When I Survey
H. Hoeksema
Book 3, Chapter 5
Contradicted by Sinners

"For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." (Heb. 12:3)

In the third verse of the twelfth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews the Word of God exhorts us to consider Jesus as the One that was greatly contradicted by sinners. And the practical purpose of this exhortation is that by this consideration we may receive the strength of patience, and be encouraged to stand and to continue our way as children of God in the world, when otherwise we should be inclined to grow weary and faint in the battle. For, laying aside every encumbrance, and the sin which doth do easily beset us, we must run the race that is set before us with patience. And patience is the strength to endure hardship and suffering for Christ's sake. For if Christ be in us, and we have become new creatures in Him, and we walk no longer in darkness, but in the light of life, we must expect opposition. They hated Him, they will also hate us. The more faithful we are, and the more we hold fast to our profession of His name, not only in word but also in all our walk and conversation, the more this opposition of the world will reveal itself. The world, carnal men, will contradict us. And if, then, we should grow wearied and faint in our minds, discouraged, and inclined to hang the harp in the willows, and to give up the battle, it is time we look upon the Author and Finisher of our faith. It is true, there is also a cloud of witnesses: the saints that have gone before us, that lived and battled and died by faith. They, too, endured the contradiction of all the world. But at the head of them all stands Jesus. He was contradicted more than any other. If, therefore, we are contradicted for His name's sake, we may gather courage, considering, first of all, that exactly in our being contradicted by the world we are in good company; and, secondly, that even as He endured unto glory and victory, so by His grace we may also endure. Let us, therefore, consider Him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against Himself.

And as we consider Him thus, in humble obedience to the Word of God, several questions arise in our soul, and demand an answer. What was it they contradicted in Jesus? How, and to what extent, did they contradict Him? What was the reason and the character of their contradiction? And who were they that so opposed Him? How did our Lord endure this contradiction against Himself? And what is the significance of it all for men as sinners, and for the people of God in the midst of the world?

To contradict is to speak against, to gainsay, to deny the truth of someone's testimony, and to declare the very opposite. And in the text we quoted the Word of God declares that, when God sent His Son into the world, sinners opened their mouth against Him in fierce contradiction. And this contradiction of sinners was part of His suffering, which He patiently endured unto the end.

But just what was the point of their contradiction? Was it a certain point of the doctrine which He taught that was opposed and gainsaid? Was this contradiction a matter of theological dispute, some question of the law, or of the prophets? Did they, perhaps, oppose some claim He made? Or did they impugn some of the works He performed? The answer is: He endured contradiction of sinners against Himself! In His case, the contradiction did not concern some particular point of doctrine or life: it was directed against Himself, His person, and therefore against His whole appearance. He is the contradicted One! This had become manifest in the attitude rebellious Israel, who would not hear the law of the Lord, had assumed over against all the prophets, when they said unto them: "See not...prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us." Isa. 30:10,11. And this had been predicted of Him by the gray haired Simeon when, holding the child Jesus in his arms, he prophesied: "Behold, this child is set for a fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against." Lu. 2:34. Thus it was fulfilled during His earthly sojourn, in the days of His flesh. And thus it still is: always it is the Christ that is opposed by sinners, and that is the object of their contradiction.

O, to be sure, they gainsaid His teaching, and men still do. Was ever a man more consistently contradicted than Jesus Who is called the Christ, when He walked among us in the land of Canaan, and taught the people? When He would preach the gospel to the poor, and deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, healing to the broken hearted, and liberty to the bruised, they said to Him: "Physician, heal thyself." Lu. 4:16ff. When He spoke of Himself as the Bread of life, they said: "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" John 6:60. When He was teaching in Jerusalem, and they felt impotent to resist His doctrine directly, they said: He is from Galilee, "Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." John 7:53. When He announced Himself as the light of the world, they objected that He witnessed of Himself, and that, therefore, His witness was not true, John 8:13. When He rebuked them, because they did not hear His word, they cast in His teeth: "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" John 8:48. When He presented Himself as one with the Father, they called Him a blasphemer, and would kill Him, John 10:33. And when He taught the people that the Son of man must be lifted up, they answered Him: "We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?" John 12:34. And mark you well, the striking and amazing feature of this contradiction is that it is radical and complete. It did not consist in a difference of opinion between Him and His opponents with regard to a certain point of doctrine: they contradicted Him in all His doctrine. No mere man, no sinner ever agreed with Him. Always He was contradicted by all with respect to all His teaching. O, indeed, there were those who believed on Him, and who confessed that He spoke words of eternal life, but they confessed this not through flesh and blood, but by the grace of God Who revealed it unto them.

