Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another (John 15:17), which points back to verse-12… “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” This is placed in the context of what Jesus just told his disciples: “You have not chosen me…” (John 15:16). They (none of us) would never have chosen Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The Messiah, whom Jesus offered himself as, was completely foreign to what was expected. He simply wasn’t received by his own people (John 1:11), and the world was completely ignorant of him (John 1:10). But, those who would receive him as the Messiah would be known as the sons or children of God (John 1:12). But, what does this have to do with loving one another (John 15:17)?
The love Jesus commanded his disciples to manifest for one another was the same kind of love, with which he had for them (John 15:12, 17). In other words, we were to be like Jesus in our behavior. What that tells us is this: the world didn’t know Christ (John 1:10), so, how could it possibly know those who are like him (1John 3:1)? If we love one another in the same manner that Christ loves us, then we would be manifesting to the world something it doesn’t expect, something completely foreign to its understanding. Thus, by manifesting to the world a kind of love they don’t understand, we are expressing ourselves in the same manner Jesus behaved and was, therefore, unknown and rejected (1John 3:2; John 1:10-11).
The world will always be suspicious of what it doesn’t understand or can’t control. Therefore, the disciples of Christ, those abiding in him, can expect to be hated by the world, because the world hated Jesus (John 15:18). Think about it, if we, as part of the world before becoming Jesus’ disciples, would never have chosen him (John 15:16), neither would the world ever choose us, if we behave like Jesus. The world will love or receive folks who are predictable, that his people who behave as the world behaves. As long as it has a context in which to put people, the world will receive them as one of their own. However, Jesus has chosen his disciples by bringing them out of the world, that is outside the context of how the world behaves. Therefore, we can expect the world to hate us (John 15:19).
Jesus, then, reminded them of the proverb he mentioned earlier. Namely, the servant is not above his master (John 15:20; cp. 13:16; Matthew 10:24-25; Luke 6:40). What the world has done to Jesus, it will also do to those who behave like and speak like Jesus. “Cain hated Abel, because his works were righteous. Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing; Joseph’s brethren hated him, because his father loved him; Saul hated David because the Lord was with him; Ahab hated Micaiah because of his prophecies.”[1] The world will hate those who receive Christ as their Savior and manifest him in their behavior. Moreover, this is so, because they don’t know the Father who sent Jesus (John 15:21), nor do they wish to know him (Romans 1:21-23, 28).
Therefore, it was for this reason that Jesus became flesh (John 1:14), namely, that he would manifest what the Father was like (John 1:18). Had he not done so, the world wouldn’t have a context for rejecting the true God. Now, however, they have such a context, so they have no way to hide their sin. They rejected Jesus and in doing so rejected and hated both him and his Father. Thus, the Scripture is fulfilled in that the world that had rebelled against God from Eden to the present day had manifested their hatred for God, and that without cause (John 15:22-25).
However, Jesus promised his disciples that, afterward, when the Comforter (John 14:16, 26) is come, he would teach them all things pertaining to the things Jesus said and did (John 14:26), because he would no longer be with them, but would then be in them (John 14:16-17). In other words, the Comforter, according to Jesus, is the Spirit of Truth (remember Jesus is the Truth – John 14:6 and Comforter – G3875, is the same Greek word as Advocate in 1John 2:1). Therefore, the Comforter is Christ coming in our flesh (1John 4:2; 2John 2:7), and is our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). At that time, Jesus’ disciples would be able to understand, and they would be enabled to bear witness about the truth, concerning Jesus and what they had witnessed from the beginning of his ministry (John 15:26-27).
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[1] Derived from Matthew Henry’s Commentary
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3 responses to “They Hated Me Without a Cause!”
People have rejected and continue to reject and or belittle Jesus because their expectations of who the messiah is, fall short. For instance, if Jesus the Teacher were to say that Zacchaeus was the lost one and the worthy descendant of Abraham that was the promised Advocate, most people would react in the same way the people of old reacted when Jesus the Teacher met Zacchaeus a roman magistrate (advocatus) in charge of setting the tax rate, on the Jericho road… hanging onto the branch of a sycamore fig tree. According to Wikipedia, During the Middle Ages, an advocatus (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: Vogt; French: avoué) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as an abbey. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocatus
Greetings, Linda, and thank you for reading and for your comment. Lord bless you.
Let me begin by apologizing for how I’ve treated you in the past. I regret nearly everything I said. While it is true we disagree on most things about Jesus, I had no right to treat you as I did. You were nice and gentle in your behavior toward me, but I didn’t behave in kind. Perhaps (don’t know, but maybe) I just didn’t know how to handle such good behavior on the part of someone, concerning whom, I disagree with so much. Whatever the reason that fits my behavior one thing is certain, I handled the matter very badly, and I hope you can forgive me.
As for your posts, you may say whatever you please and however long it takes you to say it–10 words, 1000 or 2000 words — you may say whatever you wish.
I may or may not comment, but I won’t keep you from saying what you believe is true. As for your present offering, I agree with what you say about Jesus, but Zacchaeus is another matter, but that’s okay. Lord bless.
Eddie, I accept your apology and I too apologize to you for preaching at you instead of trying to talk with you. As for Zacchaeus, Christians are indeed taught in Sunday School and through the Preacher’s Sermons that Zacchaeus is a wee little man and teachers and preachers do make Zacchaeus out to be a silly “little” man…and so kids and adults alike relate. The reason I believe Zacchaeus is the Advocate depends on my understanding of the Hebrew name for Zacchaeus and my own faith experience. Zacchaeus in Hebrew means Pure and or Clean as in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I also believe Jesus the Good Teacher looked at Zacchaeus and saw a beautiful woman with a pure clean heart and this is why out on the Jericho road, Jesus said. “Today I must stay at your house.” Going down this avenue of Truth, opens up the Gospel to how and why Jesus comes to bring salvation to the House of Zacchaeus…a Roman magistrate hated for possessing a privileged status. Most people insist Jesus would never “stay” at a woman’s house, so they assume Zacchaeus was male because scripture defines Zacchaeus as a man (a person) and grammar dictates that a man is a he. Further to this, Zacchaeus does say “If I have cheated any man, half of all my possessions I’ll give to him and pay him back fourfold.” So people do assume Zacchaeus had got wealthy by cheating and must be male because magistrates or advocates in Rome were not female. Although according to people of faith, if a male and a female are married then they are one MAN. And almost everywhere, it is landowners who charge rents and determine taxes. However women did own property in Roman times. Yet this line of Truth is seldom discussed by Christians because the teaching and the expectation of Christians is that Jesus the Teacher would never ever stay at a married woman’s house under the cover of darkness–even if it was the only way to bring the Truth about God the Father to the descendants of Abraham? So I sincerely thank you Eddie for giving me this opportunity to explain myself and my faith further. I find this very gracious and loving of you.