GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 15-16

SCRIPTURE JOHN 15 1-17

The Vine and the Branches.

“I am the true vine,^* and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,^* because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.

REFLECTION

When I look at the picture above I am reminded of how many great saints attached to the vine of Christ bore good fruit.  They are our ancestors and models of discipleship. I Am the True Vine is the last of the seven I Am declarations of Jesus, found only in Gospel of John.  The I Am declarations point to Jesus’ unique divine identity.

Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus reminds us that we have life only when we are attached to Him. “Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.

For the Hell deniers, Jesus throws in, “Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned.”

Next time we meditate on crucifix/crucifixion rather than concentrating on pain and suffering of Jesus dig deeply into the love God has for us that He lay down His very life to save us from sin and death  that our joy may be complete,

 “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.    The fruit that remains is our love for one another! “By their fruit you will know them” Matthew 7:20

SCRIPTURE JOHN 15:18-27

JESUS’ DEPARTURE WARNING ABOUT THE WORLD’S HATRED

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;    but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.

…No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you….And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me….Whoever hates me also hates my Father If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father….

REFLECTION

 If they persecuted Jesus they will also persecute followers of Jesus.  This is the cost of discipleship. We may not confront the world, the flesh, and the devil to the extant Jesus did but we are still a threat to worldly ways. Jesus warned us, “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Matthew 10:16

 Be smart, trust in Jesus, and be humble, don’t try to make it on your own.  When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19

 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in Gehenna.

Matthew 10:28

 GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 16

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT, THE ADVOCATE

SCRIPTURE 16:7-33

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. ….. now I am going to the one who sent me….^*it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation…I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears…He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you…..

‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you……For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”…..

Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.

REFLECTION

While Jesus’ physical presence has departed earth until end times, we are not left orphans.  We have the sacramental presence of Jesus and the advocate, the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of our sins, inspires us in hope of eternal joy, and assists in our daily struggles in the head wind of worldly delights.

This passage of Scripture brings to the fore, the Most Holy Trinity, the Father who sent the Son to save us,  the Son who sends the Holy Spirit who will guide us to all truth. While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, I address them at times in their various persons.

God the Creator to protect our environment and food supplies to the poor.  The Son, Jesus Christ, to pardon my sins and lead me to repentance.  The Holy Spirit to help me pray, to discern God’s will, and give me courage to follow it.

When we see Jesus again we will be filled with joy of the woman who has given birth to a child.  All love has some suffering that accompanies it whether it is sacrifices of our will to God’s will or grief over the loss of a loved one. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me.

 Is God’s love enough for us?   Worth pondering! 

And if not why not?