Chosen out of the world
All this talk of love and joy and fruitfulness (15:8-17) sounds delightful and so indeed it is. But the context in which we live it out is not yet in heaven but in this world, in which to be a follower of Jesus is far from easy. This is what Jesus now goes on to teach his disciples, that though they will know his love they will also know the world’s hatred and opposition, just as he himself had experienced.
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World (kosmos in Greek) is used in the New Testament both for our planet and also for the people who live on it. But it’s also often used distinctively for humanity in opposition to God. (See John 1:10 where kosmos has all three aspects). So, just as the world in general is opposed to God, then Jesus choosing us to bear fruit for him (16) means we have been chosen out of the world and no longer belong to it (19; 17:14).
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The world’s reaction to those who follow Jesus will be the same as their reaction to Jesus (20-21). And the saying “No servant is greater than his master” (20) will apply in two ways for Christians. It refers to voluntary humble service (13:14-16) and also to involuntary rejection by the world, for both of these are the way of the cross which Jesus himself trod (Mark 8:34-35).