Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 15:16

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

16. Ye have not, &c.] Better, Ye chose Me not, but I chose you: ‘Ye’ and ‘I’ are emphatic; there is no emphasis on ‘Me.’ The reference is to their election to be Apostles, as the very word used seems to imply (comp. Joh 6:70, Joh 13:18; Act 1:2); therefore the aorist as referring to a definite act in the past should be preserved in translation.

ordained you ] Better, appointed you (as 2Ti 1:11 and Heb 1:2), in order to avoid an unreal connexion with ordination in the ecclesiastical sense. The same word used in the same sense as here is rendered ‘set’ in Act 13:47 and 1Co 12:28, ‘ordained’ 1Ti 2:7, and ‘made’ Act 20:28.

go and bring forth fruit ] ‘Go’ must not be insisted on too strongly as if it referred to the missionary journeys of the Apostles. On the other hand it is more than a mere auxiliary or expletive: it implies the active carrying out of the idea expressed by the verb with which it is coupled (comp. Luk 10:37; Mat 13:44; Mat 18:15; Mat 19:21), and perhaps also separation from their Master (Mat 20:4; Mat 20:7). The missionary work of gathering in souls is not specially indicated here: the ‘fruit’ is rather the holiness of their own lives and good works of all kinds. ‘Bring forth’ should be bear as in Joh 15:5.

should remain ] Better, should abide (see on Joh 15:9). Comp. Joh 4:36.

whatsoever ye shall ask ] See on Joh 15:7 and Joh 14:13.

he may give it ] The Greek may also mean ‘ I may give it’ (comp. Joh 14:13), the first and third persons being alike in this tense; and several ancient commentators take it as the first.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ye have not chosen me – The word here translated chosen is that from which is derived the word elect, and means the same thing. It is frequently thus translated, Mar 13:20; Mat 24:22, Mat 24:24, Mat 24:31; Col 3:12. It refers here, doubtless, to his choosing or electing them to be apostles. He says that it was not because they had chosen him to be their teacher and guide, but because he had designated them to be his apostles. See Joh 6:70; also Mat 4:18-22. He thus shows them that his love for them was pure and disinterested; that it commenced when they had no affection for him; that it was not a matter of obligation on his part, and that therefore it placed them under more tender and sacred obligations to be entirely devoted to his service. The same may be said of all who are endowed with talents of any kind, or raised to any office in the church or the state. It is not that they have originated these talents, or laid God under obligation. What they have they owe to his sovereign goodness, and they are bound to devote all to his service. Equally true is this of all Christians. It was not that by nature they were more inclined than others to seek God, or that they had any native goodness to recommend them to him, but it was because he graciously inclined them by his Holy Spirit to seek him; because, in the language of the Episcopal and Methodist articles of religion, The grace of Christ prevented them; that is, went before them, commenced the work of their personal salvation, and thus God in sovereign mercy chose them as His own. Whatever Christians, then, possess, they owe to God, and by the most tender and sacred ties they are bound to be his followers.

I have chosen you – To be apostles. Yet all whom he now addressed were true disciples. Judas had left them; and when Jesus says he had chosen them to bear fruit, it may mean, also, that he had chosen them to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, 2Th 2:13.

Ordained you – Literally, I have placed you, appointed you, set you apart. It does not mean that he had done this by any formal public act of the imposition of hands, as we now use the word, but that he had designated or appointed them to this work, Luk 6:13-16; Mat 10:2-5.

Bring forth fruit – That you should be rich in good works; faithful and successful in spreading my gospel. This was the great business to which they were set apart, and this they faithfully accomplished. It may be added that this is the great end for which Christians are chosen. It is not to be idle, or useless, or simply to seek enjoyment. It is to do good, and to spread as far as possible the rich temporal and spiritual blessings which the gospel is fitted to confer on mankind.

Your fruit should remain – This probably means,

1. That the effect of their labors would be permanent on mankind. Their efforts were not to be like those of false teachers. the result of whose labors soon vanish away Act 5:38-39, but their gospel was to spread – was to take a deep and permanent hold on people, and was ultimately to fill the world, Mat 16:18. The Saviour knew this, and never was a prediction more cheering for man or more certain in its fulfillment.

2. There is included, also, in this declaration the idea that their labors were to be unremitted. They were sent forth to be diligent in their work, and untiring in their efforts to spread the gospel, until the day of their death. Thus, their fruit, the continued product or growth of religion in their souls, was to remain, or to be continually produced, until God should call them from their work. The Christian, and especially the Christian minister, is devoted to the Saviour for life. He is to toil without intermission, and without being weary of his work, until God shall call him home. The Saviour never called a disciple to serve him merely for a part of his life, nor to feel himself at liberty to relax his endeavors, nor to suppose himself to be a Christian when his religion produced no fruit. He that enlists under the banners of the Son of God does it for life. He that expects or desires to grow weary and cease to serve him, has never yet put on the Christian armor, or known anything of the grace of God. See Luk 9:62.

That whatsoever … – See Joh 15:7.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Joh 15:16

Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you

Christian discipleship

I.

ITS ORIGIN.

1. Negatively. Ye have not chosen Me. This is true, both in regard to election unto salvation and election unto office. Christ no more chooses us because we have first chosen Him, than He loves us because we have first loved Him. He makes His universal offer of mercy; we close with it, and are elected. He says, Whom shall I send? We have to say, Here am I; send me. Choose ye this day whom ye will serve was addressed to the chosen people.

