John 15:18-16:4: “Jesus
Prepares His Disciples For Persecution For His Name”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 12-17
of chapter 15.
1.1.1.
In that study,
Jesus began to tell His disciples to love one another in the same manner that
He has loved them, i.e. to be willing to lay down their lives for the brethren
just as He was soon to lay His life down for them.
1.1.2.
We talked
about what that sacrifice of Jesus upon
1.1.3.
We saw that as great as the sacrifices that many have
made for others, such as those that the men and women in the military have made
for us as Americans, there is something unique and greater about the sacrifice
that Jesus Christ made upon Calvary’s cross for each of us in the human
race. The sacrifice that Jesus Christ
made for us was a sacrifice that was made for sinful men and women who were
deserving of their punishment, people who were not desirable, lovely, or
loveable and in fact who despised the one make the sacrifice, and people who
could not repay in any substantial way that sacrifice, as Romans 5:6-8 tells
us, “6 For while we were still
helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though
perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
1.2.
In our study today, we
are going to look at verses 18 of chapter 15 through verse 4 of chapter 16.
1.2.1.
In this Upper Room
Discourse by Jesus to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, that
which is found in John chapters 13-19, we have seen that Jesus has been
teaching His disciples many things to prepare them for life without Him and for
continuing in their calling and commission to preach the gospel to the whole
world and make disciples of all nations teaching them to observe all of the
things that He had taught them. In this
study, Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for persecution in His Name after
He has left them.
1.2.2.
Up to this point in time,
Jesus’ disciples had endured no real persecution for serving Jesus and they
likely did not consider at this time that any persecution of them was
forthcoming. I remember when I first
became a Christian in 1973 as I was a freshman in college, and at that time I
thought that now that I had become a Christian and committed myself completely
to God and doing good things for mankind that everyone would probably really
want to hear about my commitment and what God had done in my life. I had no idea of the fierce and fiery
confrontations that I would go on with those that I had considered to be my
closest friends, all over the fact of the change in my life and my new found
beliefs. This persecution that I
experienced baffled me initially and caused me to pull into a shell.
1.2.3.
It is with great
compassion and mercy that Jesus now begins to explain to His disciples the fact
that what awaited them was persecution and even martyrdom for having followed
Him. There is a saying that goes like
this, “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” It is much easier to endure something if in
fact you know that it is coming.
1.2.4.
This being Memorial
Weekend where we remember those who have given their lives for our country, I
thought it would be worthwhile to mention that in the early church that they
venerated those who had suffered greatly for the faith, especially the martyrs. People remembered their birthdays and the day
of their martyrdom. In so many ways, we
Christians need to always realize that we would not be in the faith today had
not some of these men and women sacrificed their lives for Christ and suffered
as martyrs for their faith. We who are
Christians are great debtors to generations of Christian martyrs.
1.2.5.
Persecution is something
that not only happened to Jesus’ disciples, 10 of whom were martyred for their
faith, or in the history of the early church at the hands of the Jews and also
Rome, but it is also a real occurrence in the lives of all who live their life
for the Lord, just as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
be persecuted.”
1.2.6.
The book of Acts details story after story about how
the apostles and members of the early church were persecuted and many martyred
for their faith and the preaching of the gospel. Paul, the most active and productive
missionary in the book of Acts, described the extreme degree of persecution
that he and those with him were constantly facing :
1.2.6.1.2
Corinthians 4:8-12, “8 we
are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; 10 always
carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to
death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
mortal flesh. 12 So death
works in us, but life in you.”
1.2.6.2.2
Corinthians 11:23-27, “23 Are they
servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far
more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
25 Three
times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked,
a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on
frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my
countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the
wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor
and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often
without food, in cold and exposure.”
1.2.7.
In Mark 10:34-39, Jesus had foretold that the result
of His coming would not be peace but rather discord and persecution, but Jesus’
disciples hadn’t really experienced much of this and probably didn’t understand
the scope of what Jesus meant by saying this, “34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the
earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 “For I came to set a man against his
father, and a daughter against her
mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the
members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is
not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy
of Me. 38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow
after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he
who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
1.2.8.
Foxes “Christian
Martyrs Of The World” states the following about the persecutions that
occurred in the early church and amongst Jesus’ own disciples :
Around 34
A.D., one year after the crucifixion of Jesus, Stephen was thrown out of
Matthias was the apostle who filled the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at
In about 72 A.D., Jude, the brother of James who was commonly called Thaddeus,
was crucified at
1.2.9.
