Week 41: John 15:18-16:4; "Is the World without Sin?"

Let's start this week by rereading John 15:1-17: (1) I am the true vine, and my Father, the Farmer, He is. (2) Every branch in me not bearing fruit, He removes/takes away, and every branch, fruit, bearing, He cleanses/prunes it, in order that more fruit, it would bear. (3) Already, you (plural), clean/pruned, you are, because of the word which I have spoken to you. (4) Abide in me, and I [will abide] in you. Just as the branch isn't able, fruit, to bear from itself unless it abides in the vine, in the same manner neither can you, unless in me you abide. (5) I am the vine. You [are] the branches. The one abiding in me, and I in him-- this one bears much fruit, because apart from me you aren't able to do anything. (6) If anyone doesn't abide in me, he is thrown outside like a branch, and it dries up, and they gather them, and into the fire they throw [them], and they are burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words in you abide, whatever you want/wish, ask for, and it will be done for you. (8) By this my Father is glorified: that much fruit you bear, and that you become my disciples. (9) Just as the Father loved me, also you, I loved. Abide in my love. (10) If my commands you keep, you will abide in my love, just as I, my Father's commands, I have kept, and I abide in his love. (11) These things I have said to you, in order that my joy, in you, it would be, and your joy would be brought to completion/perfection. (12) This is my command: that you love one another, just as I loved you. (13) Greater love than this, no one has, that someone, his life, he lays down for his friends. (14) You, my friends, you are, if you do what I command you. (15) No longer I call you slaves, because the slave doesn't know what his master/lord is doing. Now, you I have called friends, because all the things that I heard from my Father, I made known to you. (16) You didn't choose/pick me, but I chose/picked you, and I appointed/assigned you, that you would go, and that fruit, you would bear, and that your fruit would abide, (in order) that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He would give to you. (17) These things I command you: that you love one another. It's really, really important that we love one another. If we do this, there are four huge benefits. First, we will abide in Jesus. Second, we will bear lots and lots of fruit. Third, we will have perfect joy. Fourth, our Father will say "yes" to every prayer. The other thing we need to remember from last week, is that loving each other is a practical thing. How you feel about each other, isn't as important as what you do for each other, and how you talk to each other. Love is practical. So what does this look like in this church? If one of you is hurting, we help. If you are sick, we lay hands on you in Jesus' name. If things are tight financially because you've had some unexpected expenses, we lend you money (interest free), if we are able. If you are newer to the church, and not very connected, we reach out to you, and help make this feel like family to you. We are your brothers and sisters in Christ. And you, in practical ways, have done all of this for me. We are one body. One family. One vine. Part of the reason why it's so important that we love the people in this room, is because of how people outside of this room treat us. The world is often a hostile place, filled with hostile people-- people who have rejected Jesus, who persecute you, who hate you. Jesus, this week, is going to teach us about why this happens, and he will call us to be faithful in the midst of that persecution. But as we read these verses, understand that they are a continuation of last week's passage. We have to love one another, in part because the world hates us. In this passage, we are just going to slowly inch our way through Jesus' words. It's a dense section. And there is something in here, that I'm hoping will change your life forever. John 15:18-19: (18) If the world, you, it hates,1 know that me, before you, it has hated. (19) If of/from the world, you were, the world would love its own. Now, because of/from the world you are not, but I picked you out from/of the world,-- for this reason2 the world hates you. When you look at yourselves in the mirror, you probably think to yourself, "The world should love me." You tell yourself, you are kind, and patient, and loving. You are unselfish. And when you talk to the people around you about Jesus, and what Jesus offers, and lead them toward Jesus, you understand that you are pointing people to an incredible gift. To an abundant life. To the one who is life. And you wonder, how can anyone say "no" to this? How can anyone get angry with you, for sharing the good news about Jesus? And for being this kind of person? I'd understand why the world would hate you, if you were in the KKK. If you walked around