John 15:16-17 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and set you aside in order that you might go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
These verses repeat the key themes of this chapter and add the additional idea that Jesus chose (exelexamēn) the disciples selected and called them away. He had a special purpose for and set them aside (ethēka). They may have felt special because they were the inner circle of the Messiah, the Son of God, however they understood this to mean. They were privileged to see and experience things no other person in history had seen. This could easily have gone to their heads with pride, which often accompanies privilege. Jesus flipped this around by reminding them that he was the one who chose them, not them choosing him. But this election was not to privilege but to responsibility.
This appointment was Jesus’ will for them. This purpose is stated in a series of purpose clauses (hina followed by a subjunctive verb). The first purpose is simply to go away (hypagēte), which would require faith. They were called to leave their comfort zones and go to new people and new places. They were already far from home, but some would go even further. According to church tradition, most of the disciples went far away to far away places, including India, northern Africa, eastern Europe, Asia-Minor, and Rome. It is impossible to determine the reliability of these traditions, but the evidence suggests that they did indeed go in obedience to Jesus’ command.
Second, they were to bear fruit. Jesus repeats the metaphor from the earlier verses. The primary fruit they would produce would be love, which Jesus repeats in verse 17. The fruit the disciples should bear will come as they carry out the mission Jesus gave them to do. They would be able to carry out this mission when they loved one another. Without this love, everything they did would fall short or fail.
Third, the emphasis in verse 16 about this fruit is that it remain (menē) or abide, and go on to bear more fruit. The purpose of fruit is to produce more fruit through the seeds within it. The disciples’ fruit would be the catalyst for a forest of fruit trees as the good news of Jesus would be spread through them. How they loved one another would be the greatest witness to the world. Their love could extend through one another to communities, unbelievers, and those in need. How Jesus lived among his disciples with love is how they should live among one another and extend this love to the world because it is the same love God has shown the world through the Son.
The fourth purpose Jesus had for his disciples would come as they prayed to the Father. Because the disciples would be living in the obedience of love, they would also be living the Father’s will. Asking for something in Jesus’ name requires more than a simple formula at the end of a prayer. The grammatical with a purpose clause (hina with the subjunctive ask) shows that one of the outcomes and purposes Jesus has for his disciples is to have their prayers answered because the disciples are in a profound and committed relationship of faith in him. The formula may be a helpful reminder to keep our focus in the right direction, but if a person lacks the fruit of faith and obedient love, the prayer is not in Jesus’ name but in that person’s own name and purposes. To pray in Jesus’ name means to model him in all ways, especially in love.
Jesus makes that point clear in the next statement in verse 17 with the sweeping summary call for his disciples to love one another. The essence of discipleship is love that is an extension of the Father’s love for the Son and the Son’s love for disciples. It is the same love, although the extent of human love is only a reflection of divine love. The Holy Spirit is the one who extends divine love within the Trinity to disciples. The crucial point is to abide and find our existence in Jesus through faith and obedience to his commands. The relationship of abiding and loving is reciprocal: the more we trust and believe, the more love we will experience and have to share. Our purpose may not be exactly like the disciples gathered at the last meal, but what we should do should model the love they had for one another.
For older posts, click here.