The initial persecution
of the early church came at the hands of the Jews and Jewish zealots. The Jews persecuted the disciple in Jerusalem
and then when news of Christian conversions came in many of the Jews in the synagogues
throughout the Gentile word, Jewish zealots began to follow the apostle Paul
wherever he went stirring up persecutions of those who had converted to
Christianity.
1.2.10.Next, the
persecution of the early church came at the hands of the Romans as ten different
Roman emperors, starting with Nero, began campaigns to wipe out every Christian
and evidence of Christianity from the face of the earth. The book “Studies In The Early Church
History” by Henry T. Sell, D.D. has the following account of how persecution
began in the early church and at the hands of
Christianity was a religion of “no compromise.”
Its advocates rather than yield their faith in Christ and in the matter of
worshipping the Roman immoralities of many of their groves and temples, endured
imprisonments, tortures, and death by wild beasts, by drowning, by beheading
and by burning…<CONCERNING ROMAN PERSECUTION>…The boasted toleration and
liberality of the empire had certain fixed limits. Had the Christians been
willing to enter with a religion which would take its place with a hundred or
so of other religions there would have been no persecution, but it claimed to
be the one true faith and for that claim it had to suffer. It was a Roman
principle that men must have no gods not sanctioned by law. The Christians were
guilty of a double offense—they strove by every means to persuade citizens to
abandon the worship sanctioned by Roman law and to introduce rites not
sanctioned by it. Christianity was a perpetual menace to the government and to
its religion and the “allowed religions” and it was silently
and rapidly extending itself through every province of the empire. “Already
its members were coming into collision with Imperial ordinances, and neither
remonstrance nor punishment could induce them to give way…The Penalties,
inflicted upon the Christians, were in accord with well and long established
Roman laws. The large claims of Christianity brought it within the clutches of
these laws. The empire was not so tolerant or so easy going as it has sometimes
been made to appear. The Roman magistrates could inflict a great variety of
punishments, all according to law and the view which they desired to take of
Christianity. “It might be treated as an unlicensed religion, or as
high treason, or as sacrilege, or as magic; perhaps also as incest. Introducers
of new religions, if of good birth, were to be banished to an island; otherwise
they were to be put to death. Those guilty of high treason, if of good birth,
were to be beheaded; if not to be exposed to the beasts or burned alive. In
either case they might be tortured. Sacrilege was similarly punished, with the
additional alternative of crucifixion, but with the exclusion of torture in the
case of citizens. Magic was punishable with exposure to wild beasts, burning or
crucifixion; incest with banishment. Such a combination of crimes—which were
wrongfully ascribed to the Christians—in one and the same set of men made the
Roman officials intolerant.” The penalties were often inflicted with
the utmost cruelty without regard to age or sex. In the great Coliseum at
1.2.11.The persecution of the church which began under the
emperor Nero who martyred the apostle Paul continued with the following ten
emperors :
1.2.11.1.Nero
(emperor a.d. 54–68. Special years
of persecution a.d. 64–68).
1.2.11.2.Domitian
(emperor a.d. 81–96. Special years
of persecution a.d. 95, 96).
1.2.11.3.Trajan
(emperor a.d. 98–117. Special
years of persecution a.d.
104–17).
1.2.11.4.Marcus Aurelius
(emperor a.d. 161–180. Special
years of persecution, the whole period of his reign.).
1.2.11.5.Septimius Severus (emperor a.d. 103–211.
Special years of persecution a.d.
200–211).
1.2.11.6.Maximinus
(emperor a.d. 235–237—Special
years of persecution, the same).
1.2.11.7.Decius (emperor
a.d. 249–251. Special years of
persecution, the same).
1.2.11.8.Valerian
(emperor a.d. 253–260. Special
years of persecution a.d.
257–260).
1.2.11.9.Aurelian
(emperor a.d. 270–275. Special
years of persecution, a.d. 274,
275).
1.2.11.10.Diocletian
(emperor a.d. 284–305. Beginning
of persecution 303 a.d.).
1.2.11.10.1.Of The many Roman Emperors tried to destroy
Christianity, Diocletian was particularly violent in his hatred of the Bible and
Christianity. He killed so many Christians, with such outrageous cruelties, and
destroyed so many Bibles, that many Christians went underground and hid
themselves from his wrath. When it seemed to Diocletian that he had made an end
of them, in his haste Diocletian had a medal coined with this motto on it: “The
Christian religion is destroyed, and the worship of the (Roman) gods is
restored.”
