Abiding Love

Study Scripture: John 15: 4 – 17

Background Scripture: John 15: 1 – 17

Lesson 10   November 7, 2020

Key Verse

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:5

INTRODUCTION

 

Our Study concerns several important issues which include:

-Union with Christ and what that involves

-The meaning of the importance of the word “abiding” in Christ

-The possibility of denying or not abiding in Jesus

-The importance of the commandment to love

-The position of Jesus and the position of the believers

– The emphasis of the fact that “we cannot go it alone” or in other words as one writer calls it “free floating spirituality”

-The Father’s irresistible goal of producing  “fruit” and then “more fruit “

-The most critically important need for cleansing, purging, or pruning even for those that might be quite mature and strong in the faith so that they can produce more fruit

It is to be noted very carefully that Jesus was speaking to disciples who are true believers and who are prepared to be reliant on Him. The definition of disciples is quite clear and we demonstrate that we are Jesus’ disciples by bearing fruit. We become disciples through faith apart from works, and therefore bearing fruit simply demonstrates that we are His disciples.

The imagery of the Vine and the Branches becomes the metaphor that Jesus uses in today’s Lesson to teach His disciples how they should relate to Him, to each other and to the world around them.

We are therefore talking about relationships and this idea of relationship cannot be stressed too much.

This is therefore not the abstract speculation of a God who we cannot see physically. We will be given as one writer states:

“A invitation to experience the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a saving and liberating presence in the midst of our day-to-day world”.

In the Study Text Jesus places an emphasis on “fruit”, mentioning this word eight times. “Obedience to Him” is mentioned five times and then He places a strong emphasis on “love” though He only uses this word twice.  John writes in such a way that there is a tight linkage between the three words, that practically, fruit, obedience, and love are used as synonyms.  All three teach the same thing, each with its own perspective.

Previously Jesus had used different things from nature to teach about Himself.  He had called Himself  the Door’, ‘the Way’, ‘the Good Shepherd’,  ‘the Bread of Life’, ‘the Truth’ and using other images. In our Study He will use the image of the Vine and the Branches to round out the picture of Himself and His work.

These images make very important statements about who Jesus is. But note carefully that they all have to do with entrance into the life that we have in Christ.

But this statement that we will look at on “abiding” and being in the “true Vine” is very different.

Jesus intended it to relate to the experience of the enjoyment of eternal life in our bodies of the flesh.

It is therefore important therefore to note that this is the last of the magnificent statements that Jesus used to point out the entrance into the life that we have in Christ. Those statements therefore are magnificent statements based on the marvellous works of truth embodied in the “I AM” statements in the Old Testament .

This was a very important step, for He would make an application of a well-known concept in a way  that was radically different from the commonly held view of the image of the Vine and the Branches found in the Old Testament.

This step was very necessary for the honeymoon was over.  The disciples had had a very materialistic based image of Jesus and they expected that Jesus would do some spectacular feat to make the nation of Israel understand that He was their promised Messiah. Up until the very end, they longed for positions of power and influence in His earthly kingdom and they were fighting over who would get the most privileges out of Jesus.

In John 15 Jesus brought reality to the eleven disciples.  He made it clear that Israel would not accept Him as King and Messiah, but instead would hate Him as prophesied several hundred years before by Isaiah.

It was now clear that difficulties lay ahead for the disciples.  They would have to learn the basic and fundamental lesson of being His disciples, what we would call being a successful Christian. They had to learn how they would sustain the relationship with Him, why they had to do this, as well as how to maintain fellowship and fruitfulness in an extremely hostile world.

Their security up to now had been based on being with Him every day and watching Him at work, going to Him when they had problems and depending on Him to check their ambition and self-confidence. 

Now Jesus was telling them that He would not be there physically and they would have to learn to live with each other, work together, forget their competitive spirit, protect each other and be of the same mind. In so doing they would teach the hostile, Christ-hating and dangerous world something about His nature and their nature, as well as the true nature of their relationship with Him.

So Jesus now turned to the very familiar concept of the ‘vine and the branches’, for the nation of Israel had often been likened to a vine.  One writer summarizes this for us in this way:

“In Psalm 80:8 the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is described in terms of a Vine being transplanted from the soil of Egypt to that of Canaan.

