HATED BY THE WORLD (JOHN 15:18-25)
Recently, I had an unpleasant encounter with another parent on the school run. I was deliberately blocked into a parking space at the end of a street, then rudely (and wrongly) accused of bumping into their car with mine. The person was aggressive and unpleasant, and they weren’t alone. The whole gang of friends stood scowling as I drove away, feeling upset and unjustly targeted. This particular group of parents had been hostile towards our Christian beliefs in the past, so it felt reasonable to assume that they were trying to intimidate and bully me personally – ultimately because of my faith.
Later, I read these verses in John 15, where Jesus tells us plainly that we can expect this kind of opposition as Christians. The world hates us, he says, and we’re not meant to be surprised when it happens.
As I remembered this, my sense of intimidation faded, my hopes lifted, and things felt a lot better. I was comforted in ways only God’s Word could achieve. But why? What is so comforting about being hated? Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus says to find the answer.
It also reminds us that we’re on our way to a better place – our true home. We don’t belong on earth because we’re destined for something much better. And if we have to endure some persecution for being a Christian here, it will be worth it when we’re in heaven for all eternity!
So, take heart. You have a lasting treasure the world knows nothing about. You will one day be rewarded for the faithful stand you take for Jesus here. And in the end, though you may suffer for a little while in this world, it will quickly be forgotten in the unimaginable glory and wonder of your eternal home!
Have you experienced hostility and opposition from anyone because of your Christian faith? Does it help to know that you don’t belong here, but are destined for your wonderful ‘forever home’? How do you think identifying yourself with Jesus’ experiences can help you bear yours?
PREPARED FOR OPPOSITION (JOHN 16:1-4)
It’s good to be mentally prepared for an experience that may be difficult or challenging. When I gave birth to my first child, I had no idea there could be so many things that would take me by surprise. Several events floored me that I had no idea even could happen. Being prepared for some of them beforehand would have stopped me from panicking when things took place that I couldn’t understand and wasn’t expecting.
Until this point in John’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples had been travelling about with him, witnessing his miracles, hearing him teach, and seeing swarms of eager people follow him wherever he went. Only three chapters previously, Jesus had entered Jerusalem triumphantly on a donkey while the crowds waved palm leaves, paved the road with their cloaks, and shouted, “Blessed is the King of Israel!” (12:12-15). The disciples were probably expecting things to get better and better. Some of them may even have thought that Jesus would overthrow the Roman occupation of Israel and become a literal king, with themselves as his close advisors.
But Jesus knew that it wasn’t going to be like that at all. He knew he would soon be turned against and killed, and that his disciples would be scattered. He knew too that they, in turn, would be persecuted and even martyred for what they believed. It was all part of God’s plan, but the disciples needed to know that and to be prepared to face it when it happened.
And so, Jesus tells them plainly: “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God” (verse 2). He’s not pulling any punches. He wants them to know that life as a Christian will be hard going – even life-threatening. But he tells them these things so that they will “not fall away” (verse 1). So that when the going gets tough, they won’t be disillusioned and decide to throw in the towel.
Life as a Christian can be similarly hard today. We may not be put in prison or killed for our faith, but society has a way of making us feel like outcasts, labelling us as ‘weird’, or directing ridicule our way. When Jesus says that we can expect these things to happen, he’s not telling us so we’ll be terrified to go out and fearful of what might happen if we do. He’s telling us so that as and when we encounter opposition, we won’t be shocked or surprised. We won’t think something’s gone wrong in God’s plan. We’ll remember that this is what he said would happen.
It isn’t easy to stand alone for the truth, and Jesus’ words here don’t necessarily make it more pleasant to do so. But whatever we face, we can remember that it’s the way our Saviour prepared us for. It’s the way it will inevitably be while we live in this Jesus-hating world. But it’s a way that’s worth following as his disciple and as part of his never-ending kingdom.
Have you found it challenging to make a stand for Jesus when you know it could mean being laughed at or bullied? Does the fact that it’s part of God’s plan help you to feel more prepared to face it?
PROMISED THE SPIRIT (JOHN 15:26-27, 16:5-7)
If you’re familiar with Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (spoiler alert!), you’ll remember the scene where Obi-Wan (now Ben) Kenobi allows himself to be killed by Darth Vader. They’ve been engaged in a lightsaber battle, but then comes a point where Obi-Wan visibly resigns, lowers his weapon, and lets Vader cut him down. Viewers often respond with questions like, “Why did he do that?! Why didn’t he fight?”
The answer lies in some of Obi-Wan’s last words: “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.” Essentially, by dying, Obi-Wan becomes a ‘force ghost’, able to be present with and speak to the protagonist (Luke) at any point, and so give him the advice and help he wouldn’t have been able to give had he been limited to one particular place and time.
While the gift of the Holy Spirit is a far more wonderful and effective presence for Christians than Obi-Wan was for Luke, the way Jesus speaks about it in John 15 has some similarities. Knowing he will soon die, he says to his disciples:
It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7)
The disciples wanted Jesus to stay with them in his present human form forever. They didn’t want him to go from them; to no longer see his face or hear his voice. They could think of nothing worse. Jesus says that they were “filled with grief” at the thought (verse 6).
But Jesus knew that by leaving them and sending the Holy Spirit to them, he would be far more present than he had been previously. He would be with them at all times, able to speak to them in their hearts, and always alongside each of them, whatever they faced. They may no longer be able to see his face in the flesh, but they would know he was with them in the Spirit.
