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

 "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."

- John 14:15-31

Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught:  "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how you can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

 "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."   The word here that is translated as Helper is parakletos/παρακλετος in the Greek, and refers to the Holy Spirit.  My study bible says that this title also means "Comforter," "Counselor," and "Advocate."  Parakletos can literally be translated "the one who comes (by one's side) when called."   Some say also it means one who is close enough to make a good judgment call (on one's behalf).  It was the regular New Testament time word for an advocate or attorney; i.e. someone who pleads one's case, an intercessor.   My study bible notes, "The Spirit of truth is in each believer, and we are called to know Him.  The Holy Spirit prays in us and for us when we do not know how to pray, enabling us to pray in Christ's name (14:13-14; Romans 8:26) and giving us words of witness when we speak of the gospel (Mark 13:11)."

"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."  My study bible tells us that Jesus is saying the brief separation from His disciples at His death will lead to a deeper mystical union after the Resurrection, and to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.    Because I live, you will live also suggests to us that the life He promises (life in abundance) will live in them.

"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."  Here is a promise of a union of life that encompasses human beings, believers and disciples.  My study bible says that day refers to Pentecost.  St. John Chrysostom notes it is "the power of the Holy Spirit that taught them all things."   This is a promise of union between Trinity and human beings, an unbreakable connection, "which the gates of Hades shall not overcome."  This union of which Jesus speaks so eloquently and beautifully is no longer a unity of belief alone, but of love.  There is no talk merely of faith, and in following His words and keeping His commands there is not a statement of duty, nor is there a statement merely of assent or belief; Jesus says, "If anyone loves 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."  My study bible says here, "We have confidence in the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2:42) because the Holy Spirit is their Teacher; He brings to remembrance not only Christ's words, but also their meaning.  We have confidence in the Church because the Holy Spirit is our Instructor as well from Pentecost until today, leading us into all truth (16:13). "  St. Irenaeus is quoted here, who says, "Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit and the fullness of grace." 

"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."  My study bible points out that Peace was the customary Jewish word of both greeting and farewell.  A note says, "Perfect peace is brought by Christ, who reconciles humanity to God (Ephesians 2:14).  Peace is part of the traditional greeting of Christians to each other (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3), and the greeting 'Peace to all' is offered many times during the liturgical services of the Church."

"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."  My study bible reminds us that the statement "My Father is greater than I" does not mean the Father is greater in nature of essence, because Father and Son share the same divine nature.  It neither means that the Son is created, for the Son is begotten from all eternity.  Instead, what it means is that the Father, as Fountainhead of the Trinity, is the eternal cause of the Son (and of all things).

"And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe."  Before it comes refers to the Passion that is about to begin:  Christ's arrest, trial, suffering, and death on the Cross.  He is (yet again) preparing them for what is to come, in so doing He is strengthening their faith. 

"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."   My study bible explains that "the ruler of this world is the devil, who dominates the realm of those who do not love Christ or keep His commandments.  Jesus said that the devil has nothing in Me because there can be no compromise between Christ or His followers and the devil.  Jesus became Man, but was never stained with sin."  It strikes me that "he has nothing in Me" also means that Christ goes to His trial and testing with faith, confidence.  He will be presented with a great cataclysm of evil in so many ways (even both Jewish and Roman law and norms of the time will be countervailed and broken), but through it all, it is His mission of saving and serving the Father that will prevail fully in Him.

"Arise, let us go from here."  My study bible explains here that Christ takes His disciples to another room or location to complete this discourse (called the Farewell Discourse) "in order to gain their undivided attention.   According to St. John Chrysostom, their current location was susceptible to intrusions, and the disciples were likely to be distracted from fear."

