“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
18. If the world hate you. After having armed the Apostles for the battle, Christ exhorts them likewise to patience; for the Gospel cannot be published without instantly driving the world to rage. Consequently, it will never be possible for godly teachers to avoid the hatred of the world.
Hatred marks the devil's kingdom as love marks Christ's. The world, those devoted to this world and its god, whether Jew or Gentile, forms one body against Him. But mark the difference: God's people, taught to hate the sins of sinners, still love their persons and do them good. A spiteful, malicious spirit belongs to the world, not to Christ.
AI summary
Commenting on John 15:18-25
Remember the word that I said unto you,.... For their further consolation under the hatred of the world, he puts them in mind of a saying of his, which he had lately used, Joh 13:16; to teach them humility, self-denial, and brotherly love, and elsewhere, as in Mat 10:24; for the same purpose as here; namely, to engage them patiently to bear the hatred of...