SCRIPTURE
18”If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. 19If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world -- therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
1”I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 3And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 4But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
7Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. (John 15:18-16:11, NRSV)
WHAT
Welcome to day #35 of our journey through the Gospel According to John.
Today’s passage can be pretty difficult to understand with Jesus’ rather jolting talk of “hate,” “sin,” “judgment,” and “the world.” We must be careful not to rush to personal application before we get our theological feet under us. To do that, we must: 1) note the continuing context of the “Farewell Discourse” (chapters 14-16) in which Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is to come, and 2) know some Old Testament history.
With its talk of “persecution” and “judgment,” it is clear that behind Jesus’ words stands the image of a court of law. In the Hebrew system of law, there were no district attorneys to bring suit on behalf of the people. Each case was one person suing another for justice. The judge’s job was to hear both arguments and then decide who was “in the right,” or “righteous.” The problem was poor people didn’t have equal access to this system of justice. Judges were often bribed. Cases languished for years. People couldn’t get a hearing. “If only someone in authority would hear my case, I know they would make the right decision for me!”
The prophets were clear God despised how the system sometimes operated. Psalms such as 17, 26, and 43 show this desire to have one’s case heard by a righteous judge. Given that the system could be rigged against the poor, the psalmists prayed that God would act as judge and decide who was “righteous.”
As Bishop Wright, points out:
“There were many times during Israel’s history when the nation as a whole found itself in the same situation. Big, powerful foreign nations invaded, attacked, and devastated cities, captured thousands of people, and took them away as slaves. …(Israel) developed a regular way of thinking about it all, based on their unshakeable belief that their God, the world’s creator, was the God of justice. They imagined themselves in a lawcourt. …Israel was bringing a lawsuit against the foreign nations. …
Sometimes – and you can imagine how daring this was – there were prophets who accepted this as the scenario but declared that actually Israel had deserved it. Isaiah spoke of Israel rebelling against YHWH and YHWH being right to bring condemnation against the people. So did Jeremiah. So, in a memorable chapter, did Daniel (chapter 9).
But the prophets, including those same ones, regularly went on to see God taking his seat in judgment again, and this time bringing a different verdict. God would find in favor of Israel, and against the nations that had wickedly and arrogantly attacked it. This time, the lawsuit would go Israel’s way. This time, God would demonstrate that the world was in the wrong and that his people were in the right.”
So with this history as background, in our passage Jesus is warning his disciples -- think of them as the future planters of the Church -- that the world would “hate” them because it hated him first. “Hate” is a strong word. But Jesus used it intentionally. We’ve already seen the division that trailed Jesus wherever he went. We’ve already seen the gathering dark storm clouds by which the authorities are determined to kill Jesus. When the course of the faith passed into the Apostles’ hands, as it soon would, they could expect the same venomous and determined hatred to be unleashed upon them. History records this was in fact what happened for about the first three centuries of the Church’s existence, and even after that in some locations. It still is true in many places even today. It is not unusual, unfortunately, to read today of churches being attacked and worshipers killed for their faith.
But Jesus, holding on to that old Hebrew faith in the justice of God, says fear not. The parakletos, the one called alongside you as an Advocate, will stand with you in the court of law and not only get you a hearing before the righteous judge, God, but also prove the world is in the wrong. This parakletos, this Advocate, this Holy Spirit, will only come when Jesus goes back to the Father because Jesus will send him. So it is to our advantage, sad and painful as it is, that Jesus departs.
The “world” as used here means not only foreign oppressors, like Rome, but also those who think they are actually worshiping God by killing you (v. 16:2). In other words, the most danger comes from those who think they are in the right! They do not recognize who you are because they do not “see” Jesus for who he is. They have ignored both his word and his works (vss. 22-23). And all because they do not really know the Father who sent him.
Again, the grave danger comes from the fact that they think their “sight” is perfectly fine. And that is a word we need to pay attention to.
APPLY
It is very easy for me to put myself in the place of the defendant, with the Advocate standing beside me to argue my case in the court of law before God, the righteous judge. I have been wrongly charged by a world “out to get me,” and I can have great confidence that God will rightly judge my case. This scenario is easy for me. However, I hear this passage warning me that I may, in fact, be the one wrongly bringing the charge against the innocent! As mentioned above, the greatest danger in the scenario Jesus describes comes from the ones who think they are in the right! It was, after all, the religious experts and authorities who sought Jesus’ death. This requires me to stand in “the light” of Jesus, not the shadow of my own self-centered desires.
PRAY
Holy and righteous God, true judge of all people, forgive me when I have believed myself to be in the right, only to (perhaps) discover I was not on your side. I was in the wrong. I was not on the side of love and mercy. In Christ. Amen.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Can you name a time when you felt wronged by “the system?” Maybe a court case, or HOA decision did not go your way. Maybe you were wrongly stopped for a traffic violation or your child was not treated fairly by the school system. How does it feel to have justice bent away from you?
2. Why does Jesus use the word “hate” in this passage? Is that too strong a word?
3. How does some familiarity with the Hebrew system of justice help us understand what Jesus is saying in this passage?
4. Have you ever had an experience of believing you were standing on the right side of justice, only to discover later you were not? Can you describe what that is like?
How will you apply these insights in your life?