wearing a pointy white hood, holding a racist sign, and people called you names, and threw stuff at you, and hated you... we'd get that, right? We'd understand that you are the kind of person who wants to lynch black people, or throw bricks through their windows, or burn crosses on their lawns. Who think you are better than everyone else. But how is it possible that the world hates you, for being a Christian? For belonging to Jesus? Jesus says, first of all, verse 18, look at his life. Is Jesus controversial? Does the world hate Jesus? In the gospel of John, at this point, Jesus is well on his way to the cross. His hour of suffering is here. Jesus then says, verse 19, that the reason the world hates you, is that you don't belong the world. Jesus picked you out from the world. Now you belong to Jesus, someone who is hated. And that, is reason enough to hate you. Belonging to Jesus, is like wearing a MAGA hat. It's a red flag, that makes people irrational, and angry. This brings us to verse 20. This verse is tough. One I don't like: (20) Remember the word that I spoke to you: 'A slave isn't greater than his lord/master.' If, me,3 they persecuted, also you, they will persecute. When I read about Jesus' life, I'd like to think that I won't suffer his fate. I don't want bad things to happen to me, or to my family. I can handle low level persecution. I can handle being left out of certain activities, or people talking about me behind my back. But I live, on a near-daily basis, in fear of being persecuted. There is something about my life, that I'm not willing to put on paper, that I don't want to lose for being Jesus' disciple. And I worry, on a near daily basis, that I'm doing something that will one day make me lose that. But Jesus tells me that I'm not greater than him. If Jesus was persecuted, I will be. This is inevitable. Persecution is part of the job description, for being Jesus' slaves. I can beg God to not let me be persecuted. I can ask God to be a hedge around me and my household and all that I have (Job 1:10). And I do this. But in the end, I'm not greater than Jesus. This brings us to verse 21. People (scholars) really disagree about how to interpret this verse: If my word they kept/obeyed4, also yours they will keep/obey,5 but all these things they will do to you because they don't know The One Sending me. Some people think Jesus is offering his disciples a bit of hope here. When you interact with the world, you'll find that some people aren't hopeless. Some will "keep" your words, and join you. Which is true. Jesus has said that the fields are ripe for the harvest. Some people, when we share the good news about Jesus, will hear it as good news, and do the discipleship verbs: they will come to Jesus, and abide with him, and follow him. They will join us, and Jesus, and become part of the true vine. But even if this is true for individuals, it's not true for the "world" as a whole. As a whole, what will the world do? "but all these things they will do to you because they don't know The One Sending me." The things the world will do toward you, include hating you, and persecuting you. They didn't "keep" Jesus' words; they won't "keep" yours either. Verse 22: (22) If I hadn't come and spoken to them, sin they wouldn't have. Now, an excuse/pretext6 they now don't have concerning their sin. What is "sin"? This verse should bother you. If you read it straightforwardly, it will blow up your theology. How can people be said to not have sin? What is "sin"? Let's cheat ahead to John 16:7-9 (NIV): 7 But very truly I tell you, 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. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not "believe in" me; In Johannine literature, to "sin," is to reject Jesus. It's a refusal to give your allegiance, and loyalty, to Jesus. So, returning to John 15:22, what does Jesus mean? (22) If I hadn't come and spoken to them, sin they wouldn't have. Now, an excuse/pretext they now don't have concerning their sin. People who have never seen Jesus, or heard his words, can't reject Jesus. You can't reject someone you don't know. But "they" don't have an excuse. "They" can't shrug their shoulders, and claim ignorance. "They" can't claim that there was no way to know for sure who Jesus was. And who is "they"? It has to be the Judeans-- the people who have rejected Jesus. This is a big deal, for understanding the gospel of John. "Judeans" represent/symbolize the world as a whole. The way that "they" treated Jesus, is how the world will treat you. What verse 22 teaches, then, is that once people hear Jesus' words, they have no excuse-- they can't say, "I didn't know." Verse 23: (23) The one hating me, also hates my Father. "Judeans" would want to say that they love God their Father. And they want to say this, while they reject Jesus as Messiah. This doesn't work. If you hate Jesus, you hate the One who Sent him. You can't divide