Jesus: The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

This Sunday, April 5, 2020, is Palm Sunday. It is the day we remember the Triumphal Entry, the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people celebrated His coming with shouts of: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)

At the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus knew that His time was fulfilled. He knew that He was going to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world. And yet He went willingly. He was not forced or coerced.

The human conflict that brought about His death on the cross had grown over the 3 years of His public ministry. The spiritual conflict that brought about His death on the cross had been going on from the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.

We tend to think in terms of human events. The Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem was an event in the history of the nation of Israel. It was an event in the life of Christ. And it was also an event in the eternal plan of God that had been foretold by the prophets and as such it was necessary that it take place. 

That day in Jerusalem the children were crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This offended the chief priests and the scribes. According to Matthew 21:16, they said to Jesus, “Do you hear what these are saying?”

Jesus made it clear that this too had been foretold by God. Quoting Psalm 8:2, He said, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise.”

God foreknew and foretold the battle that was going on for the hearts and souls of men and women. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. And, as insulting or demeaning as it may be, God likens us to sheep. As much as we like to think of ourselves as mighty warriors and invulnerable, the Bible tells us things like, “All we like sheep have gone astray...” (Isaiah 53)

The good news is that God also says in Psalm 100, “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

In the conflict of the ages, the battle for the souls of men and women, we have a shepherd. Psalm 23 speaks of this shepherd and says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” 

Jesus has many roles. On Palm Sunday, He entered Jerusalem as a king and was greeted as “the Son of David,” which was a designation pointing to His right to the throne. At the same time, He entered as King, He also entered as the shepherd of His people, and the Lamb of God as well. All of these designations point out different roles He fills as Savior and God and King. These are not divisions of His person, they are offices and roles that He takes on to work our salvation, to lead us, and to protect us in the battle.

My purpose today is to look at how Jesus, as our shepherd, protects and guides us in the battle. 

The events of the Passion week are the point in time and space where our salvation was won. The war still rages, but the outcome has already been decided. Our salvation is secure. Jesus will, at some point in time, return, and at some point, there will be no more battles. However, God is still working. We are told that at the current time God is working so that “the fullness of the Gentiles” will come in (Romans 11:25). 

During this time, God is at work and His purposes are being fulfilled. The events of Palm Sunday and the Passion week were no accident. Neither are the events of today. God was, is and always will be in control.

In His conflict with the Jewish leaders, Jesus spoke saying:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1 ESV)

This statement was made some time before Palm Sunday. Jesus said this to the same people who objected to the praise He received. In this statement, Jesus is addressing the escalating conflict between Himself and the Jews. The Jews believed that since they possessed and also taught the Law of Moses, they were the teachers and shepherds of Israel and of the people of God. Jesus had told them earlier:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

(John 5:39, 46-47 ESV)

According to Jesus then, although the Jews possessed and also taught the Law of Moses, they did not believe it. So, now in John 10, He is making the point that there are those who try to enter the sheepfold by a way other than the door.

In John 10:7, Jesus clearly states that He is the door. Both the door and the sheepfold represent protection. 

The sheep in the sheepfold are safe. The thief and robber tries to get in by some other way.

This is the history of the Church. Many of Paul’s letters were written to combat those who tried to worm their way into the Church and draw a following after themselves. We have the same thing happening today. Even at this very hour.

I will take some time on this, although I would rather not. But we have in our present day a situation where some are working to draw a following after themselves. There are those who are capitalizing on the Covid19 outbreak and the fears that accompany it to say that this is the time of the Lord’s return, and they are upsetting the faith of many. Let me give a brief answer to such things. I trust that this answer points us to the door of the sheepfold.

