July 22, 2007

Chapter 15, verses 19-25- After covering such matters at abiding-vs.4-5,

fruitfulness- vs.2, 5, 8, chastening- vs.2,6, prayer- vs.7, 16, obedience- vs.10,

service- vs. 10 & 12, Jesus now turns to the experience of hatred that will be felt by those who follow Him.  He had already declared that He was not of this world- see 8:23.

   “you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world”- this careful distinction for the believer is very important.  Those who are disciples of Christ have the source [“of “=genitive of separation] of their life from God- see 8:47 and I John 4:6.  Although we are in the world, we are not longer part of its evil cosmos (world).  The believer’s different values and lifestyle provoke hatred from such a world.  Vs.20 becomes a caution to us that we will not escape some level of “persecution”.  The “servant is not greater than his master”-our lives will not be exempt from abuse as neither was His.  Jesus adds “if they kept my word, they will keep yours also”- this appears as a positive in the midst of much negative; as some gave loyalty to Christ, so will some who are touched by the disciple’s words.

   He wishes us to be mindful all such hatred and persecution is “for my name’s sake” – abuse we receive as His disciples looks back to His life and obedience.  He explains such with “they do not know Him who sent me”- despite claims of knowing God, such persecutors of His disciples are ignorant of the True God who sent Jesus.

   Vs.22 is challenging: “if I had not come and spoken to them, they would have not sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin”- clearly in some manner, the godly life and words of Jesus Christ that are intended to bring “life” to all (5:24, 8:12, 10:10) may also affect condemnation by removing any imagined “excuses”.  The word for excuse is prophaino—used in I Thess.2:5 for

“cloke” or pretense (NIV has “mask”).  The phrase “would not have sin” does not mean these were sinless; but rather that the magnitude of their sin is much greater due to His life with its miracles and clear teaching about the Father.

This phrasing in vs.22 is much like 9:39-41.

   Vs.23 parallels the other verses of mutuality we have seen in John—as in 5:19,

21, 23, 26; 10:30; 13:32; 14:9, 11.   Only here both Father and Son mutually experience the hatred of the world.  

   Vs.24 restates the truth of vs.22—“the works which no one else did”-

refers, in the context of John’s gospel, to the 7 miracles evidencing Jesus was

divinely sent.  “but now they have seen..”- the nation of Israel has resisted

the obvious empirical evidence of Jesus’ uniqueness and power—Matt.12:39-42.

Clearly, Jesus wants us to appreciate that His generation resisted the evidence

and were provoked to hatred as their own failure and sin became clear.

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Instead of repentance (Acts 238, 3:19), the nation will harden into a malicious

attitude that is seen in Acts of the Apostles. 

   Then, in vs.25, Jesus shows this situation of hatred of Him and the Father to be a fulfillment of scripture.  The OT reference is Psalms 69:4 where someone has become the object of hatred and may reflect the time of David’s fleeing from Saul.  This same Psalm had been referred to earlier in John 2:17.   In John, ch.15, the emphasis is on a causeless hatred; that is, Jesus did not fail in the rectitude of His attitude or behavior.  Their hatred was NOT based on His sinfulness toward them; rather it was “without a cause”—which magnifies the evil nature of it.

 Ways that the world shows its hatred for Christians:

Ø      rejoices when a disciple falls

Ø      seeks real or imagined faults in believers

Ø      attacks the testimony and standards of believers

Ø      in media, pictures the believer as emotionally unstable, racist,

narrow minded, uneducated, etc

Ø      indifferent to the suffering of believers.