If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
From this we realize that the message of Jesus was more than a mere spiritualized version of 'be nice to everyone'. It was more even than a more rigorous insistence on virtue. Many where the philosophers who taught unshrinking adherence to the good and conformity to the natural law without particularly arousing the ire of the world. Jesus did indeed cause a commotion by insisting on integrity and criticizing hypocrisy. He made people want to stop asking questions by the way he insisted on perfection as his Father was perfect, the way he accepted nothing that fell short of love of God and love of neighbor. Yet there was something more to the world's hatred for him than even all of this.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Within the world prideful people would clash against others who were similarly puffed up with pride. Greedy people would contest against others who were greedy to maximize their own gains. Their sins per se did not unite them. But some deeper commitment to the fallen world that they all shared did unite them. They were willing to make alliance with one another over what they perceived to be a greater threat. They could not risk the creation of a new world in which their former ways would have no place. The disciples were, in a way, already living in that world. Their very existence was experienced by others as a threat to their status quo, just as was that of Jesus. They caused those caught in a lifestyle of sin to feel what Jesus the same thing Jesus had.
Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us;
he opposes our actions,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training (See Wisdom 2:12).
The reason the disciples were a threat to the world in a way that philosophers were not was because they represented more than an abstract ideal. They were the envoys of the King before whom all of the world would one day sit in judgement. Because what they conveyed were not just enlightened opinions, but prophetic words about reality itself, it was more difficult to ignore them.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
'No slave is greater than his master.'
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
The world was motivated to fight harder against the message of Jesus than any myth or fiction could have motivated them. There was something sinister or diabolical in their intolerance for the truth. They were, it is true, trying to preserve their own lifestyles of sin. But they were also in active rebellion against the one who claimed to have the authority to tell them to live differently. It wasn't just the hatred toward some random figure making demands of them. Such a one was really no threat and could be safely ignored. It was also a nagging sense that, if they did not oppose the king, he would have his way eventually.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
There would be many who opposed the disciples because they opposed Jesus himself, and the disciples were, as we have said, his envoys. But there would also be those who would love the disciples, not for what they were in themselves, but for the sake of the name of Jesus. In hearing and accepting them they heard and accepted Jesus and the one who sent him. If someone gave a glass of cold water to one of those little ones for the sake of Jesus he would not lose his reward.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.
If Jesus had been a normal earthly king he would have slain his enemies at once. He would have had those wretched men put to a wretched death, as his opponents themselves answered him (see Matthew 21:41). But we can see that the world was not a threat to Jesus in the way that it would have been to any mere earthly king. He didn't have to strike at once to ensure self-preservation. Rather, we can see that, after a fashion, he excused their oppressors on account of their ignorance. He said they did not know the one who sent him. And this was the same excuse he made on their behalf from the cross when he pleaded for their forgiveness.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments (see Luke 23:34).
From all this we can discern that the point of Jesus was not that we should simply accept evil in this world as a matter of course. Yes, until they were called out of the world people would behave in a way consistent with the world's fallen nature. Yes, the disciples and we ourselves needed to be mentally prepared to face opposition. But the point of that knowledge and that preparation was not merely so that we ourselves could survive. It was so that we ourselves could help to convey the same message of forgiveness that for which our savior died. Our desire is that of the psalmist: "Let all the earth cry out to God with joy".
Hillsong Worship - What A Beautiful Name
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