The World Will... You Must...
Notes
Transcript
Background:
Background:
It has been about a year since we were in the Gospel of John.
I have been anxious to get back to this book and finish our study.
Today, we will be looking at John 15:18-16:4. If you have your bibles, please open to this passage as we study.
As you are turning to the passage. I would like to just remind of us of the context.
John wrote this gospel that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we might have life in his name. John 20.31.
John 1 is the introduction which lets us know that Jesus was both with God and was fully God, a theme that is found throughout the gospel.
We find him coming into the world, taking on flesh that he might reveal God to us, so that all who receive him, that is believe in his name might become the children of God.
John the Baptist introduces Jesus and we see the first disciples following him.
John 2 is the first miracle, the turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, and then the clearing of the temple courts. Many saw his signs and believed.
John 3 finds Jesus in Jerusalem, being visited by Nicodemus at night. Jesus reveals that he did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. He is like the serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness, and anyone who looks to him will be saved.
John 4 is Jesus pursuing a divine appointment with the woman at the well. Many Samaritans believe.
John 5 Jesus heals the lame man at the pool. Jesus has authority as the Son of God, and whoever believes in him will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life.
John 6 is Jesus feeding the 5000, and then walking on the sea. The crowds go back across the sea to find him in the morning, and Jesus reveals that he is the bread of life. He encourages them to work for the bread of life. The word that God requires is that they believe the One he sent. Then Jesus makes the precious promise that whoever comes to him will never go hungry, and whoever believes will never thirst!
In John 7 Jesus went to the feast, and we see that many did not believe, especially among the leaders.
In John 8, Jesus does not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but tells her to go and sin no more. He also tells us that if we hold to his teaching, we will really be his disciples. Then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free.
John 9 is Jesus healing the man born blind, a true sign that he is the Messiah, to be received by faith. However, the leaders refuse to believe. Jesus asks the man who was healed, do you believe? To which he replies, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
John 10, Jesus is the good shepherd and his sheep hear his voice and believe. They follow him, and no one can snatch them from him.
John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Before that, he told Mary, “ I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 12 is the anointing of Jesus, and the triumphal entry to Jerusalem. Again, Jesus foretells his death, and how he will draw all people to himself. He encourages them all to believe in him.
Then, in John 13, this is Jesus’ last evening with his disciples before his crucifixion. Jesus main message in this and the coming chapters shifts from believing in him, to what those who believe should do. Jesus teaches this by example, and with his words.
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Then, he washed the disciples feet, including Judas, the one that had already agreed to betray him, which Jesus knew. What an example of love, to wash the feet of his followers, and especially to wash the feet of his enemy, his betrayer!
Then, after revealing to all of them that one was going to betray him, Jesus said,
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus tells the disciples he is going away, which shocks them. He comforts them and tells them to not let their hearts be troubled, but instead, to believe in him. He is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through him.
After telling the disciples that he is going away, back to the Father, he says,
“If you love me, keep my commands.
Then, he says the Father will send another comforter. This comforter will remind them of all that Jesus taught.
Then Jesus says again,
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Jesus then uses an illustration of the vine and the gardener. Jesus is the vine, the Father is the gardener. We are the branches.
The branches are meant to remain connected to, and draw from the vine to produce fruit. They are to do what they are meant to do through the nourishment of the vine.
He concludes the illustration with,
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Notice the repetition of people knowing that they were his disciples. In this verse, people would know this from their bearing fruit. Earlier Jesus said that if we hold to his teaching, we would really be his disciples. Putting those two concepts of really being, and showing that we are his disciples, what might the fruit that we are to bear be?
Immediately after giving that analogy, Jesus says,
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
I ask, what do you think the theme of the evening is that Jesus is communicating to His disciples?
Love.
Love.
The theme of the evening is love. Jesus loved his disciples to the end.
He demonstrated true love by washing their feet.
He commanded that they love multiple times.
He told them clearly, the one way they would be known as his disciples is if they would love.
Jesus came into this world out of love. He came to show the love of God to a world that had rejected him.
He came to live a life of love.
He came to sacrificially love, giving himself for the sins of the world. He showed his love over and over.
He is telling his disciples, if you are really my disciples, you will live as I did. You will love.
This reminds me of a story I heard of a little boy named Stevie....
A little boy named Stevie, who was quiet and shy, moved to a new neighborhood. One day he came home from school and said, “You know, Mom, Valentine’s Day is coming, and I want to make a valentine for everyone in my class. I want them to know that I love them.” His mother’s heart sank at the prospect of her son’s rejection. Every afternoon she watched the children coming home from school, laughing and hanging on to one another—all except Stevie who always walked behind them.
But at the same time she did not want to discourage her well-intentioned son. So she purchased glue and paper and crayons, and for three weeks Stevie painstakingly made thirty-five valentines. When the big day came, he stacked the valentines under his arm and ran out the door. His mother thought, “This is going to be a tough day for Stevie. I’ll bake some cookies and have some milk ready for him when he comes home from school. Maybe that will ease the pain of not getting many valentines.”
