5. A Life of Persecution
Question 1:
When have you had to prepare for something you knew would be challenging?
THE POINT
Living like Jesus means being treated as He was.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Many questions related to the Christian life don’t fall into life and death categories:
What’s your favorite version of the Bible?
How can I be a better group member?
If a church has a meal at the end of a service, is that called a potluck or an afterglow?
Questions like these have lower stakes. However, other questions about our walk with Christ carry great weight:
Am I prepared to suffer well?
Am I ready to be hated for the sake of Jesus?
Suffering may not be a common topic of conversation in our lives, but suffering for the sake of Jesus—being persecuted because we follow Him—is something He told us to expect. In John 15 and 16, on the heels of Christ’s command for us to love one another, the Lord warned us to prepare to suffer along with other believers. Jesus wanted to help us understand that living connected to Him means we will be mistreated like He was mistreated. But we can endure the hard times because He is with us and He is worth it.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
John 15:18-21
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”
This is a difficult passage to read. It’s difficult, but also beautiful and logical. It’s difficult, because reading that the world hates the followers of Jesus is jarring, even scary, for those of us who follow Jesus. And it’s beautiful, because it reminds us that we have been loved by our Savior and called by that Savior out of a world of death into a world of life. Jesus declared He has chosen us out of this sin-filled, hostile, fallen world.
Jesus’ words are also logical. People who have been brought into the kingdom of God still live in the earthly realm; therefore, they are going to seem weird, wrong, and out of place to the people of this world. Our hearts, minds, values, and priorities are foreign to those who are not followers of Jesus. But we are still here—“sticking out” and standing out because we choose not to live like the world.
Verse 20 says we are servants of our Master, Jesus. Throughout this study we’ve seen how our Master wants us to live, love, and obey as we live connected to Him, but His ways are not the ways of the unbelieving world. His ways appear strange to the rest of the world. Christianity is supposed to be strange to the world around us. Following Jesus is supposed to look different. And conflict—even hatred—is inevitable as a result.
Question 2:
When have you seen someone encounter opposition for following Jesus?
What we believe and what the world believes don’t always line up. Our belief and trust in the resurrected Jesus support everything in our lives. We live with a desperate longing for the return of Christ. At times, we live so moved by what He did to give us that hope that we fight against our sinful human nature in order to be like Him. And when we are like Him, we are not like so many others in the world. We are aliens. We are strangers. We “do not belong to the world.”
There comes a point when the culture around us says, “We won’t take this ‘Jesus stuff’ anymore.” The thinking of the kingdom of heaven is too foreign and offensive to the culture that the followers of Jesus are persecuted just as Jesus was persecuted. As Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (v. 20). When we bear the name of Jesus and live like Jesus, persecution is sure to come.
John 15:22-25
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ ”
When Jesus said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin,” He was not saying He brought sin upon those who heard Him. What He brought was a full picture and realization of the truth and an opportunity for people to accept Him.
No one is without excuse. Even those without a gospel witness have the general revelation of nature to point them to God (Rom. 1:18-20). Jesus is talking about those who clearly have no excuse, for they saw and heard Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Jewish people witnessed the best thing that could ever happen to them—Jesus Himself.
Tragically, they rejected that which they needed most. Having witnessed what they needed most and rejecting it, they remained in their sin.
The people saw Jesus serve extravagantly. Jesus taught passionately. Jesus healed lovingly. He ushered in a new kingdom of repentance that leads to life, showing people that He was the answer to their deepest need. The people saw all this, and they violently opposed Him. For many, the truth was revealed, but hatefully rejected. This is still happening today.
We were at a restaurant with some friends from church, including a woman who was new to our church. During dinner, she shared how her eyes had been opened to who Jesus is. She was from a Muslim family, but by the Holy Spirit working through the gospel, she became so clearly convinced of her need for Christ that she was willing to make the huge break from her culture, accept Christ, and become a Christian. She said she had been so excited about what she was experiencing in Jesus that she thought her parents would be open to the gospel as well. But, when she shared with them what God had done in her heart, her father told her to leave the house; he never wanted to see her again. I asked her when she had last seen her family, and her answer was surreal. She said, “I haven’t seen them in a few years. I talk to my mom every once in a while, but she tells me to stay away because my dad wants me dead.”
