John 15:12-27 | What's the connection?

If we take a look at the surrounding context, there is a very important lesson here. Let us step back and take a look at the whole of the dialogue we are in the middle of. John 13 places us in the upper room where Jesus tells His disciples that He would be departing soon. He eludes heavily to His death. After Judas takes off, Jesus shifts the conversation more into the role the disciples are taking in that time. We can see how Jesus begins the conversation of preparation for persecution and unity of the saints. John 15 capitalizes more on that reality.

There is a theme that plays out here that recognizes how the believer ought to interact with the world around them. The believer must stand alongside other believers. The command to walk in love is greater to the believer than the neighbor. For one's neighbor, you love them as you love yourself. For the believer, we are instructed to love as Jesus loves. In the intensity of persecution, it can become tempting to run to the world. Jesus is showing the disciples that the world will not be there for them if they profess His name. All the more reason the believers must unify together.

While Jesus just begins to emphasize the treatment they will experience from the world, He will speak even more on persecution. We find ourselves at the center of the turning point of Jesus' final words to His disciples. And it is a theme that John latches onto. Believer, you must not love the world or the things of the world, but you are to love God and those who are begotten of Him.

What connections are you seeing?