the Father and the Son. You can't love the one, and hate the other. This brings us to verses 24-25. I'm going to read these very slowly. Think carefully about what Jesus is saying here: (24) If the works I hadn't done among them that no other did, sin they wouldn't have. Now, they have now seen and they have hated both me and my Father, (25) but [this happened]7 in order that the word would be fulfilled-- the one in their8 law being written-- 'They hated me without cause.' What if Jesus had offered life to people, but all he had was words, and no power? What if he had shared the good news about what God was offering, without any works? Jesus says, if that's all he had done, anyone who rejected him would have no sin. Again, "sin" means rejecting Jesus. When I was younger, my grandparents would give us a savings bond every year for Christmas. I remember opening it up one year, and all I saw was a piece of paper. I tossed it to the side, done with it. It wasn't a toy, so I didn't want it. One of my parents-- I can't remember which one-- was appalled. He/she basically stopped the entire gift opening process for the extended family, to teach me what that piece of paper was. I had rejected something I hadn't understood. If all Jesus had offered was words, without any power, and people had failed to become disciples, they'd have no sin. People have the right to see evidence that Jesus is who he claims to be. And if they don't get evidence, they are without sin. They are rejecting someone they don't understand. And actually, if there are no "works"-- no healings, and signs, and wonders-- they can't even be said to reject Jesus. Not really. This is not true rejection. This is a lack of understanding. If my parent had taught me what a savings bond was, and then I had ripped it up, and tossed it to the side-- THAT's rejecting it. And Jesus says, basically, that's what has happened here. They have seen. They saw Jesus feed 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish (John 6:8, 14). They saw Jesus give sight to the blind man, and raise Lazarus from the dead. And it's because they saw those things (not "despite seeing them"), that they have hated both him, and his Father. They are truly without excuse. They are the kids who deliberately rejected an incredible gift, and plan to kill the giver (John 8:44). And all of this happened, so that "their" law would be fulfilled. People had to hate Jesus without cause, in order to fulfill "their" law. Whose law? Again, when Jesus talks about "the world" here, he is talking about "Judeans." We are supposed to understand that the way Judeans treat Jesus, is the way the world treats us. Verse 26: (26) When the Advocate/Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father-- the Spirit of truth, who from the Father comes out-- that one will testify concerning me. Now, also you will testify, because from the beginning, with me, you are. There are two "persons" who will testify to the truthfulness of Jesus. The first, is the Holy Spirit. The Spirit testifies to people about Jesus. The second, is Jesus' disciples. And here, this doesn't mean first of all, us. Jesus is talking specifically to his first disciples, who have been with him from the beginning. Let's stop, and cheat ahead to John 21:22-24 (NIV): 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. So Jesus commanded his first disciples, to testify about him. And one of those disciples (probably John), in obedience to Jesus, wrote the gospel of John in order to testify to Jesus. And John's church-- "we"-- know that his testimony is true. This doesn't get us off the hook, though. Our job is to testify to the truth, just like Jesus did. Just like the first disciples. We are coworkers with the Holy Spirit in this. When we tell people about Jesus, the Spirit testifies to those people that we are telling the truth. 16:1 (basically everyone agrees that this section runs through part of verse 4): (16:1) These things I have said to you, in order that you wouldn't be caused to sin/fall away. Expelled from the synagogue, they will make you, but an hour is coming, that each one killing you will consider [it] a service to offer to God, and these things they will do because they don't know the Father or me, but these things I have said to you, in order that when their hour comes, you shall remember them, because I told you. The scariest, hardest things happen in life, when you have no idea they are coming. Sometimes, a wife will go to her husband one day, and announce that she's leaving him for someone else. And he is blindsided by it-- no idea. Or your boss goes to you, and tells you that you are being laid off or fired. And you had no warning this was happening. You thought things were great. You thought you were a valued employee. And you show up at home at 10 am, with your box of stuff. When bad things happen, and there's no warning, it can be really