In Isaiah 5 the nation Israel is likened to a vineyard that does not produce fruit.

In Jeremiah 2:21 Israel is described as a Vine that is sending out degenerate shoots.

Over and over again Israel was referred to as a Vine.  The Vine had become a symbol of the nation Israel.  It was found on Jewish coins in the Maccabean period, and in the days which our Lord walked upon the earth there was a huge filigree of a Vine adorning the entrance to the Temple of Herod, evaluated by some (who likely were exaggerating) at a value of more than $12,000,000.”

Many other Texts including Ezekiel 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14 and Hosea 1 referred to Israel as the ‘Vine’. It is interesting to note that in many cases including those in Ezekiel, there is the emphasis that the wood from the vine was worthless, given the fact that Judah was disobedient.  A branch cut from that Vine was worthless and only good for fuel.

Isaiah had emphasized that God had planted the’ Vineyard of the Lord of Hosts’, cared for it, guarded and protected it, did all that could be done for it, but when He came looking for fruit He found nothing but sour grapes.

Ezekiel 17 does not describe Messiah Himself as a Vine but as a cedar tree, the result of a planting of a cedar sprout which developed into a massive tree. 

The disciples would hardly have expected Jesus to describe Himself in this way, given the association of the ‘Vine of Israel’ with failure. By doing so, Jesus ripped away any of their unrealistic expectations and materialistic interpretation of Messiah and introduced significant new imagery that described Himself as the true or genuine Vine, as opposed to the other failures. He would accomplish everything that Israel had failed to do.  Where there had been failure before, there would now be success.  Success however would not come in the way the disciples had been thinking.  Reality was very different.  Israel had not properly interpreted the plan of God for salvation.

Jesus’ prior teaching had set the stage to teach the disciples one additional lesson.  Jesus now declares that He is the true or genuine vine in the vineyard of God the Father and:

-details his nature and work,

-discusses the two great works of the Father,

-the nature of the “fruit” that God is expecting from His disciples,

-the part they would play in the relationship, in other words the disciplines of the Christian life, how dependence on Him and the disciplines go together,

-tells what brings glory to the Father,

-shows the role that love plays, and the great results of joy.

THE TEXT

Summary Verses 1 – 3.

First a comparison must be drawn between Jesus as the Vine and the other Vine, which is a reference to Israel.  The reference is historical coming from texts like Ps 80:8-9, Is 5:1-2,7, and Jer. 2:21.  Each of those references refer to Israel as a ‘vine’ and talks about the negative relationship that they had with God.  As always, God lays out the history that He has had with His people, to show that He has always been there to look after their best interests, even before they knew Him.

In Psalm 80 David tells us that God brought a vine, namely Israel, out of Egypt.  God had made promised them to give them a land of their own and had planted them in this land.  Any gardener will tell you that after that stage, the gardener will always look to nourish and cultivate the plant until it is strong, healthy and productive.  Even after that point the gardener still has a keen interest in the development of the plant, just as God did for Israel. 

From verse 9 in the same Psalm, we see how God looked after and blessed Israel.  It seems that Israel, this Vine was seemingly very successful, for they expanded and covered the Land. 

From the reference in Isaiah it shows that God went to great lengths to prepare the land for the vine that He would plant.  He also had great expectations concerning the fruit that would be yielded from the Vine that He planted.  “He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes”.

The passage in Isaiah declared that Israel departed from their God appointed path, even though God did everything that would and could result in good fruit being produced.  All the good that God put into nourishing the vine, yielded the opposite of what He intended; only oppression and cries came from Israel. 

The True Vine is another name for Jesus.  In this sense He would be all that Israel was meant to be.  Jesus here uses another “I Am” statement, the last of the “I Am” statements. 

In calling Himself the True Vine, thus supplanting Israel, we can see how Jesus interacted with God the Father and just how we should be in terms of relying on God for our development and well-being. In stressing the nature of His relationship with His Father, He breaks new ground, revealing new truths about the nature of and the work of the Father.

Jesus calls God the Father the ‘husbandman’.  The husbandman, the gardener, is the one who is responsible for preparing the soil, choosing the seed, planting, fertilizing and in every way nurturing the vineyard and protecting it so that it grow strong and fruitful.

