Children, who is the Holy Spirit? We say that there is one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We know who the Son is-that's Jesus- the one who came and died for our sins, and was raised from the dead for our salvation. And we know who the Father is-because we have all had fathers, and we understand that relationship. But who is the Holy Spirit? Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is the "Helper," or "Comforter" or "Advocate." Since Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, he cannot be with us in the same way he was with the disciples on earth. So instead he sends his Spirit to be present with us.

Jesus has told his disciples that the hour has now come for the Son of Man to be glorified. After the Last Supper, Judas has gone out into the night to betray Jesus. Jesus knows that there are only a few more hours to teach his disciples what they need to know. When Jesus washed his disciples' feet, he made it clear that he was setting an example for them. "If I, then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." (13:14) Likewise, Jesus has called upon his disciples to love one another as he has loved them (15:12) And so Jesus now explains that because his hour has come, therefore the disciples may rest assured that their hour is also coming.

Did you notice all of the "ifs" in verse 18-25? There are three parts to this section, each consisting of two ifs followed by a but. 1) If the world hates you (18) If you were of the world, the world would love you (19) But because I chose you, the world will hate you. 2) If they persecuted me (20) If they kept my word (20) But they will persecute you on account of my name 3) If I had not come and spoken If I had not done the work of my father But the word must be fulfilled... (25)

Jesus is speaking primarily to his disciples. While we may understand how this relates to us as well, we need to see that Jesus is speaking first and foremost to the eleven. They have no idea what is coming! They are still trying to figure out why Jesus keeps talking about dying! They don't yet realize that Jesus' only path to glory is the cross. And they certainly don't realize that their only path to glory is the cross. So Jesus says, "if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." Jesus had already told them that "a servant is not greater than his master." (13:16) Now he explains what this will mean for their future. In his death, the world will be judged. In his death, the ruler of this world will be cast out. Therefore the world will hate Jesus, and all who belong to him. Jesus has come to challenge everything that the world holds dear. He has come to establish a kingdom that is not of this world. It is not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom. Therefore it levels a fundamental challenge against all earthly kingdoms. Jesus tells his disciples that if they were of the world, the world would love them as its own. But instead the world will hate them. Why? Because Jesus has chosen them out of the world.

There are two ways of talking about election. One way of saying it is that God saves the world, but condemns those who refuse to believe in Jesus. In John 3, we hear that God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus then adds that "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.... Whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." The other way of talking about election is that God condemns the world, and saves the elect out of it. That is the way that Jesus speaks here in John 15. "I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (15:19) In John 3 Jesus says that he came to save the world. In John 15 Jesus says that the disciples are chosen "out of the world." What is going on here?

Both perspectives are correct. John 3 is looking at election from an eschatological perspective. In the end, the world will be saved. The purpose and goal of Jesus' coming is to save the world. But John 15 is looking at election from the vantage point of this age. "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world" (16:33) Jesus will cast out the ruler of this world in his death and resurrection, but this world has not yet been recreated into the world to come. The salvation of the world is the goal, but until that goal is achieved, the world is a hostile place. The citizens of this world do not confess Jesus as Lord. They do not recognize him as King of kings. Therefore they hate him-and all those who belong to his kingdom.