1.2.12.However,
the persecution of the church had the exact opposite affect that was
intended. For every Christian who was
martyred for his/her faith several more were emboldened to likewise commit
their life to Christ even if it meant a death sentence, as the following quotes
from “Studies In The Early Church History” reveal :
1.2.12.1.Irenæus of
Lyons—writing in the latter part of
the second century—says: “Though scattered throughout the whole world,
the church carefully keeps this preaching and faith which she has received, as
if she dwelt in a single house … for although the languages of the world are varied,
yet the meaning of the Christian tradition is one and the same. There is no
whit of difference in what is believed or handed down by the churches planted
in
1.2.12.2.Clement of
Alexandria—writing about the close of
the second century—says: “The word of our Teacher did not remain in
Judæa alone, as did philosophy in Greece, but was poured out over the whole
universe, persuading Greeks and barbarians alike in the various nations and
villages and cities, winning over whole households, and bringing to the truth
each individual of those who bad believed, as well as not a few philosophers.”
1.2.12.3.Tertullian
of Carthage—writing near the
beginning of the third century—says: “The cry is that the state is
infested with Christians, in the fields, in the villages, in the
lodging-houses! Both sexes, every age and condition of life, rank itself, are
gone over to the Christian name.… If we wanted to play the part of avowed
enemies, not merely of secret avengers, would we be lacking in numbers or
resources? Do the Mauri, Marcomanni, the Parthians themselves, or any nation
however great, belonging to one country and living within its own boundaries,
do these forsooth, outnumber one that is all over the world? We are but of
yesterday. Yet we have filled all the places you frequent—cities,
lodging-houses, villages, townships, markets, the camp itself, tribes, town
councils, the palace, the senate and the forum. All we have left you is your
temples.”
1.2.12.4.The pagan
(Porphyry) in Macarius Magnes, 4.3, “Behold
every corner of the universe has experienced the gospel, and the whole ends and
bounds of the world are occupied with the gospel.”
1.2.12.5.Eusebius (H.E. 9.9) speaks of Maximinus Daza’s Rescript to
Sabinus and that the emperors “Diocletian and Maximian issued edicts
for the suppression of Christianity when they saw almost all men deserting the
worship of the gods and attaching themselves to the Christian people.”
1.2.13.Finally, in
325 AD when the Roman emperor Constantine had the very convenient vision in the
sky that told him to conquer in this Name, and he had his supposed conversion
and then instituted Christianity as the world religion, it was said that if the
Christians were to raise the sword they could have conquered the world.
1.2.14.All
throughout history there have existed pockets where many Christians have been
persecuted and martyred for their faith, whether it was the 300,000 – 400,000
martyred during the Spanish Inquisition, the millions under Hitler in fascist
Germany, the 40,000 shot per month in Russia at the height of Stalin’s
persecution as documented by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who spent
1943-1953 in a Russian prison for his faith, in his
book “The Gulag Archipelago” which was
written after he was finally expelled from Russia in 1974, etc..
1.2.15.Today there
still exists a lot of persecution of Christians that is occurring all around
the world, and even within our own country.
Thomas Horn has written
about how that persecution is increasing in our day, even in the United States,
“More Christians died for their
faith in the twentieth century than at any other time in history, says
Christian Solidarity International. Global reports indicate that over 150,000
Christians were martyred last year, chiefly outside of the
1.2.16.I encourage
all to go to www.google.com and do a
search on “Christian persecution” and you will discover that there are
links to horrendous persecution of Christians that are occurring right now in
every country in the world. No group on
earth has ever been persecuted as has the Christian church.
2.
VS 15:18-19 - “15:18 ‘If the world hates you, 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, therefore the world hates you’.” - Jesus consoles His disciples in the fact that
if people hate them that they are to know that it is because that they are not
a part of the world that people hate them, and Jesus had called them out of
this world
2.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that the same way in which
the world that is in rebellion against God persecuted and hated Him, it will
also hate them. They will be hated
because they do not participate in the evil deeds that the people who are
rebelling against God participate in.
Because Jesus’ disciples will be following His commandments and
teachings, therefore they will go against what the people of this world are
doing, and for that reason they are not “of the world” or “its own.”
2.2.
