The Gospel of John: John 15.9-17

Read and meditate on John 15.16, 17.
All “these things” define how we are to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

                       ¹⁶You did not choose Me,
but I chose and appointed you to be
My friends, and bear much lasting fruit, that all
you ask the Father in My Name, and call
on Him to do, He will. ¹⁷And I command
you: Love each other!”

- John 15.16, 17

Reflect
1.  We have a bit more of verse 16 to consider. First, let’s look at that verb appointed. It derives from the Greek word which means to place, set, or put. We are not here by chance. Nor are we here to do whatever we choose with our lives. Jesus has set us here, having chosen us to be His disciples, and He has appointed us to bear fruit. What are some of the implications of this for your daily life? At the end of the day, what should you look back on as evidence of having fulfilled the purpose appointed to you? Complete this prayer: Lord, I know that You have assigned me to this life, and to all…

2.  It’s not just any fruit that Jesus has appointed us to bear, but fruit that remains. What kind of fruit rots? What kind of fruit remains? What’s involved in that kind of fruit coming into being in and through our lives? How can you prepare daily to bear such fruit? I want to bear abiding fruit for You, Lord, and thus I daily…

3.  Whatever we ask of the Father, if we do so in Jesus’ Name – that is, in line with His reason for having appointed us as disciples – we can know that God will give it to us. How should this shape our prayers? What effects should it have on the content of our prayers? On their frequency? Lord, I don’t know how to pray as I should. Teach me to pray like…

4.  “These things” of verse 17 refers to all that Jesus had instructed His disciples in this discourse up to this point. God back and review chapters 14 and 15 to this point. What was Jesus referring to by the phrase these things? How does it underscore the importance of these things to know that Jesus commands them of us? Help me always to keep in mind, Lord, that You…

5.  The conjunction in verse 17, hina, should be translated, in order that or so that. “These things” Jesus commands us thus show us how we are to carry out the new commandment to love one another as He has loved us. How can Christians help one another to fulfill this commandment more consistently? How would doing so affect our witness for Christ in our community? Bring together into one your prayers from questions 1-4.

Summary
“Everything we labor for in this present world scarcely lasts until death. Death intervenes and cuts off the fruit of our labor. But what we do for eternal life remains even after death. It begins to appear only when the fruits of our physical labors cease to be visible. The reward of the one begins when the other is ended. Let one who recognizes that he now bears eternal fruit within his soul think little of the temporal fruits of his labors. Let us work for the fruit that endures; let us work for the fruit that begins at death since death destroys all others.” Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)

In the Lord’s strength, we can carry out the Lord’s command to bear the abiding fruit the Lord has appointed for us. What are the greatest obstacles we must overcome in fulfilling our calling to love as Jesus commands?

Closing Prayer
The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the LORDdoes valiantly.
The right hand of the LORDis exalted;
The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD,
Through which the righteous shall enter.
I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the LORD’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the LORDhas made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
God is the LORD,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 118.14-29

Psalm 118.14-29 (St. George’s Windsor: Come, Ye Thankful People, Come )
In the Savior we are strong! He is all our strength and song!
To His grace now raise your voice; in His righteousness rejoice!
For the Lord does valiantly; we shall live eternally.
Praise His works with all your breath, you whom He redeems from death.

All who know Christ’s righteousness His great Name now thank and bless!
Though His gate full righteous is, He our saving mercy is.
Cast aside and left alone, Christ is now our Cornerstone!
God has made His Son and Word our salvation: Praise the Lord!

Blest are they who in His Name come and Jesus’ grace proclaim.
God His light upon us shines in the Savior’s sacrifice.
Praise and thanks to You, O Lord; we extol Your holy Word!
Thanks to You for You are good! Thanks to our great loving God!T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.