The World (John 15:18-21)

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.”

In John's Gospel, "the world" means the human system of belief that rejects Jesus and opposes God, who sent his Son into the world to love the world. By rejecting Jesus, the world judges itself. By accepting Jesus, his disciples prove that they are not of the world but belong to him who chose them out of the world, meaning they were once of the world, which does not know Jesus. This is another example of grace, demonstrating that Jesus took the initiative to draw the disciples to himself and make them a group to carry out his mission after his return to the Father. They would not have done this on their own.

Because they will pick up the mantel of his mission, they can expect the world to hate them and persecute them as it has persecuted him because they do not know God the Father even if they claim to. Disciples of Jesus throughout the ages carry the legacy of Abel, Stephen, James, Andrew, Bartholomew, Thomas, Peter, Paul, John, and the twentieth-century martyrs from Uganda, China, Pakistan, Somalia, and The Sudan. It is much easier to put a $2 fish bumper sticker on the back of your car than to truly follow Jesus! Opposition to the continuing mission of Jesus in the world of the disciples is inevitable.

Father, when I face opposition from the world, I will need the presence of your Spirit to help me to follow Jesus and overcome the world. Thank you that I will not encounter opposition blindly or alone, but that Jesus has already told me what I need to know. Amen.