.png)
John – From the Upper Room... (6 of 12)
A Serious Reality Check – If the world hates you...
John 15:18-25
John 15:18-25 (ESV) –
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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. 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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 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. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 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. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’”
Can you feel the uncomfortable topics of opposition, hatred and persecution?
Jesus’ words need to form and correct our expectations. He speaks directly about the hatred the world has for Him and for all who will ever be His followers. Jesus says (verse 1, NIV) – ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.’ We should expect opposition for following Jesus and considering this theme leads us to gaze upon and consider His crucifixion.
1. Committed followers of Christ will face opposition from the world!
Jesus tells His disciples that they shouldn’t be surprised if the world hates them, they should expect such treatment.
John 15:18-19 (ESV) –
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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.”
1 John 3:13 (ESV) –
“Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”
Mark 11:9-10 (ESV) –
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
John 19:6 (ESV)–
“Crucify him, crucify him!”
Jesus tells His followers to expect opposition. Followers of Jesus in every generation should expect to experience hatred and persecution for identifying with Him.
The world is in rebellion against God.
1 John 2:15-17 (ESV) –
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
James 4:4 (ESV) –
“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
The world is in sinful rebellion against its Creator. Picture a tug of war between the world and the will of God. The world pulls one way and the demands of discipleship pull the other.
John 7:7 (ESV) –
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”
Jesus told His disciples that He was going away and returning to the Father and what that means for His disciples is that the opposition that focused on Him was about to be turned on them.
John 16:2 (ESV) –
“They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”
The world has a hard time with those whose supreme allegiance is to Jesus when they’re living in rebellion against Him. Jesus’ point is that we shouldn’t be surprised by the world’s hatred.
John 15:21 (ESV) –
“But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”
John 15:22-24 (ESV) –
“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. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 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.”
Those who rejected Jesus were not rejecting Him because of a lack of information; they had heard Him speak and seen His miracles but yet stubbornly rejected Him, continuing in sinful rebellion against God.
Matthew 11:20-24 (ESV) –
“Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) –
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way...”
Romans 3:23 (ESV) –
“... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...”
John 15:25 –
“They hated me without a cause...”
Psalm 69:4 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies.”
2. We need to allow Jesus’ words to His disciples to transform our perspective and expectations about suffering and persecution.
John 15:20 (ESV) –
“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.”
John 15:20 –
“A servant is not greater than his master...”
John 13:16 (ESV) –
“Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
Opposition for the sake of Christ is normal. We need to expect that the world will not understand our values and priorities.
Matthew 5:10 (ESV) –
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) –
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...”
Acts 14:22 (ESV) –
“...through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Jesus gives His first disciples and all who will ever be His disciples a dose of reality so that we don’t get blindsided and find ourselves asking – Where in the world did that come from?
A complete lack of opposition is NOT a sign of spiritual health. We need to recalibrate our expectations because seeking first the Kingdom of God produces push-back and resistance.
James 1:2 (ESV) –
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...”
Ponder the cross, our salvation came through suffering. Pause and consider that God has a purpose in suffering.
3. When we find ourselves facing opposition, we must consider the reason for it.
How should we respond when we find ourselves facing the opposition that we’ve been told we ought to expect? I’d suggest that the first thing we need to do is to carefully consider the reason (or reasons) for the opposition, through sometimes we can’t clearly discern a reason.
It’s possible to suffer because of our own bad behavior. People are at times disliked for reasons other than their connection to Jesus. We must not assume all opposition is persecution because of Christ.
We also mustn’t assume underserved suffering never happens because it absolutely does! If the suffering isn’t because we’ve done wrong, we ought to rejoice.
Acts 5:41-42 (ESV) –
“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 (ESV) –
“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.”
Our default human condition is dead in our sins but most people see themselves as ‘generally good’. The message of our sin is deeply offensive because it says we deserve death.
Romans 6:23 (ESV) –
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 14:6 (ESV) –
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
1 John 5:12 (ESV) –
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
John 3:36 (ESV) –
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
The exclusive claim of the Gospel is offensive to many because it says other paths are wrong. Living a holy life can be offensive and can prompt resistance because it causes conviction of sin.
Sometimes hatred we experience isn’t correlated to something we’ve done wrong but what we’ve done right. We can experience opposition and hatred because of our love for the Lord.
Remember God works out His plan of salvation through suffering and this points us to the heart of the Gospel, to the cross!
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) –
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus came to offer salvation to the world in rebellion against Him and in need of salvation and He did this through laying down His life.
John 3:16-17 (ESV) –
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Philippians 3:20 (ESV) –
“...our citizenship is in heaven...”
John 16:33 (ESV) –
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”