John 15:18-27 All of this is in red print, so continues to be John recording for us what Jesus said.
What an amazing privilege to have Jesus' words. He is not just alleged to have said them, he actually did, and the words were very likely written down soon after they were heard. It is obvious to me that the Holy Spirit cemented them in John's mind accurately so they could be shared for the future - for us!
It is interesting that Jesus has just talked about LOVE and segues in this portion of his communcation to hate.
"If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. ... Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ... They hated me for no reason."
What a contrast to the prior section.
There is an aspect that is merely an expression of emotional feelings of love and hate, and in that context they are twins. Someone can passionately declare their undying love for another person, and very soon after spew hate for that same person. People use the 'hate' word when they are just angry or upset in the moment - but underneath, once the drama of that moment subsides, they can readily once again declare their love. It is an emotional word filled to the brim with emotion and the response to hearing it is definitely emotional and elicits an equally emotional response. That kind of love and hate are rooted in 'feelings' that cannot be trusted.
What Jesus is talking about is a much deeper hate - true hatred that is a contempt for the person that is so extreme it would wish them to be dead. It is not a hatred that is mollified by sufficient communication or cured with an understanding explanation and subsequent endearing hug. (That leads me to a bunny trail I must mention....)
Sadly, what we currently see far too often is hate of the latter kind - the kind of hate Jesus warned about: hate so virulent it would wish its opponents to be dead! It is hatred that is fueled by Satan himself.
If we aren't careful, that hatred will consume us.
I love our country. I love that we have the right to express our views and opinions. When views and opinions become protests those protests must remain peaceful. Not taking over buildings, not burning down buildings, not throwing rocks and other projectiles, not looting or destroying property, not burning the flag or torching vehicles, and certainly not putting others' lives in danger.
Peaceful protest is a right - but what has happened over the past few years with cruel rhetoric becoming cruel and dangerous behavior is not peaceful.
Peaceful protest should remain truly peaceful - like a debate that has rules of courtesy, knowing that we are against a policy, not a person or people, and focusing on that with our words.
We have a right to speak up for what we believe - peacefully - but we need to get our facts right before we do, and we need to get our information from reliable sources.
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