12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Dr Tong started by reviewing last week's lesson, placing emphasis on the fact that Christ scorned the shame He suffered while He was on earth. We ought to look down on the sufferings we received, and look lightly upon those who looked down on us and who created those humiliations. This is how we can have victory over our problems. We should be skeptical towards skeptics, become agnostic towards the agnostics, be doubtful about the doubters. Satan tempted Eve with doubts about God, telling her that God does not want her to know too much. Dr Tong said that Eve should have asked Satan how he knew that God does not want her to know too much. She should have doubted the doubts. Those who are against us must stand before the LORD one day for judgment, so there is nothing great about them.

Dr Tong commented on the recent Bali bombing disaster, saying that it is the dumbest of the dumb things that can happen in Indonesia. While this incident is disastrous, Dr Tong said that for the past few years, more than 800 churches in Indonesia had been burnt and Christians killed without a single person being convicted in court. But now that Caucasians have been killed, the Indonesian authorities went into action. Dr Tong said that the outcome is not good, but at least some form of justice is being done now. But the justice of the world would not be perfect, we need to look for heavenly justice, and look towards the joy of heaven instead. We can have victory over the world only when we live a heavenly life while on earth, with the principles of heaven. The only question is if our sufferings are for the kingdom of God. If it is, we can be rest assured that things would work out fine eventually.

The verses in 3 and 4 tell us that Jesus Christ faced much oppositions when He was on earth. Isaiah 53 said that the LORD was a man of sorrows, familiar with sufferings. He faced seven different areas of oppositions:

1. He was rejected by the world He had created
John chapter 1 already told us that He came into His own world, but was rejected by the world He had made. The world wants all the good things from God, but would reject God. In the same manner, Christians want the blessings from God, but we do not want God Himself. The world repaid the God of creation with the cross, injustice and unrighteousness. Christ was born not in a place for man, but a place for the animals. This was most ironical since He created the earth. If one were to be rejected by the hotel one owns, one would be very angry. This was the way the LORD was treated.

Typically for Christmas, we receive cards with pictures of the manger that had glittering gold and silver on them, and even perfume. But in reality, Christ was born in a smelly place. Dr Tong related how he once found himself in a place with cows and goats, and how terribly smelly it was. After that encounter, he never looked at the picture of the manger in the same manner again. He understood even more the love Christ had for us, being born in such a lowly place, rejected by the world He created. He never fought for His own rights.

2. Jesus Christ was rejected by His own people.
Although Jesus was born a Jew, His people never accepted Him. Till today, the Jews would not accept Him as messiah. Dr Tong said that this is quite remarkable, because among all the races, the Jews spent the most time teaching their young about the scripture. In the theologian Richard Niebuhr's book "Christ and Culture" , Niebuhr pointed out that the existence of Christ became the largest threat to the Jewish culture, which was why the Jews must kill Him. So although Pontius Pilate could not find anything wrong with Christ (he proclaimed three times that he had found nothing wrong with Christ), the Jews still wanted Christ to be crucified. Dr Tong had several opportunities to preach to the Jews, and had always pointed out to them that there is not a single reason why they should oppose Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus Christ was rejected by His own brothers
John 7 tells us that Jesus Christ's own brothers did not believe in Him. The Roman Catholics do not believe that Jesus had brothers since they believe that Mary remained a virgin, but this is not what the Bible tells us. The book of James and Jude were written by the brothers of Christ. James was the earliest martyr among the apostles. Many Christians have the same experience of rejection from their own family, especially when they attempt to preach the gospel to their family members.

4. Jesus Christ was rejected by the teachers of the law
The Pharisees, scribes, teachers of the law rejected Christ. This was most ironical since they were people who studied the revelation of God. All Jewish children would be trained in the law since they were five, and by the time they were 12, they are considered as adults. The Roman Catholics would spend 240 hours a year in religious education, the Protestants about 100. The Jews would spend more than 300 hours a year on their scripture, more than 2500 hours by the time they were 12. At 12, they would go through the Bar mitzvah, which means they are now a child of the law. They are unique in this manner, no other people would have such strict upbringing. But ironically, they did not understand Christ, and their teachers of the law opposed Christ strenuously. They accused Jesus Christ and crucified Him via the hands of the Romans.

