John 15:9-17

This passage occurs in the RCL Easter Season, Year B, most recently May of 2024.

Summary:
The Greek in this little section unlocks many possibilities that the English disguises.  First, the Greek reminds us that Jesus is speaking to a group, not just individuals.  Second, various words for love are used here.  This reminds us that in Christ, divine love means love of humans, even if it comes to laying down one’s life.  Third, Jesus here actually says he lays us down.  The Greek totally covers this one up; he does not simply declare the heroics of his own death, but tells us he has chosen us to die and bear fruit.

Key Words:

φιλος (literally philos, meaning "friend"; 15.13;14)  Often the word "φιλια", related to φιλεω, is seen as a lesser type of love than αγαπη (agape).  You know the classic line -- αγαπη is divine love but φιλια is human.  While there may indeed be a distinction, 15:13 brings them together:  αγαπη plays itself in acts of love for φιλος.  Perhaps this means that linguistically there is not much of a distinction between the two; OR we can see a tension here that beautifully births insight.  What is divine love?  Sacrifice for humans.  Where do divine love and human love meet?  In the cross!  Where do divine and human love meet?  In the lives of the disciples as we live out Christ's command to love one another, through the trials of life.

ψυχη ("life" or "soul"; 15:13)  Jesus uses the word here that we often translate as "soul" or "mind," as in "psychology."  Its use in this verse reminds us it can also mean "life" in its entirety.  To think of it another way, when Jesus dies on the cross, he is giving up everything, not simply his body. ... Likewise I think we will also give up everything.  (Given this passage is often read around mother's day, perhaps a sentimental acknowledgment that mothers for sure give up everything!)

ἐντολή (literally "intel" meaning "command"; 15:12)  I've always found it interesting that the word for command in Greek is "intel" and so I assumed that the English word for "intelligence" came from the Greek for "command."  While this helped me remember the meaning of this word, it is not actually the root.  The Latin word inter-lego (speak between) is what comes into English as intelligence.  The Greek word means en (in) - telos (complete).  This is fascinating to consider the idea of law in this sense -- the expression of what God intends to bring about (ie, law as expression of God's will).  The complete-in is this: That you love one another.

εκλεγω ("choose" or "select"; 15:16).  This word does mean choose, really elect.  It also shows up in Ephesians 1:4; 1 Cor 1:27-28 and also significantly, in Jesus' Baptism in Luke where God declares him the chosen one.  The word noun form of this word also shows up in Romans (8:33; 9:11; 11:7 and 28) and elsewhere.  God's choice, not ours.  Middle class America hates the idea that they were chosen instead of the one doing the choosing.

εν υμιν ("in you"; 15:11)  Throughout this section, the verbs (and pronouns) are in the second person PLURAL.  Jesus says abide in me as I abide in all y'all.  Or even "among all y'all."  Helpful to remind people that abiding in Jesus has a communal dimension.

τιθημι ("lay down" or "appointed"; 15:13 and 15:16) This verb comes up at some very powerful times in John's Gospel: John 13, when Jesus lays down his cloak to wash his disciples feet.  In this case:  the verb that Jesus uses for "appoint here" is "τιθημι"; this is the same verb that Jesus uses when he says, "I lay down my life." In other words, a more natural translation in 15:16 is:  "I lay you down." 

Jesus has laid down his life, now he lays the disciples down that they would bear fruit.  The translation of "appoint" is disappointing because the average reader misses the connection.  Just as Jesus laid down, so will he lay us down. 

Maybe not key, but I found it interesting: 

μεινατε (aorist form of "abide"; 15:9)  The word μενω appears throughout John's Gospel.  I've written about its significant in many other posts.  What I find fascinating here is its particular form:  aorist imperative.  Typically aorist imperative is used for simple commands or commands that would have a finite point or ending:  fill the water jugs or fetch the donkey.  Yet here Jesus is telling the disciples to "abide in him" in a short-term (?), simple (?) or bounded (?) fashion??  None of these quite make sense.  Especially since the verb μενω appears in the present tense regularly throughout the Gospel of John.  The father abides with Jesus (14:10); Jesus abides with the disciples (14:25) and the Spirit is abiding with them and will be with them after he is gone (14:17).  In each of these cases, the verb is on-going, suggesting that God's presence is on-going.

So why here an aorist command?  I found one online source that argued an aorist active imperative:  "means the action that the verb is describing is the result of something that happened in the past and it gives rise to the action that you are commanded to take in the present."  This would make sense in this case, but I am not sure that one could argue that all active aorist imperatives have such linearity programmed into them; or that there is any command which is not the result of previous action in some way!  I will continue to explore this.

I suggest that this verb is in the aorist because Jesus is asking them to stay with him during his trial.  He gives the same command to the disciples in the garden in the synoptics.  (Also then in the aorist: Matthew 26:38 and Mark 14:34).  Also, the aorist use of "love" suggests that Jesus is referring now to the cross.  It feels like a more intimate and immediate command:  Stay in my love for I am going to lay down my life for you.

Grammar concept: Uncertainty vs contingency with ινα

15.11 The translators here come up against a difficult matter. The ινα ("hina") clause forces the Greek to use the subjunctive.  In English the subjunctive shows hypothetical or possible outcomes:  If I win the lottery, e.g.  But in Greek the point of the subjunctive is not always to show uncertainty about the outcome but rather the contingency.  With ινα the subjunctive signals the latter matter is dependent on the former matter. In short, your joy is "contingent," not on fate or randomness, but on the fact that these things were said:  "I have said this to you so your joy is complete."

