Remain in My Love
TRANSLATION
(9) “Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. (10) If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. (11) These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
(12) “This is my command that you love one another just as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for their friends. (14) You are my friends if you do what I command you. (15) I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know what the master is doing. But I have called you friends, for everything that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. (16) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give it to you. (17) This is my command: love one another.”
OBSERVATIONS
In this segment Jesus emphasized the importance of our keeping his command to love one another. Several repetitions help us discern its thrust. “Father,” Jesus’ designation for God, is found four times (vss. 9, 10, 15, & 16). “Love(d)/my love/his love” was used seven times in four verses (vss. 9, 10, 12, & 13). “Remain” occurred four times (vss. 9, 10, & 16). “Command(s)” was repeated four times (vss. 10, 12, & 17). “Joy” is found twice (vs. 11). “Friends” occurred three times (vss. 13, 14, & 15) while “servant(s)” was used twice (vs. 15). Finally, “choose/chose” is found twice as is “fruit,” both in verse 16. These two paragraphs were closely related in a cause/effect relationship. If we keep Jesus’ command to love one another as he has loved us (cause), then we will remain in Jesus’ love just as he remains in the Father’s love by keeping his commands (effect).
OUTLINE
I. We remain in Jesus’ love by keeping his commands just as he did with the Father. (9-11)
II. We keep Jesus’ commands by loving one another just as he has loved us. (12-17)
IDEA STATEMENT
If we keep Jesus’ command to love one another, we will remain in his love just as he always remains in the Father’s love by keeping his commands.
APPLICATION
Our translation uses “remain” in place of the more traditional term, “abide,” a rarely used word in today’s English. Brian Hedges in an article entitled, What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ, suggested “three aspects of abiding/remaining.” The first is “connection,” a life-giving relationship with Jesus who is the source of our vitality. To bear fruit, a branch must be connected to the trunk of the vine to draw its life from the vine. In like manner, we must be connected to Christ to draw our spiritual life from him. The second is “dependence.” Just as a branch draws its sustenance and vitality from the vine, so must each of us draw life and strength from Christ. Otherwise, we become useless, powerless, and worthless. As Jesus warned his disciples, “Without me you can do nothing.” Finally, “abide/remain” implies “continuance.” The branch must stay connected to the vine without interruption in order to bear fruit. The moment a branch loses its connection, it begins to wither and die.
All of us have witnessed EVA (extravehicular activity), the moment when an astronaut steps outside the spacecraft to carry out a task that requires human involvement. In this maneuver, the astronaut is tethered to the spacecraft by an umbilical cable which supplies oxygen and power. If that connection were to be severed or if the suit is breached, the astronaut will lose consciousness and die within a few moments. In much the same way, we cannot continue to function effectively if our connection to the source of our spiritual life is severed. Only as we remain in Jesus’ love will we be capable of bearing fruit that brings glory to both the Father and the Son.