 In Matthew 24:6, Jesus says, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” Please note that this verse says that these things are not the end, and that Jesus encourages us not to be alarmed. Now consider Luke chapter 21 verse 11. In this verse, Jesus talked about earthquakes, famines, pestilence and persecution as normal events on earth. Other passages of Scripture speak of evil growing from bad to worse. These things are not signs of the end. However, in Luke 21:29 Jesus says, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.” In the same way trees tell us the season by leaves and fruit, there is something that will do the same for us. The trees are the nations. Consider the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord, and many have to do with the nations. In Luke 21:29, the fig tree, in particular, represents the nation of Israel. There are a lot of things listed in Luke 21 that represent the persecution of the Church and the progress of evil on the earth, but these things are not the end. Luke 21 verses 9 through 18, in particular, are not talking about signs of the end. Rather, these verses are talking about the evil we are to expect. Then in Luke 21 verses 20 through 24, Jesus talks about Jerusalem. This is a sign that tells us the season. Verse 24 tells us that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This is also consistent with what Romans 11:25 tells us about the fullness of the Gentiles coming in. The signs and shaking of the heavens in Luke 21:25-28 will frighten the whole earth and cause panic. But we are told to watch the fig tree. In our day, the fig tree has come out in leaf, i.e. Israel has become a prosperous nation once again. This is also pictured in Ezekiel 37 as the valley of dry bones with flesh and yet no breath. Israel has not accepted their Messiah yet. Israel accepting their Messiah is represented in Ezekiel by the breath entering the bodies resurrected from the valley of dry bones.  We are told in Romans 11 and in other places that this will happen. However, the signs of the times are not pestilence, wars, and earthquakes or the stars. The signs of the times are Israel and the nations. Gog and its multinational alliance that is preparing to invade Israel and take spoils just like it speaks of in Ezekiel 38, these are the signs we can clearly see today. This is why 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 says, “We ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Sensationalism abounds and many seek to profit from the fears and uncertainties we all have. But like 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, “Let no one deceive you in any way.” Two verses I would encourage you with:

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.”

1 Thessalonians 5:4 ESV

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV

The preaching that the Coronavirus is the beginning of the end is another way of getting into the sheepfold by a way other than the door. Certainly, Christ’s coming is near. We see indications of His soon return in the fact that the long dead and forgotten Israel is a nation and has been for over 70 years now. But God has told us clearly that we are not destined for wrath, so we have no reason to fear. Evil times will continue to grow worse. Many Christians have died and continue to die for their faith. Pestilence, war, earthquakes and famine will continue to the end. These are nothing new and they should not upset our faith.

Turning to Jesus for salvation is always urgent for every person for the simple reason that not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. End times or not, no one knows when his or her life will end and he or she will have to stand before God.

Let’s return to the words of Jesus in John 10:5. He says:

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:5 ESV)

We all should consider this. Ponder what this might mean. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV)

We all must consider who or what we are following. Who are we listening to? 

Jesus said:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:11-15 ESV)

There is one Shepherd. The elders of the Church are called to be under-shepherds, and they are only good as far as they imitate Jesus. And they only do this by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV) We should all seek to be imitators of Christ.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, He entered to lay down His life for us, His sheep. No church, no prophet, no teacher and no shepherd can save you except Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. Follow Him. Listen to His voice. In Psalm 23, the Psalmist wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We see and understand more of what this means when we see Jesus laying down His life for His sheep. We know that since He was willing to lay down His life for us that we need fear no evil - not the Coronavirus, not the tribulation, no not even the end of the world.

If you have not done it already, come to Jesus, “the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul.” (1 Peter 2:25)

Jesus: The Bread of Life

John 6:25-58

Jesus worked lots of miracles. John records just a few of them. In John chapter 4, John tells how Jesus healed a royal official’s son from a distance. And then in John chapter 5, John tells how Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. This last one, the man who had been an invalid for 38 years, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Because they considered healing on the Sabbath to be breaking the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Jesus. Jesus answered:

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17 NIV)

The Jews, understanding that Jesus was saying He was equal with God, became zealous to kill Jesus.

All this attention because of His work and His teaching caused huge crowds to follow Jesus.

