Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, March 23, 2014 Read John 15:1-17 Whether or not we take John’s apparent ending of the meal scene seriously will determine how we understand the material in John 15-17. I am working from the premise that John really was bringing to scene to an end at the conclusion of chapter 14 because the earlier version of the gospel of John ended it there. When we read the material in chapters 15-17 there is nothing in them that would necessitate that they took place during the meal that John has been describing in chapters 13 and 14. We will take each section at a time and attempt to think about how we might understand them in the scope of John’s whole gospel. I need to repeat again that thinking of these chapters in this way does not mean we can dismiss them or that they are any less important or less authoritative. They contain a message that is precious to us as the church and we want to take them very seriously. The point is that attempting to really listen to the story as John has told it, does lead us to think deeper about these words and to attempt to understand them even more fully. Thinking of these words as not really belonging to the meal scene also supports the idea that all of the gospel writers inherited a good deal of material that was not in any particular order – they are the ones who put the material in the order we find it. I have mentioned earlier that one possibility is that words like we find in chapters 15-17 are really part of the eye-witness testimony of the eye-witness who John claims stands behind this gospel. These chapters are, perhaps, a good example of the challenge John faced in fitting some of this eye-witness testimony into the narrative he was creating. You might say that these words were “extra” words that supplement and augment the rest of the narrative. John did not want to omit them so he attached them here. A good question then is why would John do that? We will also attempt to address that question as we proceed. As we begin to examine our reading for today, it is clear that these words need not have been part of the discourse in the meal scene. Actually, these are words that might fit in many contexts. They sound a lot like the words in chapter 10 where Jesus spoke of himself as the good shepherd. Though John does not speak of Jesus using parables, this passage is once again close to a parable. It is another of the “I am” passages we have been encountering – these passage are sprinkled throughout the gospel and all come together to proclaim a message about Jesus. All of these images fill out a picture of Jesus – he is the living water, he is the light of the world, he is the door, he is the gate, he is the good shepherd, he is the resurrection and the life, he is the way, the truth, and the life; and now we can add to the portrait that Jesus is the true vine. All of these images have to do with giving and sustaining life. Jesus is the source of life! The one element that is highlighted in this image that is not so evident in the others is the idea of remaining in Jesus. This picks up the image of the Word becoming flesh and “remaining” among us in the person of Jesus (John 1:14). The image of Jesus as the true vine emphasizes that necessity of remaining connected with Jesus. While the words themselves may not have been spoken during the meal, one can see why the image of remaining would be important in this context. During the meal Jesus had expressed his deep concern for this followers, especially in the time when Jesus would be “absent” from them in a physical way. This image reinforces that importance of remaining in Jesus – of remaining in contact with Jesus. This may be why John chose to place these words at this point – adding them to the story of Jesus at the meal to reinforce the meaning of that event. The message of this passage is critically important to the church of John’s time and to us as the church today. It is only as we remain connected with Jesus that we can have life. The message of this text is clear and easy to comprehend. John also addresses once again the necessity of love being at the center of God’s people. In his gospel and in the letters of John, Jesus lifts up only one commandment – that we love one another. Jesus is the source of that love – it comes to his followers because he lays down his life for them. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life – and Jesus is about to do that. While Jesus does not command his followers to lay down their lives for one another – only Jesus can do that – he does call his followers to love as he has loved. John also reminds his readers that it is Jesus who has chosen those who are his followers. We did not choose him but he has chosen us. Remembering that is also critically important for the church. It is humbling to know that Jesus has chosen us. It is also empowering. We are reminded that we are not the source of the church’s mission or its power – Jesus is. That mission does not depend on us so much as it depends on him. We are blessed to participate in the mission of Christ, but we are not the initiator of that mission. We love because we have been loved by Jesus.