John 15-16 Women's Bible Study
Blacknall Presbyterian Church
March
13, 2003
Beginning in chapter 12 of the Book
of John, the Pharisees begin actively plotting to kill Jesus and Jesus,
knowing this, rides right into Jerusalem and into the center of the plot. With
this hostility as His backdrop, to His disciples, Jesus predicts His
death and calls His disciples to follow Him. To the crowd, the challenge
is made to walk in the light while they still have the light. Then He leaves
and hides Himself with His disciples.
In chapter 13, “knowing that it was
time for him to leave this world”, Jesus communes very intimately with
His disciples in what has come to be known as the “upper room discourse”. It is
here in this place, in His last hours with these chosen friends, that Jesus, in
an act of greatest humility, washes their feet.
Songwriter Michael Card describes this act in his song entitled The
Basin and the Towel .
And the call is to community
The impoverished power that sets
the soul free In humility to take the vow
That day after day we must take up
the basin and the towel
And the space between ourselves
sometimes is more than the distance between the stars
By the fragile bridge of the
servant’s bow, We take up the basin and
the towel
The example has been laid before them and the tone set for
the rest of the evening. After this call to community through his example of
humble service, Jesus speaks grievously of how He will be betrayed by one of
the very ones whose feet He held and washed. And if this is not enough pain for
Him to bear, He has to bring to light a truth not yet realized … Peter’s denial.
One of those that He was most intimate with would, out of fear, deny that he
ever knew Him.
I believe that this caused Jesus the deepest grief possible
as that denial broke their unity. It was not until they met on the beach after
Christ’s resurrection
that that fracture was bound and restoration began. When
Jesus asked Peter 3X, “Do you love me?”, he was calling Peter back into the
relationship. When He commanded Peter to feed His sheep, He was calling Peter
again, giving Him the invitation to remain and to obey His command to Love One
Another.
Last week we heard Margot speak from Chapter 14 of the of tenderness
and compassion of Jesus in response to the disciples’ grief over what He had
been saying and their confusion over what had been happening. Jesus speaks of
Himself as the way home to the Father and He promises the Holy Spirit…the
counselor…the Spirit of truth…the one who would show them the way and teach and
remind them. Then He speaks these
amazing words: Peace I leave with you, my
peace I give to you….do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
He declares at the end of Chapter 14 , “The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do
exactly what my Father has commanded me.”
Jesus has been doing,
saying and predicting hard things. He has been asking them to follow Him to
death. He talks about going away and coming back. He speaks of the prince of
this world coming. In spite of the
comforting words spoken prior, can’t you feel the angst in the room. Can’t you
hear the unspoken questions? Can you feel the tension in the room mounting as
Christ’s words pile up.
As we come to Chapter 15,
the subject matter begins to take on a heavier
weight.
Here we will hear Jesus discuss 3 relationships:
His relationship with His
Father….the vine and the gardener
His relationship with His
disciples….the vine and the branches
His relationship and the
disciples’ relationship with the world
Unity or lack of unity in Relationships are the leading
players in the drama of
creation. It is in relationships that we see and participate
in the fleshing out of the triune God.. It is also in relationships that we see
and participate in the brokenness that results from sin.
I am the TRUE vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts
off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear
fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean
because of the Word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in
you. No branch can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine. Neither
can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Grape harvest in Northwest PA where we lived for almost 16 years would take
place around the first of November. In a
matter of days the vineyard in front and back of our house would be stripped
bare. The season would be over. The vineyard would lay fallow….but life would
not end.
At some point not long after the
harvest, I might look out my front window, across the mile and a half toward
the McDonald’s on Rt.20 or off the back deck toward Lake Erie a mile away.
Somewhere across this orderly array of vineyard rows I would see through the
snow that was falling sideways, a lone trimmer. Bundled in his Carhardt
coveralls, with trimming tools hanging from his shoulder and waist, he would
begin to move slowly and meticulously from branch to branch. He was skilled and
thorough. He knew exactly what to do in order to make sure each branch that had
produced fruit in the previous season would be able to do so again in the next.
