Why the World Will Hate Us

John 15:18-27

The Hatred of the World

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,^[a] 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.

In John 15: 1-17, Jesus has just told us that we are to love our neighbors and how there is no greater love than he who lays down his life for his friend. But in verses 18-27, He tells us that while we love, we will be hated for showing Christ's love. We will give and give and not receive anything back from the world. This seems quite discouraging. But we Jesus tells us that we will be hated because He was hated first. It says that if we chose to be loved by the world, we would belong to the world. We are loved by Christ so we belong to Him.

            Jesus reminds of what he has said, "'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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name." We will be hated because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate Christ because He shines light in the sinful ugliness of their hearts. If Christ didn't come and reveal this to them, they would be ignorant of their sin, but since He came they have no excuse not to know. And since they hate Christ, they also hate the Father. 

From verses 26- 27, Jesus tells us that we cannot overcome the hate of the world on our own power. But we must allow the "Helper" to work through us. "The Helper" is the Holy Spirit. In order for us to show the true love of Jesus Christ, we must open ourselves to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us. The Holy Spirit will shine His love through us. This shows us just how weak we are, there are things we cannot do without the Spirit working in us and through us.