We are told some of the things that the Father was involved with when He sent Jesus into the world.  The Father did several things in relation to mankind.

Jesus is the source of eternal life, and hence He is the resurrection, the life, the vine.

He is the means of entry into life so He is called the Door, and the Way.

He guides people and leads them to life so He is called the Shepherd.

He provides nourishment for eternal life and so He is called the Bread.

And of course He is the One who clarifies and shows reality, which lights the way into darkness, and so He is called the Light.

In all of life’s situations, it is up to us to be obedient to God. God the Father has covered all the bases.  If we are obedient to His word, then we will see that His blessings flow quite freely. We see this illustrated in the case of Jesus.  In His life Jesus was obedient to the word of God and Jesus received blessing from that obedience.  He experienced difficulty due to the sinful nature of others, but still was successful in performing the will of God since He was obedient to the word.

As Jesus is the true Vine, He demonstrated the righteousness God was expecting from Israel. We also see as a consequence of Jesus’ obedience to God, the display of justice and mercy that God expected. 

Verses  4- 5. Jesus declared that He is not just the vine but the “true Vine”.  He is the real, genuine Vine and from Him true life would be received.

Note what is included in this term “Vine”.  The Vine includes not only the branches but the stem and the root, so anyone or anything associated with Jesus, which is united with Him, is one with Him and can be identified with Him.

The branches of a vine are very dependent on the main stem.  Without access to the main stem, the branches will have no support, because they are not getting the nutrients needed to survive.  If the branches are connected to the stem, the larger organism, the stem will provide them with protection from diseases and from the elements better than they could on their own.  As the branch is in the vine, so too is the vine in the branch.  Meaning, the sap which is the very life of the vine, flows through the vine and also flows into every living branch.  So we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, the good we do is due to Christ’s influence, and so God is glorified!

The benefits of being close to Christ and hence close to God, are that we have certain assurances concerning our well-being.  

As we grow closer to God and Christ, we can see how the analogy unfolds to Christian believers.  The branches represent the believers and Christ represents the True Vine. The Godhead is obviously involved in this relationship because of the unique relationship that Christ has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Note first, the branch cannot survive without access to the stem.  Spiritually, we are dead without Christ to intervene and play a crucial role in our lives.  God gives us breath and Christ has ‘quickened’ us so that we may have life. 

Secondly, physically and spiritually, we are able to grow and prepare ourselves for assigned tasks because of the nurturing of Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is there to teach us and give us a better understanding of the Scriptures and God, so that we will become more mature spiritually and henceforth, draw closer to God.  As that happens, our obedience to God grows stronger, we will see what God’s will is for us and others will be led to follow Jesus by our virtuous lifestyle.  As we develop toward and reach a state of maturity, we will be able to produce ‘fruit’. 

Verse 6. Christ says that every branch that does not bear fruit is taken away.  It is no longer connected to the Vine, to Christ.  In the earlier scripture references to the Vine, we note how Israel was cut off from God, because God had come to recognize her as a strange ‘vine’ and not the ‘vine’ that He intended. 

It must be noted that the verb interpreted “take away” can also mean “lift up”, as in John 5:8-12 and 8:59. From this some argue that this is a reference to the husbandman “propping up” the weak branches, so that they would bear fruit again, since when propped up or lifted up, the nutrients would begin to flow properly.

In several other passages such as John 11:39, 11:48, 16:22, and 17:15 the word means “remove”.  The context however seems to suggest the idea in verse 6, where the worthless branches are ‘cast out’. This does not seem to suggest a restoration.  In this scenario one would consider that the branches that are taken away were never properly ‘abiding’ in the vine. Just as Israel never properly followed God, though they had been described as the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts.  So it appears that these taken away were not genuine believers.

John the Baptist in Matthew 3:10 warned the Pharisees and Sadducees that had come to him for baptism in similar fashion. We also know that Judas had just walked away from Jesus and was now in darkness and awaiting the fire of eternal judgment and Jesus would likely be referring to him.

Jesus moves on to discuss the branches that bear fruit and which the husbandman purges, in order to have them bear more fruit.  The Father works in the life of believers to make them more productive.

