I TOLD YOU all of this so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence to rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” John 16:33

Jesus has taken away the power this world has to defeat us and has conquered it for us. The peace He promises is resting in his victory rather than being anxious about all that is happening around us.

In context, Jesus has been talking about two things: The sending of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and the persecution His true followers should expect from the religious institution under whose domineering practices they lived. The two are connected:

Jesus is preparing His followers for a radical shift in their reality. They are about to move from the domination of human leadership which was both tyrannically self-serving and devoid of God (no matter how much they talk about Him), to an intimate relationship with Himself, enabled by the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. These two realities would be at war over their allegiance and their souls.

You see, Jesus had already told them this on several occasions, but in John 8 He makes it clear that His Father was God, and their ‘father’ was the devil. Not surprisingly, these two weren’t going to coexist very well.

“I TOLD YOU: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also… They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.” (15:20,21) Because the Holy Spirit within us won’t align Himself with their ‘father’ or the values they embrace, they’re going to hate us. Be ready for it. Don’t be surprised.

But…recognize the reality of the situation and press into the Holy Spirit within. The way to handle all this persecution and hatred isn’t to get upset, or to hate back, but to rest in the Holy Spirit. After all, Jesus has just said, “I TOLD YOU this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (15:11).