In this Farewell Discourse, we are given the great strengths, in so many statements, of the theology of Christ, the understanding of the Church, our knowledge of who and what He is, and how we worship and live in relationship to Him.  Above all, what we see here is the teaching that tells us that the unity of the faith is based in love, and the entirety of this ministry is to take us to this point.  All along, He has prepared the disciples for what is coming in His Passion, framing it in the language of love.  His suffering and death will be for the love of those whom He serves in His saving mission.  That is our bottom line, it is the unpinning that scores everything we know about Christ and His Incarnation as the human Jesus.  The Son of Man came to save, and in so doing He serves the Father -- because it is the Father who has given the Son "for God so loved the world."  Jesus' basis all along for all commandments and teaches has been an expression of love.  This expression of love finds its full fruit in the teachings in this Farewell Discourse.  That He is in the Father and the Father in Him, that both will come and dwell and make their home within us if we love Him -- that these teachings and words of Christ come from the Father and will all be recalled and given to us by the Spirit -- all of this is an embracing relationship of love within an entire cosmos of Creation, and includes each one of us creatures individually in all uniqueness.  This kind of love is only possible from the Deity, which exists outside of all time and space and permeates all layers of Creation.  It is a love that is at once within us and surrounds us, it is a precursor and cause of our lives, it is eternal in its embrace; it embraces us in love as Body of Christ and as each individual shape, and knows us each by name -- meaning thoroughly in our hearts, and our personae.  Christ is Good Shepherd, but also parent who will "not leave us orphans."  This is relationship of love that is deeper than anything else that we can experience; it knows us more deeply and it loves us more deeply.  We are guaranteed a Shepherd and a Comforter, a Helper who pleads for us, and that even God the Father also dwells in us.  This is deeply related to our essence as human beings, as persons.  Like Father, Son, and Spirit are Persons, so we are made in their image:  there is much, much more to being a human being than just atoms and molecules and genetic codes, and the mystery of the reality of persona and of "the heart" is as deep as the unfathomable mysteries of God.  For this, we go to the One who knows and loves us better than we can know and love ourselves.  We go to the One who teaches us love beyond boundaries we learn in this world, so that we may share that love with others and grow in its understanding and knowledge and capacity to express and to experience it as we "follow Him" on this road.  He is the way, the truth, and the life we need for this kind of life abundantly.  His is the peace we need.

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

- John 15:12-27

In today's reading, Jesus continues the Farewell Discourse from the Last Supper. Yesterday, He taught the disciples, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." He taught us all to "abide in Him," and in this way we should bear much fruit. We abide in His love and the love of the Father's, through the Comforter or the Helper as my study bible text translates "parakletos" from the Greek. He said, " 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."

"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." My study bible says here: "Just as God loves us unconditionally, so we are to love each other unconditionally in Christ's name--whether there is a response or not!" I wonder, when I read these words of Christ, how far we fall short on this score! The great commandment He gives us here is His own, after He has spoken of abiding in His love and so following His commandments. If anything, abiding in His love should teach us how to love!

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another." Just as in yesterday's reading, Jesus taught that we are to abide in His love and follow His commandments in relationship, so He elaborates a little here. Couched in love, following His commands remains within this bond and relatedness, in which He and the Father and the Spirit dwell in us and are our Friends. My study bible points out that friendship is higher than servanthood. "A servant obeys his master out of fear; a friend is a servant who obeys out of love. Abraham was called a 'friend of God' because he believed and obeyed God. The disciples and the saints are honored as friends of Christ and heirs of God." To love one another and to abide in His love is to live with Him in relationship, as friends, and to follow His commandments within that bond of love. As in yesterday's reading about the vine and the branches, it is by abiding in that love and relationship -- as friends -- that we will bear the fruit He asks, and glorify the Father from whom all comes.

"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." My study bible says, "Regarding the world we learn that . . . while union with Christ brings love, joy and peace, it also brings the world's hatred and persecution." Here is the strange fruit of the world we may find hard to understand: abiding in Christ's love may bring us the hatred of those who don't know what this is within themselves. It may bring the hatred of those who don't understand nor know this love for themselves. One thing is certain: He does not promise us a world full of love in return for our love of Christ -- but rather the strife that comes from those who do not accept this for themselves, and don't know nor understand the reality of abiding in that vine, in His love. This is His promise: that the servant is not greater than the master. I believe this antipathy may come in many forms, among even those closest to us, as He has said.

"If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'" Ultimately, the First Cause of all things is the Father -- from whence Christ's love and commands come. As He has repeatedly taught that he who sees Him also sees the Father, as He is a reflection of the Father in the world and has done the Father's will and spoken the words the Father has given, He also points out here that the animosity or hatred encountered is ultimately the hatred and ignorance of the Father. The relationship goes fully all ways: to abide in His love is a complete chain: between us, the Spirit, the Son and Father. To hate without a cause is to hate indeed -- it is to be in opposition to the God who is love.

"But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning." What is it to receive this Helper, sent from the Father? It is to receive true testimony, so that we may understand as do the disciples. The disciples themselves will bear witness, because "they have been with Him from the beginning." And so we have the living word, the Gospel, which also bears witness for us from the beginning of His ministry. It is the Helper that gives us the understanding of His words, that helps us to live His life in the world, as He would ask of us, that bears witness for us as He also did for the Apostles after Jesus' death. How can we not be grateful for such a gift?

To bear fruit, then, takes so much more than the good works we can do or think of doing. It is to be in relationship, to be friends -- to abide in His love and in the vine, the true indwelling of Father, Son and Spirit. Are we living in that love? Do we seek it for ourselves? Do we let it into our hearts as deeply as it can go each day, teaching us what we need and how to serve? What is it to love one another as He has loved the disciples, and loves us? To know this love is to live indeed -- and it also may mean one experiences hatred without a cause. The servant is not greater than the master. In this, we share all things, a sign of true love and friendship indeed.