To read the texts click on the texts: Acts16:1-10; Jn 15:18-21
These verses of the
Discourse on the Vine and the Branches focus not on the relationship of Jesus
and the disciples, like the earlier verses did, but on the relationship of the
disciples with the “world”. Here, the word “world” is used to represent, not
the physical world, but those who are opposed to God’s revelation in Jesus.
The challenge of love will
be truly encountered when the community faces the “world”. The “world” will
hate the disciples because of their relationship with Jesus and because they
live out his teachings. If the disciples want the world to love them, they must
give up the teachings of Jesus. However, because they have been chosen by Jesus
and set apart from the “world”, they too, like Jesus, will have to endure the
“world’s” hatred.
The disciples must realize
that following and obeying Jesus, as servants obey their masters, will lead to
persecution. What has happened with Jesus will be repeated in the disciples’
lives. While the authority of the one sent is the same as the sender, it is
also true that the response to the one sent will be the same as the response to
the sender. Those who do not accept the word of truth, spoken by God in Jesus,
will indulge in persecution. Those who accept the word will respond by living
out that word in their lives. Rejection
of the disciples means rejection of Jesus because it is Jesus who sends
them. Rejection of Jesus means rejection
of God who sent him.
In a world in which
the resonating message is to “have more”, it is not always easy to speak and
live Jesus’ message to “be more”. Those who do this are labelled as crazy and
out of touch with reality. Possession of things has so possessed us that we do
not even realize that, most of the time; it is things that possess us rather
than the other way round. We are held by the things we want to possess and they
will not let us rest. Often, it begins with a small possession and then goes on
to something bigger and soon gets so big that we lose control of ourselves and
who we are. Our identity is linked with what we have and what we have achieved.
In a situation like this, we need to take stock and decide when enough is
enough. We need to ask ourselves whether we will live our lives moving from one
possession to the next, often not even having the time or energy to enjoy what
we possess.
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