A NEW COMMANDMENT (JOHN 15:10-17)
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According to the renowned Rabbi Simlai, the Torah, also known as Mosaic Law or Five Books of Moses, contains 613 commandments, with 365 negative commandments for each day in the year, and 248 positive commandments. Many of the commandments are irrelevant today because they were associated with temple sacrifices. Accordingly, 77 positive and 194 negative commandments can be observed today.
Some of the 613 commandments or laws still raise the eyebrows today:
# 68-69. Men must not shave the hair off the sides of their head or their beards with a razor (Lev. 19:27).
# 71. Women must not wear men's clothing (Deut. 22:5)
# 72. Not to tattoo the skin (Lev. 19:28).
# 79-80. To wear tefillin (phylacteries) on the head and to bind tefillin on the arm (Deut. 6:8)
# 90. Not to walk outside the city boundary on Shabbat (Ex. 16:29)
# 162. Not to marry non-Jews (Deut. 7:3)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments
The keenest and sharpest speakers, readers and minds usually find the Gospel of John harder to understand, analyze and teach than the first three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is philosophical rather than practical in nature, more sermon and fewer stories, more discourse and didactic rather than drama and dialogue. Central to this passage is the value of God’s commandments (noun twice in verse 10 and once in verse 12, followed by a verb in verse 13). In fact, there is more talk on the commandments in John than other gospels.
Why did God give us His commandments rather than have us make our own rules? What is the purpose of the commandments? To bind, burden and break us? How should we view, feel about and respond to God’s commandment?
Be Delighted to Obey
10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:10-11)
I was taking the MTR from Kwai Fong to Lai Chi Kok when a man in his 40s with a little boy behind me stepped into the train, crossed my path and occupied the door space. They were standing beside me when the man opened up a small bag. The movements were so quick I did not realize what was happening but it caught the child’s attention. He said, “Wai, have you forgotten??????” The man had slipped something into his mouth, judging from a small pack of chewing gum in his hand. The man said, “Eating is OK????. Swallowing inside the stomach is not???????.” The boy was just as quick to reply, “No eating is no eating. ????????????,Swallowing is not OK??????.” I couldn’t help but be amused by the simple and natural way the boy reminded his father, so I asked the man, “How old is he?” He said, “Seven years old.” I answered, “How smart??.” The man beamed with pride.
Do you obey rules, regulations and restrictions? Have you said conveniently to yourself, “Rules are made to be broken”?
To “obey my commands” (v 10) is mostly translated in the Bible as “keep my commandments,” and “keep” is also translated elsewhere as guard, observe (Mark 7:9) and practice (Matt 23:3). NIV translates this as “guard” for the guards (Matt 27:36, 28:4) – plural - who watched and guarded Jesus like a hawk. “Obey/keep” is a key word in John’s gospel. It occurs a mere six times in Matthew (Matt 19:17, 23:3, 27:36, 54, 28:4, 20), a lonely once in Mark (Mark 7:9), and an absent figure in Luke, but an impressive 18 times in John, more than any book in the New Testament. The most – four times each – are in John chapters 14, 15 and 17, its last occurrence. The Greek for “obey” (tereo) has the sense of “to persevere, persist, like keep safe, keep watch.” Reasons to obey include reverence for God, restrain in life and to respect for others. Furthermore, the phrase “Obey/keep my commandments” is unique to John’s gospel, not found in the New Testament.
There are three ways to see God’s commandments: the legal trap, the loophole out, and the way of love. Love (v 10) trumps legalism because the “how” and “why” is more important than the “what.” Jesus is the perfect example, the gold standard and the chief interpreter when it comes to obedience: “Just as I have obeyed my Father's commands.” (John 15:10)
Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love” (v 10). Alert readers know “love” and “keep my commandments” is central to the Ten Commandments, which tells us the motivation must always be out of love (Ex 20:6, Deut 5:10), which is also endorsed four times in the previous chapter (John 14:15, 21, 23, 24 - read). Love conquers the fear and frustration of obeying God’s commandments. Without love, obedience is a demand. With love, it is a delight. Obedience short of love is a pain. With love, it is a pleasure. Loveless obedience is forced; with love, it is d fulfilling.
Legalists debate its practice, but God declares His purpose, which is the outpouring of “my joy in you,” not joy that is human but that which is holy; joy that is steadfast, strong and stable, not short-lived, shifting or sentimental. Biblical obedience makes us better, not bitter, to grow us and not slow us, to make us a life of rejoicing rather than regret. For Jesus, obeying the Father’s commandments is a choice and not a chore.
Be Distinguished By Love
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:12-14)
A tyrannical husband demanded that his wife conform to rigid standards of his choosing. She was to do certain things for him as a wife, mother, and homemaker. In time she came to hate her husband as much as she hated his list of rules and regulations. Then, one day he died - mercifully as far as she was concerned.
Some time later, she fell in love with another man and married him. She and her new husband lived on a perpetual honeymoon. Joyfully, she devoted herself to his happiness and welfare. One day she ran across one of the sheets of do’s and don’ts her first husband had written for her. (Oh, no!) To her amazement she found that she was doing for her second husband all the things her first husband had demanded of her, even though her new husband had never once suggested them. (Now she understood why.) She did them as an expression of her love for him and her desire to please him.
