Or, Jesus' Work of Joyification
Scripture: John 15:9-11
Date: October 27, 2013
Speaker: Sean Higgins
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Not many analogies are as thick as that of branches fixed to (or detached from) the vine. Not many imperatives are as sturdy or potent as Jesus saying, “Abide in me,” especially as He follows it by adding the reason, “for apart from me you can do nothing.” The purpose for the image peaks out from the leaves: to bear more fruit, much fruit, much fruit (again), which all goes to praise the Father and prove genuine disciples.
Even though the image of the vine and branches and fruit recedes between verses 9-15, the ramifications of abiding do not. Our word ramify comes from the Latin word ramus meaning “branch.” A ramification is a branch or offshoot that grows out from the trunk. There are ramifications of abiding in Jesus that are just hard to believe.
Remember that in this illustration everyone is a branch. The question isn’t about branch-ness, it’s whether or not a branch abides. As I said, the branch metaphor doesn’t lean over the fence into verse 9, but the abiding concept does. We’re going to see two additional thoughts about abiding, take a break and summarize what it means to abide, and then finish with a final point about why Jesus talks about all this.
If the abiding has been anything then it has been personal. Jesus called Himself the vine and He called His disciples to “Abide in me” (verse 4). He uses the phrase “abide in me” again at the end of verse 4, again in verse 5, verse 6, and also in verse 7. The dependence isn’t mechanical, like a bike chain around gears, it’s relational. Verse 9 shows that it is a relationship of love.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:9, ESV)
Jesus compares our relationship with Him to His relationship with the Father. The archetype of love exists, and always has been, in the Triune God. The bond between Persons flows in the Spirit of love. In order for us to be encouraged, in order for us to know what is good for us, we first need this teaching about God’s loving relationships. The analogy of life from the vine to the branches depends on the analogy of love from the Father to the Son.
The Father, in one sense, can’t help but love His Son. The Father delights in His Son. So also, Jesus “loved” His own. They are His sheep, but they are also His friends (verse 14). He loved , past tense, by coming from heaven for them, by being with them, by washing their feet, and by dying for them the next day. He loved His own to the end (13:1).
Unlike the Father’s love for the Son, we do not deserve divine love. But the focus and ardor sets the standard.
Jesus says, Abide in my love . I’ll come back to this in a bit, but if abiding in Him means a constant, conscious dependence on His strength for us, then abiding in His love means a constant, conscious remembrance of His affection for us.
In chapter 14 Jesus told His men that their love for Him would result in obedience (verses 15 and 23). Now He also says that their obedience to Him will result in love to them.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:10, ESV)
To say that God’s love is unconditional does not mean that it is always and only unconditional. Jesus explains that in one sense, even the Father’s love for Him depends on His obedience. Disobedience always breaks fellowship, it ruins the enjoyment of love even if it does not remove love. Jesus never sinned so He always abides in the Father’s love.
We are to obey like Jesus: completely. When we disobey we break fellowship. We get out of the lane and disconnect ourselves from the flow of love. If we obey like Jesus then we will abide in the Father’s love like Jesus.
We’ve walked far enough into the field of chapter 15 to summarize what it means to abide in the vine. Looking back over these ten verses we see four facets of fruitful abiding. Do you want His life in You for much fruit? These four habits guarantee fruit. However, like a good weight loss plan typically involves eating less and exercising more, we may be disappointed with how non-dazzling these things are.
We cannot abide in Him and pay little, let alone no, attention to His words. Jesus spoke words from His Father (14:10). He repeated the disciples need to keep His commandments (14:15), have and keep His commandments (14:21), and keep His word (14:23). Those who don’t love Him—who have no desire to abide in Him—do not keep His words (14:24).
Jesus even promised the Helper—the Spirit of truth—who would help them remember “these things that I have spoken to you” and who would teach them what the words meant (14:15, 26). Their initial cleansing came by the washing of Jesus’ word (15:3). Their ongoing life and growth would be by the word as well (think 1 Peter 1:23-2:3).
Verse 7 states the truth as clearly as anything. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you.” We depend on Him on whose words we dwell.
This is more simple and more significant than reading the Bible. Our copies of God’s Word are a great blessing for sake of abiding, but with the technology we have also been devoured by millions of other voices. We are not abiding because we finish a plan or maintain a daily 30 minutes of o’dark thirty quiet time. We must meditate day and night for green and fruit (Psalm 1:2-3).
We cannot abide in Him and offer few, let alone no, prayers. Prayer is not difficult because we are busy. Prayer is difficult because we are proud. Busy people can be dependent or independent. Prayerful people, especially ones who are thankful (we got something from someone else) and asking (needing what we can’t get or do for ourselves) are looking elsewhere, to God, in reliance.