The purging of the vine is tied to the testing through many of the temptations that a Christian must face.  God does not promise that the Devil will leave us alone, but He does say that in all the temptations that we face, if we look to Him, He will make us equal to the temptation.  With each trial we overcome, we will undoubtedly draw closer to God and see the many different ways His will and love for us is manifested. 

The same thing happens when the ‘Gardener’ purges the vines.  The branch remains healthy and becomes stronger, able to fend off any illness and in turn will be able to produce more fruit. This result, testifies to its maturity and healthy condition for all to see.

It is often said that the “fruit” to which Jesus refers is soul winning, but the references in Scripture to Israel as the vine and what God expected of them gives a different picture.

 “For the vine yard of the Lord of host is the house of Israel , and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness ,but behold, a cry!”

Isaiah 5: 7

So the fruit of the vineyard that God desired was justice and righteousness, not cruelty, oppression and a callous ignoring of the needs of others.

Jesus places us in a position where God expects moral character from the ‘branches’.  This is the same thing as the fruit of the Spirit.  The life in the vine produces fruit which Galatians 5 describe as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, a perfect picture of being like Christ.

Christians are the great vineyard of God the Father and it is His job to see that the purposes of the vine are met. So those branches that bear no fruit, those that do not show any resemblance to Christ are cut off and eliminated from the vine.  They might look good but they are nothing but trouble.  They are tares among the wheat.

Then those who despite the circumstances of life grow to be more like Christ, showing His moral character and the fruit of the Spirit, they the Father prunes.

Verses 7-8. Vines often produce shoots that are not productive and if allowed to continue to develop they will suck the nutrients and produce leaves rather than fruit. All kinds of debris gather around these shoots and it is necessary to clean the vine as well as to prune away these unproductive shoots.

So the Father looks around for a branch that has started to show signs of bearing fruit, finds the Christian who is beginning to produce the likeness of Christ, cleanses away the dirt and debris, cut back the unproductive growths, so that the fruit of the Spirit blossoms magnificently.

Note that the branches do not have to struggle, worry and fret about producing these characteristics, for the Husbandman brings about the cleansing and pruning and growth in moral character naturally.

All the branches have to do is to abide in the vine, just stay put and let the life of the vine produce the fruit.

So when we see the characteristics that are different from the fruit of the Spirit, when we notice the anger, bitterness, love of praise, selfishness and ego dominance, it is clear that this is not the fruit of the Spirit but the fruit of the fallen ‘Adamic’ nature.

It is the work of the Father to change these evil characteristics, whether they are displayed at home, in the congregation, at work, at school, in the neighbourhood and any other place.  The word of the Father says those things are wrong.  So people are to be invited to read the Scriptures and follow them and go under the surgery of the word, learning the ways of God.

We should examine ourselves to see whether or not God is ‘pruning’ in our lives.  That “pruning”, which is always painful, is a good sign.  If a person finds themselves doing evil continually, constantly displaying the fruit of the flesh and there is no ‘pruning’, that is a bad sign, indicating that person might not even be in the ‘True Vine’.

God’s word is capable of purifying and sanctifying those who hear and accept its teachings.

The phrase “clean” occurs in John 13:10 when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.  So it is clear that this means cleansing from sin.  The disciples had been made clean by the cleansing agent of the word of God.

We will not as a whole be considered clean until we are truly separated from those around us who do not serve God, but the word of God does single us out and continues to work in us until that day when we are away from those who are considered unclean. 

The best analogy drawn from this situation and what is meant is that it is like finding a diamond.  The diamond in it raw state looks like a semi-transparent rock. It is still highly valuable but in order to draw out its potential beauty, it must be cut and polished.  We are similar to the raw diamond, when we start out as Christians.  God’s word acts to purify us and clearly separates us from any other type of rock, so that our value becomes clearly evident and we become more and more like Him, and less and less like the world.

We know that when God’s word goes out it does not return to Him without accomplishing the task it was sent to do and so as we leave ourselves open to His word and stay obedient to Him, we can see His will and our place in it.   The cleansing power of His word allows us to then develop fruit.    As we produce fruit, we will be glorifying God our Father in heaven, for others will know that we are God’s property and also discern how great our husbandman really is.

