As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
Acts 9:3-6
Those who persecute Christians, persecute Christ Himself. This is clearly so since when Jesus appeared to Saul, He did not ask, “Why are you persecuting My people?” but rather, “Why are you persecuting Me?”
It is no stretch to likewise understand that people who hate Christians hate Jesus.
We might wonder why people hatefully persecute Christians. After all, Christians pose no threat to non-believers—at least not in obvious ways. Christians are not usually violent. They are usually quiet citizens who mind their own business. So why the hatred?
It is because all unsaved people are enemies of Christ, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:10. How and why?
Even those who ignore God are His enemies because He, being God, must be worshiped. To insist that He does not exist, or even to ignore Him, is a supreme insult to God by those created by Him to worship Him.
What could be worse? To physically attack Jesus. But since that is impossible, those who hate Him, hate and attack, or persecute, His people. Christians pose no physical threat to the unbelieving world, except that the presence of Christians is an uncomfortable reminder of God—who the world hates.
Last question. Why do people hate God so? Because sinful hearts, obsessed with personal autonomy, refuse to acknowledge and bow before Him.
Let us pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters, knowing that while we do not currently incur violent persecution, it could happen here. And let us pray for the persecutors, that God would do to many of them, what He did to Saul of Tarsus: converting a hater of Christ and a persecutor of His people, into a lover of Christ and a servant to His people.