The Inevitable Collision: Hated for His Name's Sake Text: John 15:18-27
Introduction: The Quest for Disapproval
We live in a thin-skinned, therapeutic age. The modern evangelical church, in many quarters, has adopted this posture as its own. It desperately wants to be liked. It wants a seat at the cool kids' table. It hires branding consultants, it softens the edges of the gospel, and it measures its success by its cultural approval ratings. The highest praise for a pastor is often that he is "relevant," which is usually code for "inoffensive to the world." If the world hates us, our first assumption is that we must have done something wrong. We must have been unloving, unkind, or unchristlike.
But Jesus, in this passage, flips that entire diagnostic on its head. He does not say, "If the world hates you, go back and apologize." He does not say, "If the world hates you, try a new outreach strategy." He says, in effect, "When the world hates you, know that you are in good company. Know that you are on the right track." The hatred of the world is not presented as a possibility to be avoided, but as an inevitability to be expected. It is not a sign of our failure, but rather a confirmation of our identity. It is a feature, not a bug. The world is a closed system, a society of mutual admiration, and it loves its own. If you find the world patting you on the back, you should be checking your spiritual pulse. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the inevitable collision between two antithetical kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. And in that collision, neutrality is not an option.
This passage is a dose of spiritual smelling salts for a church that has grown drowsy with the fumes of worldly acceptance. It is a battle plan. It tells us why the world hates us, how that hatred reveals their own guilt, and what God has provided to ensure our faithful witness in the face of it all.
The Text
"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 its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT CAUSE.’
When the Advocate 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 will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning."
(John 15:18-27 LSB)
The Logic of Persecution (vv. 18-21)
Jesus begins by establishing the foundational principle. The world's animosity toward us is not original. It is derivative.
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you." (John 15:18)
The world does not hate you for your taste in music or your peculiar church potluck dishes. It hates you because it sees the family resemblance. You smell like Christ. The hatred is a reaction to Him, and you are simply the nearby object. This should be a profound comfort. When the arrows fly, they are not ultimately aimed at you; you are just in the line of fire because you are standing behind your King.
In verse 19, Jesus explains the reason for this transferred hatred. It is a matter of identity and origin.
"If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." (John 15:19)
The world operates like a club with a very exclusive membership policy. It loves those who reflect its values, its priorities, its rebellion. It is a house of mirrors, and it loves what it sees. But Christians are not of the world. And notice the reason: it is not because we pulled ourselves out by our own moral bootstraps. It is because Christ "chose" us "out of the world." This is the doctrine of election, stated plainly. God reached into the world's club, this mass of condemned humanity, and He sovereignly pulled us out. We are traitors to the world's kingdom, and the world never forgives a traitor. Our very existence is a testimony against them, a reminder of the King they reject and the selection they were not a part of. This is the ultimate offense.
Jesus then gives the principle of representation in verse 20. We are His ambassadors, His slaves. We should expect to be treated as our Master was treated. To expect worldly honors and praise when our Lord received thorns and a cross is the height of presumption. The persecution you receive is a mark of your authentic representation. And the ultimate reason for all this, as verse 21 states, is that they act this way "for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me." At the bottom of it all is a profound, willful ignorance of God the Father. They do not know Him, so they cannot recognize His Son, and they despise those who bear His name.
The Removal of All Excuses (vv. 22-25)
The presence of Christ in the world, both in His earthly ministry and now through His church, has a clarifying effect. It removes all plausible deniability. It brings sin into the light.
"If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin." (John 15:22)
This does not mean they were sinless before Jesus came. It means their sin was not as explicit, not as high-handed. But Christ's coming and speaking forces a decision. The light invades the darkness, and you must either love the light or hate it. There is no middle ground. Jesus's words, His claims to be the Son of God, the way, the truth, and the life, strip away all the excuses. You cannot hear what He said and remain neutral. To hear it and reject it is to be left without excuse.
And this rejection is not a small thing. It is not a mere disagreement over religious philosophy. As verse 23 makes clear, "He who hates Me hates My Father also." You cannot drive a wedge between the Father and the Son. Many in our day want to claim a generic, non-offensive belief in "God" while rejecting the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. Jesus says this is impossible. To reject the authorized representative is to reject the King who sent him. To hate the Son is to hate the Father.
It was not just His words, but His works that condemned them. "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin" (v. 24). They saw Him heal the blind, raise the dead, and command the storms. They had irrefutable, empirical evidence. But their hearts were so hard that the evidence which should have produced faith instead produced a deeper hatred. This reveals the nature of unbelief. It is not an intellectual problem; it is a moral problem. It is not a lack of evidence; it is a suppression of the truth in unrighteousness.
But none of this took God by surprise. This was all according to the script. Verse 25 tells us this happened to fulfill the Scriptures: "THEY HATED ME WITHOUT CAUSE." The world's rebellion is not a rogue element in God's plan; it is an instrument of it. Their causeless hatred serves the eternal cause of God's redemptive purpose. This should fill us with an unshakable confidence. The opposition we face is not a sign that God's plan is failing, but rather that it is proceeding exactly as foretold.
The Divine and Human Witness (vv. 26-27)
After laying out this grim reality of the world's hatred, Jesus does not leave His disciples in despair. He gives them the great provision, the divine weapon for this conflict.
"When the Advocate 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." (John 15:26)
We are not sent into this hostile world alone. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Advocate, is sent to be with us. And notice His primary ministry: He will bear witness about Jesus. The central work of the Spirit in the world is not to give us warm feelings or mystical experiences, but to testify to the truth of who Jesus is and what He has done. This is the divine testimony. It is the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). Our witness is built upon the foundation of His.
And then, in verse 27, we see our role. "And you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning." Here we have the two sides of the coin. The Spirit provides the supernatural, internal testimony. We provide the objective, external, historical testimony. He is the divine witness; we are the human witnesses. Our job is to declare the facts: that we were with Him from the beginning, that He lived, taught, died, and rose again. We testify to what we have seen and heard. The Spirit then takes that factual testimony and drives it into the hearts of men with supernatural power.
Conclusion: A Privileged Position
So what is the takeaway for us? First, we must recalibrate our expectations. Stop being surprised when the world acts like the world. Stop seeking the approval of those who crucified your Lord. If you are faithful, you will be opposed. If you are never opposed, you are likely unfaithful.
Second, when that opposition comes, diagnose it correctly. This is not a personality conflict. It is a spiritual war. They hate you because they first hated Him. Their hatred is a backhanded compliment. It is a confirmation that you belong to another kingdom. You should not seek it out by being obnoxious, but you should not be ashamed of it when it comes. It is the family uniform.
Finally, we must be confident in our mission. We are not called to win a popularity contest. We are called to bear witness. And we are not alone in this task. The Spirit of Truth, the Advocate Himself, testifies with us and through us. Our task is simply to be faithful to the historical record, to tell the world what we know of Jesus Christ. We plant and we water, but it is the Spirit who gives the growth. Therefore, let us speak the truth boldly, without compromise and without apology, and let us count it all joy when the world hates us for His name's sake, for in this, we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, and we will also share in His glory.