In our day, Jesus gets even more attention. His name is known around the whole world. Places do exist where the name of Jesus has not been heard, but they are few. In the English-speaking world, His name is used as a swear word. All over the world, information about Jesus has been twisted, lied about and changed. For example, Muhammad changed many of the facts about Jesus’ life in the Quran so that the person represented in that book and in the minds of his followers is not the Jesus of history. While the Jews of Jesus’ day persecuted Jesus by trying to kill Him, His persecutors today try to kill Jesus by teaching lies, discounting His claims and/or denying His existence and deity. Because of the huge crowds Jesus draws and the attention He attracts, many are offended by Jesus.

The fame of Jesus’ name makes it inevitable that large numbers of people gather to see what it is that Jesus has to say. 

John 6:2 says:

...and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. (John 6:2 NIV)

People were drawn to Jesus because they saw the signs he performed. Today, it is no different. Jesus is doing great things in our world and it draws attention. For this reason, it is important for us to consider what Jesus had to say to the crowd that was attracted by His miracles.

John 6 tells the story of how a very large crowd was fed by Jesus with just 2 fish and 5 loaves. They had 12 baskets of leftovers from what had started out as a boy’s lunch.

After the meal, Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray, and the disciples got in a boat to cross the lake. The crowd saw that Jesus did not get in the boat with His disciples, but during the night Jesus walked on the water out to the boat where His disciples were fighting a storm.

The next day the crowd searched for Jesus and finally found Him with His disciples on the other side of the lake. They started asking Jesus, “How did you get here?” John tells us:

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27 NIV)

In these words, Jesus points out a problem in the reason that many people have for seeking Jesus. This problem was present in the people of His day and it is present in us today. 

Jesus says, “...you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

With these words, Jesus shows that He knows and understands the human heart. These people were seeking Jesus not because they saw and understood that He was God, but they were seeking Him for what they could get for themselves. James talks about this same attitude existing in the Church when he says:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3 NIV)

Jesus was trying to warn the Jews of His day, and us as well, of this human tendency. 

Jesus pointed out the problem in their hearts and urged them to work for the food that endures to eternal life. He was addressing people who had sought Him out. These were the ones who came to hear what He had to say. And yet they were seeking Him with wrong motives.

They took the bread that Jesus had given them to be a sign that Jesus was going to be like Moses, and establish the nation. They were looking for a Messiah who would restore the fortunes of Israel; they wanted a Savior to make Israel great.

The Messiah will rule on the throne of David, and Jerusalem will be the capital city of the world, but not yet. What they did not and still do not understand is that the prophecies concerning the suffering servant and that the Messiah would give His life as a ransom for many had to be fulfilled first. Because they did not and still do not understand or believe all that the prophets said about Jesus, they were looking and are still looking for the Messiah they want.

They wanted a Messiah who would provide them with a nation, with prosperity and with the things of this world. This is still what the Jews of today are looking for, and it is the kind of Messiah that many invent for their own convenience in our world today.

But Jesus will not be put in our boxes. He has not come to fulfill our dreams. John 6:15 tells us that those in the crowd that had eaten His bread planned on making Him king by force. They wanted a Jesus they could control.

Jesus was trying to change their focus and wake them up when He said:

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27 NIV)

Jesus is pointing to the kingdom of God. He taught much on this, telling us to store up treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and telling us to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. When the crowd heard Jesus telling them not to work for food that spoils, they asked:

“What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28 NIV)

Jesus responded:

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29 NIV)

This is a simple statement and yet the crowd challenged it. They understood that Jesus was talking about Himself so they said:

“What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30-31 NIV)

With this statement, they show that their hearts are fixed on this world. They were drawn to Jesus because of the miracles He had performed. The day before they had seen Him feed a large crowd with a boy’s lunch. They had been planning on making Him king, and now they were saying, “What sign will you give?”

In response to this, Jesus gives a lecture. As lectures go, it is short. You will notice that from John 6:35 through John 6:58 they do not ask Jesus any more questions. They grumble about Him and argue among themselves, but they do not address Jesus directly.

In this lecture, Jesus teaches that He is the bread of life. He is the true bread given by God for the life of the world. Jesus teaches several facts about this bread.

