John 15:24 - Printer Friendly

ESV: If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

NIV: 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.

NASB: If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

CSB: If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

NLT: If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.

KJV: If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

NKJV: If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.

This verse mirrors the statement given by Jesus in John 15:22. That context is important to avoid misinterpretation. Those who "abide" in Christ's teachings (John 15:3–5) should not be surprised when the non-believing world attacks them for it. Unbelievers do not know God, so they hate to be reminded of their sin (John 15:21). Rage and hatred are common responses when believers refuse to join non-believers in evil (1 Peter 4:4). Still, God gives enough evidence in everyone's daily experience (Romans 1:18–20) that failure to seek God is our own fault (Matthew 6:7–8).

This is an even more potent point when those who reject Christ do so in the face of His Words and His followers (John 9:39–41). Jesus' point here is not that anyone who has never seen His miracles is innocent of sin. His point—shown by the context of this very passage—is that those who persecute the church are not acting in ignorance. Nor are they being rational (John 15:25). They're reacting in hatred.

John 15:18–27 predicts that those who follow Christ faithfully will experience hatred and persecution from the world. The intensity of this experience has varied according to time and culture, but the non-believing world is generally hostile to authentic faith. Jesus reminds His followers this is due to sin and rejection of God by those unbelievers. Just as Christians are never "too good" to serve as Christ served, they are never "too good" to suffer as Christ suffered. In the following passage, Jesus emphasizes that this warning is meant to bolster faith when those hard times come.

This passage begins with a celebrated analogy from Christ: the vine and the branches. This includes the seventh and final "I Am" statement of the gospel of John. Jesus uses this metaphor to explain how our spiritual life, as born-again believers, is drawn from His life. God's intent for our lives is to progress from barrenness to fruitfulness, to spiritual abundance. Jesus also repeats His command for believers to love each other. In this context, He goes so far as to refer to those who follow His teachings as His "friends."

Jesus is in the middle of a long discourse given to the disciples, which began during the last supper. He presents the analogy of a vine and branches, then repeats His command for believers to love each other. Jesus also warns about how the unbelieving world will hate and persecute Christians. This leads into the teachings of chapter 16, which focus on perseverance in the face of trials.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.