The truth was there. She embraced the truth in Jesus. She shared that same truth with her family, but they so thoroughly rejected the truth that they kicked her out and even threatened to kill her. We hate to hear that, but it is the reality of two worlds—two kingdoms—coming into conflict. The world continues to reject Jesus despite the beautiful truth He has revealed.
Question 3:
What is it about Jesus that many people find objectionable?
John 16:1-4a
1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4a I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.”
Those who hate Jesus also hate His followers, and they don’t just express this hate in their emotions; they also display it in their actions. We shouldn’t be shocked; in fact, we should be prepared. Such persecution may be as “mild” as ostracism—“They will put you out of the synagogue”—or as extreme as killing—“The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.”
All the disciples who first heard Jesus speak these words were killed for following Jesus, except John, who wrote this Gospel. And they weren’t the only ones. The early church experienced periods of persecution and martyrdom. For 2,000 years men and women all over the world have suffered and died because they were following Jesus.
Question 4:
How have you seen the teachings of Jesus distorted in our culture?
Jesus wanted His followers to be well aware of what could happen. “I have told you so that you will not fall away.” I hope you hear a ring of encouragement in that. Jesus knows; none of this will ever catch Him by surprise. He is still God, and God is still in control. In addition, He promised the presence of His Holy Spirit in the previous verses (John 15:26-27). Persecution may come, but we’re not alone—and persecution is not the last chapter.
Let your heart be comforted. Persecution is scary, but it can’t impact the outcome. With these words, Jesus was, in a sense, reporting the news as He won the war. Therefore, we don’t anticipate persecution with our fingers crossed hoping things will work out. We anticipate persecution with our hands folded, knowing the battle has already been won. Jesus spoke matter-of-factly about hatred that will certainly come to us, but we can rest confidently in Him because He has already won the battle.
Question 5:
How can Jesus’ warning keep us from stumbling?
Engage
STEADFAST IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING
It’s easy to follow Jesus when everything is going well. We find it more difficult to remain steadfast during opposition. List five ways Christians may experience persecution because of Christ, and then answer the question.
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Choose one of the ways Christians experience persecution (perhaps one you have experienced). How can believers respond well to such adversity?
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
JOHN 16:33
LIVE IT OUT
Living like Jesus means being treated like He was. Choose one of the following applications:
Make a list. Write down some verses that speak of our hope in Jesus and the hope of heaven. Use these verses to encourage and prepare your heart not to stumble when you face persecution.
Listen. Tune in to an episode of the Voice of the Martyrs podcast this week and pray for the Christians who are being persecuted around the world.
Partner. Join with your small group to identify a missionary serving in a place where Christians are persecuted and, as a group, support them prayerfully and perhaps financially. You can find help with this at imb.org.
Suffering may not be at the top of the list of things we want to talk about as Christians, but it’s a reality. We have fellow Christians around the world today, suffering without stumbling. As we consider persecution this week, let’s pray that God will help us remember His worthiness, rest in His love, and rejoice that He will help us overcome.
Teacher Notes:
Video: David Platt - Radical
Is our call to follow Jesus any different than His
call to the disciples?
In the Gospels, Jesus’ command to "follow
me" appears repeatedly. In many cases, Jesus was calling the twelve men
who would become His disciples. But other times, He was speaking to anyone who
wanted what He had to offer.
In Matthew 10:34–39, Jesus stated clearly what
it means to follow Him. He said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring
peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come
to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own
household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever
finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will
find it."
Jesus’ bringing a “sword” and turning family
members against each other can seem a little harsh after words like
"whosoever believes on Him shall not perish" (John 3:16). But Jesus
never softened the truth, and the truth is that following Him leads to
difficult choices. Sometimes turning back may seem very appealing. When Jesus’
teaching went from the Beatitudes to the coming cross, many who had followed
him turned away (John 6:66). Even the disciples decided that following
Jesus was too difficult the night He was arrested. Every one of them deserted
Him. On that night, following Christ meant possible arrest and execution.