He trimmed each branch to just the right place so that the branch would still
draw life from the vine. The portion no longer useful would be pulled and piled
between the rows. And the branches that were no longer producing fruit would be
cut off from the vine entirely. It was a process with a purpose…that fruit
might be produced by way of the life line of the vine through the branches.
Over the course of the fierce PA
winter the trimmer would make his way through the vineyard. There was no
mechanical substitution for this work. It was lonely and it was slow. But it
had to be done and it had to be done thoroughly for the branches to have a
chance to be healthy.
There was a vineyard down the road
from us that had not been tended for
several seasons. The branches had not been trimmed and had grown out of
control…long and wild. There were so many branches and so much foliage each
season that in time this vineyard produced no fruit at all. This vineyard
eventually was cut down. Ruined by unmanaged excess that had “looked” good with
all its foliage and proliferation of branches, only to have fruit production
choked off.
In contrast, the vineyard trimmed
and cared for through the dreary frigid days of winter would be able to produce
its fruit in season, in keeping with the
purpose drawn from the vine.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in
me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up and thrown
into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory
that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples.
In these 2 short paragraphs Jesus uses the word REMAIN 8X’s. In the next
paragraph He will use it 3 more times. Can you sense the urgency in His message?
This was a crucial time in the spiritual development of the disciples. They
desperately needed to “get it”. What was to come would test them to the limit.
Let us try to understand this command to remain by first
looking at the results of remaining. Let’s
look again at the image of the vine and the branches and at barrenness and
fruitbearing in the context of remaining.
vs2 : He cuts
off every branch in me that bears no fruit.
vs4: No
branch can bear fruit unless you remain in me.
vs.6 If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers. And in contrast: vs2 While every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that
it will be even more fruitful. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Remain in
me…I in Him….bear fruit….remain in me. Don’t remain…wither…be thrown into the
fire.
May we say then, that to Remain
means: to abide, continue to choose to stay, go on being, endure, persist, in
order to produce fruit. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear fruit. Is
it adequate to say it to remain means to BE IN and STAY IN relationship with
Christ such that fruit bearing the image of the Vine is able to grow? May we
also say that to remain means to be in and stay in a healthy relationship with
the church, with one another, with the Body of Christ?
Let’s look at this from a different angle. Doesn’t to remain imply that these disciples,
and now we who believe, are already in Christ, in this intimate relationship… as branches growing from the vine. Sometimes
we get confused and think, if even unconsciously, that we are not there yet,
that we
have to get into Christ … as though the branch had a life of its own and could
somehow grow itself into that connection…. No, you believe, you are there. It
is Christ that has taken hold of you. He has loved you first. Now, your
response…remain. “BE “ in that relationship…sharing thoughts, emotions,
intentions, and power. Stay in that relationship. Relate…in Christ, Him
in you. Stay connected.…and bear fruit.
Ask yourself: Am I connected to the vine? How do I know? Do I believe? Do
I bear fruit? What does my fruit look like? Does it look more and more like
Jesus…or does it look like the world? Is
my love for Jesus manifesting itself in footwashing behavior? If it
isn’t …have I drifted away…am I denying I know him because I am afraid of the
consequences? Or worse, am I grievously betraying Him out of selfishness or
greed….
Is it possible for you to step
outside yourself’s center and look at you,
the branch? Maybe you need someone to help you do that. Are you willing to take
the risk to allow yourself to be seen honestly with the goal to bear more
fruit? Can you trust yourself to the Father to care for you? Can you trust the
Father with your productivity? or lack of? Or do you want to be the gardener?
Don’t leave. Don’t go off on your own fueled by fear,
selfishness or greed, as you will not be able to bear true fruit apart from
Christ. You may be able, for a while, to produce a lot of foliage through your
good intentions….good programs, “right” deeds, even fine preaching, teaching,
or acts of service. But, the true fruit bearing the image of Christ is only possible through remaining.
Remaining is a state of being, thinking, believing, living
with conviction and commitment, responding to and with the vine so that the
fruits of faith rooted in Christ’s love will grow through the branches. It is a
relationship. It is community. The Father…Jesus….the believers…the Gardener,
the vine, the branches…One.