Again, His works, too, were the object of the contradiction of sinners. When He healed men on the sabbath, they accused Him of transgressing the law of Moses. When He sought to save that which was lost, they said that He was a companion of publicans and sinners. When, in distinction from John, He came eating and drinking, they called Him a glutton and winebibber. When He cast out devils, they explained it from His fellowship with Beelzebub, the prince of devils. When He cleansed the temple, they demanded a sign of His authority, and accused Him of aiming at the destruction of the temple. And when the revelation of His marvelous power reached its climax in the raising of Lazarus from the dead, they concluded that He was a danger to the very life of the nation, and decided to kill Him! John 12:47ff. And again, let it be noted, that this opposition to and contradiction of His mighty works, did not concern merely some of the things He did: the contradiction was radical. No work of Him was ever approved by mere men. Invariably He was opposed in all He did. Also in His works He was the contradicted One!

And yet, ultimately, this contradiction against Christ's doctrine, and this opposition to His works, was directed against Himself, against His person, against Jesus that is called Christ. For all His teaching and all His works were concentrated in Himself. They were but means of His self-revelation as the Son of God, Who is in the bosom of the Father, and therefore, of the Father Himself. In all He spoke and did He became revealed as the Christ that was sent into the world, the Anointed of the Father, the promised Messiah that would redeem Israel, and establish the kingdom of God for ever. And all the opposition of sinners against His doctrine and works aimed at this one end: they intended to contradict that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Christ! They did not want Him! They would not that He should be King over them. They expected a Messiah, to be sure. But the very idea that this Jesus was that Messiah that was to come, and that they need not look for another, they hated with all their heart. Always they allied themselves, with all sinners, furiously raging against Him, and taking counsel together against the Anointed of the Lord, saying: "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." All their contradiction of His doctrine and works was aimed at Himself. They meant to exterminate His very name from the earth.

It was, therefore, inevitable that their contradiction, instead of being confined to mere words, should translate itself in deeds of violence. Mere words were powerless against Him. Often they tried to argue with Him, and to expose His doctrine as false and evil. But just as often they were completely defeated in debate, so that, finally, no one had the courage even to ask Him a question. They deliberately attempted to ensnare Him in His words, and to tempt Him to say things that would give them occasion against Him. But always they failed. And, what was worse, the more they contradicted Him in words, and tried to dispute with Him, the more they were convicted in their own conscience of their own evil works, and of His truth and righteousness. Mere words were of no avail against Him. Even when they had finally taken Him prisoner and arraigned Him in their highest court of justice, they could not successfully speak against Him: by His very silence they were condemned and pricked in their conscience. And so, their contradiction of His Person must translate itself in deeds of hatred. Often they took up stones to kill Him, but as long as His "hour had not yet come" these attempts at assassination failed. But when His hour had come, and they had overpowered Him apparently, their fury knew no bounds. They contradicted that Jesus was the Christ, by blindfolding Him, and smiting Him, by spitting upon Him, and putting Him to nought. They contradicted that He was the King of Israel, by putting on Him the mock robe and the mock crown, and putting into His hand the mock scepter, and paying Him a mock homage. All their deeds of violence were calculated plainly to disprove His claim that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Even after they had nailed Him to the accursed tree, the reproach and bitter jeers they cast into His teeth were intended unto that end. If He were the Christ, the Son of God, the King of Israel, He would come down from the cross! Where words had failed, their deeds of violence appeared to be successful: the cross was the contradiction of His claim that He was the Christ! On the cross He hangs as the contradicted One!

