New Day

Our passage today shifts from the cause of persecution to the response of Jesus’ disciples to persecution. As seen last week, John sketches the hatred toward Jesus’ disciples as springing from hatred against Jesus himself (John 15:18-22) and, ultimately, toward God the Father (John 15:23-25) given their union of purpose. But if Jesus is going away (theme from John 14:1-6), how will this confrontation with the hatred of the world continue? How will hatred from the world still be related to who Jesus is, what he says and what he does since He will be gone? Within these two verses Jesus presents a new spiritual dynamic that the disciples will possess in order to bear fruit (theme from John 15:1-17) even as they face hatred from the world.