We Christians should not be surprised when we are
persecuted by the people of this world that is in rebellion against God. We inherit and share in the sufferings of
Christ because we are Christians just as the apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter
4:13, “13 but to the degree that
you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the
revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
2.3.
In fact, we Christians need to beware if we are “not”
being persecuted for our faith, for Jesus said in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you
when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false
prophets”. If we are not being
persecuted for our faith in Christ, it is because either we are not living a
Christ-like lifestyle and/or we are not sharing the faith in Christ our Lord
and savior with the people of this world.
2.3.1.
John Wesley endured great persecution during his
lifetime and ministry and once as he was riding his horse it occurred to him
that he hadn’t experienced any persecution for some time and he began to worry
that his life was not right with God. He
then got off of his horse and began to ask the Lord if the reason that he
hadn’t experienced any persecution lately was because there was something in
his life that was not right before the Lord.
A passerby hearing Wesley’s prayer picked up a brick and threw it at him
telling him that he would help him out.
Wesley then thanked the Lord that there was nothing that he needed to
repent of and got on his horse and rode away.
2.4.
The mere fact that we who are Christians are trying to
live a godly life and are trying to serve the Lord sincerely from the heart is
very disturbing to those in this world who are not doing so, and for this
reason we are persecuted for our faith in Christ. But, we need to take heart in the fact that
it is really not us that people are rejecting and it is not really us whom
people are persecuting, it is the Lord who lives within us.
3.
VS 15:20 - “‘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’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that they are not
greater than Him, their Master, and that if people persecuted Him and didn’t
keep His word, they were also going to persecute His disciples and not keep
their word
3.1.
Jesus told His disciples to remember His words that
they will inherit His persecutions, for they as His slave or servant are not
greater than He, their master. If He was
persecuted then they also will be persecuted who follow and represent Him in
this world. For this reason, we
Christians are not to be surprised if people do not follow our godly advice and
counsel, for many did not receive the words of the man who was the full and
complete representation of the godhead in bodily form.
3.2.
Jesus warns us that people will not always accept our
godly and wise counsel, so we should not be surprised that many will reject us
and our word. Only a humble and contrite
heart is willing to take correction from the Lord.
3.3.
Jesus taught His disciples in the parable of The Sower
that there would be a variety of responses to the hearing of God’s word in the
gospel. Some would receive it gladly,
yet fall away when persecution hit.
Others would receive it gladly, however because they did not have a firm
root in themselves, in times of temptation they would fall away from
Christ. For some that seed is eaten by
the birds as soon as it falls, they don’t even understand the word before
demons steal it away. Finally, there is
the good soil of the person who receives the word and it begins to bear fruit
for the Lord in their life. Yet, we are
still to continue to sow God’s word, regardless of the response. Few turn out to receive the word gladly and
bear good fruit in their lives, fruit that would remain.
4.
VS 15:21 - “‘But all these
things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One
who sent Me’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that people will do
these things to them for His name’s sake because they do not know the One who
sent Him
4.1.
Notice
that it is striking here the persecution that happened to Jesus and to His
disciples came by those who were religious, the highest leaders of the Jewish
religion. Jesus tells His disciples that
these ones will persecute them because they do not know ‘the One who sent Me.’
4.2.
Again, Jesus indicates to His disciples in this verse
that the persecution that they will receive should not be taken personally by them,
but rather that they are being persecuted for His sake, and their persecutors
are really taking out their hated of Him upon them.
4.3.
We shouldn’t take personally the persecutions which we
receive from the people in the world, for they are not really against us, but
against Christ. People do not hate
Christians, they just hate the One whom the Christians stand for.
4.4.
Paul exhorted the Ephesians 6:10-18 as to the nature
of the battle which they were in, and as to how to wage their warfare: “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in
the strength of His might. Put on the
full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of
the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces
of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God,
that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to
stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having
girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breasplate of
righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace; in addition to all, taking up the
shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming
missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of god.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with
this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the
saints.”
5.
VS 15:22 - “‘If I had not
come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse
for their sin’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that if He had not spoken
to the people of this world the persecutors would not have any sin, however now
they have no excuse for their sin
5.1.
Christ tells His disciples that the world is now
accountable for their sins because He has come and preached and spoken God’s
word to them.
5.2.
This verse states what is really the great impetus
that Christians should have to go out into all of the world and preach the
gospel, namely that people will be lost for all of eternity if they do not
receive Jesus as their Lord and their Savior.
