¹⁸ “If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘Slaves are not greater than their master.’ If people persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. ²¹ But they will do all this to you because you are mine; for they do not know the one who sent me. ²² They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not done among them the things that no one else ever did; as it is, they have seen what I did, and they hate both me and my Father. ²⁵ This, however, was bound to happen so that what is written in their Law may come true: ‘They hated me for no reason at all.’

²⁶ “The Helper will come—the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father. I will send him to you from the Father, and he will speak about me. ²⁷ And you, too, will speak about me, because you have been with me from the very beginning. (GNT)

Summary

This passage talks about how Jesus, the Son of God, was treated by the people on earth, and what we as God’s people can expect from them; verse 19 sums this up perfectly. The chapter ends with Jesus reassuring the disciples that the Holy Spirit will be with them, so they won’t be alone in their preaching of the gospel.

Reflection

These verses plainly state that the world hated Jesus. Yes, the Son of the Living God, the Being that created the entire universe, was hated by people on earth. So, why would they like you? You aren’t even the Son of God, you’re just a regular person like them! What I took from this was to stay strong in your faith and follow God’s commands; you will not see your reward on this earth or in this lifetime, but the payoff will be much greater and longer-lasting than anything you could ask for in this mortal existence.

Find the beginning of the chapter here.