5. Jesus Christ was rejected by His own disciples
Jesus Christ was betrayed by Judas, who gave Him away with a kiss. Many people thought that Judas must have been a person who was evil, and did not believe in God. But Dr Tong said that the reality is probably astonishing. Judas must have been a person who believed that Jesus Christ had great power and could work great miracles. He probably thought that if he were to betray Jesus Christ, Christ would work a miracle and escape from judgment. In this manner, he would be able get his 30 pieces of silver and still not harm his master. His motivation was simply because of greed, and he thought no harm would come to his master.

Dr Tong related how he once saw a billboard for the play "Jesus Christ Superstar" and how this play misrepresented the truth, indicating that Jesus Christ was betrayed because the disciples loved him and was not loved in return. Yet for seven years, the play went on with full attendance. In contrast, no one would listen to a preacher if he were to repeat the same sermon for seven years. The reason is simply that the theater can bring falsehood to life, while a preacher often put to death that which is true through his bad preaching.

The LORD sent seventy-two disciples ahead of Him to preach the gospel, and they returned with great stories of success. Jesus Christ went to preach as well, but He was not successful. Dr Tong said this showed that Christ gave the easiest tasks to His disciples, and led by example. The disciples all came back with great reports of success. Rev Yang Xao Tang wrote in his book that as a seminary principal, he loved and hated listening to reports. This was because reports indicate the great work of the LORD, they can also be filled of lies. Jesus Christ was not taken in by their reports, but reminded them that they ought to give thanks for their own salvation (Luke 10:20). Every servant of God needs to understand the significance of this.

Judas was wrong of course, and after six trials through the night, Jesus Christ was sentenced to death, and was crucified. Judas knew of this, and committed suicide, indicating that things did not turn out the way he thought it would. He must have been completely shocked that Jesus Christ gave Himself over to the authorities in this simple manner.

6. Jesus Christ was denied by the disciples He loved most
To be betrayed by strangers would be painful, but to be denied by people you loved most must have been worse. Jesus Christ was denied by Peter, the disciple He loved most. Christ told Peter that he would deny Him, and Peter kept denying it. Dr Tong said that after so many years of ministry, he recognizes two type of people. The first would say, "I want to repent", the second would say, "I repent". The first would say, "I want to preach", and second would say, "I preach". Many a times, we say we want to do all sorts of things, but in the end, few actually do them. Jesus Christ said that there were two sons, one said he will not go but went. The other said he will, but did not go. It would be the first that the LORD accepts. Many Christians lie to God all the time. Peter was such a person. He even swore that he did not know Christ. But Christ was so merciful to Peter, and restored Him later.

7. Jesus Christ was rejected by the robbers
The Bible says that both robbers rejected Christ initially, and both laughed at Him. Instead of cursing at them, Christ accepted one of them when he repented. Christ's spirituality was so great that He had no bitterness even towards the robbers who despised Him. Christ was so very patient with His people and His disciples.

Dr Tong then challenged the people to answer the question "What is the main theme of Christ's ministry while He was on earth". Dr Tong said that many people have been attending church all their lives, but few would understand this. The answer is "The kingdom of God". None of the disciples understood this even though Christ was with them for more than 3 years. Ironically, only the robber understood this as he asked Jesus Christ to remember him when His kingdom come. Even after the resurrection, Christ had to stay for 40 days to teach them about the kingdom. And yet before He ascended, the disciples were still asking about the earthly kingdom rather than the heavenly kingdom. Here, Dr Tong got a little upset that as he spoke, the congregation still could not comprehend the seriousness of the message Dr Tong was trying to convey.

So with such a LORD who withstood so much opposition, we ought not to lose heart. Furthermore, we have not even reach the stage where we were to bleed for our faith, as the sum of all our sufferings would not be comparable to what Christ had gone through.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.