Rejection John 15:18 – 16:4

Introduction Jesus has told His disciples about His coming crucifixion –He has even told them that one of them would betray Him –He has told them that they will not be greater than He (Jn 13:16) Now He makes clear for them one of the costs of discipleship

The world’s hatred Jn 15:18-19 –The world hated Jesus Why? –Jn 3:19-21 »Those engaged in sin who do not want their sin exposed »Because He’s unwilling to compromise with sin –Jn 7:7 »Because He called sin “evil” –“If the world hates you” The Greek tense and mood assumes the condition is already or soon will be met

The world’s hatred Why does the world hate disciples of Jesus –The same reason they hated Jesus Don’t want their sin exposed –1 Jn 3:10-13 »Like Cain, whose sin was seen clearly by comparison with Abel’s sacrifice –1 Jn 2:15-17 »Don’t want their hopelessness revealed »Everything the world strives for is passing away, fruitless labor –If we have the same goals and attitudes as the world then the world will not hate us So if the world does not hate us, then we are NOT His disciples!

Persecution / Rejection John 15:20-21 –As Jesus had said before (Jn 13:16), they would not be greater than He As He had told them when He sent them out before (Mt 10:16-39) They would not be treated better than Jesus If Jesus was persecuted (and He was) –Then His disciples will be persecuted (2Tim 3:12) –The persecution is because they do not “know” God To “know” God is to believe and obey Him If they “knew” God, then they would have believed and obeyed Jesus

Acceptance On the other hand, Jesus says those who would obey Him will obey the apostles –Some want to reject some or all the apostolic writings If they won’t listen to the apostles, they wouldn’t have obeyed Jesus either –Why? Because Jesus was sending the apostles and giving them authority (Mt 28:18-20)

Hatred without cause John 15:22-25 –If Jesus had not come and revealed Himself as the Christ, then they would not have sinned by rejecting Him [Not discussing other sins, which, of course, they would still have been guilty of] But of course, He did come and He did reveal Himself –So their rejection of Him was sinful –Showed a hatred of not only Jesus, but of the Father »The Father had sent Him and had told them of His coming

Hatred without cause If Jesus had not done miracles unlike any previously done, then they would not have sinned by rejecting Him –[Again not discussing other sins, which, of course, they would still have been guilty of] –But of course, He did do miracles never seen before (changing the water, walking on water, calming the storm, raising Lazarus, etc) So their rejection of Him after seeing the miracles was sinful and showed a hatred of both Jesus and the Father –The miracles showed without question He was from the Father (Jn 5:36)

Hatred without cause And their hatred of Jesus was not a surprise –He quotes either Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4 –Ps 35 & 69 written by David when his enemies thought his troubles showed he had been abandoned by God Probably during Absalom’s rebellion They acted against him without cause The Lord would show them they were wrong –In like manner, Jesus had done nothing to merit their hatred Showing someone where they have sinned is an act of love, not hate

The Spirit John 15:26-27 –The Spirit, as paraclete and as the Spirit of truth from the Father, would... Testify of Jesus –Jesus had already said who He is –Jesus had already proved this by miracles »But was rejected by the world –Now the Spirit would continue that testimony »And the apostles would be part of that “bearing witness” (Heb 2:1-4) »[We’ll have more to say about the Spirit’s work in the next lesson] »But how will the witness of the apostles (with the Spirit’s help) be received?

Rejection John 16:1-4 –As Christ was rejected, they would be rejected They would be kicked out of the synagogues They would be killed by those who wrongly thought they obeyed God –Acts 8:1-3, 26:9-11 –Jesus tells them of these things so they would not be surprised when it happens Also a further evidence of His knowledge of the future

“Because I was with you” Jesus ends saying there were things He had not told them at the beginning because He was with them –What things? A couple possibilities Same as the things of v1, i.e., about the rejection and persecution –He did tell them about it in Mt 10, abt 1 yr earlier –But not from beginning, and not to this extent »Because He was taking the persecution on Himself, wasn’t affecting them yet Or the things He is about to say about the Spirit –Which had not before been told to them –Because He was with them as paraclete, but now He was leaving so they needed to know

Conclusion To be a disciple, one must realize he will be hated by the world –Many so-called Christians change doctrine so the world will not hate them –Jesus says they are not His disciples Because a servant is not greater than his master Our Master was rejected and hated –If we are His servants, the same will befall us Are you still willing to follow Him, knowing the cost? –If so, why not now?