The first fact that He teaches is found in John 6:35:

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35 NIV)

The fact is that Jesus is the true bread of life.

Jesus is not talking about physical bread or drink as we can see by the verbs He uses. He says, “Whoever comes” and “whoever believes.” In these words, we learn how we are to “eat” this bread. We are to come and we are to believe.

Jesus points out something about this fact. He points out that even though the crowd had seen Him, they did not believe.

In verses 38 and 39, Jesus makes it clear that He will never turn anyone away who comes to Him. He also makes it clear that it is the Father’s will that none of those who come will be lost. However, even though the crowd had followed Him because of His miracles, even though they had heard His teaching, they still did not believe.

The truth of the matter is that, left to themselves, no one will ever believe. Jesus has demonstrated that even living in the very presence of the Son of God was not enough for people to believe. He also says in verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me,” and then in verse 44, He says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

In the Bible, in the book of Lamentations, it says:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (Lamentations 3:22 NIV)

God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17) This is why Jesus also taught.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 NIV)

Jesus is the bread of life, and it is only by lifting Him up, showing Him to people, that people are saved. No other miracle, presentation or argument has the power to save. As the hymn writer said:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

Many have come claiming to teach in God’s name and claiming to have been sent by God, but anyone who does not lift up Jesus and teaches others to discount or change the truth that is revealed about Jesus in the Bible, the only historically verifiable record we have, is not from God.

In John chapter 6, especially in verse 45, Jesus teaches that a person knows Jesus by listening to God and being taught by Him. And then in verse 46, He teaches that the only way to know the Father is through Jesus. 

Jesus is the bread of life because He is our only connection to God. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is our high priest. He is the only mediator between God and man. Without Him, there is no life.

Physically without food we die, and spiritually there is no life apart from Jesus. Jesus states this a number of times in John chapter 6. To look at this fact, I want to focus on John 6:53.

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53 NIV)

Because of this statement, many of the people who had been drawn to Jesus stopped following Him. They questioned how Jesus could give His flesh for people to eat. And they said they could not accept it (John 6:60).

In answering their objections, Jesus made this statement:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63 ESV)

They were viewing eating and drinking as a physical act. Jesus had shown earlier that He was not speaking of physical bread when He had said that what is required is that one comes and believes. 

People still make the mistake of thinking that we must physically eat and drink. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to teach us our absolute dependence on Him for spiritual life. He said, “This bread is my body broken for you,” and “This cup is my blood shed for you.” Some teach that if one does not eat and drink the communion, they cannot be saved. They attach saving value to receiving or taking communion. However, look again at John 6:63.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63 ESV)

We eat of the bread of life by believing in Jesus. We drink His blood by faith. Physically there is nothing we can do for our salvation. Our spiritual life comes only by coming to Jesus and believing in Him. Jesus described Himself as the bread of life to help us to understand that there is no spiritual life, there is no connection to the Father, there is no knowledge of God apart from Jesus.

I want to close by reminding us of the words of Jesus:

"This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29 ESV)

The Vine

John 15:1-17

We are in troubled times! This Coronavirus shut down is unprecedented. There has never been anything like it in history. For one, we have never been able to communicate like we are now. We communicate instantly via the internet. 

In John chapter 15, Jesus was talking to His disciples at a time of trouble. In John chapter 14, He was calming them down. Having told them in John chapter 13 that He was going away, in John chapter 14 He was telling them, “Let not your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in me.” So, Jesus, in John chapter 14 is saying, “Trust me.” Chapter 15 is a continuation of what He was telling them in 14, but His teaching shifts to from what was about to happen to what their continuing relationship to Him would be. This teaching was given to comfort and strengthen His disciples in troubled times.

Where are we to go to for help? Where are we to go to for encouragement?

 Jesus points us to Himself.

He says, “I am the TRUE vine.” 

There are many different vines out there - many different things that promise to give us life, and we go flocking to them. 

The events of the last couple of months have overturned many of these “vines” that we have looked to for help, comfort and strength.  We have been shown that we don’t have control. 

