A Study of John 15:18-27

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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. 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. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ “But 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.”

John 15:18-27 ESV

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

Continuing His discourse with His disciples, Jesus told them to remember that if the world hates them, it hated Him first. If they were of the world the world would love them, but the world hates them because Jesus chose them out of the world, and they are therefore no longer of the world. Jesus then told them to recall that He said, “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Jesus they will persecute those who follow Him. If they kept His word they would keep the word of the disciples. But they will hate and persecute Jesus’ disciples on account of Him because they do not know the One Who sent Him.

If Jesus had never come and spoken to them they would not be guilty of sin, but He did so they have no excuse. Whoever hates Jesus also hates the Father. If Jesus had not done the miraculous works He did among them they would not be guilty of sin, but even though they saw Jesus they hated Him and His Father. In this the word that was written in the Law long ago must be fulfilled, “They hated me without a cause.”

Jesus then again promised to send the Helper from the Father, the Spirit of truth, to bear witness about Him. And Jesus also said His disciples would bear witness about Him because they were with Him from the beginning. 

Textual Analysis and Implication (what is being said and what does this mean?):

In verses 18-19 Jesus prepares the disciples for coming persecution as they follow Him by warning them ahead of time saying, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 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.” John writes of this elsewhere too by saying, “Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). Jesus wants His followers to know “if the world hates you,” and the implication is that it will, remember it hated Me first. Importantly, the “world” in John’s gospel “refers to the created moral order in active rebellion against God” (Carson).

As was earlier stated in John 7:7, the main reason the world hates Jesus is because He testified that its works are evil. This means followers of Jesus will often be hated by the world because of our connection to Him. As we grow in faith, obedience, love and relationship with Christ, we will more and more reflect the character and image of He Who is so hated by the world. God is the true and rightful Ruler of this world, but the world is in active rebellion against Him. Therefore, His followers stick out prominently and the world only has love for its own, not for those who have forsaken rebellion against the Divine and call others to do the same by giving believing loyalty to God Whom all belief and loyalty is due. The statement of this fact from Jesus is not a sociological one, but rather, a moral condemnation of the world.

Also, it is not that Jesus’ followers do not belong to the world because they never belonged to the world. We who follow Jesus used to belong to the world, but as Jesus says, we no longer belong to the world because “I chose you out of the world.” So again, we who are now loyal to our God and King will not be loved by those who continue in rebellion against Him. Crucially though, no Christian should ever think of themselves as better or more worthy than those who do not follow Jesus. We must remember we, and everyone on Earth, are by nature “objects of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). But because of God’s abundant grace and rich mercy we have been chosen out of the world. Because of Christ’s overflowing love we have been drawn to Him and raised from death to life. This should cause us to look on those who don’t know Him with loving compassion, and a desire to see them saved as well. But we must also remember and not be surprised to find that often we will be hated as we loyally follow our God and King in a world in rebellion against Him.

Next, in verse 20, Jesus continued to say, “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.” The words Jesus asks the disciples to remember here were recorded in John 13:16. In that context Jesus used them to teach the importance of loving, humble service to others as He washed the disciples feet. If Jesus would wash his disciple’s feet then it should be unthinkable for His followers to jockey for positions of honor rather than stoop to perform humble acts of service. Now, in this instance Jesus uses the same phrase and applies it to persecution. As we follow Jesus, conform our lives to His teaching and proclaim His teaching to others we should expect to meet with the same kind of opposition He did in varying degrees, even to the point of violence as many Christian do around the world. If they insulted and attacked our Master, they will do the same to we who serve Him.

The second part of this statement, “If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” can also be understood as, “They will pay the same attention to your words as they did mine.” with the implication being they will not pay attention. Of course some people will respond in faith, as the disciples did themselves, but the point expressed here is the majority of the world in moral rebellion against God will not respond favorably to the message of salvation through faith in Jesus, but some will.

In verse 21 Jesus sheds light on the reason for this virulent opposition saying, “But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” The words “on account of my name,” can also be understood as “because of me.” The way people react to followers of Jesus when they faithfully represent Him ultimately depends on Who Jesus is, not on the disciples themselves. For the world does not know the One Who sent Him. This means they do not truly know God if they reject Jesus and His followers. If they knew God they would respond to the revelation of God in Christ. So, whatever a person might claim to believe about God, if they reject Jesus they have rejected God. This should bring about compassion and sympathy in our hearts when we encounter it, and should spur us on to pray all the more earnestly for God to intervene in their hearts and grant them repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

Jesus then explains more about the guilty condition of people who saw Him and still rejected Him in verses 22-24, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” Jesus is not saying here that the people who rejected Him were sinless before His coming, or that His coming caused them to sin for the first time. Rather, He is saying that in His coming to them they responded with the most base and central of sins, which is, bald faced rejection of God Himself, i.e. open rebellion against God and choosing darkness rather than light (John 3:19-21, 9:39-41). 

This pattern is reflected elsewhere in the Synoptic Gospels as well where the Galileans who rejected Jesus are told they will face harsher judgement than sinful cities like Tyre, Sidon and even Sodom (Mt. 11:20-24). Furthermore, the city of Nineveh and the pagan queen of Sheba are far better off than them because they responded to the far dimmer revelation of God’s light revealed to them while these Judeans rejected God, the Light of the world incarnate (Luke 11:31-32). Despite the many miraculous signs Jesus performed among them “that no one else did” they still refused to believe in Him. While faith built on miracles witnessed may not be the strongest of faith (John 4:48), it is infinitely better than no faith at all; yet these people did not even possess such a kernel of faith. But the miraculous works of Jesus rightfully demand a response of faith (John 5:36, 9:32-33, 10:38). Therefore, a rejection of Jesus’ miraculous works and words is a rejection of the clearest revelation God Himself and as such engenders the deepest guilt.

