John 15:18-27 – “Hatred from the World and Help of the Spirit“
(Craig Kozminski)
John 15:18-27 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
———————
These past two days, we have meditated on the marks of Christian living: fruit bearing through Christ and radical love for others. While these truths challenge us, they also bring comfort, reminding us of our dependence on Christ’s righteousness, and the truth that apart from him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). In today’s passage we see Jesus preparing the disciples for another, perhaps less comforting mark of Christian living: hatred by the world. The word world here refers not to God’s creation but rather to those who remain in darkness and reject Christ.
Who does the world hate? The world hates Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and the eternally begotten son of the Father (v. 18, 20, 23, 24). Opposition to Christ’s divine nature is foretold throughout this Gospel. In John 1:11 we are told “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him”. In John 3:19-20 we are reminded that our nature as sinners predisposes us to hating the “light” as it exposes our evil deeds. In John 6:35, Christ reveals Himself as the “bread of life” causing those who were seeking a sign of miraculous power in his presence to grumble and mockingly assert that He is no more than “the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know”. In each of these instances, we are humbled to remember that the default position of our hearts is to deny Christ, to hate Him and to not see our utter dependence on the work of the Spirit to change our hearts and to renew our minds. Our default is to set our minds on the flesh, not the Spirit (Romans 8:1-11).
Additionally, Jesus teaches the disciples that they also will be hated. Previously, Jesus has warned that following Him requires self-denial and sacrifice, and that disciples will experience persecution and suffering. Here, Jesus reminds the disciples that, as image bearers of the Father and followers of Him, they will be hated by the world. The world’s hatred for followers of Christ is fundamentally rooted in the previously mentioned hatred of Christ. Because Jesus’ disciples are chosen and set apart by Him so that they are not “of the world” (v. 19), they are hated in a similar way that He was. Followers of Christ do not wear uniforms signifying themselves as members of “Team Christ” in a way that athletes do. Additionally, as a people composed of all nations they do not possess a distinct physical resemblance to one another. Rather Christians are hated because they bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and Christians serve as an earthly reminder that those of the world “have no excuse for their sin.”
This passage serves as a reminder that true Christian living is not always comfortable or popular. It is a call to prepare ourselves for the reality that following Christ will inevitably lead to friction with a world that rejects Him. Let us take comfort and find strength not in the approval of the world, but in the assurance of the Holy Spirit’s presence, who empowers us to bear witness to Christ, even in the face of opposition.
Weekly Prayer Focus: Fundraising and Capital Campaign
Daily Prayer Request: “Financial Idols.” As we move toward starting a capital campaign we will necessarily spend some time talking about money and giving to our new building project. This can feel uncomfortable for many reasons, but one of them is that we all tend use money as a source of security and it can have a grip on our hearts. Let’s pray together that our trust would be in God and not in the supposed security of finances. (MK)