painful. But when you can see bad things coming from a ways off, it doesn't sting quite as much. If you're falling behind financially, it's usually a process. The credit card debt slowly grows. The late notices start showing up in the mail. You start getting phone calls from credit collectors. And you know, sooner or later, that you will get evicted from your house/apartment. Your car will get repossessed. Your earnings will be garnished. That'd be brutal. But if you see it coming, it's not quite so bad. Mentally, emotionally, you were prepared for it. Jesus here is warning his disciples, "You will be persecuted. The world will hate you. You will be kicked out of the synagogues." All of this inevitable. And Jesus tells them this, to strengthen them. He wants to make sure they don't fall away (John 6:64-66). Persecution isn't quite as bad, if you know it's coming. And it's coming. ------------------------------------------------------ For an application today, I'm going to do things the wrong way maybe. Let me start by focusing on Jesus' main point, and do things the right way for just a minute. But only a minute. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you'd like to think that the world should love you. You want to be loved, and honored, and respected. You want to think you won't share Jesus' fate-- you won't be persecuted. And, if you are persecuted, you want to think that you will stand strong. None of this is as easy, or automatic, as we might think. If you love Jesus, and abide in him, and in his vine, you will be persecuted. The world will hate you. You will suffer. Prepare yourselves for this. Expect this. Understand that the Spirit is with you, and in you, helping you. But it is coming. And you can't shirk your job, and hide your discipleship (John 12:42-43). You will testify about Jesus. And you will suffer. Just as Jesus has an "hour," so too do we (John 16:4). And when Jesus explains all of this to them, and to us, he is doing so out of love (John 13:1). It's part of how Jesus loves us to the uttermost. So that's probably what you should go home thinking about. That's the main point. But what I want to focus on instead, is verses 24-25: (24) If the works I hadn't done among them that no other did, sin they wouldn't have. Now, they have now seen and they have hated both me and my Father, (25) but [this happened]9 in order that the word would be fulfilled-- the one in their10 law being written-- 'They hated me without cause.' Many churches have no power. You will never see healings, or signs, or wonders there. If you are sick, and you go to your pastors, or your elders, they may tell you that it's not always God's will to heal. They may talk about the healing that comes on the other side of death. They may tell you that God is trying to teach you something through the sickness. That this is your thorn in the flesh, designed to give God glory. And if you are wasting away from some disease, they may think it's their job to hold your hand, and offer you comforting words, and get out the shovel. That's probably what their seminary trained them to do. They paid a thousand dollars to some school, that taught them that this is what "pastoral care" should look like. And when people from those churches go out into the world, and find themselves surrounded by sick and hurting people, what do those Christians do? Not the works Jesus did. Not "greater works" (John 14:12). And what is the end result of all of this? The world is filled with people who have seen no evidence that Jesus can offer, what he claims to offer. Christianity is just one more religion. Jesus is just one more leader of one more religious movement. All we have is talk. We are all hat, no cattle. When those people fail to give their allegiance to Jesus, Jesus says they don't have sin. "Sin," again, means "rejecting Jesus." These people aren't guilty of rejecting Jesus, because they haven't seen the gospel proclaimed in power. They haven't seen Jesus, for who he truly is. Let's turn to Romans 15:14-20 (NRSV): 14 I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters,[b] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. 18 For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished[c] through me to win obedience11 from the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God,[d] so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news[e] of Christ. 