The same is true of you if you’re a Christian. Jesus may seem far away when you picture him in heaven, surrounded by angelic beings, bathed in glorious light and majesty. But the truth is, he is not far at all. He is with us in our hearts by his Spirit, whom he sent specifically so that we would never be on our own. We would never be like “orphans” (John 14:18), abandoned and unprotected.
As you live as a Christian in your school, college, or home, it may feel at times like you’re completely alone. Perhaps you’re the only believer in your class, your form, or maybe even your whole school. It could feel like the loneliest place on earth.
You need to hold on to this truth: that Jesus is always with you. He sent his Spirit, the ‘Advocate’ – someone who represents us, comes alongside us and connects us with our Father in heaven – so that you would know his strength and help, wherever you may be. You have “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24), someone who “helps us in our weakness” (Romans 8:28), and the presence of your loving Saviour with you wherever you go, each day of your life.
Do you sometimes forget that Jesus is present with you as you face the challenges and struggles of daily life? How does remembering this help you to cope with the things you find hard?
ACCOMPANIED WITH POWER (JOHN 16:8-11)
After so much talk of opposition and hatred, it can be tempting to wonder what good could possibly come from sticking our necks out for what we believe. What difference will it make anyway? If the world is going to hate us and reject Jesus, what’s the point of even trying? Why not just keep our heads down and fade into the background?
In verses 8-11 of John 16, Jesus reminds his disciples that although things will seem very bleak at times in the coming years, that will only be half the story. They will suffer and be persecuted as a seemingly weak, feeble minority, but there will be something else going on at the same time. The power of the Holy Spirit will be at work, saving literally thousands of souls.
Jesus explains that when the Spirit comes, he will “convict” the world, or as the NIV puts it, will “prove the world to be in the wrong” (verse 8). His power will convince people of three things:
But how does this actually help us when our lives and words seem to have so little effect? Well, we can’t change people’s hearts. We can’t persuade them of the truth. But God can. He can cause spiritual scales to fall from spiritual eyes, revealing things as they really are. His Spirit can work miracles!
So, as we look at the people around us and wonder whether any of them will ever wake up to spiritual realities, we need to keep our eyes fixed firmly on the power of God, relying on him rather than on our own efforts. His Spirit makes all the difference, turning the impossible into the possible. And one day, by God’s grace, we will look back and say with Paul, “I planted…but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6, NKJV).
As you go into the world today, is your focus on yourself and your own weakness? Or are your eyes fixed on the reality of God’s power? Do you believe he can change people’s hearts and give them true saving faith?
GIVEN THE TRUTH (JOHN 16:12-15)
You will find a lot of emphasis these days on believing “your truth”. Fearne Cotton has written a bestselling book called Speak Your Truth. Oprah Winfrey, the American talk show host, has adopted the concept as a trademark of her conversations, encouraging guests to speak “their truth”, regardless of what anyone else’s ‘truth’ might be.
Similarly, lots of people will say about faith: you can believe what you want (as long as you don’t try to impose it on anyone else). You have your truth; I have mine – and that’s okay. The important thing is that we’re happy and we respect each other’s views.
The problem is, we can’t all be right. The earth can’t be round and flat. There can’t be a God and also not be a God. The roughly 4,200 religions in the world can’t all be true at the same time, as they contradict each other in countless ways. There has to be one actual truth – one reality. It’s like someone holding a red pen and saying, “I believe this is blue,” while another person believes it’s green. They can believe what they want, but the pen is still ultimately red. That’s the truth.
But how can we know what the real truth about life, death and spiritual realities is?
In John 16, we see Jesus promising his disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide them “into all the truth” (verse 13). Until now, their understanding has been a little foggy, to say the least. For example, in Mark 4, after telling the parable of the sower, we see Jesus saying to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (verse 13). In Luke 18:34, we read that when Jesus explained his upcoming death and resurrection, “the disciples did not understand any of this”. And just a few verses further on in John 16, they whisper amongst themselves, “We don’t understand what he is saying” (verse 18).
But Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will change this. He will open their eyes and reveal the truth to them. He’ll show them things that will happen in the future (verse 13), and teach them truths directly from God (verse 14). They will no longer ask him confused questions (verse 23), but will understand with clarity.
And that’s exactly what happened. When Jesus rose from the dead, he spent time with his followers, teaching them and explaining clearly (verse 25) the truths they found so difficult to grasp before. And once he’d returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit came down on those frightened disciples, completely transforming them. Peter, who had not long since denied even knowing Jesus, preached boldly to crowds of people, thousands of whom were saved. Later, several of the disciples wrote parts of the New Testament, teaching fundamental truths clearly and confidently, based on what had been revealed to them by the Spirit. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “what I received I passed on to you” (verse 3).
Consequently, what we read when we open our Bibles are those same truths Jesus promised the disciples. The same truths the Spirit opens people’s eyes to when they believe in Christ. And the only source of truth for us today as we navigate this confusing world of countless beliefs and claims. I don’t know about you, but I want to know that what I’m believing is the actual truth, regardless of what anyone else thinks, and I’m so thankful for the precious gift of God’s Word to guide me into exactly that.
If you aren’t sure whether the Bible is trustworthy or not, find some good resources or ask an older Christian to help you. There is plenty of evidence to show the reliability of Scripture. Then ask the Holy Spirit to come and open your eyes to “the truth that is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21).
How does holding on to the Bible as the truth help you feel confident about what you believe? As you read it, remember to thank God for the blessing of being given the facts of how things really are!