We thought that we had control of our destiny and medicine would help us. But medicine does not have the answers.

We thought that we had control of our economics. And now we are in an economic free-fall as businesses are shutting down to combat the spread of the coronavirus. We are going into a recession. It’s not permanent, but many are overcome by fear as they see the loss of control. The future is uncertain.

Medicine and economics are examples of “vines” that we hold onto for our lives and for our hope. I am speaking of us as a nation, as a people and as a world, but this should not be true of us as believers.

In this current crisis, we are looking to our governments to rescue and protect us. As believers, we know that a time is coming, and it is going to be soon, when people will look to the government for solutions and a man will rise up who seems to be able to provide what the world is looking for. He will set himself up as ruler; there will be a one-world government established. This person is the one we call the Antichrist. The world is ready for this one to appear. They are hungry for the true vine.

What they do not know is that Jesus is the true vine. He is the true source of life. In times of trouble, we need to remain attached to the vine if we are to have life.

Putting all other hopes aside, we must realize this first: Jesus is our true hope.  

From this thought, Jesus leads into how His Father is involved in this. He says, “My Father is the gardener (or the husbandman or the vinedresser).” He says of His Father, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

It is important that we understand that Jesus is not talking about salvation here. He is talking about fruitfulness. By saying “Every branch,” He establishes that those He is talking about are branches. They are attached to the vine and thus members of His body, but every branch that does not bear fruit He cuts off.

This cutting off is not immediate. According to His will, He gives time for unfruitful branches to recover or to start bearing fruit, but eventually they will be cut off. 

In verse 3, He again points out that He is talking to those who have believed when He says, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” The word He has spoken to us has made us clean. In other words, He is telling them they are already saved because they have trusted in Him and in His word. However, they must not stop there. He encourages them, “Remain in me, and I will 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.”

This is key. If we are not fruitful, we have the very real possibility of being cut off. This is not a threat, rather we should take it as an encouragement to pay attention to where we are remaining. Where we are abiding is the word that was used before. Where are we living? 

If we are living with our head in this world, and the things of this world, the economics or the pursuits of health, wealth and happiness, then we are not remaining in Jesus. 

He, in another place, says you cannot serve both God and money. You cannot serve two masters.

For these reasons, if our lives are not fruitful, we should take warning, “Hey, I’m not bearing fruit. What is the cause of that?” 

The cause is made clear right here; it is that we are not abiding in Jesus.

He goes on to say, starting in verse 5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.” The promise is, if we remain in Him we will bear much fruit. 

Jesus takes it a step further and makes it clear how important it is that we remain in Him when He says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” When we try to operate in the flesh and think that we have the answers for ourselves, it reveals our pride. Pride moves us to try to operate independent of Jesus. At least I have found this to be true in my life.

Jesus moves forward in His discourse when He says in verse 6, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” 

In this case, as before, He is not talking about salvation. He is talking about fruitfulness. Jesus teaches very clearly if we don’t remain in Him, we will wither, and if we continue in that condition too long, we are in danger of being cut off. In Corinthians, we have the example of those who dishonored God by taking the communion in an unworthy manner. There were some who were sick and others who died. They did not lose their salvation. They lost their earthly life. God took His rebellious children home. This is talking about fruitfulness. Even if we remain on in the body, we wither. We become a lifeless branch - still a branch but a fruitless, lifeless branch - no joy, no peace. 

For this reason, He says, in verse 7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” 

As He moves to the next point in His discourse, He teaches us how the world will know that we are His disciples. The world will know by the fruit we bear. We also will be strongly supported by the hand of God who will answer all our prayers. In this statement He also gives us a hint of a very important point He is about to make. 

He prefaced this statement with, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you.” This is a key point that we must understand. How do we remain in Jesus? How do we live in Jesus? How do we abide in Jesus? Another question is “How do we know Jesus?” 

The answer is told to us in verses 9 through 14. He says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Okay, so we are to remain in His love. He is still talking about abiding.  So, He continues in verse 10, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.” This is the key to remaining in Jesus - obedience. It is believing His word, taking it seriously and letting it change how we live. 

