Although ignorance of the law cannot make anyone innocent, knowledge of the law removes any excuse - as sin is brought to the surface and guilt is exposed.  The miracles and teaching of Jesus were so unique that everybody should have recognised that God was amongst them.  But the reaction of most people was to resist His authority over them, thus confirming their rejection of Him as God’s Messiah.  In a few hours after saying these words, Jesus would be the object of vicious hatred as He was unfairly tried, cruelly beaten, and crucified to death.

What evil had He done?  What lie had He told?  None!  Prophetically, King David had written, “With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.” (Psalm 109:3)  But why such hatred?  However good and powerful He had proved Himself to be, they did not want Him to reign over them (Luke 19:14).  Jesus was the ultimate threat to their arrogant independence.  That is why they wanted Him dead.  Yet that also confirmed the guilt of their rebellious and sinful hearts.

To hate Jesus is to hate God.  Many people do not realise that in professing to believe in God but rejecting Jesus as the only way to God, they are deceiving themselves and are slandering God’s character.  That is why, when people listen to the Gospel, they feel deeply uncomfortable.  The more they hear about Jesus they begin to realise they are guilty before Him. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would ensure that guilt is exposed (John 16:8-9), making people realise that they are not worthy of God’s love.

However, the Gospel can only make sense if we admit that we are guilty sinners and need a Saviour.  We should rejoice when people are under conviction of sin - yet some well-meaning but inept believers try to comfort people that they are not all that bad.  The truth is that we are all far worse than we dare to think, and far more loved by God than we could ever imagine - and only the blood of Christ is sufficient to atone for our sins (1 John 1:7).  The Gospel is God’s good news in answer to the appallingly bad news of our guilt, which Jesus speaks about and the Holy Spirit brings to the surface of our hearts (www.crosscheck.org.uk).