ABIDE IN LOVE

ABIDE IN LOVE

Jesus uses the image of the vine to describe his relationship with his disciples, even when he is physically absent. He is the ‘true’ or ‘real vine’, and we are branches which must remain in the vine to bear fruit, the fruit of love, one of John’s key themes. Jesus has been dependent upon his Father in everything. Now he shows that the Father is the source of all love: ‘as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you’ (15:9). The Greek tense of these verbs are aorists, depicting definite and concrete events in the past, affecting us now. Jesus was so secure in his Father’s love that he could show his love for his disciples by washing their feet (13:1–5)…