2. Positively. The Divine choice which originates our discipleship

(1) Is not arbitrary. Those are chosen for salvation who evince the qualifications for receiving salvation. Chosen through belief of the truth. In regard to office, the apostles were the choice men of their race, as is seen in their after careers. Christ chose for His work Peter and Paul, rather than Caiaphas or Gamaliel, because they were immeasurably better men. Appearances and circumstances go for nothing, as is seen in Gods choice of David. So today Christ chooses with reference to fitness. There were more brilliant men at Oxford; but when God wanted a man for Africa He went to a factory and chose Livingstone.

2. May he frustrated. Judas was chosen, and the traitor had elements about him which would have made him a prince amongst the apostles. Election is not indelible in regard either to nations or individuals. Israel was chosen because of unique racial qualities, but was rejected because those qualities were abused. England has been chosen; may she be faithful. As for us, however distinguished the office we hold, let us not be high-minded, but fear. Let him that thinketh he standeth, etc.

II. ITS VALIDATION. Ordained you.

1. Designation for the work. This is a Divine prerogative. Sometimes it is voiced by the appointment of the Church. Sometimes, alas! not. No human authority, however august, can validate an appointment that has not been ratified in heaven. Let all Church officers note this. Often the clearest Divine designation is apparent where there has been no human sanction.

2. Qualification. Whom Christ ordains He qualifies. This may be independent of human qualifications, or it may include them. There are posts for which Christ ordains a man where they would be in the way.

There are others where they are imperative. In the latter case He works in us the desire to amass learning, eloquence, etc., and sanctifies these and other gifts to the accomplishment of His purposes.

III. ITS WORKS.

1. That ye should go and bring forth fruit in two senses.

(1) In the graces of personal character; because these are often the means of successful evangelism, and without them a man in the highest office is but a sounding brass, etc.

(2) In conversions to God. This is the grand outcome of all spiritual ministries.

2. That your fruit should remain.

(1) Of what value are the fruits of the Spirit unless permanent? Of what value is faith if tomorrow we are unbelieving? Of love if it alternates with hatred? Of joy if it is drowned in despondency? etc.

(2) Of what value to a Church are converts unless they remain? The curse of modern times is great ingatherings, followed by great failings away.

IV. ITS PRIVILEGE. Prayer

1. Keeps alive our sense of the Divine choice, and maintains our position as chosen ones.

2. Augments our personal and official qualifications. Without Me ye can do nothing. I can do all things through Christ, etc.

3. Ensures abiding success in our work. (J. W. Burn.)

That ye should go and bring forth fruit

The fruit

1. Fruitfulness is the great end of Gods ordinances in the vegetable kingdom. It is the focus into which all the various secondary purposes of nature are concentrated. And is it not so in the kingdom of grace? For the fruitfulness of those who love God the whole material system of the earth is upheld; and the whole spiritual world exists and revolves on its axis, that the harvest of spiritual life may be produced in the Church and in the believer.

2. But while fruitfulness is the great end of vegetable life, there are some plants in which this quality is of more importance than in others. It is necessary that every plant should bring forth fruit in order to propagate itself; but, besides this, some plants confer benefits upon the rest of creation by means of their fruit. Like the cow, which produces more milk than its progeny needs; and the bee, which stores a larger quantity of honey than it requires; the vine produces a fruit whose exceptional excess of nourishness is intended for the use of man. Fruit is not so important to the vine itself as it is to man. We grow some plans in order to produce seed; but we can perpetuate the vine by slips, and, therefore, we grow it solely to supply mans wants.

3. Apart from its fruit, the vine is, indeed, a beautiful plant; but this is subordinate to the one great purpose of producing grapes: and did it cease to produce fruit it would be condemned as a failure. It was for the sake of the fruit of salvation–the redemption of a fallen world–that God cultivated His own Son by the sufferings which He endured. And as with the Vine Himself, so with the branches. The Husbandman of souls grafts these branches in the Vine for the special purpose of producing spiritual fruit; and if this result does not follow, no mere natural beauty or grace will compensate. And so Christ speaks as if in the bringing forth of fruit was summed up all duty and privilege. Gods glory is the chief end of man; but Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. God requires of us to believe in Christ; but faith is the root of fruitfulness. Faith and fruit are not distinct; but, on the contrary, the same thing at different periods of existence; just as the fruit of autumn is the seed of spring, and vice versa. God desires our highest happiness; but our highest happiness is indissolubly linked together with our fruitfulness. No man can have a continual feast of gladness who is barren and unfruitful. And here we come to the great outstanding question

I. WHAT IS THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FRUIT?

1. The fruit of a plant is simply an arrested and metamorphosed branch. The bud of a plant which, under the ordinary laws of vegetation, would have elongated into a leafy branch, remains, in a special case, shortened, and develops finally, according to some regular law, blossom and fruit instead. Its further growth is thus stayed; it has attained the end of its existence; its life terminates with the ripe fruit that drops off to the ground. In producing blossom and fruit, therefore, a branch sacrifices itself, yields up its own individual vegetative life for the sake of another life that is to spring from it, and to perpetuate the species. Every annual plant dies when it has produced blossom and fruit every individual branch in a tree which corresponds with an annual plant also dies when it has blossomed and fruited. Fruit trees are the most short-lived of all trees; and cultivated fruit trees are less vigorous in growth, and do not last so long as the wild varieties. Producing larger and more abundant fruit than is natural, they necessarily so much the more exhaust their vital energies. Every blossom is a Passion flower. The sign of the cross, which superstitious eyes saw in one mystical flower, the enlightened eye sees in every blossom that opens to the summer sun. The great spiritual principle which every blossom shadows forth is–self-sacrifice. And is it not most instructive to notice that it is in this self-sacrifice of the plant that all its beauty comes out and culminates?

