My dear friends, the gospel today is all about the instruction of Jesus to his disciples over the difficult challenges of following him. He told them the hard truth. He says: ‘if the world hates you’ (John 15: 18), of course, he knows that the world hates his disciples. Jesus knows the world hates them because of him and he is urging them not to forget that the world hated him before them. If the world had treated him badly, they should not expect an easy life with them. He made it clear that they should be aware of more ugly attacks and abuse upon them than he got it.
“The World”
When Jesus says, ‘the world,’ he is referring to the activities and actions of the evil one and cronies. He uses it to refer to the men of the underworld, those whose prerogative it is to dismantle and deconstruct the works of the good; those whose duty it is to inflict harm on others and cause pain and sorrow; those who love disorder, suffering and evil activities. They hate the good and those who do good because it brings their evil activities to the limelight. They prefer darkness to light and as such, they are in constant battle with the Light of the world, Christ himself and his followers.
The Battle Over Values
Jesus is a known harbinger of the values of the eternal kingdom. And the values include peace, joy, kindness, meekness, gentleness, compassion, mercy, truth etc. They are values the world does not possess nor appreciate. They are the values Christ preached. Those who possess them walk in the light of Christ and are his followers. And as such, they are in constant battle with the people of the world.
The battle rages because of the fear of the men and women of the world of being exposed of their ugliness, and their bad behaviour. They want everybody to be like them and perish with them and that’s why they are happy for people to be ignorant of Christ and the values of heaven. Therefore, they are ever ready to fight anyone who would expose them. They hated Christ because he lived differently, and they are hating his followers because they are making imparts as the salt and light of the world. As such, hatred and persecution would be among the list of what they would receive as followers of Christ. Jesus knows all these things and that’s the reason he says: ‘if the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you’ (John 15: 18).
The Christian Struggle in the Contemporary World
Being a Christian in our world today is like going anti-clock. This is because the Christian values are totally different from the wordily values. If you belong to the world, you will not have much challenge because you are living according to the wordily standard. You reign with the world in ‘absolute’ freedom and doing all sorts of things. The end justifies the means for the people of the world, where if you commit evil, you are praised for it.
If you indulge in any bad behaviour like the current contemporary online abuse and defrauding of others including elderly and vulnerable people, you are hailed and celebrated as one who has found the new way. And people of such wordily behaviour live in their own freedom without fear of God, his commandments, and rules of governing authorities. Even if the law catches up with them, they know how to route their way out. It’s difficult sometimes for them to be held accountable for their bad behaviour because it is the standard measure of the world where they belong. And as long as you belong, you will keep reigning, and the world would love you more because you are one of them.
Values Christ Preached
The bad behaviours of the world are different from what Christ preached. He preached truthfulness, transparency, compassion, love, kindness, meekness, justice, etc and they are the values of the kingdom of God. They are hard to be found in our world today. If you possess them, which every Christian should, then you must be ready for constant battle from the people of the world. That’s the reason Christ warned us thus: ‘a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they would persecute you too’ (John15:21). That is to say that followers of Christ would not find it easy but must look up to Christ who is the ‘End All’ and ‘Be All,’ for them to receive the crown of their good deeds.
Peace be with you!
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