Scoffers and
Mockers of Christ
On the 24th
February there came a news in most of the major news papers of our country that
captured my eyes, heart and mind: “Jesus was a Tamil Brahmin.” The news
further said that Jesus was born in a Tamil Vishwakarma Barhmin family; the
Christian religion which he established is an offshoot of Hinduism. Jesus took
Samadhi in Kashmir.
Basically, all these baseless
claims were made by Ganesh Savarkar in his book named “The Hinduism of
Christ.” Ganesh Savarkar, who was also called as Babarao, was the eldest
brother of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Both of them have been among the five
founders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
In his controversial book
Babarao wrote that the real name of Jesus Christ was Keshav Krushna. His colour
was dark black; and according to the Brahmin tradition Jesus underwent the
ritual of ‘Munja.’ Jesus lived in Palestine and Arabia which were then the parts
of Indian territories. Jesus had then come to India to learn Yoga and
Spirituality. When Jesus was crucified He remained alive because of the
practice of Yoga and spiritual exercises. His wounds were healed by applying
the medicinal plants in Himalayas because of which Jesus regained His strength
and health. Then Jesus took Samadhi in Kashmir.
When we listen to these
baseless claims we certainly get disturbed, our spirit within us stirres up and
retaliates. But that’s not enough, we need to defend the Scriptures; and we
need to defend the Christ of the Scriptures.
And that is why I have chosen
this passage for our meditation. I don’t want to keep you all in dark; you need
to know what’s happening around us. So that as Peter says, you may be wise like
a serpent and harmless like a dove.
In vs. 3 Peter gives
the first warning to the believers in general; that the Scoffers will come.
In vs. 1 Peter
explains the purpose why he has written both of his letters. He says that, “This
is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I
am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,” in other words Peter
wrote these 2 epistles in order to stir his reader’s sincere mind.
The Greek word for ‘stir’
is ‘diegeiro’ the meaning of the word is ‘to awake fully.’
I don’t think that the Peter’s readers were spiritually asleep when he wrote
these 2 epistles. But they were certainly familiar with Christ and the Sacred
Scriptures.
Why is he awaking them by way of reminder?
It’s because Peter did not want them to be ignorant about the objections of the
false teachers/scoffers. They should passionately and diligently respond to
their objections.
The first reason why Peter was doing this is because the
false teachers were raising doubts about Jesus’ second coming. Vs. 4
explains us that.
Secondly, Peter has an urgency of stirring their
minds to the truth, because he had his own death in his view. Because in
chapter 1:13, 14 Peter writes this, “I think it right, as long as I am in
this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting
off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.”
This means Jesus had reveled
it to Peter that he soon was going to be martyred for what he believed. And
with this urgency and passion Peter is stirring his reader’s heart and mind
towards the Lord Jesus Christ.
The objections of scoffers
were against the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the destruction of
Earth by fire and that there will be a new heaven and a new earth vs. 5-7.
Then in vs. 2 and 3 Peter
offers them the AK 57 Riffle to answer the scoffer’s objections. He says, “That
you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of
the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that
scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful
desires.”
In other words Peter is first
of all opening their eyes that they should not treat the coming of the scoffers
as a news. Because these scoffers have been there ever since the Old Testament
times.
E. g. in Jude in his letter
repeated the words of Peter. He called his readers to persevere in the faith of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The people whom he was writing his epistle were also
facing the severe trial of the false teachers. Vs. 17-19, “But you must
remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following
their own ungodly passions." It is these who cause divisions, worldly
people, devoid of the Spirit.”
Finally Peter in vs. 3 Peter
says that they scoff the Name of Christ in order to fulfill their own sinful
desires.
2 Peter 2:10 characterizes these scoffers as the despisers
of authority, indulgers in defiling passions, they are bold, willful,
and the ones who do not tremble while blaspheming the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
As I said that Peter didn’t
want his readers to treat the coming of the scoffers as a news; because such
people were there in the Old Testament times.
Because vs. 4 says, “They
will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers
fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of
creation."
Their saying is in order to
create doubts in the minds of the faithful followers of Christ.
In Isaiah 5:18-19 God
pronounced His woe to those who took Him for granted He said, “Woe to those
who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, Who
say: "Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the
counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know
it!"
Jeremiah 17:15, “Behold,
they say to me, "Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!"
Ezekiel 11:2-3 And he said
to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked
counsel in this city; who say, 'The time is not near to build houses. This city
is the cauldron, and we are the meat. '
Ezekiel 12:27 "Son of
man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, 'The vision that he sees is for
many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.”
Malachi 2:17, “You have
wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, "How have we wearied
him?" By saying, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the
Lord, and he delights in them." Or by asking, "Where is the God of justice?"
If we think that the founders
of RSS have not read the Bible then we will be wrong. I am sure they all have
read the Bible from back to front. But they hate what they have read. They
believe that Jesus is the Lord and Savior and shudder like the demons do.
There have always been
attacks on the Deity of Christ. They were there in the past and they are there
today, it’s nothing new. But the point is: the reason why Christ’s Deity is
under attack is because nobody can confess Jesus and sit on the fence. In other
words if you confess Jesus you must submit to Him. That is exactly what these
scoffers of Christ don’t want to do. There is no doubt that Babarao Savarkar is
a mocker/scoffer of Christ. He has scoffed Jesus in order to follow his own
sinful desires. Can scoffers of Christ be forgiven, of course yes! But Babarao
Savarkar cannot be forgiven because he is dead and gone.
So, the scoffers will come
and create doubts among the believers and then secondly;
In vs. 5 Peter says that they
not only overlook the Truth but they deliberately overlook the Truth. The word ‘deliberate’
in Greek is, ‘ethelo’ it means they ‘wished’ to
overlook the Truth.
The word ‘overlook’
in Greek is ‘lanthano’ it has the idea in it of ‘lieing’
or to ‘hide’ the truth.
So Peter says that they chose
to ‘lie’; or they chose to ‘hide’ the facts about
God’s act of Creation and the Means of God’s Creation. It means God used His
Word (The Lord Jesus Christ). It also means that the scoffers hide these
Biblical Truths in order to perpetrate their own ideas.
Secondly, they hide the fact that God created the
entire universe with His Word vs. 5. Then the scoffers of Christ deliberately
overlook the Truth that the world was deluged through that same Word and the
world was destroyed by the water vs. 6. And finally they overlook the Truth
that God has kept this world reserved to be destroyed by fire and they are kept
until the judgment by that same Word of God vs. 7.
We can see that everything
that God has done Jesus Christ is very much active in it. It means you cannot
ignore Jesus Christ and claim to have attained God. If you want to know God you
must come to Christ.
This is exactly what
Babarao Savarkar has not done: he has completely overlooked the Biblical data
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He has come up with his own Jesus who has no basis
at all. Paul describes such a person in Galatian 1:8, “But even if we or an
angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached
to you, let him be ACCURSED.”