2. And is it not so in the kingdom of grace? Christian fruit is an arrestment and transformation of the branch in the True Vine. Instead of growing for its own ends, it produces the blossoms of holiness and the fruits of righteousness for the glory of God and the good of men. The Christian life begins in self-sacrifice. We can bring forth no fruit that is pleasing to God until, besought by His mercies, we yield ourselves a living sacrifice to Him. And in this self-sacrifice all the beauty of the Christian life comes out and culminates. The life that lives for another, in so doing bursts into flower, and shows its brightest hues, and yields its sweetest fragrance. All given to Christ is received back a hundredfold. Have we not seen the glory of self-sacrifice ennobling even the aspect of the countenance, the expression of the eye, the carriage of the form, making the plainest and homliest face beautiful and heroic?

II. IT IS FRUIT AND NOT WORKS THAT THE BELIEVER PRODUCES.

1. Work and fruit are contrasted in a very striking manner at the close of Gal 5:1-26;–the works of the flesh–the fruit of the Spirit. This contrast is very instructive. Works bear upon them the curse of Adam. They are wrought in the sweat of the brow and in the sweat of the soul. All that a natural man does comes under the category of works. And even in the case of believers, some things which they do are works, because they are the result of a legal and servile spirit. Such works are only like those of a manufacturer, which display his skill and power, but do not reveal character. You cannot tell what kind of a man he is who makes your furniture from his productions. You may be able to say that he is a clever workman, but not that he is a wise, a good, or an upright man. But fruit, on the other hand, is the spontaneous natural manifestation of the life within. The soul that has the life and the love of Christ in it cannot help producing fruit. Fruit is the free, unrestrained outpouring of a heart at peace with God, filled with the love of Christ, and stimulated by the presence, and power of the Holy Spirit. The curse is removed from it. It brings back the pure and innocent conditions of Eden. The whole man is displayed in it, as the whole life of the tree is gathered into and manifested in its fruit. By their fruit we know believers as well as trees.

2. It is fruit that Christ wants, not works; because it is the free will offering of a heart of love, not the constrained service of fear or of law, and because He studies the individual character and regulates His discipline according to individual requirements. If works were what He desired, He could order Christians in the mass to do them, caring nothing for any one of them in particular. But, in order to produce fruit, His sap must flow to, His personal influence must reach, the smallest twig, the humblest individual that yields it.

3. How significant in the light of this idea is the reward promised–a crown of life. It is not an arbitrary reward from without, but the fruit of their own efforts–a living crown, the crown of their own life. It is with us as it is with some mountains whose deepest or primary formations appear on the summit, which are not mere masses laid in dead weight upon the surface of the earth, but the protrusion of their own energies. So we are crowned with the deepest and most essential part of our own life. Our highest summit is our deepest foundation. Our crown of life is that which we ourselves have formed, and which passes through our own being. Heaven is the fruit of what we have sown, the living crown of the life that we have lived.

III. IT IS FRUIT AND NOT FRUITS, WHICH THE BRANCH IN THE TRUE VINE PRODUCES. The fruit of the Spirit is not so many apples growing on separate twigs and having no organic connection except as produced by the same tree. It is a bunch of grapes, all growing from one stalk and united to each other in the closest manner. Each grace is, as it were, a separate berry, connected with the others by organic ties, and forming a complete cluster. It should be the Christians endeavour, therefore, that the whole cluster should appear–each grape full formed and in due proportion to the rest.

IV. IT IS HEAVENLY, AND NOT EARTHLY, FRUIT THAT THE HUSBANDMAN DEMANDS.

1. The fruits of Egypt were melons and cucumbers, grown close to the earth; while its vegetables were leeks, onions, and garlic, which are not fruits at all, but roots. It is such low earth-born fruits that the natural man produces, and for which alone he has a relish. All his tendencies and labours are earthward. The cucumber and the melon are climbing plants by nature; they have tendrils to raise them up among the trees, but they are cultivated on the ground, and therefore their tendrils are useless. So every man has tendrils of hopes and aspirations that were meant to raise him above the world, but he perverts them from their proper purpose, and they run among earthly things utterly wasted. In marked contrast with the earth-borne fruits of Egypt were the fruits of the Holy Land. It is a mountainous country, on which everything is lifted above the world. The people went literally, as well as spiritually, up from Egypt to Palestine, up to Gods house. Its fruits were grown on trees, raised up from the ground and ripening in the pure air and bright sunshine of heaven. Believers are risen with Christ. They are not merely elevated a little, but are raised to being fruits in the sky.

V. THE FRUIT OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PERMANENT. That your fruit should remain.

1. In spring, when the blossoms have withered and fallen off, a large proportion of these blossoms leave behind young fruits that have actually set. These fruits grow fur a few weeks, acquire shape, become tinted with colour, cheat the eye with the hope of a rich harvest of ripe and full-formed fruit in autumn. But, alas! ere long, they wither and fall. And is it not so with the fruits which unsanctified man produces? They are beautiful in blossom; they minister to his self-glorification and enjoyment; they delude him with fair promises; but they never come to maturity and abide. They are fruits that set, but do not ripen. On every brow we see care planting his wrinkles–bare, wintry branches, whose stem is rooted in the heart, from which have fallen, one after another, the fairest fruits of life, and which, through future springs and summers, will bear no more leaves or fruit.

2. But in contrast with all the passing and perishing fruits of earth, we have the abiding fruits of righteousness. It is the glorious distinction of the fruit which Christ enables us to produce that it endures. How literally were these words fulfilled in the case of the disciples themselves! Of all the works of all the men who were living eighteen hundred years ago, what is remaining now? But twelve poor uneducated peasants went forth, and where is the fruit of their labours? Look around! And what is thus true of the glorious fruit of the disciples, is also true of the humblest fruit of the humblest Christian. What has been done for God cannot be lost or forgotten. As the Tree upon which the Christian is grafted as a branch is the Tree of Life, so the fruit that he brings forth when nourished by its sap is fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

VI. IN THE GRAPE THERE ARE TWO PARTS, THAT SERVE TWO PURPOSES–there is a fleshy, or succulent part, and there are the seeds embedded in the core, or interior.