Rather than risk his own life, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus three
times.
To truly follow Christ means He has become
everything to us. Everyone follows something: friends, popular culture, family,
selfish desires, or God. We can only follow one thing at a time. God states we
are to have no other gods before Him. To truly follow Christ means we do not
follow anything else. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "Whoever wants to be my
disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow
me." There is no such thing as a "halfway disciple." As the
disciples demonstrated, no one can follow Christ by the strength of his own
willpower. The Pharisees were good examples of those who were trying to obey
God in their own strength. Their self-effort led only to arrogance and
distortion of the whole purpose of God’s Law.
Jesus gave His disciples the secret to
faithfully following Him, but they did not recognize it at the time. He said,
"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing". And "This
is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled
them”. The disciples had walked with Jesus for three years, learning,
observing, and participating in His miracles. Yet even they could not follow
Him faithfully in their own strength. They needed a Helper. Jesus promised many
times that, once He had ascended to the Father, He would send a
"Helper" to them—the Holy Spirit. In fact, He told them that it was
for their good that He was going away so that the Holy Spirit could come. The
Holy Spirit indwells the heart of every believer. Jesus warned His followers
that they were not to begin testifying of Him "until you have been clothed
with power from on high". When the Holy Spirit came upon those first
believers at Pentecost, they suddenly had all the power they needed to follow
Christ, even to the death, if needed.
Following Jesus means striving to be like Him.
He always obeyed His Father, so that’s what we strive to do. To truly follow
Christ means to make Him the Boss. That’s what it means to make Jesus Lord of
our lives. Every decision and dream is filtered through His Word with the goal
of glorifying Him in everything. We are not saved by the things we do for
Christ but by what He has done for us. Because of His grace, we want to please
Him in everything. All this is accomplished as we allow the Holy Spirit to have
complete control of every area of our lives. He explains the Scriptures,
empowers us with spiritual gifts, comforts us, and guides us. To follow Christ
means we apply the truths we learn from His Word and live as if Jesus walked
beside us in person.
Following Jesus means striving to be like Him. The goal of the Christian life is to become
more and more like Jesus. We are to serve humbly like Jesus, love like Jesus,
and glorify God like Jesus. We will experience great joy as we live in Him.
Becoming more like Jesus also means being treated like Jesus. The rejection and
even suffering He endured can and will happen to those who follow Him.
5. A Life of Persecution
The Point: Living like Jesus means being treated as He was.
The Passages: John 15:18-25; 16:1-4a
Setting:
Last week Jesus explained the connection of the vine and the branches. This
week, He applies that connection to how the world will treat His followers.
Christ’s words are significant in an age where believers are surprised by
persecution, hardships, and difficulties.
John 15:18-21
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that
it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its
own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant
is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you
also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat
you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”
1. The world opposes us when we live like Jesus. Don’t Be Surprised by Their Hatred
Followers of Christ should not be surprised by
the hatred of others. Christ said that the world hated Him before they hated
them. Those in good standing with the world should be aware of Jesus’s words.
He said, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own.”
What is He saying here? How can we be in the world but not of the
world?
Christians are not to be friends with the world
because anyone who wants to be friends with the world is an enemy of God (Jas.
4:4).
If they persecuted me, they will persecute you
also.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it
hated me first.
Is suffering for Christ always going to be a
part of being a follower of Christ?
The Bible talks a lot about suffering for the
sake of Christ. In the era in which the New Testament was written, followers of
Jesus were often ostracized by their own families and communities. Some of the
worst persecution came from the religious leaders.
Second Timothy 3:12 says, "Everyone who
wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." As in
biblical times, many Christians today have found that making a public
declaration of faith in Christ can result in imprisonment, beatings, torture,
or death. Often those of us in free nations shudder at the thought, but we feel
relatively safe. We understand that there are thousands who suffer daily for
the sake of Christ and are thankful we don’t have to.
Jesus stated clearly what it means to follow
Him: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their
cross daily and follow me…" (Luke 9:23–25). Our modern understanding of
the phrase "take up their cross and follow me" is often inadequate.
