Jewels From JohnCampione

Expect To Be Unaccepted 

Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” John 15:18 (NLT)

Read John 15:18-25 for the entire teaching

When we read of all that Jesus taught and did while here on earth, it would make us wonder for which of His truthful teachings, and wonderful deeds did so many hate Him. Jesus, however, was not alarmed by this reaction. On the contrary. He told His disciples that for those who chose to follow Him, this was what they too should expect from the world.

Jesus clearly explained the reasons why He was disliked by many. Firstly, He was not of this world and so His teachings and the standards He put forth, were in contradiction to what people chose to live by. Secondly, many did not recognise that Jesus was truly the Saviour of the world, sent by the Father to save all of mankind from their sins. Thirdly, they saw and experienced all the signs and wonders He performed, but their unbelief prevented them from accepting and loving Jesus. It was as Jesus rightly said in John 15:25, “they hated me without a cause.”

As those called to be followers of Jesus, we should, therefore, not be flustered when we, too, encounter similar rejection as He did. We must realize that there is a constant conflict between the standards set by God, and those set by the world. For example, when Jesus calls us to be loving, forgiving, holy, truthful, generous, offering the eternal, the world prefers hate, revenge, depravity, dishonesty, selfishness and the temporal. It should be no surprise then for us, who commit to walk in obedience to Jesus and His words, if we, too, are not prominent or favoured.

Let’s encourage ourselves with Jesus words in Luke 6:22, "Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven." (NIV)