1. The fleshy part is for nourishment; the seeds are intended to perpetuate the plant. And so every fruit of the Spirit contains these two parts–holiness and usefulness. Personal holiness is the succulent nourishing portion, delighting God and man; and embedded in it is the seed of usefulness. An earnest desire to extend the blessings of the gospel is an invariable result of their true enjoyment. What the soul has received it would communicate.

2. There are cases in nature in which the fruit swells and becomes, to all appearance, perfect, while no seeds are produced. Seedless oranges and grapes are often met with. And is there not good cause to fear that too much of what is called Christian fruit contains no seed with the embryo spark of life in it, although it may seem fair and perfectly formed? What should go to develop the seed of righteousness for others is diverted to the production of greater self-righteousness and self-indulgence. Many Christians are satisfied with enjoying themselves spiritual blessings which they ought to communicate to others. They are pampered in the selfish use of privileges and means of grace. Moreover, it is necessary that the fruit should have pulp as well as seed; that the perpetuating principle of righteousness should be imbedded in all that is lovely, and amiable, and of good report. The fruits of some Christians are harsh and hard as the wild hips on the hedges–all seed and no luscious pulp. They are zealous in recommending religion to others, while they do not exhibit the amenities of it themselves. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)

Fruit bearing

The wonder of fruit growing. What nature does, men and women and children are to do. Lives are to be fruitful lives. This what those of the apostles were. Results of their labours. The fruit remains. Different kinds of moral and spiritual fruit.

I. THOSE HARMFUL OR USELESS.

1. Crab apples and sour cherries, emblems of crabbed tempers, sour looks, and general disagreeableness. Cross temper. Sour temper. Sharp temper. Spiteful temper. Surly temper. Fretful temper.

2. Poison berries. Fair seeming, but death within. Selfishness. Hatred. Falsehood. Revenge. Hypocrisy. False friendship.

3. Hips and haws. Disorder. Idleness. Procrastination.

II. GOOD FRUITS. Dont grow by accident. Faith the root. Cultivated.

1. Loving obedience and goodness at home.

2. Kindness, brightness, cheerfulness.

3. Prayerfulness.

4. Consecration.

5. Attendance on means of grace.

6. Work for others. Such fruits remain in their effects, influence, and blessedness. Those that he planted in the house of the Lord, etc. (Preachers Monthly.)

Continuance the test of religious profession

1. There are few things which, as we grow older, impress us more deeply than the transitoriness of thoughts and feelings. Places and persons that we once thought we never could forget, as years go on are all but quite forgotten; and so with feelings. And there is no respect in which this is more sadly felt than in the case of pious feelings and holy resolutions. We often think sadly of those whose goodness was like the morning cloud and the early dew. We sometimes fear lest we have been deluding ourselves with the belief that we were better and safer than we ever have been, and mourn for the soul-refreshing views, the earnest purpose, the warm affections, of the days when we first believed in Christ.

2. No doubt, by the make of our being, as we grow older, we grow less capable of emotion. Religion in the soul, after all, is a matter of fixed choice and resolution, of principle rather than of feeling. And yet it remains a great and true principle, that in the matter of Christian faith and feelings, that which lasts longest is best. This, indeed, is true of most things. The worth of anything depends much upon its durability. It is not the gaudy annual we value most, but the stedfast forest tree. The slight triumphal arch, run up in a day, may flout the sober-looking buildings near it; but they remain after it is gone. The fairest profession, the most earnest labours, the most ardent affection for a time, will not suffice. That only is the true fruit of the Spirit, which does not wear out with advancing time. The text hints to us that it is even a harder thing to keep up a consistent Christian profession–year after year, through temptations, through troubles–than to make it, however fairly, at the first.

I. IT IS ONLY BY OUR FRUIT REMAINING THAT WE ARE WARRANTED IN BELIEVING THAT IT IS THE RIGHT FRUIT. The only satisfactory proof, either to ourselves or to others, that our Christian faith, and hope, and charity, are the true fruits of the Spirit is that they last. In religion, the fruit which remains is the only fruit. Anything else is a pretender. Herein is a point of difference between worldly and spiritual things. It would not be just to say that things which wear out have no value. Who shall say that the flower which blooms in the morning and withers before the sunset is not a fair and kind gift of the Creator? Who shall affirm that the summer sunset is not beautiful, though even while we gaze upon it its hues are fading? Who shall deny that there is something precious in the lightsome glee of childhood, even though in a little while that cheerful face is sure to be shadowed by the cares of manhood? Indeed, the beauty and value of many things in this world are increased by the shortness of the time for which they last. But it is not thus with Christian grace. If it be not a grace which will last forever, it is no grace at all. A man may show every appearance of being a true disciple; but if his zeal wanes and expires, if the throne of grace is deserted, the Bible neglected, and the little task of Christian philanthropy abandoned, how much reason there is then to fear lest the man was deceiving himself with a name to live while he was dead–that he was mistaking the transient warmth of mere human emotion for the gracious working of the Holy Spirit of God!