How does that community happen? The One who already holds you
asks you to come, just as you are. You choose to “stay home”. You confess and
claim by faith …you say it outloud…over and over… “Jesus’ blood is sufficient
to cleanse me of all unrighteousness…To create in me a clean heart…to renew a
steadfast spirit within me…to restore and sustain me…..And make me able to
remain…You CHOOSE TO TRUST. You lay down your life. What
does this mean to you? How do you see this fleshed out in your life?
Maybe to remain means you choose to draw from Christ, the
Vine, what you need to be able to forgive the one who hurt you through neglect
or denial or betrayal, because you know the one who forgave you. Maybe it means
you draw from the Logos the energy you need to remain until your heart or legs
or mind are healed, knowing the One who laid His life down for you. Maybe it
means you allow the trimmer to cut away that which is causing you to
die…bitterness, anger, malice… in order to save your life. But, primarily, you
choose to believe in Christ and who He is and stay in Him even though
everything may be crumbling around you. In believing, you remain.
What would it mean to
these men Christ spoke to?
It was imperative that the disciples remain, that they
believe, that they love one another.
Things were changing. The True Vine had come into the world.
History was on the edge of a cataclysmic event. Jesus knew that these men
needed to know what it meant to remain. So He says it again…and again.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now
remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as
I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love. (this is the first he speaks of obedience in this vine
and branches/remaining discussion) I have told you this so that my joy
may be in you and your joy may be complete. (so,
Jesus is bringing remaining and obeying and Joy together). To remain means to believe and bear fruit…and what is
that fruit?…obedience and joy …..and Christ’s command that we are to obey is this: Love each
other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down
his life for his friends.
His example is right before their eyes. Jesus and the
Father have lived in a perfectly
harmonious relationship marked by Jesus remaining in the Father’s love and
obeying. He has fleshed this out before the disciples in the years they have
been together. Now He calls them to live out this same relationship of
remaining, believing, and obeying out of and through love. And His promise to
them is Joy….complete Joy. Joy that is founded in the Way and the Truth…in
Jesus. Joy that supersedes
circumstances. Joy that is greater than our own hearts’ capacity to experience
or truly understand. Joy that cannot be stolen by war in Iraq, destructive
disease, or the horror of terrorism. Joy that is indestructible as it’s origin
is founded in the One who indestructible.
Remain…obey my commands…love one another…joy
They are all connected…inseparable.
But, can’t you hear the disciples thoughts? …our thoughts?
“Lord, this is TOO BIG. I am weak…just a
person…Not like you. I don’t think I can do this. I don’t think I can take up
this responsibility. I don’t know if I want to take on this responsibility. I am afraid I will fail.” Jesus doesn’t let
them off the hook. He can’t. They have to “get it”. He can’t let them retreat
into their fear and selfishness. Nor will He let us. He gives this command: Love each other as I have love you. Greater love has no one
than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
It is the call to community. He knew they would need one
another. He knew they had to take up the basin and the towel of humility and
wash one another’s feet. He knew they would have to love one another to the
extent that they would even lay down their lives for their friends. It is no
different for us today…no different.
It is no different when the Lord calls you to love your
sister who persistently blames you for
the family chaos. It is no different when the Lord says, Go again and love that
friend who is unable to love you or receive your love. It is no different when
the Lord says forgive your mother for her inability to love you well. It is no
different when the Lord says Let the past be the past. Let what was die.
Release the captive. Cancel all debts. The command to lay down your life is no
easier now than at the time Christ spoke it. He knows that.
Jesus was telling the disciples that they were to choose to release
their firm grasp on their own lives and on how they thought
their lives should be. Christ calls these men to be like-minded with
Him. He calls them His friends. He is going to lay His life down for them. He
chose them, He revealed everything He learned from the Father to them. He
appointed them to bear fruit. He has been their connection to the Father to
whom they may go and ask for that which is in line with all that Christ is. He
is paving the way for them to take up His role in the world and understanding
this command was vital. So, He says it AGAIN: Love each
other. The key to this command being obeyed is found
in Christ. It is Christ that makes
this possible. I have loved you. NOW, remain in my love.