This is what Paul is saying in Rom. 1:20 when he says of those who do
not know Christ that, “they are without excuse.” We must get out and tell the world about
Jesus or else the blood of men whom we have come into contact with shall be
upon our hands!
6.
VS 15:23 - “‘He who hates Me hates My Father also’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that the one who
hates Him hates His Father also
6.1.
To hate Jesus is to hate the Father who sent His only
begotten Son, Jesus, into the world.
6.2.
Many people today make the fatal mistake of thinking
that they can have a relationship with God apart from embracing Jesus Christ as
their Lord and Savior. It can’t happen
because Jesus has already told us in John 14:6-7 that He is the only way to God,
and now He states that to despise Him is to despise the Father.
7.
VS 15:24 - “‘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’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that if He had not
done the works which no one else has ever done the people of this world would
have no sin but how they have both seen and hated Him and His Father also
7.1.
Jesus states to the disciples that the fact that He
accomplished miracles of a greater scope than those performed by any other
human being who ever lived upon the earth, would cause men to be accountable to
God if they do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Can we today not understand this same truth? No one who has ever lived has come close to
doing the things that Jesus did.
7.2.
Jesus did the works which no other man ever did,
therefore we Christians ought to have our faith in Him boosted and trust Him
for our salvation as well as all of the promises He has made to us.
8.
VS 15:25 - “‘But
they have done this in order that the
word may be fulfilled that is written in their Law, ‘’They hated Me without a
cause’’’.” - Jesus tells
His disciples that the world has hated Him in order that they what is written
in the law of Moses might be fulfilled that they hated Him without a cause
8.1.
Jesus, as He does with many other events of His life,
tells His disciples that the rejection of Him by the world as well as the
persecution which the world will inflict upon Him was prophesied in the Old Testament
all along. Jesus quotes from the Messianic Psalm 35:19 and 69:4.
8.2.
Non-Christians who have persecuted Christians and
Christ Himself shall have no excuse when they stand before God, because their
persecution and hatred is “without a cause.”
9.
VS 15:26 - “‘When the Helper
comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will
bear witness of Me, and you will bear
witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that when the
Helper comes whom He will send to them from the Father, the Spirit of truth,
that He will bear witness of Jesus
9.1.
At the conclusion of this chapter of John, Jesus again
reminds His disciples that He will be sending to them the ‘Helper’ (“Comforter”
or “Counselor”), which is the translation of “paraklesis” in the
Greek.
9.2.
Jesus states that He will send the Holy Spirit to them
from the Father, and then Jesus again reminds them that the Spirit of God
reveals truth and thus He calls Him who is the third person of the Trinity, “the
Spirit of Truth.”
9.3.
Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit’s
function is not to bear witness of Himself, but rather that He will bear
witness of Jesus and His salvation and works on their account.
9.4.
Finally, Jesus tells His disciples that they also will
bear witness, bear witness to the world concerning Him. They will be His heralds of the gospel and go
into all the world preaching the gospel.
9.5.
We Christians need to realize first of all that the Holy
Spirit’s function is to prepare and use us for the proclamation of the gospel
of salvation through Jesus Christ. Any
group which exalts the Holy Spirit apart from gospel preaching concerning Jesus
have gone astray from the word of God, and misinterpreted the person and work
of the Holy Spirit.
9.6.
Jesus tells us here as He told His disciples then that
we are to be about bearing witness of Jesus to the unbelieving world around
us. This is really a further
clarification of the ministry of fruit bearing which Jesus told to His
disciples that they were called to perform.
Thus, we as Christians should be prepared and ready to share our faith
with everyone we come into contact with!
10.
VS 16:1 - “‘These things I have
spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that He has been
sharing these things with them on this evening so that they would be kept from
stumbling
10.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that the reason He has been
warning them of the hard things that are to come in their lives is so that they
may not stumble when they happen. He is
going to go away to the Father by crucifixion, and they themselves will all
fall away and then later they will also be horribly persecuted and suffer for
Him even as He has suffered for them. As
was mentioned earlier, history has recorded that all of the 10 disciples were
killed for their faith except for the John the author of this gospel.
10.2.
The Old Testament scriptures had foretold that Israel
would reject her Messiah as well, as seen for instance in the following verses
:
10.2.1..Isaiah 53:1, “1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of
the Lord been revealed?”
10.2.2.Psalm 118:22, “22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief
corner stone.”
10.3.