In Jesus’ day the cross always symbolized death. When a man carried a cross, he
had already been condemned to die on it. Jesus said that, to follow Him, one
must be willing to die. We will not all die martyrs’ deaths. We will not
all be imprisoned, beaten, or tortured for our faith. So, what kind of death
did Jesus mean?
To follow Christ means we die to our own way of
doing things. We consider
our will, our rights, our passions, and our goals to be crucified on the cross
with Him. Our right to direct our own lives is dead to us. Death involves
suffering. The flesh does not want to die. Dying to self is painful and goes
against our natural inclination to seek our own pleasure. But we cannot follow
both Christ and the flesh. Jesus said, "No one who puts a hand to the plow
and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).
Suffering in some form is always going to be a
part of being a true follower of Christ.
Jesus said the path that leads to life is difficult (Matthew 7:14). Our
hardship is also a way of identifying with His suffering in a small way.
Jesus said if we deny him before men, He will
deny us before His Father in heaven. There are many subtle ways to deny
Christ. If our actions, words, lifestyle, or entertainment choices do not
reflect His will, we are denying Christ. If we claim to know Him but live as
though we didn’t, we are denying Christ. Many people choose those forms of
denying Christ because they do not want to suffer for Him.
Often our greatest suffering comes from within
as we battle for control over a heart that must die to its own will and
surrender to Christ’s lordship (Romans 7:15–25).
How should a Christian respond to persecution?
There is no doubt that persecution is a stark
reality of living the Christian life. Christian persecution is to be expected:
the apostle Paul warned that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ
Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said that, if they persecuted
Him, they will also persecute His followers (John 15:20). Jesus made it clear
that those of the world will hate Christians because the world hates Christ. If
Christians were like the world — vain, earthly, sensual, and given to
pleasure, wealth, and ambition — the world would not oppose us. But Christians
do not belong to the world, which is why the world engages in Christian
persecution (see John 15:18–19). Christians are influenced by different
principles from those of the world. We are motivated by the love of God and
holiness, while the world is driven by the love of sin. It is our very
separation from the world that arouses the world’s animosity (1 Peter 4:3–4).
John 15:22-25
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they
would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23
Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the
works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have
seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill
what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’”
When have you seen someone living for Christ
cost them a relationship?
2. The world rejects Jesus despite the truth He
has revealed. Don’t Be
Surprised by Their Response
Jesus reminded the disciples that they were not
greater than Him. The world persecuted Him, so they would receive persecution.
They hated Jesus, so they would be despised. If they heard Christ, they would
listen to them. The disciples would face the same response Jesus faced. He
preached a message of righteousness and repentance, and many did not want to
hear it. The same would be true of the twelve. They must not be surprised by
the responses of the masses because they are receiving the same reactions that
Jesus received.
John 16:1-4a
1 “All this I have told you so that you will
not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is
coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service
to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or
me. 4a I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember
that I warned you about them.”
3. Anticipating persecution will help us have a
steadfast faith. Don’t Be
Surprised by Their Rationale
Here in this passage, the Lord told them that
they would be thrown out of the synagogues.
Jesus was familiar with their actions because
they sought to throw Him off a cliff after reading a passage from Isaiah in the
synagogue (Luke 4:28-29). This led to His next prediction, the disciples would
be killed. As we all know, they killed Jesus, and the disciples were not
greater than their master.
The disciples should not be surprised by the
action of their foes. They should not be surprised by their rationale. In John
16:2, Jesus said others would think they were persecuting them thinking their
actions are a service to God. Paul is indeed a great example of this type of
mentality. He sought to destroy the church, but he met Christ on the Damascus
Road. Thinking he was working for God, Paul found out that he was a blasphemer
and a persecutor (1 Tim. 1:13).
Conclusion:
Get your head out of the sand! Look and live on
the truth of God’s Word. The world is not going to love Christians. Stop trying
to seek their approval! When the hatred comes, don’t let your faith plummet or
let your faith fall. Expect it. They persecuted Jesus, and you are no greater
than Him.
