John 15:18-16:4. If you are hated.

John 15:18-16:4. If you are hated.

Jesus and the disciples are likely walking towards the garden last time I was speaking Jesus talked about the vine and his relationship with the father and his disciples. - Jesus is encouraging his disciples now so that when they will have to life by faith when Jesus is gone, they will recall by the Holy Spirt what Jesus had said.

Jesus will now explain what will happen, that the disciples will be hated, or first if they will be hated, which is modified later, that they will be hated because, when people hate God and Jesus, they will also hate the ones following Jesus. As we look closer at the text, what will make the world hate Jesus disciples. (And us today who follow Jesus).

18. If the world hates you, - know that it has heated me before it hated you. When people hate you think back, the world hated Jesus. And that is why people hated me, because I follow him.

19. Because the disciples (and us) are not of this world, the world hates them. – The world loves the people that are of this world, - people that look for the same things, greed, pride, power, prestige, the flesh, the darkness, and sin and rebellion against God, no God shall be over us. And therefore, hate Jesus and God, and the people following Jesus.  Jesus reminds the disciples that he chose them out of the wordand that is why they are hated by the world. (Set apart for God, - not of this world = the world will hate you why because sin will be exposed by Jesus’ light).

20 Jesus then reminds them about his words that the servant is not greater than his master, and therefore if the persecuted Jesus, they will also persecute the disciples. The encouraging part, if they/people kept Jesus’ word, they would also listen and keep the disciples’ word. Like Jesus ministry, there will be opposition, but some will listen and follow Jesus and the disciples teaching about him. (Like the disciples we will likely experience the same if we follow Jesus; some will hate us and think we are crazy, others will find true life in Jesus and love him and keep his words as we share Jesus with them.).

22 Jesus explains, If Jesus would not have come and spoken to them and showed them their sin, they would have an excuse, but now they do not they are exposed but Jesus, and stand guilty.

23 and if people hate Jesus, they also hate his Father – Jesus is clear, people cannot worship God and hate him, therefore all other religions that reject Jesus are false he is the only way to God.

24 Jesus explains in more about why people are guilty, they have seen Jesus works that no one ells could do and seen the glory of God, in Jesus works. But instead of loving Jesus they hated him and God the Father.

25. And it was to for fill a word of the law they heated me without a cause. – Psalm 35:9 or 69.4. –

26. But when the Holy Spirt the Helper comes, whom Jesus will send, to the disciples form the Father, - He will bear witness about Jesus.

27 And the disciples are to do the same because they have been with Jesus form the beginning, - seeing his work, listing to his teaching about God, and who Jesus said he is, - seeing and hearing Jesus say and do things no other did or had done. Witnessing about who Jesus is and what he did – in life – later what he did in his death, and resurrection, and that he is coming back. Will all of this be easy, no, - as Jesus have said, it will be hard and people and the world will hate the disciples as they did with Jesus.

16:1 Jesus is saying this now, at the right time, that later the disciples would not fall away, -

2-3.  What people will do to the disciples – put them out of the synagogue – social and religious life, that some of the disciples will be killed, and thTat the people will think that they are doing God’s work in killing the disciples. (James, Stephen). Why? Because they don’t know Jesus or his father, that is why they think they are serving God, but they don’t know God or Jesus.

4. Jesus said it again – remember my words, when this will happen, don’t be surprised be ready, when this will happen. Jesus adds I did not say it from the beginning because I was with you – as we will read next time Jesus will now again speak about how he will go away.

What do we do with Jesus words? How are they encouraging?  (Don’t be surprised when people hate you – it is because the hate God and Jesus – but some will listen and keep Jesus word, - for as for the disciples Jesus is peppering us to live in the world (that we would not be surprised that some people will hate us), as people taken out of it ambassadors for Jesus).

Promise: We will be hated by the world, - because we are not apart for the word, if we are in Jesus.

We are called to live by faith in Jesus and live that out, as Jesus also said, some will hate you, other will keep your words, will listen and live for Jesus, - we are to live as witnesses of Jesus, we will or should meet some people that hate us for this, they might keep doing that or might change and follow Jesus when we share who Jesus is.

Jesus is stating that the Christian life is not easy, and not popular, some will hate you, - but others will love Jesus and you, for the words that we spoke about Jesus and how he showed who he is to people, the savior of the world, the messiah, the lord God, come in flesh, the one that shows us that God loved us, - and made a way for us to come to him, have our sin taken away, cleansed, made new, have joy in Christ and a different joy in life eternal given now by Jesus to us that we might enjoy God now and forever in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirts power.  -