The Lord warns us who are Christians today that we too
will be persecuted as He was persecuted. The Lord in His mercy always prepares
us for the difficult things that we need to go through, thus we never need to
fear what may happen to us. It is always
easier for us to bear things if we know beforehand that they are going to
occur.
11.
VS 16:2 - “‘They will make
you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills
you to think that he is offering service to God’.” - Jesus tells His
disciples that they will be cast out of the synagogue and that everyone who
kills them will think that he is offering a service up to God
11.1.
Jesus warns His disciples that they are soon to face
excommunication from the synagogue and thus from all of the religious and civil
life and activities of the people.
Excommunication in
11.2.
Not only would the followers of Jesus face
excommunication, Jesus tells them that they will also be killed by religious
zealots who think that they are killing them as an act of worship to God. We see this very thing played out a few years
in the future as Saul (before his conversion) because of his great zeal for the
Lord is traveling far and wide to find believers and put them to death.
11.3.
Jesus’ disciples do not presently understand much of
what He is warning them about nor the fact that He is telling them beforehand
that these things will happen to help them to be prepared when they do happen.
12.
VS 16:3 - “‘And these things
they will do because they have not known the Father, or Me’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that people will do
these things to them because they have not known the Father or Him
12.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that those who persecute
Christians cannot know the Father or Jesus, even if their persecutors are
religious leaders. So much persecution
has occurred in the world by those who claimed their motivation was zeal for
God.
12.2.
The most evil deeds that occur in this world are often
those done by the religious clergy.
13.
VS 16:4 - “‘But these things
I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told
you of them. And these things I did not
say to you at the beginning, because I was with you’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that He has told
them these things now so that when that hour comes that they might remember
what He had told them, and because He did not need to tell them these things in
the beginning because He was with them
13.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that He has told them these
things that when the events actually take place, they will each one remember
that Jesus had told them beforehand that it would happen. It will help Jesus’ disciples very much to
know that Jesus had told them beforehand that they would experience these
things. This would increase their faith
and help them to endure the persecutions, etc.
13.2.
Jesus tells His disciples that He did not say these
things to them at the beginning because He was with them and He took the brunt
of the evil that occurred around them.
However, in His absence the disciples would face great evil, more than
they could imagine, and then they will need the encouragement that He is now
giving them.
13.3.
Over time Jesus has begun to tell His disciples in
ever greater depth what they would have to suffer for Him. Had He told them from the first the full
extent of suffering which He has now revealed, they either would not have been
able to bear it and they would have left Him, or they would not have understood
or remembered at all what He had told them.
This was the perfect timing for Jesus to reveal these things in the
depth that He is now revealing them.
14.
CONCLUSIONS:
14.1.
We Christians
must not be surprised if we should in our lifetime encounter various kinds of
persecution or even martyrdom, just as the apostle Peter warns us about in 1 Peter
4:12-14, “12 Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing,
as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of
Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may
rejoice with exultation. 14 If you
are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of
glory and of God rests on you.”
14.2.
We
Christians must be resolved that we may face persecution in our lifetime just
as the early church faced it and just as God’s people throughout history faced
it. In Matt. 10:16-23, when Jesus was
sending out the twelve on their short intern missionary journeys He told them
that as His followers they must always realize that they could face persecution
and even martyrdom at any time for Him, “16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the
midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and
scourge you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors
and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to
say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 “For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father
who speaks in you. 21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a
father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause
them to be put to death. 22 “You will be hated by all because of My name,
but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I
say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of
14.3.
Don’t fear if you should be called upon to suffer
persecution for the sake of Christ, but rather be bold and trust in and commit
your life to the Lord. When the Emperor
Valens sent messengers to lure the early church pastor Eusebius into heresy by
fair words and glowing promises, the saint answered them: “Alas, sirs, these
speeches are fit to catch children; but we, who are taught and nourished by the
Sacred Scriptures, are ready to suffer a thousand deaths, rather than permit
one tittle of the Scriptures to be altered.” Then the emperor threatened to take by force
all his goods, to torture him, banish him, and even kill him. Answered the
courageous Christian: “He needs not
fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is
his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor
death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.”
14.4.
Persecution cannot separate us from the love of God
and the Christian can be an overwhelming conqueror even in the midst of
persecution, just as Paul wrote in Romans 8:35-37, “35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 Just as
it is written, “For Your sake we are
being put to death all day long; We
were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through
Him who loved us.”