These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  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.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

- John 15:1-11

In our current readings, Jesus and the disciples are at the Passover supper, also known as the Last Supper.  He is speaking to the disciples, giving them His Farewell Discourse before going to His Passion.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said,  "If you love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever -- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.  A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.  These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.  You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.'  If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.  And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.  I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.  But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.  Arise, let us go from here."

 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  My study bible explains that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  But in contrast to the disobedient and unfaithful vine, Christ calls Himself the true vine.  Together with its branches this vine constitutes a new and fruitful people of God, which is the Church.   In the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, which He planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16).  If we abide in this vine, we abide in Christ and in His Church.   My study bible explains that the figure of the vine and branches shows first that our union with Christ is intimate and real.  Second, life flows from this vine to its branches:  abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit that we bear is both good works and mission (v. 16; 17:18). 

"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  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.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  Once again, Jesus returns to the central theme of His love.  My study bible explains that to love God is to obey God; one cannot love God and disobey God's commandments.  Christ offers us what He Himself has:  His love for and abiding in the Father and keeping His commandments.  So He asks of the relationship we have with Him as well; in this way we are one vine with many branches.

Let us think about Christ's joy, which He speaks of in His final words in today's reading.  What is this joy?  Is it not clearly a product of the love within which He abides in the Father?  Jesus has repeatedly explained what this means:  that the love between Father and Son is revealed through Christ obedience to the commandments of His Father.  Moreover, this is what He asks of us, His disciples -- that we must abide in Him, in love.  And if we love Him, we will  keep His commandments.  All of these things go hand in hand.  So deep and great is this love and connectedness, that we are to be in a communion that is distinguished and known by the fact that we have love for one another (John 13:34-35).  He has given all the tools we need, through His commandments, to teach us how we are to do this, to live like this, to express this love for one another.  But what He tells us is that our communion -- this vine -- is an extension of first of all His relationship to the Father.  He asks us to live as He has lived His life.  He has set the example, and given us the paradigm of what it is to Abide in Me, because this is how He has lived by abiding in the Father and doing the Father's will, in love.  And here is His joy that He shares with the disciples -- and by extension, with all those who would be His disciples.  If we abide in that love, and therefore in His commandments, this is where we will find our joy in life.  It is a long road through the difficulties of life, the disappointments, and the discoveries of betrayals and infidelity.  A long road indeed through lies and corruption of this world, and its injustice.  But we remember the Passion to which Christ goes, which will expose all of those things for judgment and witnessing.  Indeed, He is "the faithful witness" according to Revelation 1:5.  In the fullness of Christ's joy, the world is a setting for witnessing:  living and abiding in His love together with the Father and the Spirit, following His commands, and witnessing for a true justice that surpasses human expediency.  All of these things constitute what He asks of us when He tells us that we are to abide in Him in order to bear much fruit.  Let us continue our focus on building this joy within ourselves as we find our lives increasing in the faith He asks of us.   As He goes to His hour of glory, we are reminded of the words in the book of Nehemiah, when the people were read the commands of the Law:  "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."