Here we have stated clearly what is called the law of fruitfulness, our Christian responsibility.  We are told what branches should do. There must be dependence and continued abiding.

Abiding means activity.  We are both to abide in Him and let Him abide in us.  Both are absolutely essential.  This abiding means recognizing dependence on the vine; spiritual, physical, emotional dependence and this rules out the kind of independence that we often show.

The idea here is that we as Christians must constantly be in communion with Christ.  The stronger we can make this union of communication between God and us, the better our lives.  

It starts with us abiding or continuing in the relationship that God has set up with us.  God has always kept His promises to man and to us personally.  It has always been man who has fallen short.  In ourselves we cannot even hope to maintain a relationship with God; it is He that empowers us to maintain the relationship.  If we maintain our communion with Him, then we will be able to see and feel God acting in our lives as He moves closer to us.

Our continued dwelling in Christ will facilitate our fruitfulness.  It is useless if it is fruitless; and so is it with us, if we do not bear fruit unto God, we are of no service to Him whatsoever.

The greater our fruitfulness, the greater our comfort and happiness will be as God’s will and our will come closer to being one.  The one great lesson that we can learn is that if we do not abide in Christ then fruit bearing is impossible, but if we abide in Him then it is inevitable.

Fruit implies also the ability to reproduce.  This means that as ‘fruit’ we will produce other fruit from our actions.  This is somewhat repeated in the two verses and hence stresses the importance of us abiding in Christ.  We must always feed the longing in our hearts for being in Him and as we remain in Christ so we will see that our lives glorify Him even greater. 

We remember that the branch is really a receiver, receiving nutrients from the vine.  The branches cannot “do” and bear true fruit.  It is only when we “receive” from the vine that there would be good fruit and not sour grapes.  There must be an active continuing decision of the will to obey the Word of God, do what he says and be in constant communion with him.

The importance of Bible study and prayer becomes evident.  These are not to be mechanical practices to maintain our membership card.  The Scriptures must be studied with conscious effort to learn what God is saying. Prayer must not be approached as a routine exercise to be done for a few minutes mechanically running through a list. 

When there is abiding, there is a connection of our heart with Jesus and so study of the Scriptures and prayer becomes a beautiful, burden -lifting, strengthening experience and Christ becomes more and more real.

When we abide we can count on him to supply the enabling power to make us love, forgive and give thanks even when we are in the midst of trials.

Also, as we abide in Christ we increase the exercise of faith in Him and love for Him.  Many things will try to pull us away from Christ, but as we maintain our relationship to Him, then we will inevitably start to see that every communicable quality of God is manifested in us, like love, joy, peace, strength and so on.

Now comes a great warning. The state of any person not abiding in Christ is laid out here.  Those not ‘abiding’ include the hypocrite as well as the apostate, for both these classes of persons have chosen not to believe in Christ and have rejected his teachings.  Others who are not abiding include those who once believed but have now turned away, others who were never really committed and turned away when tribulations struck.  Then there are others who are Christians in name only but remain attached to the church for personal reasons.  All these groups have rejected Christ in their heart.

All these people are branches who are attached to a false god.  They are not in Christ.  These branches may prosper in worldly matters but their Christian life is a sham, for they never display the character of Christ. The devil and his angels have full control over them and their lives can be manipulated and twisted by the devil as he wills.

The promise from Jesus is that these persons will never be truly happy, for He states that they will wither away and their end will be a fiery one.  Jesus is quite emphatic that the only use for the branches that do not bear fruit is to be cast into the fire.  Their destination is inevitable.  There is no hope for they will be completely separated from God.

They will not be consumed in a moment, like thorns under a pot (Ecclesiastes 7:6), but kaietai, they are burning for ever in a fire, which not only cannot be quenched, but will never cease to end. This comes of quitting Christ, this is the end of barren trees.  This is judgment.  Matthew 25:41-46 discusses this idea that divine rejection and judgment for disobedience ends up being a painful and terminal situation.

Note the emphasis has shifted to stress the importance of the words of Christ, for dwelling or abiding in Christ means receiving His words.

Nourishment received from the vine is intimately tied up with the words of Christ, for His words are food. In other words, the nutrients that the vine gives to the branches either are or include the words of Christ. (See John 6: 63, 68.)

