The disciples’ heads must have been spinning. What was He saying? Where is He going? What will happen to us? A this point Jesus says, “let’s leave”.
Did they leave the upper room where they had the dinner and just start walking together and following Jesus? It seems unlikely they are just all walking somewhere when Jesus starts teaching again. It would be hard for all eleven to hear Him if they were casually walking together. It seems they must have settled somewhere on their walk as Jesus starts speaking again.
If you were John or one of the others, what would you be thinking? That scene makes me thing of times when we are very confused but just keep following Jesus. Jesus begins saying His final good-byes and teachings. The disciples are trying to take it all in but still struggle with confusion. In verses 15:1-2 Jesus gives another of His “I AM” teachings. His Father is the Gardener, Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. Verse 4 makes His point clear.
15:4 Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
The fruit He is talking about is Kingdom fruit. We can do a lot of things in this world, but unless we are connected to Jesus and do His will, what we do will be fruitless in His Kingdom.
I remember a story I read about how we spend our day. We are all given 24 Gold Coins (hours/day). We have many opportunities to spend our time, but like money, once it is spent, we never get it back. Verses 6-8 make this teaching clear.
15:6 If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.
Do you think the disciples understood? We have the Bible to study and understand. They were hearing it for the first time. That must have been mind stretching for them. Jesus wraps it together with a commandment in verse 12.
15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Love is the center of Christianity. Without love 1 Corinthians 13:1 says we are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Do we love each other as Jesus loves us? That is a towering goal, but it is the goal for a follower of Jesus. The eleven must have pondered that statement. Did they love each other like that? Do we?
In verse 15:18-25 Jesus explains how the world around them will react to them. In verse 20 Jesus clearly says, “If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.” To be like Jesus and teach His truth makes the world around us very uncomfortable.
Chapter breaks have always been a catch 22 for me. They help us locate certain verses and yet many times they break up the thought of the writer. Chapter 16 is a continuation of the same talk. Jesus continues to give them a glimpse of what is coming in 16:1-2.
16:1 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.
Again, put yourself in John’s shoes. Jesus said, “anyone who kills you”. That is scary. As John is writing this 60 years later, he knows that most of the eleven were martyred. What do you imagine this memory brought back to him? They were truly committed followers. Are we?
Jesus lets them know the Holy Spirit will be with them. In fact, His statement in verse 7 I find interesting. When Jesus was here, He could only be physically in one place because of His humanity. When the Holy Spirit comes, because He is spirit, He can be with all believers at the same time.
16:7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
I can imagine the disciples thinking that they don’t want an Advocate. They just wanted Jesus to stay. Then in verse 16 Jesus really confuses them.
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
Now they are really confused. What is He talking about? They clearly don’t understand. All this conversation is not what they thought the last three years were headed for.
Jesus says they will grieve, but it will turn to joy. He uses the analogy of the pains of childbirth verses the joy of seeing the baby for the first time. Jesus ends this section of teaching by saying I have told you these things that you might have peace.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Imagine being there and looking around the circle at the others. What is going through your mind? That peace Jesus talked about is here for us today if we believe in Him.
In Chapter 17 Jesus prays for Himself, His disciples, and us. Can you imagine sitting there and listening to that prayer like the disciples did? Take a minute to read it and imagine sitting there. Imagine John reflecting on that day as he writes 60 years later.
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