And let us clearly understand this: all contradiction of Christ's doctrine and works, in whatever form it may present itself, is aimed at Him! All through the centuries of the new dispensation He is contradicted. Always again, false teachers arose in the Church, "denying the Lord that bought them", II Pet. 2:1. And also in our time, He still is the sign that is spoken against. But whether this contradiction reveals itself in the crass form of atheistic hatred that deliberately seeks to exterminate the Church, and to obliterate the very name of Christ from the face of the earth, such as was the program of Russian Bolshevism, before it was supposed to be in favor of some form of religious freedom; or whether it presents itself in the very name of the Christ it contradicts, and with a form of godliness that is devoid of power, as is the case with modern religiousness; always the contradiction of Christ's word and work is directed against Himself. One is either for or against, not a certain doctrine, but the very Christ Himself!

But why should men be against Him? Why do they contradict His teaching and work? What is the meaning of this contradiction? What is its cause and nature? Did and do men, perhaps, misunderstand Him, and do they, therefore, contradict Him by mistake? If this be the case, men ought to be more fully and clearly instructed concerning Him, and their opposition to Him will gradually disappear and change into agreement. But this cannot be. For the more fully the men of His day understood Him, the more they hated Him. Is it, perhaps, a matter of intellectual disagreement, and difference of opinion, which men ought to respect in one another, and concerning which they must learn to assume an attitude of tolerance? But no: the facts contradict this. There is no more bitter spirit of intolerance than that which characterizes this contradiction against Christ. Witness the fact that they nailed Him to the cross, and hated Him without a cause. The answer is in the text: "consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself."

This explains both the cause and the character of this contradiction. The cause was sin; the nature of this contradiction is ethical: it is a matter, not of the head, but of the heart of man. Let me quote just one of the many passages of Scripture that may be adduced to prove this, that of John 8:42-47: "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God...Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do...And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not...He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." There is the answer. Christ was of God, they were of the devil; He did the will of His Father, they fulfilled the lusts of the devil; He was the light, they were blind and hated the light; He came to establish God's kingdom in the way of God's righteousness, they wanted to maintain the devil's kingdom of darkness in the way of iniquity; He came to suffer and die for God's righteousness, they wanted a Christ with power to save them, not from, but in their sin. Sinners contradicted Him, not a certain class of sinners, but all sinners, exactly in their capacity as sinners, spoke against, and always do speak against Him. And in this they do but reveal their deeply rooted opposition to, and hatred of the living God. That is the condemnation of sinners! Let us confess it!

If we do not confess this our opposition against God, we are condemned already. If we do, there is salvation in the very blood we shed by our contradiction.

For Christ died for His own, those whom the Father gave Him from before the foundation of the world. He took the No of their contradiction against God to the place of judgment, and there, on the cross, He expressed the perfect Yes in the sacrifice of perfect and loving obedience He offered as He willingly tasted death and hell in our stead, and in our behalf. By His perfect Yes, He blotted out the guilt of our No, and obtained for us the forgiveness of sins, and everlasting righteousness, so that in Him we are so perfectly righteous before God as if we had never said No but always Yes in response to the Word of the living God! And having thus sacrificed Himself, He was exalted through His resurrection and ascension at the right hand of God, and is become the quickening Spirit. He gives us the faith, whereby we confess the sin of our contradiction in true sorrow after God, and lay hold of His perfect righteousness. And He removes the spirit of contradiction, gives us a new heart, and thus causes us to change our No into Yes, to confess His name, and represent the cause of the Son of God in the world.

Then we, too, endure the contradiction of sinners for His name's sake. And if, as we suffer with Him, we should grow weary and faint in our minds, let us consider Him, and take courage! Consider that the grace of Him who so perfectly endured such contradiction against Himself, is able also to keep us even unto the end; and that, even as He, having endured unto the end, had the victory, and was exalted to the highest glory, so we shall enter into the victory He gained for us!