May 8, 2021
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Readings for Today
Yesus berkata kepada murid-murid-Nya: “Jika dunia membenci kamu, sadarilah bahwa dunia telah lebih dahulu membenci Aku. Sekiranya kamu berasal dari dunia, tentulah dunia mengasihi miliknya sendiri; tetapi karena kamu bukan berasal dari dunia, dan Aku telah memilih kamu dari dunia, maka dunia membenci kamu.” Yohanes 15:18–19
Ini adalah pemikiran yang membuat kita mawas diri: “dunia membenci kamu.” Maksudnya, jika Anda termasuk di antara mereka yang telah dibawa Tuhan kita keluar dari dunia. Dalam hal itu, Yesus mengatakan bahwa dunia akan membenci Anda.
No one wants to be hated. No one wants to experience the wrath, persecution, attacks, or ridicule of another. Hatred is ugly, painful, and difficult to endure. But that is part of the nature of hate. It’s not only a form of persecution, it’s also a form of manipulation. Hate is an attack upon another by which the hater seeks to inflict injury and to manipulate them to change and conform to their will. The secular and unchristian “world” wants to win you over and away from God. Jesus offers this teaching, in part, to prepare us so that when we do experience hatred from the world, we will not be affected by it nor manipulated to turn from Him. Therefore, this teaching is a revelation of much mercy from our Lord.
Remember that Jesus spoke of three enemies of our soul. The flesh, the devil and the world. In this Gospel passage, to “belong to the world” means that a person allows themself to be negatively influenced by the countless lies embedded within the world. The secular media, pop-culture, biased opinions, social pressures, false images of happiness and the like seek to constantly misguide us and draw us in. We are regularly tempted to believe that fulfillment is found in money, our physical appearance, the recognition of our accomplishments, and much more. The world tells us that our opinions must conform to the secular values of the age—and if they don’t, then we are judgmental, close-minded, extremists, and should be shunned and “cancelled” or silenced.
Godaan dan tekanan duniawi ini nyata, dan karena itulah perkataan Yesus membebaskan. Perkataan-Nya membebaskan kita dari manipulasi dan penipuan yang akan kita alami ketika kita menghayati iman secara terbuka di hadapan semua orang. Ketika kita melakukannya, kita akan dibenci oleh dunia. Namun, mengetahui hal itu memberikan kedamaian hati ketika kebencian itu datang.
Reflect, today, upon these powerful and consoling words of Jesus. If you do not experience any form of hatred from the world, then this should be a concern and the cause for reflection. And if you do experience some form of hatred, know that our Lord prepared you for this and offers you His strength and courage to endure it with joy. In the end, all that matters is what our Lord thinks, and nothing else. In the end, if you experience hatred by the world in any form, know that this makes you more like Christ Himself.
Tuhanku yang teraniaya, Engkau menanggung kebencian dan ejekan dari banyak orang yang dikuasai oleh nilai-nilai palsu dunia. Aku berdoa agar aku boleh mengambil bagian bukan hanya dalam hidup-Mu yang penuh kasih dan kerahiman, melainkan juga dalam kekuatan-Mu ketika aku pun harus menanggung kebencian dunia. Aku menyerahkan diriku kepada-Mu dan berdoa agar Engkau senantiasa membawaku keluar dari dunia dan mendekatkanku kepada-Mu. Yesus, aku percaya kepada-Mu.
Featured images above: Christ Mocked and Crowned with Thorns By Jan Miense Molenaer