When we add in English, "Your joy MAY be complete" to translate the subjunctive mood, we are expressing UNCERTAINTY while the Greek wants to show CONTINGENCY.  Nothing is uncertain about our joy now that Jesus words have been spoken.

John 15:1-8

This passage occurs in the RCL Easter Season, Year B, most recently April of 2024.

Summary:  This passage has some great beauty, but presents a great preaching challenge.  First, we have some nastiness to the image: branches plucked and pruned.  The Greek can soften the blow here:  the words for pluck and prune also mean "lift up" and "clean."  Yet, I think a real law and Gospel challenge remains:  You can find all sorts of traditional discipleship tasks that connect us to God:  prayer, the Word, even the community.  Yet we can no more force ourselves upon Jesus than a branch can force itself upon the vine.  To say to people, "You cannot abide in Jesus, so don't even try" makes a liar out of Jesus.  To tell people "You just need to pray and read your Bibles" isn't totally faithful to the image here!  Somehow we must invite people into abiding in Jesus while retaining the force of the image:  Jesus is the root of connection, not us. A look at Jesus invitation to pray reveals some of this tension...

2021 sermon idea:  As a pastor I've often wanted to say that the best things in life are gifts.  But what if the best things aren't gifts that can be exchanged, but relationships that take time to form...in this way, Jesus offers us something more than a transaction, but a transforming and transformed community.

Key words:
αμπελος ("vine"; 15.1)  Like many metaphors in John's Gospel, a person new to the Bible can grasp its meaning, but a knowledge of the OT amplifies its significance.  The OT (Hosea 14; Isaiah 5; Jeremiah 2; perhaps also Ezekiel 19, but who understands Ezekiel...) makes the claim that Israel is the vine of the Lord.  Jesus here is saying "I am Israel."  All the promises, all the hopes (if not the judgment) of Israel in the Bible have been transferred to Jesus.

αιρεω ("take away" or "take up"; 15:2).  I thought I had a unique insight here and then I realized the NET Bible already explained in a footnote.  In their words: 

The Greek verb αιρεω can mean "lift up" as well as "take away," and it is sometimes argued that here it is a reference to the gardener "lifting up" (i.e., propping up) a weak branch so that it bears fruit again. In Johannine usage the word occurs in the sense of "lift up" in 8:59 and 5:8-12, but in the sense of "remove" it is found in 11:39, 11:48, 16:22, and 17:15. In context (theological presuppositions aside for the moment) the meaning "remove" does seem more natural and less forced.

They actually give a HUGE footnote on this point.  You can find this online through their website (bible.org).

Another person familiar with vines pointed out that a non-blossoming branch must be lifted up to ensure the cut must be as close as possible.  In this light, we can see that the cutting is not done far away, but hand-to-hand.  When God prunes us this is done an an intimate way!

Long and short:  I think for a sermon, one could introduce the idea of Jesus lifting someone up instead of simply tossing away, especially in light of this verb:

καθαιρω ("clean"; 15:2).  Alas, I got this word wrong in my blog entry three years ago.  I thought it was καθαριζω as in to cleanse.  The two words mean essentially the same thing.  (I just went back and spent a lot of time trying to distinguish between the two...not seeing much here).

However, John uses a word that allows him to have internal rhyme in a verse.  More importantly, we have a very modest image, not a very harsh one, of cleansing.  It is translated as "prune" only in light of the later verses.

This word also comes into English as "catharsis."  Jesus intends to give us a catharsis, which can include a rather striking overthrow of what was.  Yet Jesus isn't interested in simply cleansing, but restoring and he knows that takes relationship.

ινα ("in order that"; 15:2)  A reminder that God's cleansing and forgiveness always have a purpose!  (Confessional Lutheran note:  How does this cleansing happen?  Through the Word of God!!)

εν uμιν ("in you"; 15:6)  This can mean "in you" but it is also in the plural:  "In all of you" or even "Among all of you."  "Abide in me as abide among you." might be good for individualist Americans to here!

γινομαι ("occur"/"happen"/"be"/"become"; 15:7, 8) If you study this word, you will see that Jesus is not saying, "Ask for anything and it will be given unto you." He is saying, 

"What you wish for, ask! And it will become unto you."

First, the command is in the plural.  This is an invitation for the whole community to pray.

Second, the verb "give" is never used.  Jesus says what you pray for will happen among you.  I think this begs the question -- what sorts of things happen but are not given.  I would suggest that bearing fruit and becoming disciples (what Jesus indicates he wants in 15.8) are not things that can be given.  Of course, they are gifts of the Spirit,   but they are not exchanged.  Rather, they are developed -- grown -- in us. 

μαθηται (from μαθητης, meaning "disciple"; 15:8)  Just a brief reminder that this word does NOT mean one who follows all the rules correctly.  It means student in the deepest sense of a student who learns from a master.

Grammar review:  τις...some times the smaller the word, the more difficult to translate
The little word τις is a pain!  First, depending on the direction of the accent, it can either be a question word meaning (who, what, whom, whose) or an indefinite article (a, an, any, some, one).  At least this division is revealed by the accents (or lack their of; if it has no accent, it means an indefinite article because that τις has a weak accent that has been moved to the previous word)
 
But how to figure out then what is means is tough.  In the case of verse 6, τις is universally translated as anyone.  But it could just as easily be "anything." If anything is not in me, it is tossed out and burned up.  This is perhaps a nicer translation.  In this case, "anyone" is probably the most correct translation because Jesus has already indicated we are the branches.