James talks about looking into the perfect law that acts as a mirror and letting it affect who we are. If we go away from reading the Bible and say, “Oh, that was nice. It was nice to read that,” but don’t let it soak in and change our lives, then it has no meaning as far as we are concerned and we become that fruitless branch. But if we let it soak in, let it change us and do what it says, then we will be fruitful.

Jesus sums up our obedience with a very simple command. In verse 12, He says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

This is a very simple command, but it is a very difficult command. It is very, very demanding, because, what does He say? “As I have loved you.” How has He loved us? We find how He has loved us when He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus laid down His life for you and me. Jesus gave Himself up for us. And that is what He is asking us to do for each other.

Philippians 2 talks about this when it says, “If there is any comfort in Christ, be of the same mind as Christ.” “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the very form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a servant.” “Let this mind be in you.” It even says to consider others as more important than ourselves.

This is a good reminder in the days of the coronavirus. We might be healthy, but have you read the news reports of nursing homes that have been infected with the virus? How it spreads like wildfire through that place? We need to consider the health of others as we consider what we do, not just ourselves. It is not just about toilet paper and eggs. It’s about “How can I help others to get through this?” And, in some cases, that might mean not going to visit them. But doing something creative. I saw a picture of a young man who was visiting his father who was in a nursing home. The young man was sitting outside the nursing home, outside the window in a lawn chair, and his father was sitting in an easy chair on the other side of the window, and they are talking on their phones. They are thinking creatively. How can I visit my father but not give him any chance of catching this virus?

This is considering others as more important than ourselves.

Next, Jesus gives us more reason to do what He says. He says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” 

Some people claim to be friends of Jesus, but don’t do what He says. Paul deals with that in Corinthians and says, “Don’t have anything to do with a person like that.” Why? Because they cause the name of Christ to be blasphemed among unbelievers.

I hear so much about how religion is the source of all wars. First of all, that is utterly ridiculous. Man is the source of all wars. We wage war because of our lusts that wage war within us because we want things but can’t get them so we fight and kill each other. When we claim the name of Jesus but operate under those lusts and those desires that drive us, then we are detached from the vine, we are not showing the love of Christ, and we are causing the name of Christ to be blasphemed. No wonder God takes such people out of the world. 

We are His friends if we do what He says. And the first thing He says is “This is my command that you love one another.”

Our first step of obedience should be to share the love of Christ with the world. The first thing that we need to realize is that love requires of us that we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know Him. Without Him, they are lost. They have no hope. They do not realize that their lives are in danger. They hold desperately onto this physical, worldly life because they do not realize that there is eternal life available in Jesus Christ. And so, the first thing that love requires of us is that we tell others the good news that there is life in Jesus Christ.

Next, he says something very interesting again. He goes to a place that is loved by those with a Calvinistic approach. He says in verse 16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last.”  This is so important for us to understand. He has chosen us. He has called us His friends and He has chosen us. Why did He choose us? He says right here why He chose us. He says right here, “I chose you to go bear fruit.” Not only did He choose us, but He also said He appointed us. This word “appointed” is the very word from which we get the word “ordained.”

Along with the command to love one another, Jesus left us with marching orders when He said in Matthew 28:18 and 20, “Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

This is our fruitfulness - disciples. 

Some of us have been ordained to public ministry and the teaching and preaching of the word. Others have the gift of service and have been ordained and appointed to serve and be the hands and feet of Christ to their neighbors, to the Church, and to others. Still others have the gift of giving and are able to make a profit so that they can provide for others. The ones with the gift of service will be taking meals and picking up medicines for those who really should not be getting out during this coronavirus time. Those with the gift of giving may be able to capitalize on this crisis to advance the kingdom of God financially. 

Whatever your gift is, that is what you have been appointed to. You can be sure that if you are abiding in Jesus and His word is abiding in you, that you will bear much fruit.

During these troubled times, we are being given a wonderful opportunity to be the branches, abide in the vine, and show the love of Christ to the world.