Scripture Reading(s)
John 15:18-27
18 “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.
Reflections
A true mark of the Christian life is that we do not generally win the popularity vote amongst the rest of the world. During the time of ministry of Jesus, there was great opposition to the Gospel as there still is today. Jesus here is trying to bring a realistic look to the Christian life while offering encouragement to press on.
Jesus speaks of a hatred that is first and foremost pointed at Him and as a result, as followers of Christ, we too experience that same hatred. Notice how in verse 25 it speaks to the fact that this hatred as no such cause. The hatred that sent Christ to the cross was not because He had committed a crime or deserved it. Jesus lived a sinless life and that is why He was the only one that could pay the penalty for our sin.
Jesus tells them that preaching the Gospel is going to bring hatred and opposition. Not because they are doing anything wrong, but because the Gospel opposes sin and offends a sinful life. However, despite what they are about to face from the world, Jesus tells them that He is going to provide a “Helper…whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth…He will bear witness about me.” That helper today is known as the Holy Spirit. With the help of the Holy Spirit we are able to find strength to keep pressing on in spreading the news of Jesus Christ.
Despite the hatred and negativity that you may or will face in spreading the Gospel, remember that we can find our strength in Jesus Christ. He experienced what it meant to be truly hated and rejected. That is why the Holy Spirit is there to be our guide in times of fear and opposition. Our strength comes from the Lord and we can rest assured that He is there to pave the way for us to be shining lights for Him despite what the world thinks.
Jesus did a number of things to prepare the disciples for the mission they will have once He left the earth. The most important thing He did was sending the Holy Spirit. In fact, it’s perhaps the most important thing He did for all humanity. It is the Spirit that lead the disciples to build the church and to join them with Paul, the apostles to the gentiles. It was the Spirit that enabled them to do miracles for demonstrating the power of the kingdom. However, the Spirit is still at work today.
That same Spirit resides in us all. It empowers us to walk that narrow and tight path. It empowers us to know truth from fiction (if we are listening). It empowers us to works that are far beyond what humans are capable of. But we must choose to live in the Spirit and to follow the direction it provides. This means that we have to always slow ourselves down, pray, think, examine the scriptures, and make the choice to follow what God is calling us too.