I spent some good time in John 15 this morning & was struck by the simplicity of Jesus’ message to his disciples. One of the things I’m good at is overcomplicating otherwise simple & straightforward truths. Here in John 15 we find Jesus continuing discussions with his disciples about what’s about to happen (i.e. he’s leaving). Just to make sure we’re on the same page here is the immediate context:
- John 12 – Jesus is anointed by Mary (for the day of his burial) & he enters into Jerusalem to the cheers of the people
- John 13 – Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for the fact that His time on earth is quickly drawing to a close. He washes their feet (He is servant) & announces both his betrayal by Judas & his denial by Peter (He is omnipotent).
- John 14 – Jesus speaks truth to comfort his disciples who are now starting to get that He is indeed leaving & they will not be able to go with him. Jesus reminds them that He will not leave them as orphans & promises them that the Holy Spirit will come to guide, instruct & remind them.
- John 15 – Jesus provides the disciples with some clear teaching on how they are to live in relationship with Him once He leaves.
My personal opinion is that clear teaching on how to live in relationship with Jesus is still pretty relevant. Of course, let’s acknowledge that this passage does not represent all of Jesus’ teaching – there are tons of other passages that speak to nature of following Him. However, in this passage Jesus’ message is clear – He expects his followers to bear fruit. But that statement begs some questions:
- How do we bear fruit? - We bear fruit by remaining with / in Jesus (v. 5)
- How do we remain with Jesus? - We remain in Jesus by obeying His commandments – just as He has obeyed the Father’s commandments (v. 10)
- What are the commandments that Jesus is talking about? - To love one another just as He has loved us (v. 12 & v. 17)
- How do we love one another? - We lay down our lives for each other (v. 13)
- How do we know if we’re on the right track? - The world will hate us as it did Jesus (v. 18-19)
Summary: To remain in Jesus requires obeying His command to love one another to the glory of God, the betterment of our neighbor & the hatred of this world.
Application: So how are we doing at loving one another? Yikes….I’ve got a lot of room to grow here. How about you? Is there anybody in your world that you need to reach out to with a servant’s heart & a sacrificial hand? A couple of names pop into my mind. So the question now becomes: What am I going to do with that???
The K.I.S.S. Method David – thanks for the valuable insight.