“...so that you will not go astray”
May 11, 2021
15:18 – 16:33 Sent into the world, just as Jesus was sent
Read John 16:1-4
In this final section of the teaching which Jesus gave to his disciples at the last supper, he told them that they must continue his mission in the world. And just as the world had been a dangerous place for him, so too it would be for his followers: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first… If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (15:18-20). Why did Jesus warn them so clearly about this? It was because the greatest danger they faced would not be from the persecution itself but from the temptation to give up because of it.
It was to prepare them to be on guard against this temptation that he underlined his warning to them – “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray” (1). Peter and the disciples were about to deny Jesus and “fall away” for a short time (13:38; Mark 14:27-31). After the resurrection, they would be restored and be sent out into the world (20:21). Inevitably, this would result in further opposition and the ongoing pressure to give up following Jesus.
The first Christians were all Jews for whom expulsion from the synagogue was a distressing price of following Jesus (2; 9:22). Even worse, some Jews would want to kill them for what they saw as blasphemy (cf. 10:33). Once again, Jesus emphasised that such blindness is due to their not knowing either the Father or the Son (3; 8:19; 14:7; 15:21). For the disciples, to be forewarned of this was to be forearmed (4). He told them all this “now before it happens” (13:19; 14:29) so that when it did happen it would confirm their faith, not undermine it. The way to stand firm is to keep focused on Jesus and his words (Mark 13:13; Heb.12:1-3).