Our Gospel reflection for this Sunday (John 15:9-17) is awe-inspiring. It’s part of the Last Supper discourses where Jesus spoke directly to His disciples about the most important aspects of discipleship, as well as the mysteries of salvation and the Holy Trinity. Jesus and the eleven apostles (Judas had already left to betray Him) had finished the Last Supper and He imparted these important truths to them before His Passion. This passage is part of the analogy of the Vine and the Branches, which we began last week (John 15:1-8).
Incomprehensible Love
What’s amazing about this week’s passage is the statements that Jesus made about our relationship with Him. First, He says that He loves us beyond measure; He loves us as much as the Father loves Him (John 15:9)! He asks us to respond to this incomprehensible love with our own love for Him and others. We are to remain in His love by keeping the commandments, most especially the foremost commandment: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). So there’s the formula: God the Father loves the Son, the Son loves us, and we are to love one another in this same way. Notice that the primary “lover” is God: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Me, A Friend of God?
Jesus not only loves His disciples, He calls us friends (John 15:15). I feel called to pray more deeply about having part of my identity as being a friend of God. I often see myself as God’s beloved child, as a disciple who follows and learns from Him, and as His servant who seeks to carry out His will and build up His Kingdom. How is being a friend of God different? Friends spend time together and enjoy each other’s company. Friends laugh and cry together. Friends share their hearts with one another. The concept of friendship evokes an idea of being equal with one another. Who am I to be called God’s friend? It seems even more incredible to be His friend than it is to be loved by God or to be His follower or servant. How could I possibly be on the same level with God? Our friendship with Jesus means that we get to hear the truth from Him: “I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (John 15:15). Who are we to hear these privileged secrets of salvation from the Father through the Son?
We Were Created to Bear Fruit
One last point of awe: Jesus appointed us to bear fruit, to be fruitful in virtue and to do good works in His name. He gives us the purpose and dignity of working in the vineyard and having a part in the salvation of the world! We don’t choose what we do to glorify the Lord; He gives us the work: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain” (John 15:16). The work must be done through and with Him for it to be fruitful: “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” (John 15:5). The fruits are the virtuous behaviors and good works that God has planned for us at our conception: “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10). God created us to be His beloved disciples, to be His friends, and to have fulfillment by doing good works to glorify Him. What an awesome privilege.
Jesus, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by what you have called me to. Please help me remember that You love me and wouldn’t give me anything more than I can handle. I trust that You have already planned the fruit you would like me to bear, and that it is a work designed especially for me and that You will give me the strength I need to carry out my mission. “God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid” (Isaiah 12:2).