20 Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news,[f] not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundation, 21 but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand." We'd like to think, in looking at the world, that we have nearly reached everyone with the good news about Jesus. We have missionaries among most people groups; we have a plan to reach the few remaining ones. We want to say, we are doing well. We are seeing some churches springing up, with some Christians in them, throughout the world. And when we tell people the good news about Jesus, and they say "no," we tell ourselves that lots of people reject Jesus. We did our job; how they respond, is up to them. When I read Paul's words, and Jesus' words, I'm pretty sure that we are wrong. What we are doing, is "partially" proclaiming the good news of Jesus. And our failure to embrace the "full gospel," and to "fully proclaim it," means two things: (1) that people who say "no" to us, aren't really rejecting the good news, or Jesus. They don't have enough information to make an informed decision, and Jesus says they are without sin. You're not allowed to say that those people have rejected Jesus, and that you did your job. Maybe we can say, they are rejecting you, and your message. But they are not rejecting Jesus. (2) that someone is going to have to come behind us, and fix what we've done. Who is that "someone"? Right now, mostly, it's the Pentecostal church. The reason the Pentecostal church is growing faster than other denominations, is because they are (more commonly) proclaiming the full gospel. People who hear the good news from a Pentecostal Christian/missionary, and see how Jesus gives life, can make a truly informed decision. Those people, if they say "no," are actually rejecting Jesus. They "have sin." Pentecostals are the ones who follow behind us, and fix what we've done. They have the "clean up duty." But healings, and signs, and wonders, are something that God will do through us as well. This was never supposed to be just a "Pentecostal thing." Jesus promises all of his disciples, that we will do the same works Jesus did, and greater works. But we have to be zealous for this, and pray for this, and commit ourselves to this, and to God. And do all of this, far more seriously than we have been. A lady I know was healed very publicly, in front of coworkers, at her place of employment. The first time she was prayed for, there was one other person in the room. She was instantly healed. A week later, when she announced that her hip pain had come back some, and that she would still need hip replacement surgery, she was prayed for a second time. I don't understand why things like this happen. But they do. [And it was actually her other hip, that had bothered her less. The person was too specific in what they prayed for, maybe]. And sometimes, people need to be prayed for more than once. Only this time, there were four coworkers in the same room, at the same time. A crowd was watching, and listening to the conversation about Jesus. And that woman was instantly, miraculously, healed. This healing then opened a door for her to learn more about Jesus. Jesus gives physical life, and Jesus gives spiritual life. Life, is life. And everyone that lady works with has seen this sign. They can see the smile on her face. They can see her walking without pain. At this point, everyone there has seen the truth. And they can either choose to come to Jesus, and become his disciples, or they can reject Jesus. But it's only now, after seeing this, and hearing the bigger good news about the life Jesus offers, that their rejection could be considered "sin." They have heard, and seen, the full gospel. Most of the time when we tell people about Jesus, and they don't make the decision to become Christians, they aren't truly rejecting Jesus. We haven't shared the good news the way we should. They haven't seen the signs that they have a right to see. "If they hadn't seen the works that I had done, they wouldn't have sin." Before you give up on anyone, or write people off as hopeless, or even let yourself think that someone has rejected Jesus, consider what they've seen. Lots of people need signs (John 4:48, 53). And that's fair. There are lots of religions, lots of religious leaders. God doesn't expect people to give their allegiance to Jesus, apart from a demonstration of power (1 Cor. 2:4). What I'm getting at, in the end, is this: if your attempts at evangelism are failing, and all you have is words and not power, consider where the blame falls. And if you aren't open to any of this, consider who is the one rejecting Jesus' words, instead of "keeping" them (John 15:20). