seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)
There are few words in the English language-- or ANY language, for that matter-- that are as poisonous as the words hate or hatred. No one likes to hear them, and, more often than not, they are uttered in regret.
In this world today, the word hate-- or any of its cousins: hatred, hateful, etc.-- is everywhere. In the high school where I teach, I probably hear young people and the teachers who teach them say it more than a few times a day. Young people especially are growing up in a society where much of the popular entertainment directed at them celebrates attitudes that are rude, crude, vulgar, disrespectful of authority, and rebellious. Violence, promiscuous sexuality, "alternative" lifestyles, and crass materialism are vigorously promoted. Objections to the homosexual lifestyle or to premarital sex are presented as old fashioned, intolerant, and judgmental. It seems that tolerance is the chief virtue and everything is to be tolerated-- except intolerance of sin! And if something isn’t immediately pleasing or gratifying, it’s okay to announce to everyone within earshot that “I hate it.” If we can’t get what we want when want it from someone or if we think we’ve been wronged by someone to any degree, then it’s even more okay to say (even to a loved one, like a mother or father or wife or husband) “I hate you.” The word hate is the banner of self-centeredness. Self-centeredness is the root of sin. And sin is what killed Our Lord on the cross, not God’s hatred.
To fully understand hatred in this world, we must go back to the very epitome of self-centeredness…the fallen angel Lucifer, known better as Satan. Mankind’s predicament on earth began when Lucifer’s beauty got the best of him. By beauty, I refer not only to his appearance; as one of God’s angels, he must have been beautiful beyond description, but he was also endowed by his Creator with other gifts, among them tremendous intelligence and wisdom. Somewhere along the way after his creation, Lucifer told himself a lie that he believed. He felt that he was not getting his due. He was so intelligent, he was so beautiful, and he was so talented that he was convinced that he held a position inferior to what he should rightfully have. Here was an angel that thought God had wronged him, which is impossible because God is intrinsically love. It is a part of His nature. It's impossible for God to treat anybody wrong, just as it is impossible for Him to sin in any way. He is always looking out for the best interest of all concerned-- individual, group, or institution. But Lucifer, crumbling under the under the immense weight of his own vanity, told himself a lie, which he believed and which burned in him white-hot. This lie would close the chapter on God’s beloved angel Lucifer. He began trying to convince other angels that they, too, were being mistreated and that the solution was to attack God, knock Him off His throne, and then they would be in the rightful position and be able to make the rules. Tragically, self-centeredness led to Lucifer’s fall from Grace; even more tragically, it is self-centeredness that drives Satan still today to hate the very God that created him.
What does this mean for mankind? It means that the target of Satan’s hatred for God is His children-- you and me. Through disinformation and temptation, he is going to lead us toward self-satisfaction, not self-denial, because self-satisfaction is the essence of sin and when we sin we bring upon ourselves the death penalty. Jesus taught that the way to the Kingdom of God was through self-denial, not self-satisfaction. Satan is going to try to persuade us not to deny ourselves, but to fulfill ourselves at the expense of others. At no time is this more blatantly obvious than when we say “I hate this!” or “I hate you!” And when we do so-- we put ourselves and Satan first, before God. We are particularly vulnerable when we can be led to believe that we are not being treated as we deserve. That was a major ploy that Satan used against Adam and Eve. "Oh, God told you that? He's keeping something from you." "Why, if you do things the way you want, you can have much more. You can be God." We always want more. That's part of human nature.
But about God and hatred. Is it possible that God can hate? The scriptures give us a number of passages where God claims hatred of wickedness and of those who do evil. In fact, God is rather clear, even poetic, about this in Proverbs:
There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)
All of these things-- pride, lying, harming others, deceiving, engaging in activities that are not God-pleasing, gossiping, and disrupting the lives of others-- are manifestations of self-centeredness and are by-products of sin.
However. This doesn’t mean that God can’t simultaneously hate evil while pining for the evildoers to turn from their ways. A being such as God whose essence is pure love cannot embrace evil as good, nor merely wink at bad behavior. And so it is that God can hate. Although hatred seems to be a strong sentiment, just as oil and water cannot mix, neither can love and evil. To embrace love is to hate evil. God hates sin, which is why He sent us Christ some 2,000 years ago.