Jesus now defines what happens when the word of Christ dwells in us.  Since His disciples abide in Him and His words abide in them, whatever they wish and whatever they ask for will be granted to them.

This is a magnificent promise.

Note however that “whatever” the disciples wish for is governed by them dwelling in Christ and His words dwelling in them.  One writer points out that because of this “whatever” is not whatever.

The nourishment that flows from the vine to the branches changes the desire of the branches into godly desires and their wishes into godly wishes.  The union with Christ therefore gives us privileges.  Our wishes, which are godly wishes, will be granted.

Note carefully that the disciples of Christ do not approach prayer as a vehicle to satisfy ‘fleshly’ desire.  Instead it is asking God to do what He has promised. Disciples pray according to the mind and the will of God and therefore as Jesus says, whatever His disciples ask will be done, even though it sometimes takes what seem to them to be a long time. 

In the case of Jesus there were things that His human nature prompted Him to ask of God, but He knew that it would be better to follow His Father’s will, because the will of God the Father was good and perfect. How much more should we commit ourselves to follow the Father’s will!

When we are firmly in the root, in communion, then the Holy Spirit will open up the words of Christ to us, transform us into the image of Christ and build-up our faith.  If a person wants to experience joy, fruitfulness and vitality, maintaining this vital communion is the key.

Verse 8. The fruitful life glorifies the Father.  The branch that bears much fruit demonstrates to the world that there is a Vine and that there is a Vinedresser.  Displaying Christlikeness teaches the world about whom God is and this witness in the life of believers has often brought many people to the faith.

Jesus wanted His disciples to follow the will of God the Father, abide under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit, be able to bear fruit, and teach people in Israel and in the surrounding areas to learn about Jesus and spread the message of the Gospel.

Verse 9. This verse teaches the central truth that the Father loves His Son and that in the same way that the Father loves Him, He loves His disciples.  We can hardly understand the depth of love that the Father had for His beloved Son and yet here Jesus says He loves us in the same manner.

No wonder then that He uses the imperative, instructing His disciples to abide in His love.  The love in the Godhead, this pure, indescribable love, which cannot really be measured, is actually bestowed on us. Thus we are commanded to rest in this love, to maintain that vital connection.  There is no life like it!

So when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are instructed to remember our Saviour’s death until He comes.  We are not to remember our own doings and our own experiences.  That remembrance of the work of the Saviour on the Cross is most critical and must be our focus. We must always meditate on the work done on the Cross, on the person that died on the Cross for us and on the Father that was pleased to bruise His Son for us

Verse 10. How do we abide in His love and maintain that vital connection? Our obedience to the commandments keeps us in vital connection to the Father through Christ.  We rest in God’s unspeakable love and our hearts are changed to obey Him, submit to Him and to follow Him with our entire being.

Our perfect model for this is Jesus Himself, for He lived His life in total submission to and in complete obedience to the will of the Father.  Jesus abided in the love of the Father.  Knowing this He was made sin and a curse for us, He went cheerfully through His sufferings, He kept His Father’s law, He acted as a Mediator, went through with His undertaking,  and He did not fail, nor was discouraged all because the Father continued to love Him.

Love then is inextricably linked to obedience. 

A person should not say that they love God and not obey His Commandments.  All His Commandments are to be kept and not even the smallest command is to be ignored.

So this most important verse in the Bible gives us the key to how we should feel about ourselves and why.  We feel worthwhile because we know that God loves us, that Jesus loves us, that we belong to the Father and the Son.  We are precious in the sight of God.

So we have inner security.  We are confident in ourselves because of who we are in Christ.  We reject pride in ourselves, any feeling that we are valuable because of something intrinsic to us and we display the humility of Jesus as He carried out the work of the Father.

Obedience to God must have no limitations.  There must be no rebellion.  The believer should not feel at home in this world.  Abiding in the love of Jesus, being persuaded of the love of God for us will bring great comforts.  The lowest standard of Christian living is not compatible with abiding in Christ.

Verse 11. When we obey this command of Jesus we will have joy. 

Good children are truly happy when their parents are happy in them. When they, through the good teaching and example of their parents, bring honour and joy to their parents, then they are sure to be themselves joyful.

