John 15:26-16:4

       Christ has made it clear those who are His disciples will be hated by the world.  In this passage He gives a couple of specifics:

            – they will put you out of the synagogue,

            – anyone who kills you will think he is serving God.

            An obvious question comes out of this: how is the disciple to respond to this?  Should he give back to the world the same thing?  Should there be mutual hatred?  Should the disciples fight back?

            The answer to this question requires that we remember that provision of Christ.  The Holy Spirit will live in them (14:17).  In this way Christ will live in them (14:18).  More and more God will be at home in the one who loves and obeys Christ (14:23).  All the while the disciple will abide in the vine (15:1-8).  The fruit-producing life of Christ will be at work in the believer.  As Peter says, we will participate in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).  All of this takes place in the context of submission of God.

            With that in mind, when we ask about how the disciple responds to the world’s hatred, we realize we must first determine what God is doing in the world.  When we know this, then in submission we will join Him.

            In v26 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will testify of Christ.  That is what God is doing in the world.  It is what He was doing in the Old Testament.  His very choice of tiny, insignificant Israel (Deut. 7:6-8) was that they might be His witness in the world (Isaiah 43:8-13).

            Since God by His Spirit is testifying of Christ and the Holy Spirit is in the disciple it is only natural that Christ says to His disciples, you also will testify (v27).  They will testify of Christ to the world that hates Him and them.

            These words are special for the eleven men to whom Christ is speaking.  As He says, they have been with Him and must testify as eyewitnesses.  Peter understood this (2 Peter 1:16) and we see it lived out in the book of Acts (Acts 1:8; 2:32; 4:13, etc.).

            This is also true for the disciple today.  The commission in Acts 1:8 to the Spirit-empowered witnesses reaches to the ends of the earth.  The commission of Matthew 28:16-20 is for all nations.  As it was with the Apostles, so with Jesus’ followers today:  as we submit to the Holy Spirit He will testify of Christ through us.

            It might be worth remembering the words and attitude of five men many years ago who died at the hands of people they desired to tell of Christ.  In the jungles of Ecuador the five were killed by poisoned darts. Even though they had taken a rifle with them.  Some wondered why they had not tried to defend themselves.  The answer was found in their notes.  Though they agreed to take the rifle, they also agreed that if attacked they would not us it.  Their reasoning was simple:  the five men were believers and ready to meet their Lord.  Their attackers had not yet heard the gospel.  As it turned out, their sacrifice helped pave the way for others to testify to their killers and many did come to believe on Christ.  They were true to the calling of their Lord.