II. FRUIT WHICH REMAINS IS THE ONLY KIND OF CHRISTIAN PROFESSION WHICH WILL RECOMMEND RELIGION TO THOSE WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIANS. Men judge of religion by the conduct and character of its professors. And just as a humble, consistent believer is a letter of recommendation of Christianity to all who know him, just so is the inconsistent believers life a something to make them doubt whether religion be a real thing, and not a mere matter of profession and pretence. No one but God can tell how much harm is done by the Christian who, in his newborn zeal, disdains the quiet faith of old disciples who have long walked consistently, but whose zeal passes like the morning cloud and the early dew. Oh! far better the modest fruit of the Spirit, which makes little show at first, but which remains year after year. Conclusion: The same power which implanted the better life within must keep it alive day by day; the continual working of the Spirit must foster the fruits of the Spirit; and that Spirit is to be had for the asking in fervent, humble prayer. Let us watch against the first symptoms of declension in religion; remember that spiritual decline begins in the closet; guard against that worldly spirit which is always ready to creep over us; seek to walk by faith, and not by sight; be diligent in the use of all the appointed means of grace, and vigilant in guarding against every approach of temptation; and seek to have our loins girt and our lamps burning, as those who do not know how soon or suddenly the Bridegroom may come. (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)

Religious permanence

Think of the Speaker Himself! He is near unto His end. Will He indeed remain? Listen to the angry roar of the multitude, Away with Him! If an artist of that age had been asked to put on fresco the permanent, would he have chosen the Christ? He might have selected the emperor, or Jerusalems marble temple; but he would scarcely have selected the Saviour when He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. But our Lord Himself? Did He not know the secret of permanence? Full well we know His thoughts. I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. The same spiritual permanence He would see in all His professed disciples. Let them but abide in Him, and then the branch would be as the vine I Fruit is to remain

I. IN PRINCIPLE. Religion is founded on the permanence of the moral nature. It lays hold on the eternally right and true within us. Religion without principle is but a Jonahs gourd. There may be beauty in our life, but there must be strength, or the beauty itself will be but the hectic flush of consumption. Think of a divine teacher who had to suit his thesis of virtue to education or country! No! His virtue was Sinai etherealized and glorified, but it was the same virtue. Christ has made morality living and real. His principles will live on in every age. None can displace them until men have denied the conscience within them. His words still are spirit, still are life. Thus, then, if we are Christians, we shall be firm and strong in moral principle. Ours will be no sentimental life.

II. IN INFLUENCE. We are so to live that others may gather fruit from our lives when we are gone. We say Milton lives, and Baxter, and Pascal. True. The lustre of noble words and beautiful deeds lingers on, yea, even brightens with time. But the humblest life also lives on in the future years. The permanent influence is not that of the mere orator, thinker, or theologian. Brilliant epochs do not make lives. It is easy to fulfil special tasks, to enter upon some memorable struggle with all eyes fixed upon us. It is difficult in daily life, amid the distraction of little things, to be faithful, patient, earnest unto the end.

III. IN FEELING. The emotional nature is not to be crushed, or even relegated to an inferior place. No life is beautiful that is a stranger to tenderness or tears. But unless the heart keeps alive affection, all else will suffer; for we were made to love, and our influence will cease if that dies out. Why should emotion be a transient thing, to be apologized for or treated with affected criticism as unmanly? Christ was moved with compassion. Feeling should be permanent. Why not? We need not exhaust it by stimulants, nor mortgage the emotion of tomorrow by drawing upon its exchequer today. Within us all there ought to be a nature which the Divine memories of the gospel always touch with tenderness.

IV. IN ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR. As flowers retire into themselves at eventide, so too often do men and women. There is lassitude or languor not born of physical weakness, but of mental ennui, which too often comes in the evening of life. It is a characteristic of a true Christian faith that it vivifies all eras of life. For there can be no preserved sanctities of service where there is no delight in the dear old ways, no true fountains of joy in God. When men lose interest, you cannot quicken their energy. Appeal will not do it, nor arguments, nor firmness of will. A regiment in which there are grey-headed soldiers is likely to have enduring men in it; and a Christian army in which the veterans do not tire is not only a beautiful spectacle, but constitutes a brave contingent for the war.

V. IMMORTALITY. (W. M. Statham.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 16. Ye have not chosen me] Ye have not elected me as your Teacher: I have called you to be my disciples; witnesses and depositories of the truth. It was customary among the Jews for every person to choose his own teacher.

And ordained you] Rather, I have appointed you: the word is , I have PUT or placed you, i.e. in the vine.

Theodorus Mopsuensis, as quoted by Wetstein, observes that is here used for ; (I have planted;) “and, in saying this, our Lord still makes use of the metaphor of the vine; as if he had said: I have not only planted you, but I have given you the greatest benefits, causing your branches to extend every where through the habitable world.”

The first ministers of the Gospel were the choice of Jesus Christ; no wonder, then, that they were so successful. Those whom men have since sent, without the appointment of God, have done no good. The choice should still continue with God, who, knowing the heart, knows best who is most proper for the Gospel ministry.

To be a genuine preacher of the Gospel, a man must –

1. Be chosen of God to the work.

2. He must be placed in the true vine-united to Christ by faith.

3. He must not think to lead an idle life, but labour.

4. He must not wait till work be brought to him, but he must go and seek it.

5. He must labour so as to bring forth fruit, i.e. to get souls converted to the Lord.

6. He must refer all his fruit to God, who gave him the power to labour, and blessed him in his work.

7. He must take care to water what he has planted, that his fruit may remain – that the souls whom he has gathered in be not scattered from the flock.

8. He must continue instant in prayer, that his labours may be accompanied with the presence and blessing of God – Whatsoever ye shall ASK.