So, that blogger’s statement is entirely correct, though not entirely accurate. Yes, “the hatred of God was put on display at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.” God’s hatred of sin, to be specific. More importantly, God’s sacrificial love was also on display that day, however hard it may have been to see through human eyes.
Imagine, if you will, what it must have been like to be an eye-witness to the hatred and subsequent violence that Jesus endured. Perhaps a report from the “sidelines,” picking up the story on the eve of Christ’s crucifixion, might have gone something like this [from a dramatization found online]:
I watched Our Lord praying on the Mount of Olives, overcome with grief while His disciples slept, and then I watched His arrest. Our Lord remained calm when the soldiers arrived. At the High Priest's house I saw Simon Peter waiting in the courtyard with John nearby. I also saw Peter deny Christ and Christ turning to look at him. In the Sanhedrin I witnessed a temple guard strike Our Lord very brutally in the face, accusing Him of insulting the High Priest. His nose bled with the force of the blow to His left cheek. After that, I saw Our Lord standing before Herod, refusing to answer him. Then again being questioned by Pilate. I saw and heard the screaming mob outside the window, incited by the Temple authorities. They were like a pack of savage wolves thirsting for blood.
In a large open space surrounded by walls, the earth was sandy and there were many Roman soldiers. Our Lord was ordered to disrobe and the soldier beside Him then kicked him brutally on His left side, almost breaking His ribs. There was a post, a pillar made, I think, of wood, to which Our Lord's hands were tied. The brutal attack of the scourge struck Our Lord's back twenty times, drawing blood and removing the flesh in places. The beating had been very severe, the mockery no less severe. They robed Him in the red cloak of a Roman, placed the crown of thorns on His head, pressing it tightly so that it caused severe pain and bleeding, placed in His right hand a small stick as a scepter and then hurled abuse at Him. Barely able to move because of the pain and exhausted by the beating, He was dragged by the hair more than once as He was forced to make His way to the cross that awaited Him.
I cannot describe the horror of what was happening. The most brutal act of all time was taking place. Love Itself was being mocked, abused, beaten, spat upon, subjected to every insult and violent physical hatred that Satan could offer, yet Our Lord responded only with love and prayer. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The crowds were even more vicious in their attacks, pouring hatred on hatred, as did the Romans. The words used were appallingly vulgar and cruel. Our Lord was again ordered to disrobe and, led by their captain, three soldiers hammered three large nails into first the left palm, then the right, and finally His feet. The Cross was raised and fixed into a slot in the ground. The soldiers cast lots for His clothing and joined the crowd in their jeering mockery. When He asked for water, they gave him vinegar to drink. When He asked for love, they crucified Him. When He forgave them, they mocked again.
Can you possibly imagine what it must have been like to witness such violence?!
Witnesses watched as Roman soldiers crucified Jesus; but really it was mankind’s hatred, mankind’s self-centeredness, mankind’s sin which nailed Him to that cross. Yes, it was our own hands which made the hammer fall. It was our own hands that drove the nails. It was our own hands that sent Our Redeemer to his death. And it was Our Redeemer who went willingly and quietly, so that each one of us might live forever. This was not an act of hatred by a vengeful God; this was an act of unfathomable love from a God who was willing to give up His only son for you and for me.
Such sacrifice transcends human understanding and really goes against our sinful nature, particularly when we put ourselves first. Yet even in the animal kingdom, such sacrifice exists, which can help to shed light upon the love of our Creator, to Whom all living things are dear. There was an article in National Geographic magazine some years ago about the environmental effects of forest fires. It told of firefighters who made their way into one charred landscape after the fires had swept through.They saw on the ground what looked like a petrified bird, its wings spread out and touching the ground. They prodded the gray thing and it crumbled; it had burned to ash. Underneath it appeared three live baby birds. They imagined what happened: a mother bird with her nest in one of the trees knew the fire was advancing. She could have flown away like other birds and saved herself. But she had baby birds that weren’t old enough to fly. One by one she carried them down to the ground, covered them all with her wings, and let the fire pass over her. She chose to die her offspring would live.
Sacrificial love, the very antithesis of hatred, really is a God thing. And, this Lent Season, we need to remember that it is entirely a Christ thing. Christ chose to die, so you and I would live!
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