fell open at Psalm 109. I read and re-read it, and felt
encouraged because I could see my own situation in the curses that were
spoken of.
In verse 20 David prayed that these curses be turned
on his accusers. Jesus, however had an entirely different attitude, as we
see in 1 Peter 2:23, “…who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return.
When He suffered He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who
judges rightly.” (NKJV).
As the auditors could find no misdemeanour, I was
fully reinstated in the same position I held, with appropriate apologies
from the officials who had been misled. But it was not over yet.
Four years later I was once again made a scapegoat of
some financial straits that the company experienced, this time by another
party. After the submission of an affidavit, a criminal charge was laid
against me. At that time my wife was in Cape Town, so I faced the
situation alone.
The charge was read out and the affidavit handed to
me as evidence. The detective inspector pleaded with me to admit guilt and
“receive a suspended sentence from the judge next door and walk out free,”
else I would face imprisonment, and “did I know how terrible it is in
prison?” I refused, explaining that I would rather face prison than lie.
The charge was dismissed when, upon submission of
evidence, it became clear that the sworn affidavit was fraught with
discrepancies and falsehoods. But the emotional distress continued, and
often I prayed for understanding as I walked long stretches on the beach.
I think the stress I had built up eventually brought
me down with rheumatoid arthritis, to the extent that I lay helpless in
bed – my wife even had to brush my teeth.
Reviewing the experience.
But slowly the spiritual growth came and my
understanding deepened. On reading John 15:25, I took these experiences in
review and re-read Psalms 35, 69 and 109.. I realised then that David was
prophesying about the emotional suffering of Jesus Christ.
Jesus’ suffering more
than physical
 When
the muscles in my back went into severe spasms and my joints burnt like
fire, I could imagine Jesus carrying the cross on a back ripped open to
the bone. But I became more and more aware of the emotional suffering of
Jesus.. Though the Son of God, He was a man with human limitations. Though
Jesus knew in advance that the disciples would betray, disown and desert
him, He would still have felt shattered when these things actually
happened.
How terrible it must have been for Him to listen to
the false accusations from the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pontius Pilate. But
how much worse was His sorrow and disappointment when He turned to face
Peter who had sworn his allegiance but a few hours earlier. Jesus faced
these charges alone without even a character witness in support. On the
cross, as death drew near, He cried out His pain: “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?”
Jesus has been there
As Mediator and High Priest, Jesus is not ignorant of
our suffering. He experienced it to the full – physically as well as
emotionally. The Bible says “… though He was a Son, yet He learned
obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He
became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:7).
Our experience in suffering may give us some
understanding of His suffering. When we are stunned by deceit, verbal
abuse and false accusations, we can take comfort in knowing our Saviour
had similar experiences.
Paul tells us not to lose heart. “Even though our
outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…” (2 Corinthians 4:16,17).
As we contemplate the sufferings we undergo as
children of God, we can be encouraged by remembering how Jesus suffered,
and by the hope of what is in store for us.
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