Leaving

St. John chapter 15 verses 1-8 is about Jesus teaching His disciples that when He is gone, they must still abide in Him and bear fruit or they could be cast out. We must re-examine ourselves daily to be sure we are still alive in the spirit. The thought of being cast out is a disturbing one. Jesus is gone from His earthly body, but still lives in His word. Our fruit will give glory to God, as it should.


Verses 9-11 is about love and obedience. Jesus tells His disciples "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." When you live in a world where temptations are everywhere you have to keep your eyes open or sin will creep in without you knowing it. Jesus doesn't want this for us. He wants our joy to be full. What a loving Father we have!


Next in verses 12-17, Jesus speaks about the magnitude of His love that we are to reflect. It is a love that will lay down its life for others.


Verses 18-27 is about how no living being has been met, so early on, with such hatred and ever been subjected to such a continuous persecution as Jesus had to suffer. As soon as He was born Herod was ready to kill him and the innocent children of Bethlehem. This horrendous massacre was an example of the sufferings which Jesus Christ would be subject to, and of the hatred that men would pour upon Him.


Hatred (or hate) is an intense feeling of dislike. It may occur in a wide variety of contexts, from hatred of inanimate objects or animals, to hatred of oneself or other people, entire groups of people, people in general, existence, or everything. Though not always, hatred is often associated with feelings of anger.


The disciples are warned that they will bear persecution for being a Christian, but to remember the world hated Jesus before it hated them. He was hated without cause. There was nothing about Jesus that would excite man to hate man. He had no rank or title instead of being lifted above men, he did, in some sense, seem to be below them. The Son of Man had no where to lay his head, even though, the foxes had holes and the birds nests. Jesus was the son of a carpenter, a pheasant of Galilee. He did not rule or have authority over them.

Jesus was hated without cause, so don't try to be hated and don't give the world a cause to hate you.