If there is a message that desperately needs to be heard by the church today, it is Jesus’ words regarding persecution. In this morning’s text, Jesus prepares His disciples for the certainty of persecution on their current mission to the nation of Israel. In so doing, He also expands His teaching to include the mission to the Gentiles which encompasses the entire history of the church down to the present day. Here Jesus provides key teachings of what His disciples can expect from a world that rejects Him. In John 15, Jesus said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” Expect it. Are you willing to follow Jesus if it means losing some of your closest friends, family, job, or the loss of your life? “Ye were bought at a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.” D. Bonhoeffer
