We have been talking about the Abiding Life for two weeks now.  I thought it might be good to spend a few minutes going over the things that we have discovered in these 11 verses.  First we find that Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches.  There are four kinds of branches—there are those who abide in Jesus and bear much fruit, there are those who bear some more fruit and some who bear some fruit, and there are those who bear no fruit.  The Father is the Gardener and He does what is necessary to see fruit come from each branch.  The branches that bear no fruit are lifted up and disciplined.  The branches that bear some fruit or more fruit are pruned until they bear much fruit—the aim of the Father is for every one of His children to abide in the Vine and to bear much fruit for His glory.

We abide in Him by seeing His love and living in that love.  Once we live in His love we respond to Him through loving Him and the fruit of that love is obedience.  We don’t obey to show our love—we love first and then we naturally obey because we love.  Jesus’ intent for those who abiding in Him is fruit and the fruit brings abundance.  When we abide in Him His joy is in us and our joy, now in Jesus, is complete.  From that promise of Jesus Joy being in us—Jesus moves to our text.

“My command is this.”  In verse 10 we find Jesus saying, “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,” and here we find Jesus boiling down all of the commands into one—“Love each other as I have loved you.”  Paul said, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Gal 5:14)  He said it again in Romans 13, “The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

As I thought of the simplicity of this—I wondered what society would be like if we truly loved each other as Christ loved us.  Go to the second half of the 10 Commandments for a second, “Honor your mother and father.”  Would that be a problem if you loved your parents like you love yourself?  “You shall not commit murder.”  Would there be any murder if we loved the person like we love ourselves?  “You shall not commit adultery.”  Adultery runs ramped in our culture and in the churches across our land—how many times would it happen if we loved the person and their spouse, not to mention our own spouse, like Christ loved us?  “You shall not steal.”  Would I take something from someone if I loved them as Christ loved me?  “You shall not give false testimony,” and you “shall not covet….”  Do you see the simplicity of it all?  That is why you can take the law down to two things—love God and love others. 

Jesus dealt with the first command to love God by telling us to see His love for us and to remain in His love, but now He is dealing with what he called the second of the greatest commandments—to love others.  We are not only told to love others, but we are told to “keep on loving others.”  Here is the question—How can I love others as Christ loved me?  To answer that we have to determine—How did Christ love us?