The World Will Hate You
“For the Souls in Purgatory – Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord”
John 15:18-19
If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.
Grace Prayed For
Lord, when faithfulness costs us something — reputation, comfort, belonging — let us not be surprised but rooted, drawing strength from the one who went before us.
Reflection
This is not the passage we frame and hang on the wall. But it is among the most honest things Jesus says to his disciples on the night before he dies, and it is deeply necessary medicine for communities of faith that are tempted to measure their faithfulness by their popularity.
Jesus expects friction. He expects that people who have genuinely oriented their lives around his values — servant leadership, love of enemy, simplicity, truth-telling, care for the poor and marginalized — will not be universally celebrated by the world that runs on the opposite values. The world that prizes domination will not warm to the one who washes feet. The world that worships success will not know what to do with voluntary self-giving.
This is not a license for Christians to be needlessly offensive, to confuse the world’s reaction to our rudeness or self-righteousness with its reaction to the Gospel. Jesus is speaking specifically about opposition that arises because of genuine Christ-likeness.
But for those who have experienced the slow social cost of taking faith seriously — the gentle marginalization, the assumption that your convictions are backward, the invitation to remain silent in the face of values you cannot endorse — this passage offers something valuable: you are not alone in this, and it is not evidence of failure. It is evidence of belonging to a different kingdom.
For small groups: How does your community support one another in navigating cultural friction? How do you distinguish between unnecessary offense and the genuine cost of discipleship?
The world hated him first. We are in good company.
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Sharing
Jesus last words on Earth were to his disciples, can be found in Matthew Chap 28 when Jesus told his disciples, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Jesus calls all of us to share in his redemptive mission here on Earth. I would ask you to share this Scripture reflection with your family, your friends and your acquaintances, and then share it with a couple of individuals that you may may not be comfortable sharing with, keeping in mind always the words of Jesus, And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age
Author was assisted by AI in the drafting of this Post