That afternoon she had the warm cookies and milk out on the table. She went over to the window, scratched a little of the frost off the glass, and looked out. Sure enough, here came all the children, laughing, valentines tucked under their arms. And there was her Stevie. Though walking behind the children, he was walking faster than usual, and she thought, “Bless his heart. He’s ready to break into tears.” His arms were empty. He was not carrying any valentines.
Stevie went to show love, to a world that didn’t love him… That is what Jesus did.
That brings us to the passage we are investigating today. John 15:18-16:4.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.
If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.
I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,
Wow. quite the shift isn’t is? Love. I command you, love.
And then, the world will hate you.
Well, actually, I don’t think this is much of a shift.
let’s dig into this passage a little bit.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
The world will hate you
The world will hate you
Why will the world hate you? Because it hated Jesus first.
The world will hate you, because it hated Jesus. Why did they hate Jesus? His love.
The world will hate you, because it hated Jesus. Why did they hate Jesus? His love.
Why did the world hate him so? Did it hate Jesus because he was mean and nasty? No, Jesus loved them.
Again, think through his life, was it a life of nastiness and hatred, or one of love?
He showed love at the wedding, giving them wine for the celebration. He showed love at the temple, casting out the merchants who robbed the people and cleared the way for everyone to come in. He sat there and healed them so they could approach and worship the Lord.
He loved the curious scholar, Nicodemus. He loved the Samaritan woman who was rejected by her own people. He loved all of the Samaritans. He loved, he loved and he loved.
Yet, they hated him for it. Especially those who thought they were so good. His love and teaching showed them for what they really were, prideful, arrogant, self-righteous people. So, they hated him for his love.
And, because they hated him, they will hate his disciples.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.
They do not truly know God. They think they want a God who is loving, but they do not truly know him. So, when Jesus came to reveal the God of love, they hated him. When we reveal the true God of love, they will hate us, just like they hated Jesus.
Why? What is to hate about love?
If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.
If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
The world will hate you, because it hated Jesus. Why did they hate Jesus? His love showed them their sin.
The world will hate you, because it hated Jesus. Why did they hate Jesus? His love showed them their sin.
What did Jesus mean by, “If he had not spoken, or done his works, they would not be guilty of sin.
Jesus, by his words and actions revealed their sin. They felt the guilt and weight of their sin when it was shown for what it was.
They were sinners before. They just didn’t feel the weight of their sin.
Illustration of getting a speeding ticket. When was I a speeder, after the policeman told me, or before?
Illustration of the mirror. Jesus was the mirror.
The world hated Jesus because in love, he told them of their sin, by his actions and his words.
In John 15:20b, Jesus said,
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
It was Jesus teaching that was so offensive. What was wrong with his teaching? Didn’t he teach that we were to love? What is wrong with that?
His teaching was to love. But his teaching showed how far we were from obeying it.
Do not murder… actually, you are guilty because you are angry and hate in your heart.
Do not commit adultery, which is unloving. Well, I haven’t… except Jesus said just looking lustfully is committing adultery in your heart.
Do not divorce, unless you give a certificate of divorce. Well, God did not intend for divorce, and when you do, you make the spouse guilty of adultery.
An eye for an eye. Well, love would turn the other cheek.
I do love my friends and family. Well, true love is for your enemies.
Jesus, in love shows us that our house is on fire. We are all guilty of breaking God’s law to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. We are all guilty of God’s law to love our neighbor, because we don’t want to love our enemies.
They hated Jesus for living and teaching this.
They will hate us for living and teaching this… Are we?
Remember, it is an act of love to point out a problem.
illustration of a house on fire.
This is why the world hated Jesus, and it should be the reason they hate us: Living and Teaching true, godly love.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
Jesus goes on and says,
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.
They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.
I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,
The world will hate us, for love.
We must what?
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
We must testify.
We must testify.
We must testify by our lives and by our words. We need to truly be Jesus disciples. We need to obey his command to love, and not just those who love us. We need to love everyone.
Just like Jesus washed Judas’ feet, we are to love even our enemies.
Who is it that is around you? Think of the people in your life. How can you show your love to them?
And, not only should our lives be a testimony as we bear the fruit of love, we must testify with our mouths.
We need to be faithful to teach what God has given us in the scriptures. We need to teach the way of love.
Then, as the world hates us, we will be ok. We know it is coming, but we can find our joy in knowing that we have shown ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples. We have loved. They are only treating us the same way they treated Jesus.
Could this be why the disciples rejoiced after being beaten for teaching and testifying to Christ? The world hating them just proved they were true disciples!
Let us live our lives in such a way that we are hated not because of our worldliness, but because of our love and testimony of Jesus!
Stevie came into the house, and his mother said, “Sweetheart, Mom has some warm cookies and milk for you, just sit down.” But Stevie’s face was all aglow, and as he marched right by her, all he could say was, “Not a one, not a single one. I didn’t forget one. They all know I love them.”