What some of the people recognized, but many did not/refused to, is that the works and words of Jesus are the works and words of God. To see, hear and experience Jesus is to see, hear and experience God. This means, again, that to hate/reject Jesus is to hate/reject God, and to love/accept Jesus is to love/accept God. This rejection or acceptance of Jesus explains why His followers will experience persecution for His name’s sake. It also explains why people of the world have “no excuse for their sin.” Now that the gracious revelation of God in Christ has come, the world has even less, in fact “no”, excuse for its continued rebellion against God. Jesus Christ, the revelation of God in the flesh, both exposes human guilt for sin and provides the solution for it. But the world in rebellion against God hates this gracious exposure and rejects the salvation God provides through His loving, selfless sacrifice.

However, the hatred of the world cannot halt or alter God’s plan of redemption and Jesus illustrates this fact in verse 25 saying, “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” The world’s hatred and rejection of Jesus, in the case of the unbelieving people of Israel, is itself the fulfilment of prophecy recorded in their own Law. Because the words Jesus quoted are from the Psalms it is clear “Law” refers not only to the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible), but to the whole of the Old Testament. By referring to it as “their” Law, Jesus was not distancing Himself and the disciples from the OT Scripture, but merely pointing out the irony that the Jewish religious leaders who claimed to hold so dearly to the Scripture were in fact condemned by it in their rejection of Him.

The quote, “They hated me without a cause.” is from either Psalm 35:19 or Psalm 69:4. Most Biblical scholars believe it is more likely from Psalm 69 because it is a Messianic Psalm frequently referred to and quoted by New Testament writers. In this quoting of Psalm 69 a Davidic typology is presented. Just as David was hated without just cause, Jesus, the Messiah descended from him, is also hated without just cause; indeed infinitely less cause as Jesus is entirely without sin. Therefore, the world’s hatred of Jesus is without cause, and the religious leaders and Israelites who claim to adhere to the OT are particularly condemned by their own Scriptures.

Finally for chapter 15, in verses 26-27 Jesus says, “But 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.” In verses 18-25 of this chapter Jesus explained the world’s hatred for those who follow Him is rooted in hatred for Him. But if Jesus is soon to go away, as has been explained in chapter 14, how will the confrontation between Jesus and the world continue? The world’s hatred will continue to be directed at Jesus as His Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (aka God the Holy Spirit), dwells in every one of His followers to enable them to declare the truth of the gospel and face opposition with Christ-like love and grace. In this, the world’s opposition to Jesus’ followers continues to center on Who Jesus is.

Importantly, Jesus said the Spirit of Truth, Whom He will send, “will bear witness about me.”, and also that the disciples “will bear witness” because they were with Him “from the beginning.” Here, the word beginning refers to the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. This means the primary application of these words is to these specific disciples, but the Holy Spirit’s witness and the command to the disciples to testify certainly applies to all followers of Jesus everywhere.

As John wrote this gospel, and the end of the first century was approaching, there would have been less and less disciples around who were with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry, so passages like this provide new disciples an opportunity to look back and see what came before. For both young and mature Christians, these words present the true, historical facts of the Christian faith, and the promises and expectations for believers. Just as Jesus promised before going to the cross, He has sent the Holy Spirit to all who trust in Him, and the Spirit both witnesses to us who believe and empowers us to witness to others.

It is an important part of God’s redemptive plan to use His followers, filled with the Spirit, to testify of the gospel to the world. Whether undergoing the fire of persecution, our living out a faithful witness in the world, the Spirit of Truth empowers every follower of Jesus to carry on the work of proclaiming the truth to a fallen world under the curse of sin and in rebellion against God, that many more might be saved. Just as in Jesus’ time on Earth, this work done in His name will cause division and even hatred from a world that does not want its sin exposed to the light, and therefore there will be opposition. But such hatred will not stop God’s plan, and by His Spirit He will continue to seek and and save every person He has purposed to save until the day of Christ’s glorious return when judgment will come and all will be made new. Hatred towards Christ and His followers is a passing shadow, but His light and love will endure forever. The best is yet to come for all who trust Jesus.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

These words from Jesus should help us understand animosity faced because of our identification with Him is the norm. Before being brought from death to life through faith in Him we were part of this world that persists in active rebellion against Him, so it should come as no surprise that our loyalty to Him and reflection of His character will be met with derision, hatred and perhaps even violence. But just as Jesus met the opposition of this world with love, grace and bold yet gentle proclamation of the truth, so must we. Thankfully Jesus has not left us on our own to try and follow His example. He has sent us the Spirit of Truth, God the Holy Spirit, to witness to us, and to empower us in witnessing of Him to the world He died and rose again to save.

To meet hatred with love requires a supernatural kind of love and grace we don’t possess on our own, but God has provided us with this through His indwelling presence. Just as Jesus lovingly came to us in our rebellion and sin, He continues to do so through us to others still trapped in their sin and enslaved to death. As His followers, we have been tasked with proclaiming the good  news of salvation in Christ for the short time we live in this fallen world so that many more might be saved like we have been. We will spend eternity in matchless splendor and overflowing joy with Jesus our God in paradise, but let us be faithful now to play our part in our Lord’s redemptive plan before we go home to be with Him face to face.

Self Reflection:

1. Have I come to understand love for Jesus and a life lived for Him will mean hatred from the world?
2. Does my life reflect love for Jesus, or a desire to be accepted by a world in rebellion against Jesus?
3. What opportunities are there for me to show the love of Jesus and proclaim the truth of the gospel to the people around me?