9. He must consider Jesus Christ as the great Mediator between God and man, proclaim his salvation, and pray in his name. – Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, &c. See Quesnel.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Ye have not chosen me to be your Lord, Master, Saviour,

but I have chosen and ordained you; so we have it in our translation; but the Greek is, , I have set you, or placed you in a station. What choosing Christ here speaks of is doubted amongst various divines. Some think that our Saviour here speaks of his choice of them to the apostleship, as Luk 6:13; Joh 6:70; those who thus understand it, understand by going and bringing forth fruit, the apostles going out, preaching, and baptizing all nations, bringing forth fruit amongst the Gentiles. But others understand it of election to eternal life, and the means necessary to it; for our Saviour brings this as an argument of his greatest love: Judas was in the first sense chosen, yet not beloved with any such love: and this seemeth to be favoured by Joh 13:18, I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen: and certain it is, Augustine and others of the ancients from hence proved the freedom of election and special grace. Both senses may be united, for the eleven (to whom Christ was now speaking) were chosen in both senses; they were chosen for this end, to bring forth fruit amongst the Gentiles, turning many to righteousness, and that they might bring forth the fruit of holiness, in obedience to the gospel of Christ. Yea, not only to bring forth fruit, but that they might persevere in bringing forth fruit; and that thus doing, they might have a freedom of access to the throne of grace, and obtain whatsoever they should ask of the Father, in the name, for the merits, and through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. See Poole on “Joh 14:13-14“.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. Ye have not chosen me, but I . .. youa wholesale memento after the lofty things He had justsaid about their mutual indwelling, and the unreservedness of thefriendship they had been admitted to.

ordainedappointed.

you, that ye should go andbring forth fruitthat is, give yourselves to it.

and that your fruit shouldremainshowing itself to be an imperishable and ever growingprinciple. (Compare Pro 4:18;2Jn 1:8).

that whatsoever ye shall ask,&c.(See on Joh 15:7).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,…. Not but that they had made choice of him as their Lord and Master, Saviour and Redeemer; but not first, he was before hand with them; he chose them, before they chose him; so that his choice of them was entirely free, did not arise from any character, motive, or condition in them: the allusion is to a custom of the Jews, the reverse of which Christ acted; with whom it was usual for disciples to choose their own masters, and not masters their disciples: hence that advice of R. Joshuah ben Perachiah, said r to be the master of Jesus of Nazareth,

“br Kl hve s, “make”, provide, or chose “thyself a master”, and get thyself a companion.”

Those words in So 2:16; “my beloved is mine, and I am his”, are thus paraphrased by the Jews t;

“he hath chosen me, and I have chosen him:”

which is not amiss, provided the latter choice is thought to be by virtue, and in consequence of the former; if not, our Lord directly opposes the words and sense. This may be understood both of election to salvation, and of choice to the office of apostleship; in both which Christ was first, or chose them before they chose him, that good part, which shall never be taken away; for as they were chosen in him, so by him, before the foundation of the world; being as early loved by him, as by his Father; and in consequence thereof, were chosen by him, for his people and peculiar treasure; he first chose and called them to be his disciples and apostles, to follow him, preach his Gospel, and become fishers of men; and clothed them with full power and authority to exercise their high office:

and ordained you; which may design either ordination to eternal life, or apostleship, before the world began; as Jeremiah was ordained to be a prophet, before he was born; or else the investiture of them with that office, and with all gifts and graces necessary for the discharge of it; for when he called and sent forth his disciples to preach the Gospel, he is said to “ordain” them, Mr 3:14; and the rather this may be meant here, because the former is designed by his choosing them; or he set them, or planted them in himself, a fruitful soil, that they might shoot up and bear much fruit, as it follows:

that ye should go and bring forth fruit; go first into Judea, and then into all the world; and brings forth the fruits of righteousness and holiness in themselves, and be the happy means of the conversion, and so of bringing in a large harvest of souls to Jesus Christ:

and that your fruit should remain; as it has done; for they not only persevered themselves in faith and holiness, in preaching the Gospel, and living according to it, but the persons whose conversion they were instruments of, continued steadfastly in their doctrine, and in the fellowship of the saints; and the Gospel which was preached by them, has remained, though not always in the same place, yet in the world ever since:

that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. This is added, to encourage their perseverance in the work he chose and called them to, which would be attended with many difficulties and discouragements; wherefore as they would stand in need of divine assistance, they might assure themselves of it; for be it what it would they should ask of his Father, making mention of his name and righteousness; whether for a sufficiency of gifts and grace in the discharge of their duty; or for success in it; or for the confirmation of the truths delivered by them; or for liberty and boldness to speak in vindication of themselves, when called to it before kings and governors, it should be given them.

r Ganz Tzemach David, fol. 24. 2. s Pirke Abot, c. 1. sect. 6. t Zohar in Exod. fol. 9. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

But I chose you (‘ ). First aorist middle indicative of . See this same verb and tense used for the choice of the disciples by Christ (John 6:70; John 13:18; John 15:19). Jesus recognizes his own responsibility in the choice after a night of prayer (Lu 6:13). So Paul was “a vessel of choice” ( , Ac 9:15). Appointed (). First aorist active indicative ( aorist) of . Note three present active subjunctives with (purpose clause) to emphasize continuance (, keep on going, , keep on bearing fruit, , keep on abiding), not a mere spurt, but permanent growth and fruit-bearing.

He may give (). Second aorist active subjunctive of with (purpose clause). Cf. 14:13 for the same purpose and promise, but with (I shall do). See also John 16:23; John 16:26.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Ye – chosen. The pronoun is emphatic : “It was not ye that chose me.”

Ordained [] . Rev., appointed is better, because it divests the word of its conventional meaning. Ordain is from the Latin ordinare, and means to set in order. Thus, Robert of Gloucester’s “Chronicle :” ” He began to ordain his folk, “i e., set his people in order. Hakluyt,” Voyages : “” He ordained a boat made of one tree.” The Greek verb means to set, put, or place. Hence of appointing one to service. See 1Ti 1:12. Wyc., Mt 24:47 : “Upon all his goods he shall ordain him.”