The world will hate you because the world does not want to be saved. They love darkness, and hate the light. So Jesus goes on in the second set of ifs (verses 20-21) to point out that if the world persecuted Jesus, then it will persecute his disciples. Jesus is referring particularly to Jewish leaders. This is clear from 16:2--"They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." Jesus is calling his disciples to exile. His disciples are faithful Jews. Their national identity, their religious identity, their family, are all bound up with their Jewishness. They don't want to leave the synagogue! But Jesus says that the synagogue is becoming the world. All that was dear to them is about to be ripped away. And the Jews will do these things to them, "on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me." (16:21) The name of Jesus is going to cost the disciples dearly. The third set of "ifs" in verses 22-25 explains why the world hates Jesus. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin," Literally, "they would not have sin." This is a sobering thought. With greater light comes greater darkness. The coming of the Savior of the world pushes people off the fence. The incarnate Word of God came to his own, and his own did not receive him. Prior to Christ's coming, Judaism had its parties and divisions, but after his coming, there is a clear fault line dividing between those who believe in Jesus, and those who don't. Or, as Jesus puts it in verse 23, between those who love the Father, and those who hate the Father. Jesus goes so far as to say, "If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin." The chief priests and Pharisees might well have been faithful Jews if Jesus hadn't come. You see, to believe in predestination does not mean to believe in fatalism. Jesus is saying that if I hadn't come, then things would have been different. But my coming creates a new division that formerly didn't exist. Before I came, it was the Jews and the Gentiles. But my coming is bringing a new creation. "Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father." But, Jesus adds, this is simply what the Law had said: "The word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.'" (16:25)

This is a quotation either from Psalm 35 or Psalm 69. We read Psalm 35 and sang a portion of Psalm 69. Both are psalms of David, calling upon the LORD to rise up and deliver him from his enemies. Both speak of those "who hate me without cause," and who seek to destroy the Lord's anointed king. Psalm 69:9 says "zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me." John 2 has already drawn our attention to the fact that the first part of this is true of Jesus: zeal for God's house has consumed Jesus. Now John 15 shows us that the second part is also about him. Those who hate him, also hate the Father. David says that those who reproach God also reproach the anointed king, the Messiah-the son of God. What happened to David? He was attacked by his own people-even his own son. In David's day there was a division of the people of God, between those who followed the Lord's anointed, and those who followed the ways of the world. Jesus is saying that this is coming to its final fulfillment in him. As Absalom revolted against his father, and as Jeroboam revolted against the house of David, so now the leaders of the Jews are going to revolt against him.

This is why the coming of the Holy Spirit is so important. The Mosaic age is coming to an end. The priesthood, the temple, the sacrifices- the whole ethnic identity of the people of God is ending. Those who believe in Jesus and his Father are being constituted as a kingdom not of this world. But how can the kingdom come, if the king is absent? Jesus promised his disciples that he would not leave them alone. Jesus has told his disciples that whoever believes in him will do greater works because he is going to the Father. He will go to the Father, and send the Holy Spirit, and in the coming of the Holy Spirit, Christ will be present with his church. Therefore the church is the means that Christ uses to do his greatest work, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning."

The kingdom of God will come through the preaching of the eleven. They will bear witness about Jesus, together with the Holy Spirit, and through that preaching the kingdom of God will be established.

Why has Jesus said all this? "To keep you from falling away." (16:1) Because your hour is coming. If the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, and if that glory is revealed in his death on the cross, then the disciples can rest assured that their hour will also come. They too must face the cross.

The rulers of the Jews "will put you out of the synagogues." You will be isolated from friends and family. All that was once dear to you will be stripped away. Indeed, your hour is coming, the hour "when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." The book of Acts recounts this in the death of Stephen and the zealous persecution of the church by Saul of Tarsus. But Jesus says that "they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

John 13-17 consists of Jesus final words to his disciples. They are intensely personal. They have a very focused point. And that focus is on the eleven. In John 17, Jesus begins by praying for the eleven, but then in verse 20 he adds, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word."

Not every statement can be applied literally. We are not likely to be put out of the synagogue Neither are we likely to be killed by a Jew who thinks he doing it in service to God. But the whole point is that your hour will come. A servant is not greater than his master. The apostles were the greatest servants that Jesus ever had. And so if they were persecuted for Christ's sake, then we should not expect anything less for ourselves. The world will always hate those who belong to Christ. They will always seek to destroy you.

But when your hour comes, and the world attacks with all its fury, do not be afraid, because you will not be alone.

Because our Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and because he has anointed us with his Spirit, we may cry out with Psalm 69 (read):

Copyright © 2004 Peter J. Wallace