Daily Devotions
John
John 15:1-17 "DEEPER THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE CONCEPT OF ABIDING"
Day 219 – John 15
DEEPER THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE CONCEPT OF ABIDING
Jesus’ teaching on the concept of abiding in Him was truly deep and rich. None in the realm had ever taught things like that! Religion to many was a matter of going to the Temple on stipulated Feast Days and practising whatever the Temple teachers taught. Little or no teaching on the subject of “abiding” was ever emphasized. Yet, there was no mistaking the emphasis that Jesus laid on the subject of abiding in Him.
Again and again, the Disciples heard Jesus stressing the need to abide in Him
(John 15: 4-7). To express faith in Jesus was not enough! To speak of following His teachings without truly abiding in Him was impossible! How deeply challenged the Disciples must have been when they heard the profound teaching of abiding in Christ!
Jesus had not yet finished teaching His Disciples concerning abiding in Him. He had a further word to teach them.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you;
abide in My love.”
John 15:9
How were the Disciples to sustain the commitment of abiding in Jesus? This word from Jesus was to provide another lift to their hearts.
THE LOVE OF JESUS
The Disciples had experienced love in their lives. They must have experienced the love of their parents, as they grew up. They must have experienced love of friends. A good number of them were fast friends with each other. James and John were brothers. So were Andrew and Peter. The fact that Andrew went to seek his brother out to share with him his faith in Jesus as the Messiah was proof of his love for him. Philip was a good friend of Nathanael. When he became convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, he persuaded Nathanael to speak to Jesus (John 1:35-51).
However, when they followed Jesus, the Disciples were surprised at the love that Jesus had shown them! It was a love of a Teacher for His pupils. But there was more to that love. He displayed depth of understanding love as their Mentor. He knew each of them so well. He was firm when they needed to be rebuked. He was gentle when they failed to understand a point or two in His instruction. He had been so consistent in His commitment to love them as His Disciples.
His love was deep and pure. His love was unlike anything that they had ever experienced in their life. He was capable of loving not only the Disciples, but the multitudes as well. He did not show any hatred for the Jews, even though they resisted and opposed Him all the time. His sadness over their hardened hearts spoke of divine love.
Yes, that must be the word to describe the love of Jesus. He was right when He spoke of how He loved them with the great love of the Father. The Disciples had experienced the love of Jesus which was in fact the love of the Father Himself!
THE CHALLENGE TO ABIDE IN THE LOVE OF JESUS
How the Disciples must have longed to be able to be more consistent in their attempt to abide in their beloved Teacher. They had not been altogether successful in their attempt to abide in Jesus. They had not always been able to fully abide in His teachings, for His words were always so deep and profound.
Now He was asking them to abide in His love! How were they to do that? How were they to actually practise abiding in His love?
The next few words of Jesus were very welcome words indeed. These words were spoken to help the Disciples understand how they could abide in the love of Jesus.
“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
Jesus’ understanding of abiding in His love was not measured by emotions. Human emotions being what they were could not be fully depended upon! The Disciples could abide in the love of their Saviour if they could just keep His commandments!
1. Keeping in mind the way Jesus kept His Father’s commandments.
The Disciples had the perfect example of Jesus in front of them! He had always spoken of keeping His Father’s commandments – even if that meant suffering and death! If ever the Disciples were to falter in their commitment to abide in Christ and His love, all they needed to do was to think of how Jesus kept His Father’s commandments!
This was Jesus’ way of abiding in His Father’s love. Deep in His heart, He had the most wonderful sense of love for His Father! But that was not all. He must show that He was abiding in His Father and in His love. He spent time in communion with His Father. He set aside time to pray to His Father every day!
He also made sure that He kept His Father’s commandments. He spoke of that as His Father’s will. He made sure that He kept His Father’s will at all times. By doing this consistently, He showed that He was always abiding in His Father’s love.
2. The Challenge to keep the Commandments of Jesus
Jesus had been teaching His Disciples deep and profound truths. The Disciples must view them as commandments. They must view His commandments as His will for them! If they were to follow Jesus and walk in His footsteps, then they would indeed be abiding in His love.
Abiding in Jesus was an important concept and it was too vital a teaching to be left to the imagination as to what true abiding really meant! Thus Jesus spelt out everything very clearly. He wanted His Disciples to know exactly what He meant when He spoke of abiding in Him.
It involved Jesus Himself. It involved His Word. It involved His Love. Each and every aspect was important. Together they illustrated the imagery Jesus chose to teach the concept of abiding in Him. If the Disciples were to practise all that Jesus had taught them, then they would indeed be branches that would bring forth much fruit.