What are you asking Jesus to do? If you’re not asking at all, in what way would you say that you’re demonstrating dependence? “Oh, I think He’s so capable that I could never ask Him to do anything.” If you’re asking small, wouldn’t that indicate that your dependence is small?
If the Father is really glorified by our fruitfulness and if fruitfulness comes by prayerfulness, then we can be confident that God will make us great prayers. He will get us to see that we have not because we ask not so we better get asking. That is part of abiding (verse 7, also 14:13-14).
There’s no way for a new believer to really know the extent of what he’s getting himself into. It’s ironic for us John 3:16 spigots, but we will never know how much God loves us. You will grow to learn more and more, but you will never know how long He’s loved you because His love is eternal; He’s loved you more days than you’ve existed. You will never know how sacrificial His love is because eyes will never see the ugliness of your sin as He does in perfect holiness.
How could it be so difficult for us to miss something so big as His love? How could we constantly forget the focus of our salvation, Christ’s loving sacrifice for His sheep (10:11)? This is difficult to believe because we’re in a spiritual war. In the garden the serpent lied to Eve: “God is keeping something good from you.” Now he lies about the gospel: “God could not possibly love you that good.” The devil can not stand to have us all emboldened by our certain security in God’s love. That would make us more than conquerors (Romans 8:35-39).
I know it was originally written to Israel, but I think we can take application from Zephaniah’s prophecy.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)
When Jesus said, “Abide in my love,” I think He means for us to constantly, consciously remember that we are where we are and have what we have because God loves us. This is how we can be responsible to be objects of love; we trust that He loves. We will not abide in the Vine if we believe that the Vine is not for us. We are dependent on Him like a kid at Thanksgiving dinner, not like a prisoner waits for his bread. We must believe for sake of abiding.
Whether it’s because we don’t agree with His instructions, or because we can’t see the purpose of His instructions, or because His instructions seem hard, we are not depending on Him if we don’t desire and decide and do the things He’s commanded.
His word is not only our constant source for good thoughts, it is our constant standard for right choices. We cannot choose not to respond. Sitting out a day of decisions is a decision. How will we know the way to go? We will be abiding if we remain in His commandments (15:10). Here we are disciples observing all that He’s commanded (Matthew 28:20), living out the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). Otherwise it’s as if we look intently at a mirror and then forget we look like (James 1:22-25).
This all sounds strangely familiar as if the Word and prayer and faith and obedience are vital. Meditate in your mind, ask with your mouth, believe in your heart, act with your body. We could call these spiritual disciplines, but they are abiding dependencies. We will not bear fruit apart from them because without them we will not be abiding in Him.
There is another end beyond fruitfulness, or at least one that goes along with it. There is another end beyond proving to be disciples. There is an additional end to the Father being glorified by our abiding.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11, ESV)
Jesus reveals His hand, puts His purpose on the table. He does it knowing about His betrayal and denials and death and departure. He knows what is coming for the disciples after He’s gone and it is all for their FRUITFULNESS AND FULLNESS OF JOY!
He wanted the disciples to have His peace (14:27). He wants them to abide in His love (15:10). He wants them to have His joy. (Love, joy, peace…could there be a connection between giving us these and giving us His Spirit? Galatians 5:22). His joy is indomitable and interminable, impossible to subdue and incapable of end. According to Jesus in John 15:11, God isn’t a cosmic killjoy, He’s a Christian filljoy.
He isn’t worried that if He gives us His joy that He’ll have less. He isn’t worried that if we have His joy that we’ll forget how bad things are and stick our heads in the joy sand. He purposes for us to have His and that your joy may be full . The passive voice points to Jesus as the one doing the joy-filling.
We have gotten comfortable with the term glorification (though maybe we shouldn’t be). By it we mean that God will finish our salvation and glorify our bodies. What does it mean that He will glorify us? It means that He purposes to make us completely like Christ, with a share of divine glory. Athanasius referred to this as deification, which sounds wrong. It would be wrong except that Peter said that through the precious and very great promises we are becoming partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). God is making us more and more like God.
So Jesus works for our joyification, or gaudification if you prefer a Latin root. He is doing it. That’s why the abiding thing matters. Abiding will be joyful. Fruit bearing is joyful. Attending His Word, asking Him to work, obeying His commands in love are for joy. In your wildest imagination could you imagine being full of Jesus’ joy?
It all would be too branch-ish, in other words selfish, to want fruit, to want to be loved to want happiness like this if the Vine wasn’t the one who wanted that fruit and joy for us. It’s why the Vine took on flesh and took up a towel and took up our sins on the cross. For the joy set before Him He endured, and the joy He pushes into all His people. He wants it for us more than we will ever want it for ourselves because He loves us more than we will every finally comprehend.
It is not burdensome to eat the bread of life. It is not Pruning is not burdensome. The Word and prayer are not burdensome. Obedience is not burdensome. It is joy. Much fruit and full joy.