Jesus had taught the disciples about love, obedience, and joy. Then Jesus taught them how to prepare for persecution. Even though Jesus had told the disciples that the Romans would kill Him, they didn’t understand. Jesus knew that His time was short and wanted to warn the disciples about the difficulties that lay ahead. He didn’t want them to be surprised and lose faith. Forewarned is forearmed.
John 15: 18 If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. [1]
Different than the World
Jesus had chosen the disciples to come out of the world. They were still physically living on this world, but He had just called them to become a community of love. Now the world only loves those who imitate its standards, agree with its values, and worship its false gods. While the disciples were known for their love, the world is known for its hatred towards those who disagree.
Peter would experience this and later write about it to encourage others to follow Jesus. 1 Peter 4: 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. 4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.[2]
They should not be surprised if others hated them. The reason for this hate was hatred for Jesus. The world simply extends its hatred for Jesus to His followers.
Servants and Masters
Earlier in the evening, Jesus had washed His disciples’ feet before they shared a Passover meal. The lowest-ranking servants usually did this task. Yet, Jesus, a respected teacher, washed His students’ feet. John 13: 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message.[3]
Jesus gave the disciples a powerful message on serving. The Father had sent Jesus with a message and a purpose. He would love us enough to die on the cross for our sins. Soon, He would send His disciples out with the Gospel message. Yet, this task would not be easy, and they needed to prepare for persecution.
So for the second time that evening, Jesus repeated the teaching on servants and masters. John 15: 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally, they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.[4] We still need to be prepared to face persecution as we love and follow Jesus. The world still hates anything that disagrees with its ways. To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/podpanel/episode/when-the-road-gets-hard
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.