John 15:1-17
Overview: A center piece of Chirst’s Teaching in his ministry. Jesus outlines the core of our faith:
Jesus, His Love and God’s Glory, and what it means to be a Christian.

(Read the text once before going into the details?)
Exposition:
v.1-4: Jesus contrasts the outcome of His followers against those that are not. Distinguishing them as the ones who “remain/abide in [him]” and “bear fruit”. While some of us may be familiar with the idea of Jesus abiding in us as the word abiding in our hearts, note that in v.4, the call is for us to remain in him, not that we help him to remain in us.

Why the fuss? You may ask, while we may be clearer as to what it means to have Christ abide in us, I believe that the rest of this narrative goes on to outline what it means for us to remain in Jesus. So the open question right now is: What does it mean to abide in Jesus?

v.5-6: A repetition of v.1-2 (remember that repetition is the Greek replacement for !s), Jesus fills in the details he mentioned in v.3-4 into the analogy used in v.1-2. That unless we remain in Jesus, we cannot bear fruit, “for apart from me you can do nothing (v.5)”. Therefore, anyone who does not abide in him (will be unable to bear fruit) and is thrown away … (v.6).

v.7: “perks” of being Jesus’ disciple (there’s a lot more to this, but we’ll come back to this later)

v.8: Important haha: The Glory of God is that we bear much fruit and so prove to be His disciple. The very nature of God, the purpose of our being, the divine mystery is being revealed here. That to Glorify God is to bear fruit.

v.9-10: Jesus brings us back to the question in v4, so what does it mean to “abide in his love (v.9)”? The answer flows naturally in v.10 keep his commandments. We’ll be examining the commandments later.

v.11: Before he outlines his commandments, Jesus reveals to us that not only is the above discussion important for our salvation (thrown into the fire or not), but it is also important for our joy, that we may be above to receive from the vine a full portion of joy.

v.12-13: The answer to the question in v8. The command needs not further explanation, except maybe to highlight that the love here is agape. Yet if we begin to put the pieces together, we’ll realize that we are all pretty much doomed. To love one another unconditionally and to lay our lives down for one another is a tall order, an impossible one at that.

v.14-16: As we read of the elevation of our status in 14-15, we can’t help but to be focused on the predicament we’re stuck on in v.12-13. It is my hope and my prayer that v.16 is the conviction and affirmation that you need. That Jesus, the lamb that was slain, the alpha and omega, have appointed us to go bear fruit – not fruits that will perish away, but fruit that will last/abide. So that whatever you ask the Father in Jesus’ Name, it may be granted. I hope you can see that the promise in v.7 is not just a perk from being Jesus’ disciple, but rather that it is integral and necessary for us to bear fruit. That without this promise, we will never live up to the standards in v.12-13. That v.7 is the source of our peace too.

v.17: These things I commanded you (these commands that outlines what it means to abide in Jesus), so that you will love one other (that we may bear much fruit, to love one another abundantly, to have the full portion of joy and to have the peace that comes from assurance from God).


Summary:

Yes the centerpiece of this passage is that the Glory of God, the Path to Salvation, the Source of Joy is that we submit to Jesus’ commandment in v.12-13, to love (agape) one another unconditionally. Before we write off this passage as “just another call to love one another”, what we need to realize is how impossible it is for us to do that. That without the promise in v.7 (the promise of divine intervention), we are pretty much doomed to destruction by fire.

Yet to claim the promise in v.7 needs the faith to believe, the courage to hope, that we may finally produce the love that we so desperately lack. For sharing, we can share about the ones we find difficult to love in our lives, why is it particularly difficult and commit all these in prayer, claiming the promise in v.7. That promise of God is greater than our hatred and apathy, that we will love not just for one another but because it brings Glory to God.


God Bless,
Zhan Feng