Should go [] . Withdraw from His personal society and go out into the world.

That whatsoever, etc. [] . Coordinated with the preceding ina, that, as marking another result of their choice and appointment by Christ. He has appointed them that they should bring forth fruit, and that they should obtain such answers to their prayer as would make them fruitful.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Ye have not chosen me,” (ouch humeis me ekseieksasthe) “You all have not chosen me,” by or of your own will and accord, as a body of disciples, a church; He chose them, called them from the baptism of John, His forerunner, Isa 40:1-3; Mat 3:1-7; Joh 1:6; Joh 1:32-33; Act 1:22-23; Joh 15:27. This refers not to a predestined personal choosing to salvation, at all, 1Jn 4:10; 1Jn 4:19, but to church service.

2) “But I have chosen you,” (all’ ego ekeleksamen, humas) “But instead, I have chosen you all,” as a body of church-disciples, Mat 4:18-22; Joh 1:35-51; Joh 3:28-29. I have “chosen you all,” as a king selects his officers from among his subjects, 1Co 12:28.

3) “And ordained you,” kai etheka humas) “And I have ordained, appointed or set you in order,” Eph 2:10, as a worship and service body, my church, He had not only ordained the twelve apostles but also sent out 70 other appointed witnesses “two by two into every city and place” He planned to go, Mat 10:1-6; Luk 10:1-12; Mar 3:14; 1Co 12:28.

4) “That ye should go and bring forth fruit,” (hina humeis hupagete kai karpon pherete) “in order that you all should go forth (as my chosen people, the church) and should bear fruit,” winning or enlisting those who accept the message of my salvation, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe what I have taught you and commanded you, as fruitbearers, John 2, 5, 8; Mat 7:17-20, Gal 5:22-23; Gal 5:25.

5) “And that your fruit should remain:”(kai ho karpon humon mene) “And in order that your fruit should remain,” should continue forever, on and on, 2Pe 1:4-11; Heb 13:1.

6) “That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father,” (hina hoti an aitesete ton patera) “in order that whatever you all may ask (petition) the Father,” Joh 15:7 and as directed in the model prayer, Mat 6:9-13.

7) “In my name, he may give it you.” (en to onomati mou do humin) “in my name, he may give or dole it out to you all,” as my chosen people or church-body, Joh 14:13; Joh 16:23-24; Jas 1:5-6.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

16. You have not chosen me. He declares still more clearly that it must not be ascribed to their own merit, but to his grace, that they have arrived at so great an honor; for when he says that he was not chosen by them, it is as if he had said, that whatever they have they did not obtain by their own skill or industry. Men commonly imagine some kind of concurrence to take place between the grace of God and the will of man; but that contrast, I chose you, I was not chosen by you, claims, exclusively, for Christ alone what is usually divided between Christ and man; as if he had said, that a man is not moved of his own accord to seek Christ, until he has been sought by him.

True, the subject now in hand is not the ordinary election of believers, by which they are adopted to be the children of God, but that special election, by which he set apart his disciples to the office of preaching the Gospel. But if it was by free gift, and not by their own merit, that they were chosen to the apostolic office, much more is it certain that the election, by which, from being the children of wrath and an accursed seed, we become the children of God, is of free grace. Besides, in this passage Christ magnifies his grace, by which they had been chosen to be Apostles, so as to join with it that former election by which they had been engrafted into the body of the Church; or rather, he includes in these words all the dignity and honor which he had conferred on them. Yet I acknowledge that Christ treats expressly of the apostleship; for his design is, to excite the disciples to execute their office diligently and faithfully. (85)

He takes, as the ground of his exhortation, the undeserved favor which he had bestowed on them; for the greater our obligations to the Lord, the more earnest ought we to be in performing the duties which he demands from us; otherwise it will be impossible for us to avoid the charge of base ingratitude. Hence it appears that there is nothing which ought more powerfully to kindle in us the desire of a holy and religious life, than when we acknowledge that we owe every thing to God, and that we have nothing that is our own; that both the commencement of our salvation, and all the parts which follow from it, flow from his undeserved mercy. Besides, how true this statement of Christ is, may be clearly perceived from the fact, that Christ chose to be his apostles those who might have been thought to be the most unfit of all for the office; though in their person he intended to preserve an enduring monument of his grace. For, as Paul says, (1Co 2:16,) who among men shall be found fit for discharging the embassy by which God reconciles mankind to himself? Or rather, what mortal is able to represent the person of God? It is Christ alone who makes them fit by his election. Thus Paul ascribes his apostleship to grace, (Rom 1:5,) and again mentions that

he had been separated from his mother’s womb, (Gal 1:15.)

Nay more, since we are altogether useless servants, those who appear to be the most excellent of all will not be fit for the smallest calling, till they have been chosen. Yet the higher the degree of honor to which any one has been raised, let him remember that he is under the deeper obligations to God.

And I have appointed you. The election is hidden till it is actually made known, when a man receives an office to which he had been appointed; as Paul, in the passage which I quoted a little ago, where he says that he had been separated from his mother ’ s womb, adds, that he was created an apostle, because it so pleased God His words are:

When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, (Gal 1:15.)

Thus also the Lord testifies that he knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother ’ s womb, (Jer 1:5,) though he calls him to the prophetical office at the proper and appointed time. It may happen, no doubt, that one who is duly qualified enters into the office of teaching; or rather, it usually happens in the Church that no one is called till he be endued and furnished with the necessary qualifications. That Christ declares himself to be the Author of both is not wonderful; since it is only by him that God acts, and he acts along with the Father. So then, both election and ordination belong equally to both.

