"Special Honor"

 "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22 KJV)

  ""If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? 'A slave is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me."" (John 15:18-21 NLT)

 First off, let's get something straight: The disciples will have a special place in Heaven, as they will be seated in a place of honor, as twelve of the twenty-four elders, that are in the Heaven saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy," with gold crowns upon their heads, seated on thrones. So, it is clear, these have a special place in Heaven, and they are given special honor, as the Lord's 12 Apostles. 

 That said, the main point of what Jesus is saying, has to do with future glory, which will be given them by suffering on this earth, just as Jesus suffered. His suffering was glorious, as gruesome as it was, it was something planned out from the beginning of creation, to be for the glory of God's love for this world; a world that He created, loved, and needed to save, because we could have never been saved otherwise! 

 The simplest way to look at this, is that which they have in common. No matter what their differences might be, they are all going to suffer persecution for being the Lord's disciples. It will be the mark that will be placed on them, like a badge of honor; something that each of them will do, willingly and with a joyful heart, following in the footsteps of Jesus.

 I heard a message the other day, as John's death was talked about, how they had tried to kill him, in several different ways, but he just wouldn't die. He might have suffered some pain and agony, but they couldn't even kill him by placing him in boiling oil! So, they banished him to an island, but he even lived through that. 

 The greatest part of his ministry was towards the end, when he almost 100 years old. It is said that he had only three words to say to the congregations, to which he spoke: "Love One Another." Not sure if most people see that as important, but it was his way of signifying the unity of suffering for Christ. Having to be the last of those, called the Twelve Apostles of Christ, it was the greatest thing he still had to recall their unity towards one another. 

 We might not fully understand what that might look like, unless you have lived through a war where you lost people you cared about in battle; as John's brother James was the first one to be killed. Just a little something to think about, the next time you don't feel like forgiving another brother or sister...

"Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." (1 John 4:7-10 NLT)