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On verse 22, "pretext": [6] Theognis and Peison stated before the Thirty that among the resident aliens that there might be some who were embittered against their administration, and that therefore they had an excellent pretext for appearing to punish while in reality making money; in any case, the State was impoverished, and the government needed funds.12 [3] The Argives were strongly moved when they heard this, and although they made no promise immediately and demanded no share, they later, when the Greeks were trying to obtain their support, did make the claim, because they knew that the Lacedaemonians would refuse to grant it, and that they would thus have an excuse for taking no part in the war.13 (167) but when I was come near enough, I gave order to the masters of the ships to cast anchor a good way off the land, that the people of Tiberias might not perceive that the ships had no men on board; but I went nearer to the people in one of the ships, and rebuked them for their folly, and that they were so fickle as, without any just occasion in the world, to revolt from their fidelity14 to me. 15 Translation: (18) If the world, you, it hates,16 know that me, before you, it has hated. (19) If of/from the world, you were, the world would love its own. Now, because of/from the world you are not, but I picked you out from/of the world,-- for this reason17 the world hates you. (20) Remember the word that I spoke to you: 'A slave isn't greater than his lord/master.' If, me,18 they persecuted, also you, they will persecute. If my word they kept/obeyed19, also yours they will keep/obey, but all these things they will do to you because they don't know The One Sending me. (22) If I hadn't come and spoken to them, sin they wouldn't have. Now, an excuse/pretext20 they now don't have concerning their sin. (23) The one hating me, also hates my Father. (24) If the works I hadn't done among them that no other did, sin they wouldn't have. Now, they have now seen and they have hated both me and my Father, (25) but [this happened]21 in order that the word would be fulfilled-- the one in their law being written-- 'They hated me without cause.' (26) When the Advocate/Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father-- the Spirit of truth, who from the Father comes out-- that one will testify concerning me. Now, also you will testify, because from the beginning, with me, you are. (16:1) These things I have said to you, in order that you wouldn't be caused to sin/fall away. Expelled from the synagogue, they will make you, but an hour is coming, that each one killing you will consider [it] a service to offer to God, and these things they will do because they don't know the Father or me, but these things I have said to you, that when their hour comes, you shall remember them, because I told you. 1 This is one of those classic slightly ambiguous sentences, where it's hard to say what's focused-- either the verb is delayed to put the focus there, or it's "you." Because of the "me" that follows in the second half of the sentence, I think it's "you," but Runge calls the verb focused here. 2 A complicated sentence. Reason clause "because" is first, and left-dislocated. Jesus then grabs that whole clause, summarizing it with "for this reason," and then talks about the significance of this. 3 Here, "me" is considered focused because of the "also you" that follows it. 4 τηρέω 5 Scholars are really divided as to whether this line should be viewed as hopeful/optimistic or not. Will they keep our word? This line is the first half of a point-counterpoint set, framing the second (more important half). I think Jesus is raising this possibility, only to crush it in the second half. What they will actually do, is persecute you, because they don't know the Father. 6 πρόφᾰσις Based on the links in Brill, it means more like "a bad/illegitimate excuse to justify certain actions." If the excuse is legitimate, given the adjective "true." 7 Runge puts in "this happened," which is implied. Helps a lot. 8 "their" law, not "our" law. Also shows that the world here=Judeans. 9 Runge puts in "this happened," which is implied. Helps a lot. 10 "their" law, not "our" law. Also shows that the world here=Judeans. 11 The goal is "obedience," not "faith." 12 Lysias. (1930). Lysias with an English translation by W.R.M. Lamb, M.A. Medford, MA: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 13 Herodotus. (1920). Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. (A. D. Godley, Ed.). Medford, MA: Harvard University Press. 14 "faith" pros me. A good example of "faith" meaning "fidelity." 15 Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: complete and unabridged (p. 11). Peabody: Hendrickson. 16 This is one of those classic slightly ambiguous sentences, where it's hard to say what's focused-- either the verb is delayed to put the focus there, or it's "you." Because of the "me" that follows in the second half of the sentence, I think it's "you," but Runge calls the verb focused here. 17 A complicated sentence. Reason clause "because" is first, and left-dislocated. Jesus then grabs that whole clause, summarizing it with "for this reason," and then talks about the significance of this. 18 Here, "me" is considered focused because of the "also you" that follows it. 19 τηρέω 20 πρόφᾰσις Based on the links in Brill, it means more like "a bad/illegitimate excuse to justify certain actions." If the excuse is legitimate, given the adjective "true." 21 Runge puts in "this happened," which is implied. Helps a lot. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 11