“This is to my Father’s glory”

May 3, 2021

14:1 – 15:17 Being in Jesus, just as Jesus is in the Father

Read John 15:6-8

In the opening verses of this section, Jesus has described the Father as the gardener who “cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit” (15:1-2). Now it becomes clear why some branches are fruitless and therefore cut off – it is because they do not remain in the vine (6). The warning of fruitless vine branches being burned (cf. Ezek.15:1-8) is troubling for any sincere Christian, but it is not intended to make us guilty or fearful. Rather, it impresses upon us just how important it is that we do remain in him, so that we will bear fruit for his glory.

There then follows another promise about prayer which further underlines the resources that are available to us when we remain in him (7; 14:13-14). The two promises are very similar, though this time Jesus doesn’t state that the prayer must be “in my name”. Instead, he says, “if you remain in me”, which likewise points to our union with Jesus as the basis of answered prayer. Similarly, the additional condition, “and my words remain in you”, refers to a life rooted in the whole teaching of Jesus (cf. 8:31 "hold to" is meno i.e. remain.)

In both these promises, not only the basis but also the purpose is the same. It is “to bring glory to the Father” (8a; 14:13). Jesus lived to bear fruit for his Father’s glory (17:4) and this continues through the fruit that he brings about in us. So this is the goal of all our praying and all our living – “the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism). By bearing fruit for his glory, we show that we are truly his disciples, for disciples put into practice the words and example – especially love – of their master (8b; 13:35).