Hebrews 12:2 speaks of the importance of the “joy” set before Jesus as He endured the shame and suffering of the cross.

Jesus knew that He would be the instrument to redeem the entire world and that many millions would be redeemed and restored and brought into communion with the Father.

We too with the disciples will experience this fullness of joy as we abide in Jesus’ love, bear fruit and be used by God to bring people to Him.  Every believer must experience the intense gladness that comes from abiding in Christ.  The Spirit brings this glorious quality of life, this fullness of joy, this exhilaration which comes from knowing that we are right with God.  Obedience flows naturally from the abiding relationship.

Verse 12. Jesus now commands His disciples to love in a particular way.  This is a command, said in the imperative mood.  This is no option, it is not something that we do if we feel like it, or do occasionally.  When someone is in the family of God there must be this deliberate response to them.

Now this is hard, difficult and sometimes frightening.  We like to be idealistic when we talk about love, pretending that we understand it, but in reality it is rarely understood and remains mainly a dream.

Jesus however, says that true love for one another can be practiced and can be achieved. Moreover He makes it clear that the source which enables love is in the Father and comes from the Son’s love. 

The nature of the union with Christ brings us the benefit of Christ’s love for us.  The nature of the fruit which then develops in us, shows itself in our love for each other.

Let us now get to the practical reasons for this kind of love.  These disciples were always fighting and bickering, always striving for power over each other.  If Jesus left them in that state and went back to the Father, they would never be able to establish the Christian community, witnessing with power to the world.  So Jesus had to lay down the Law to them.  They might have thought that that was not fair, but this commandment was necessary.

Another obvious reason for the commandment to love one another was that when they were obedient to His Commandment, they would be properly able to assist each other in times of persecution, when they were kicked out of the synagogue and when they faced the hostility of the world.  They would work from a context of strength and mutual support, as they fought the terrible spiritual battles which lay before them. 

Those that do not love are weakening the faith.  There will be no powerful witness if there is no love.

Verse 13. The nature of the love is now defined quite clearly for us for it is said to be a total sacrifice.  Love involves giving up one’s needs to meet the needs of others and that is exactly what Jesus did for His friends.  The love of God was so intense that it expresses itself in sacrifice to the point of death.

It might sound attractive to us to make excuses about why we cannot do this or that for our enemies, but we cannot really say that Jesus is commanding us to do something that is impossible.  If He says we can do it and He has, we can do it.  The secret is to understand that our relationship with the Father allows us to show divine love.

This is the love that Christ has loved us with, He is our antipsychos—bail for us, body for body, life for life, though He knew our insolvency, and foresaw how much the engagement would cost Him, He continued along the path for our redemption.

He loved us because God is love.  He was being indwelt by the Father and He was in the Father and the Father in Him.  He was in submission, yielding to all the aspects in the nature of that relationship and so love flowed.

If we are in that same kind of relationship and since we are indwelt by the Spirit and since we are in the Son and the Son in us, we have no option but to yield to that relationship to the Son and inevitably love will flow from us, showing all the qualities of Jesus’ love.

The quality of our love must be absolutely great. God loved us even when we were His enemies and so one can barely imagine the even greater love that Jesus was saying He had for his friends.  He died that His enemies would turn to Him.  How much more would He do for His friends!

Verses 14 &15.  Jesus calls those who keep His commandments His friends.  Their attitude demonstrates friendship. Their obedience is evidence of their friendship and confirms that His sacrificial action has led to making many friends for Him.

Friendship involves intimacy.  It is a totally different state of relationship from that of slavery.  Friends are invited in.  Wonderful things concerning God are now made known to them as the Spirit of God greatly enlarge their understanding.

Jesus confided in His disciples because they were His friends, they had a close relationship with Him, a kind of relationship that servants would not have with their Lord. In this intimate and privileged relationship, the secrets of God are revealed.

Their friendship was now such that Jesus would reveal to them in the Garden of Gethsemane that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful even to death.  That kind of the personal agony is normally only revealed to intimate friends.  Such was the nature of their friendship.

When we are friends of God, the Spirit reveals the secrets of God to us in a continuous flow of intimacy.  The Scriptures are open to us in a new way, for these Scriptures contain what is often called the “Nuggets of Gold” planted by God, waiting for the friends of God to discover.  The discovery brings immense joy to the friends of God.

