Isaiah 58 - like a well-watered garden; like a spring whose waters never fail.
Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22 and Psalm 1

Week 1: The Throne, The River, and The Trees
Week 2: Jesus is the Source, Love is the Soil, and Pruning is clears the path

Today - Jesus gives us a crucial piece of Pastoral Guidance - in living this Well-Watered Garden kind of life in the context of this world. He introduces the CERTAINTY of persecution and hatred.

We need to see Jesus more clearly than ever
We need to understand the central issue at play
We need to deep roots to remain well-watered while being persecuted and hated

John 15:18-27
““If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 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. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ ““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

John 16:1-4
““All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.”

1. Double Down on Jesus

Matthew 10:34-39
““Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”

Luke 12:49-53
““I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.””

Hebrews 12:1-3
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

2. Know Who You Belong To

The divisive thing is who you belong to.
Opposition comes from IT and THEY
The WORLD = IT
The RELIGIOUS = THEY

Some are blind - some are unwilling to see.
Both end up opposing Him, and for similar reasons—the common thread is belonging.

When He says, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own,” He’s naming something deeper than social rejection. “The world” represents a whole way of being—self-sufficient, status-anchored, resistant to grace. To belong to that world is to share its values.
But Jesus chose His followers out of that system. That calling creates dissonance. The moment you stop playing by the world’s rules, you stop being safe to it.

Then “they”—the Jews—show up as the human face of that opposition. These were people who thought they belonged to God, yet Jesus says, “They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” Their rejection of Him exposes their real allegiance. What they thought was devotion turns out to be defense of a world built on control, not trust.

And once you belong to Him, the rest of the world can’t quite categorize you anymore. That’s when the conflict begins. It’s like Jesus is saying: the world doesn’t persecute you because you’re wrong—it persecutes you because you’re foreign. You are loyal to another kingdom and a sovereign King.

There is natural opposition because we have opposing and incompatible natures and priorities:
Power, Control, Wealth (climb, win, accumulate)
VS
Love, Fruitfulness, and God's Glory (love, feed/heal, and reveal Jesus)

Marriage: Shirts: I'm with Her and I'm with Him. (We both belong to Him before we belong to each other. And our kids are subjugated to our commitment to us and our commitment to God)
Work: I don't belong to the company, mission, or position - I belong to Him (so I do my job with excellence, not for promotion, but for the glory of God)
Wealth: I don't define my life by accumulating riches, but by stewarding wealth for Him and His priorities.

This is the pathway laid out in the book of John:
- Jesus came to "his own" - those who belonged to Him - but His own did not receive Him
- The pathway to redemption is to be born again in the One to whom you rightfully belong.
- Once you belong to the Good Shepherd, you know His voice and you follow it.
- You become a part of a new family - who belong to Him alone - together.
- Jesus calls us who belong to be in the world, but not of it, so that we can draw it to its rightful owner.

But Belonging creates both protection and vulnerability.

Protection: Belonging to God anchors identity somewhere untouchable. When Jesus says, “No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand,” He’s talking about that deep safety—the kind that doesn’t depend on circumstance or approval.
You know whose you are. You don’t have to hustle for worth or chase belonging elsewhere. That kind of rootedness makes people calm in chaos, brave under pressure, generous when scarcity says “hoard.” It’s spiritual immunity from the world’s verdicts.

But vulnerability comes with it. The more your belonging shifts toward God, the more friction you’ll feel with the systems built on something else—power, image, control, comfort. You’ll start to stand out, sometimes quietly, sometimes painfully.

You’ll lose the ability to blend in. Even people who share your language might not share your loyalty.

3. Keep Roots Deep and Wide
How does Jesus shepherd disciples who will certainly feel caught between those two forces: secure in belonging to God, but fragile in the world who hates that they don't belong to it?

John 15:26
““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

John 15:9-17
““As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

We Must Keep our roots deep and wide.
Ground our identity in union with Christ, not in acceptance from peers, politics, or performance. We must learn how to abide: prayer, Scripture, silence, obedience. Those quiet practices are the antidote to the world’s noise.

Example:
Aspen Trees:
Aspen root systems work by creating a vast, interconnected network of lateral roots that are genetically identical to the parent tree, allowing them to spread over large areas. This system, known as a clone, continuously sends up new vertical shoots (suckers) that appear as individual trees but share the same underground root system and genetics. This makes aspen groves incredibly resilient, as the extensive root system can regenerate new trunks after a fire, disease, or other damage. The entire system shares the same DNA.

Acts 5:41 “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Isolation exaggerates fragility.
The early church survived because belonging to God instantly meant belonging to each other. Create spaces—small, honest ones—where people can share weariness and courage without performance.

Acts 2:42-47
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”