When the World Hates You
John 15:18-16:4
"I hate these moths." "I hate that guy." "I hate you!"
We throw the word "hate" around casually these days. It's flippant, attached to immediate emotions rather than true loathing. Think Michael Scott from The Office hating Toby. Or Indiana Jones hating snakes. Or the Abbott in Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
But when Jesus uses the word "hate" in John 15, He's not talking about annoyance or frustration or even intense rivalry.
He's talking about something far deeper and far more serious.
Why does Jesus say the world hates Him and us?
Because Jesus Is Divisive
If we only had these verses as our starting point, it would be difficult to know where Jesus is coming from. On face value, it just says: You're going to be hated. Jesus is going to be hated. Not very nice.
Thankfully, John doesn't drop us in the deep end. We can flip back through his account of Jesus' life to gain context.
From the very start of John's Gospel, we know Jesus was with God from the very beginning:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:1-5).
John says God and Jesus are light. Everything else in the world, because of sin, has been shrouded in darkness.
And in John 14:6, Jesus declares: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
The way out of darkness and into God's light is Jesus. And that's the only way.
Following Jesus is a binary choice between light and darkness. There's no middle ground. It's because of who Jesus is, who God is, and who we are as Christians.
Jesus wasn't brought into the world to appease.
He came to save. And when you're the Saviour of the world, it's one way or the other. You're either on His side, or you're not. Those who choose the light in Jesus and those who choose the darkness. Jesus splits it right down the middle.
And this isn't recent. As we read in John 1, from the beginning of time, Jesus has been and will continue to be divisive.
A Conversion Through Division
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel of the Sydney Anglican Church was a Buddhist studying law at university. One hot summer night, he couldn't sleep, so someone gave him a little Gospel of John to read. Instead of putting him to sleep, it kept him awake. He read it through three times straight.
Here's what struck him:
"God in His kindness drew my attention to a phrase that John uses on a couple of occasions—'at this the people were divided.' Jesus would do something, and John would say, 'at this the people were divided.' And I found myself saying, 'Oh, Jesus divides people. People are against Him or for Him. I'm against Him. Why am I against Him?'
"I really found it hard to answer that question. I thought, 'This is authentic. This is true. These things I'm reading are true. Why am I against Jesus?'"
That question led him from Buddhism to Christianity. We're either with Jesus or against Him.
Chosen to Be Divisive
Not only is Jesus divisive, but we've been chosen by the divisive Son of God to be divisive ourselves.
"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" (v. 19).
Jesus, our Saviour, has picked us to be tarred with the same brush as Him. As a follower of Jesus, we will be divisive as well. It comes with the territory of being a Christian.
While Jesus divides, He also unites those who follow Him. In John 13, Jesus washes the disciples' feet, stooping to serve from His authority and identity. He calls His disciples to do the same, to love and serve because of who they are.
We are set apart in His love, united in His love, and commanded to love one another.
Jesus is saying we will be hated because He is divisive, and so we will be divisive. We're chosen to be divisive because of who He is and because as Christians, we're united and set apart in His love.
A Story From School Camp
At a school camp in year 10 or 11, Joel's year group was playing a game where someone yelled out a characteristic, and if you had it, you had to swap chairs.
A few people in their year knew that a number of students went to youth group at different churches. So they started calling them "churchies." The person yelling characteristics decided to call out: "Churchies!"
Joel stood up and ran to another chair. It was a boring moment, really. But it was important. With his actions, he literally said: I belong to something—or more specifically, someone—different.
"Sometimes the world doesn't even know it hates you," Joel says. "They don't know why, but it's because of Jesus."
Because Jesus Exposes Us
Jesus is divisive, but He's also exposing us for who we really are and our desperate need for Him.
The light of the world exposes those living in darkness. We, as fallen human beings, are guilty. And the only answer to absolve us of the terrible curse of sin is the divisive one: Jesus.
When Luis Figo transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000 for a world record fee, it wasn't just a signing. As Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez said: "It didn't just strengthen us. It was like ripping out the heart of Barcelona."
Two and a half years later, during a match, Barcelona fans threw oranges, golf balls, rocks, knives, and—yes—a pig's head at Figo. Calling someone a pig in Spanish means you're dirty, greedy, a traitor.
That's worldly hate. Tribal. Emotional. Intense.
But it stops short of eternal destruction.
The Hate Jesus Describes
The hatred Jesus talks about is infinitely deeper than Barcelona vs. Real Madrid.
It's not just dislike or frustration when someone is exposed. It's spiritual disgust before a holy God. It's rooted in rejection of God, and it has eternal consequences.
"Whoever hates me hates my Father as well" (v. 23).
Jesus is highlighting the almost indescribable need for the relationship between the human race and its Creator to be restored.
The hate Jesus is talking about is eternal separation from the Father.
But There's Hope
Thankfully, we're not left in despair. Jesus hasn't left us to do this alone.
"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" (vv. 26-27).
Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth who testifies about Jesus and empowers us to be witnesses.
Evil hasn't won and cannot win, because the light of Jesus cannot be overcome by darkness.
The Cost of Following Jesus
"Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (v. 20).
Jesus warns us: "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" (16:2).
The price we pay for being a Christian is persecution. It can result in:
Derision and ridicule
Being labeled a bigot or intolerant
Workplace jokes about your faith
Eye rolls from unbelieving family members
Being kicked out of friendship groups (Joel experienced this in year 12)
Threats, violence, even death
But persecution isn't the goal. Victimhood isn't the goal.
God didn't choose you out of the world for an easy life. He chose you to be saved from something far worse, eternal destruction and death.
The Encouragement
Being hated for following Jesus is a far lighter burden than the knowledge that people you love could be going to hell.
Christians can stand out by loving their enemies, forgiving deeply, serving others, by living completely differently.
Don't make church as close to the world as possible, thinking that will attract people. If church looks the same as the world, why would anyone consider Jesus?
Living in the light means living completely differently. It's why at Soul Revival, we spend lots of time together in God's Word, eating meals, sharing our lives across different ages and backgrounds.
Live radical lives of obedience to Jesus. Welcome the difficulties Jesus warns we'll face, because we want others to be welcomed into a life of restored relationship with the Father.
Despite what division, hate, or exposure it creates, Jesus has never lost. He's already won the battle.
The darkness has not and will not ever overcome the light that is our Lord Jesus.
Soul Revival Church gathers across the Sutherland Shire [Kirrawee, Yarrawarrah, Miranda, Cronulla] and Ryde.