Wow! Time is flying. Tomorrow will be the commemoration of the day Jesus' came into Jerusalem on the back of a previously unridden colt of a donkey. The people, who had just the night before seen the risen-from-the -dead Lazarus, will come out and line the route of his descent down the Mount of Olives and into the City of Jerusalem. They will wave palm branches, and lay their cloaks before Him in His path - the honor due a King. Palm Sunday!
But in John's account, we have passed that point.... I didn't read ahead to remind myself what John would relate until this morning. I thought John 14 represented his final 'final words' of instruction and admonition before they left the Upper Room. Not so.... It appears John 15, 16 and 17 should come before the last statement in John 14! They represent the bulk of the Upper Room Discourse. These chapters hold incredible words of guidance and instruction, directly from the Lord Himself. Everything important that He has taught them over the past 3 years is encapsulated here, reiterated, rephrased. His focus is very clear. He only has moments left, and these are words to live by - and die for.
I'm grateful that the Holy Spirit brought all of this discourse back clearly to John so he could write it down. Jesus' Upper Room teaching provides clear direction for living in Him, and the consequences if we don't. He offers us the opportunity and it is our choice whether or not we obey. These chapters do not give us a recipe for 'fast food' Christianity, but for a depth of being immersed in Him that acknowledges the pruning and correcting in our lives as coming from His love. His deepest concern is for our eternity, not our current creature comforts. He offers Jesus as our model.
"I am the true vine," Jesus tells us.... I am.... They did not miss His claim to deity. God was known as the Great I Am.
"My Father is the vinedresser." Actually the owner of the vineyard and the one who prunes the vines, but it was the vinedressing that was the point. This was a visual they saw in their walking through the countryside of Israel: grapes being grown, and pruned for making the best possible crop. Vineyards who employed the best vinedressers were productive vineyards.
If a vine just looked beautiful, but wasn't producing any fruit, it was lopped off and thrown into a pile that then was taken to be burned. Using a vineyard as an object lesson was a perfect segue to the lessons He was teaching. He is the vine. We are the branches. If we abide in Him, and His life flows into us, we will bear much fruit. That is the proof of being His disciples. Love is an action word! The action is obedience.....
Verse 12ff: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you."
No longer called servant - but friends. Chosen. Appointed. Commanded to love.
That is one of the huge differences that separates true Christianity from most other religions. First and foremost, Jesus is the only way to God, but immediately following that fact is: we are instructed to love. Not just our own, but all of mankind.... To love when people are right, and when they are wrong. To love when they are kind and when they are mean. To love when they agree with us and when they disagree. To love even when we are hated.... It's a tall order! One I cannot do without being connected to the vine.... It requires regular pruning!
I can't say I enjoy the requisite pruning, but I'd rather be pruned than lopped off....
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