The followers of Christ are the friends of Christ, and He is graciously pleased to call and account them so. Those that do the duty of His servants are admitted and advanced to the dignity of His friends.

Christ is not a stranger, or an acquaintance, He visits them and converses with them as His friends, bears with them and makes the best of them, is afflicted in their afflictions, and takes pleasure in their prosperity. He pleads for them in heaven and takes care of all their interests there.

For He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:17.  Though sometimes we show ourselves unfriendly, He has always been that friend that loves at all times.

Those that would be like Christ in humility must not take a pride in insisting upon all occasions on their authority and superiority, but remember that their servants are their fellow-servants.  The Lesson demonstrated by Christ after His resurrection is clear for He seems to speak with more affectionate tenderness of and to His disciples than before.

But observe, in John 21:5, though Christ called them His friends, they called themselves His servants: Peter, a servant of Christ (1 Peter 1:1), and so James, James 1:1.  Strange?  I think not, for the more honour Christ puts upon us, the more honour we should do to elevate Him and to abase ourselves.

Verse 16. Now that Jesus has revealed to the disciples that they are friends and not servants, it was necessary to prevent them from developing new feelings of pride.  Therefore Jesus made it clear that they are friends because He chose them rather than the opposite.

Love is the basis of divine election; this love takes the initiative. He initiated salvation and fruit bearing.  He chose them and He enabled them.

Concerning the election of the Apostles (and even to us), it was not owing to wisdom and or goodness in them choosing Him for their Master, but to His favour and grace in choosing them for His disciples. It is fit that Christ should have the choosing of His own ministers; still He does it by His providence and Spirit. Though ministers make that holy calling their own choice, Christ’s choice is prior to theirs and directs and determines it. Of all that are chosen to grace and glory it may be said, they have not chosen Christ, but He had chosen them.

We note that we are able to bear fruit because He allows us to bear fruit.  We bear fruit to the extent that He enables us.

The kind of fruit that is produced is the lasting kind of fruit.  It makes a difference.  We do not have to leave a large legacy, make a massive contribution to charity, or pay a vast sum to have a large monument dedicated to our memory. Rather, when our life produces the fruit that God requires our name will be written down in Glory.

In addition it is guaranteed that whatever we ask of the Father it would be granted.  Remember that we are strategically placed to work with difficult people and there will be pain and hostility.  So the Father will grant the requests that come from people who are in self- denying service and whose lives are dedicated to fulfilling His will.  They are ‘in’ Jesus, operate in His name, under His banner and do all things to glorify Him and His Father.

Verse 17. No one duty of religion is more frequently inculcated, nor more pathetically urged upon us by our Lord Jesus, than that of mutual love, and for good reason. 

The first point to be made is that it is here recommended by Christ’s pattern (John 15:12): as I have loved you. 

Christ’s love to us should direct and engage our love to each other in this manner, and from this motive, we should love one another, as, and because, Christ has loved us. He here specifies some of the expressions of His love to them; He called them friends, communicated His mind to them, was ready to give them what they asked.

Go you and do likewise.

The second point is that it is required by His precept. He interposes His authority, has made it one of the statute-laws of His kingdom.

Christ knowing that the Church will always be in a position where uncharitableness will come in, He speaks as if he were about to give them many things in this charge, but yet names only one, that being, that you love one another, not only because this includes many duties, but because it will have a good influence upon all.

The command of verse 12 is repeated and closes the Lesson of the Vine and the Branches.  There is no better reminder.  Jesus commands us love one another.

CONCLUSION

The world longs to see real love in action.  People are hurting and it is only when we demonstrate the wonderful completeness and adequacy of Christ to meet their needs, that we have a good chance of them becoming receptive to the gospel of Christ.

The starting point of all this is to rest in the love of Christ. When we are in that love, totally secure from all alarms, we will necessarily obey Him and walk as the people of God.

Jesus invites us into His inner circle of “friends”. All true believers are in this inner circle. He will give us rest, joy and peace. 

Let us respond to this incredible opportunity offered to us to enter the body of Christ, remain therein and live and bask in the glory of Jesus.