The second principle from the passage is to love one another and the model is again Jesus, which is to love as Jesus loved (v 12). There is a reason John is called the Apostle of Love because the verb “love” is mentioned 37 times in the book, in contrast to merely eight times in Matthew, five times in Mark, 13 times in Luke. The only rival is 1 John by the same author, 28 times. On the noun front, love is mentioned merely once in Matthew and Luke and completely absent in Mark, but seven times in John. What is love, specifically love as a verb? It is unconditional, unceasing and uncompromising. Love is active as a verb, but is passive as a noun. Love is at a standstill as a noun, but refuses to stand still as a verb. Love as a verb focuses on the object of love - others, but love as a noun focuses on the subject - oneself. The verb views love as a practice but the noun views it as a possession. One is outbound, the other is in-grown.
The phrase “love one another” (KJV) is found only in John’s gospel and not the Synoptics, four times altogether in John (John 13:34, John 15:12, 17), but always in the context “as I have loved you.” The only book that teaches more on “love one another” is none other than 1 John, five times (1 John 3:11, 23, 4:7, 11, 12), from the same author but in letter form. Love one another means love that is shared and not selfish, returned and reciprocated and not merely giving or receiving.
How does Jesus love? Jesus’ love is sacrificial, selfless and sharing (v 13), to lay down one’s life for his friends. His love is complete – to the end (John 13:1). The progression in chapter 15 on the verb “love” begins with the love of the Father for Jesus (John 15:9), the love of Jesus for believers, and the climax is love of believers for one another (v 12). The difference is the Father’s love for the Son is mature and not mean, manifested but not manufactured, measureless not miserly, so the love of believers must reflect this.
Why is this considered a new commandment, as stated in John 13:34? When you examine the later part of “Ten Commandments” (Ex 20:13-17) which refers to man’s relationship with one another, e.g. You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, give false testimony, covet your neighbor's house, you will discover that the commandments are negative in wording (“not”) and in meaning (murder, commit adultery, steal, give false testimony, covet). The new commandment puts it in the positive and not in the negative, not confined to its word meaning but its overall purpose, which is love.
The last interesting observation about loving one another is that it is not an imperative, but an intention. Love your enemies (Matt 5:44, 6:27, 35) is an imperative but love one another is a subjunctive with a “hina” or purpose clause, translated with “so that” (John 13:34, 15:12).
Be Doubtless in Produce
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit ?fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:16-17)
I once asked a group of more than 100 people if anyone does not eat fruits, and I was surprised to see a hand raised. He admitted that he would only eat fruits that were placed before him! The fruits I have in common with my wife are oranges, cherries, and mangoes. On top of that, I like to eat banana, pear, rambutans and, hold your breath, durians. It is no coincidence that in Hong Kong a lot of people take a bag or a basket of fruits with them when they visit a friend.
Eating fruits is a healthy habit. As my usual American habit, I buy fruits a four-day supply of fruits and store it at home. My wife dips her banana in mocha for breakfast, the best thing in the world to her. I eat a banana the first thing I wake up in the morning after first drinking two cups of water. When I am sleepy at the office, I eat fruits. Fruits such as pear, apple, papaya and longan are good for soup as well.
Eating fruit is a good way to survive for people who dislike drinking water, like me. Fruit is the most healthy snack because it is 100% bad-cholesterol free. Fruit is a great source of fiber and antioxidants, which help prevent free radicals from attacking the body. Also, if you want healthy skin and to think better and feel good, eat fruits. The American Heart Association advises to consume 25 to 30 grams of fibers out of fresh fruits and/or vegetables per day. Eating five to nine portions of fruit or vegetables a day supposedly reduce the risk of a stroke and other cardiovascular diseases and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, mouth, stomach and colon or bowel cancers, coronary heart disease kidney stones, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s.
The last principle is to bear fruit. The last principle is to bear fruit. Interestingly, there is more mention of fruit in John 15 than any chapter in the Bible. John focuses on “fruit that lasts” (v 16), which is the last of 12 “remain” in the chapter, including “remain in me” (John 15:4), “remain in the vine” (John 15:4), “remain in my love” (John 15:9) to “fruit that will last/remain” (John 15:16), so all previous reference have nothing to do with time but with tenacity – to remain in Christ. Fruit is mentioned 10 times in John, out of which the majority of eight of which is in chapter 15 (John 15:2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 8, 16, 16). The basic teachings of fruit bearing so far in John 15 entail the produce (v 2) -fruit, the process- remain in Him (v 4), the people – disciples (v 5), the purpose (v 8) – to glorify God, the promise - the Father will give you whatever you ask in His name (v 16).
Fruit is natural, normal, necessary, nutritious, nourishing and noticeable; it is “have to,” not “hope to.” Every branch bears fruit (v 2). The progress tracking the verb “bear” moves from “bear fruit” (John 15:2) to “bear more (pleion) fruit” (John 15:2) or “bear much (polus) fruit” (John 15:5) to “fruit that will last” (John 15:16). The phrase “in my name” ( John 14:13, 15:16, 16:23) in John’s gospel is tied to prayer, unlike other gospels. The fruit comes out of a relationship with Jesus (abide in me), a reverence for God’s word (and my words abide in you) and respond to God’s love:
“Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4)
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you” (John 15:7
“Continue/abide ye in my love” (John 15:9)
Conclusion: The right reasons to obey God’s commandments include reverence for God, restrain in life and to respect for others. Is your love based on a relationship or out of routine? Is it out of fear or out of faith? Is it out of love or labor, devotion or duty?
