Jn. 15:13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
What a weird thing to pray concerning the disciples. Jesus says that the world hates His followers, and then says His followers can know joy made full in them while in this world that hates them. Obviously, this joy Jesus speaks of has got nothing to do with having anything this fallen world has to offer. The important thing to notice about this joy that isn’t dependent on this world is that Jesus said that it was HIS JOY that would fill us in in this world. Jesus gives us insight into the source of His joy behind the scenes of all the rejection and hatred He experienced in this world. He said twice in these verses that He was not of this world, though obviously He was in the world. When at war, you can experience joy while in the battlefield, but you don’t find joy in the battlefield. Human falleness, and the suffering of humanity is heartbreaking, but the source of the joy that Jesus carried even in the midst of a blood and guts war with a diabolical and supernatural enemy was that He was not of this world. He was a citizen, actually the king, of another kingdom invading this fallen world, that was once part of His kingdom, with the purpose of taking it back. He was full of joy because He saw everything with Heaven in view. Every expression of human suffering He saw as an opportunity to overcome it and bring it in line with the will of Heaven. He carried the joy of the victory of Heaven over the works of the devil into every situation. He also lived every step of the way on this earth for 33 1/2 years with Home in His heart. Jesus said He was not of this world. John 13:3 says that Jesus knew he had come forth from God, and was going back to God. Jesus had a round-trip ticket when He was born into this world, and the enchantment of Home never left Him. Nothing this world had to offer could tempt Him, or rob from Him, because was not of this world. There is nothing this world could take from Him; even his very life, that could steal His eternal joy. Home never left His thoughts. Because he was not depending on this world, or anything in this world to satisfy His deepest desires, He was free to to be a deliverer, and a healer to those around Him, devasted and ravaged by Satan. He was free to give, because He had no need to take anything this world had to offer.
Jesus said that we, as His followers, are also no longer of this world. As those who are in Him, and in whom He lives, we live with the same heavenly joy that He carried, and now carries in union with us.