In John 15:18, Jesus says, 

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” 

These men would be hated—not ultimately because of who they were, but because of who they belonged to. The world would hate them because it had already hated him.

But at first glance, that doesn’t always feel very relatable to us. The world might hate Christians in some places or situations, but does it really hate Jesus?

After all, it’s not uncommon to hear people who reject Christianity still speak well of him. They admire his compassion for the outsider, his mercy toward sinners, his welcome of the rejected.

It reminds me of something from when I was a kid. My dad once brought home flowers for my mom that he had picked on the side of the road— purple lupins. They looked beautiful from a distance, but when my mom took a closer look, she realized that they were filled with little bugs. 

From a distance, they were easy to admire. Up close… not so much.

And in a similar way, people tend to admire Jesus from a distance. As long as he remains a figure to be appreciated—an example, a teacher, a symbol—he’s safe. But when you look more closely… when you listen carefully… when you take seriously what he actually says about sin, about authority, about himself—admiration doesn’t last.

So Jesus isn’t exaggerating here. He’s telling the truth about what happens when the world moves from admiring him from a distance… to encountering him as he really is.