²¹ “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”

Jesus had just raised the disciples to the status of friends (“You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves … I have called you friends…” vs. 14-15a). That is true of all followers of Christ. Yet we must never forget that this friendship does not mean we can act independently of the Lord. He is still our Master (Eph 6:9, Col 4:1, Jude 4) and Lord. Friendship depends upon our faithfully following Him (“if you do what I command you”). In other words, once our basic relationship to Him as Lord of our lives, Master of our souls, is established then we move into friendship—but that doesn’t leave Lordship behind. He is both Lord and friend!

But to the point, our persecution which Jesus predicted is the result of our representing Him (“for My name’s sake”). When people reject God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, then they reject all those who represent Him. Rather than be defeated by this, the disciples eventually took persecution as a badge of loyalty. Indeed, after Jesus’ ascension and after the Day of Pentecost, Peter and John were incarcerated and beaten and when they were released with a stern warning to stop witnessing, they had no sense of failure in their mission. In fact, “They went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Jesus’ predictions had come true very early in their missionary enterprise. But it emboldened them. “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42).

The disciples came to understand the import of Jesus’ comment to them, that their persecution would be the result of ignorance, “they do not know the One who sent Me.” The solution to persecution? Continue to witness to Christ, so that people will come to know Him. The idea is, how could anyone reject Christ, if they really knew who He was and the God who sent Him? That is why the next day Jesus said on the cross, “Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). His executioners were ignorant. One shudders to think of the horror one will experience when he discovers at the judgment seat of God that he had rejected the very One who could have given him forgiveness and eternal life. The tragedy is great. The thought of persecution should never deter the Christian from witnessing to others about Christ. He is their only hope of salvation. We need to remedy their ignorance problem.

Lord, I confess my meager (even lack of) attempts to share my knowledge of Jesus Christ with others. They will only come to know Him if I witness to them.