That you may go. He now points out the reason why he mentioned his grace. It was, to make them apply more earnestly to the work. The apostleship was not a place of honor without toil, but they had to contend with very great difficulties; and therefore Christ encourages them not to shrink from labors, and annoyances, and dangers. This argument is drawn from the end which they ought to have in view; but Christ reasons from the effect, when he says,

That you may bear fruit; for it is hardly possible that any one would devote himself earnestly and diligently to the work, if he did not expect that the labor would bring some advantage. Christ, therefore, declares that their efforts will not be useless or unsuccessful, provided that they are ready to obey and follow when he calls them. (86) For he not only enjoins on the apostles what their calling involves and demands, but promises to them also prosperity and success, that they may not be cold or indifferent. It is hardly possible to tell how great is the value of this consolation against those numerous temptations which daily befall the ministers of Christ. Whenever, then, we see that we are losing our pains, let us call to remembrance that Christ will, at length, prevent our exertions from being vain or unproductive; for the chief accomplishment of this promise is at the very time when there is no appearance of fruit. Scorners, and those whom the world looks upon as wise men, ridicule our attempts as foolish, and tell us that it is in vain for us to attempt to mingle heaven and earth; because the fruit does not yet correspond to our wishes. But since Christ, on the contrary, has promised that the happy result, though concealed for a time, will follow, let us labor diligently in the discharge of our duty amidst the mockeries of the world.

And that your fruit may abide. A question now arises, why does Christ say that this fruit will be perpetual? As the doctrine of the Gospel obtains souls to Christ for eternal salvation, many think that this is the perpetuity of the fruit But I extend the statement much farther, as meaning that the Church will last to the very end of the world; for the labor of the apostles yields fruit even in the present day, and our preaching is not for a single age only, but will enlarge the Church, so that new fruit will be seen to spring up after our death.

When he says, your fruit, he speaks as if it had been obtained by their own industry, though Paul teaches that they who plant or water are nothing, (1Co 3:7.) And, indeed, the formation of the Church is so excellent a work of God, that the glory of it ought not to be ascribed to men. But as the Lord displays his power by the agency of men, that they may not labor in vain, he is wont to transfer to them even that which belongs peculiarly to himself. Yet let us remember that, when he so graciously commends his disciples, it is to encourage, and not to puff them up.

That your Father may give you all that you ask in my name. This clause was not added abruptly, as many might suppose; for, since the office of teaching far exceeds the power of men, there are added to it innumerable attacks of Satan, which never could be warded off but by the power of God. That the apostles may not be discouraged, Christ meets them with the most valuable aid; as if he had said, “If the work assigned to you be so great that you are unable to fulfill the duties of your office, my Father will not forsake you; for I have appointed you to be ministers of the Gospel on this condition, that my Father will have his hand stretched out to assist you, whenever you pray to him, in my name, to grant you assistance.” And, indeed, that the greater part of teachers either languish through indolence, or utterly give way through despair, arises from nothing else than that they are sluggish in the duty of prayer.

This promise of Christ, therefore, arouses us to call upon God; for whoever acknowledges that the success of his work depends on God alone, will offer his labor to him with fear and trembling. On the other hand, if any one, relying on his own industry, disregard the assistance of God, he will either throw away his spear and shield, when he comes to the trial, or he will be busily employed, but without any advantage. Now, we must here guard against two faults, pride and distrust; for, as the assistance of God is fearlessly disregarded by those who think that the matter is already in their own power, so many yield to difficulties, because they do not consider that they fight through the power and protection of God, under whose banner they go forth to war.

(85) “ Diligemment et fidelement.”

(86) “ A obeir et suyvre ou il les appellcra.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.Comp. Luk. 6:12 et seq., and in this Gospel Joh. 6:70; Joh. 13:18. The thought of His love for them, which had exalted them from the position of slaves to friends, from fishermen to Apostles, is made to remind them again (Joh. 15:17) of the duty of love to each other. In Joh. 15:20 he reminds them of the words which accompanied His own act of humility in washing their feet (Joh. 13:15-16). The chiefest Apostle owed all to His gift and election, and should be ready to sacrifice all for his brethren, as He Himself was.

And ordained you.The word ordained has acquired a special sense in modern English which is here misleading, and it will be better, therefore, to read appointed.

That ye should go and bring forth fruit.Comp. Mat. 13:44; Mat. 18:15; Mat. 19:21, for the idea of going away and doing something. It implies here the activity of the Apostles as distinct from that of Christ. Each one as a branch ever joined to Christ was to grow away from Him in the development of his own work, and was to bring forth his own fruit. The margin compares Mat. 28:19, probably, with the thought of their fulfilling the Apostles missionary work. This view has been commonly adopted, but it gives to the word go a fulness of meaning which is scarcely warranted.

And that your fruit should remain.Comp. Note on Joh. 4:36; and see 2Jn. 1:8, and Rev. 14:13.

That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father.Comp. Notes on Joh. 15:7-8.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. Ye have not chosen me Students of the law among the Jews select their own masters and teachers; but not so have you selected me from among many others.

I have chosen you It is I who have chosen and raised you to the rank of friends, and not you me. I have ordained, and given you official position, in order to your production of permanent fruit, and in order to your attaining the privilege of the answer of prayer, in my name, from the Father.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give it to you”.

Not only are they His friends, but His chosen friends. He has chosen them and He wants them to be conscious of the fact and to be thrilled by it. If they love Him they will now carry out what He wants them to do, will go and bear fruit, fruit that will be lasting, the fruit of godly lives. This must include the fruit of men and women turning to Christ and becoming in their turn God-like, but the main stress is on the living of a godly and Christ-like life. If more Christians were God-like more unbelievers would respond. In His own ministry Jesus was able to point to the life that He lived, as well as the signs that he did and the words that He spoke. His testimony was effective because of the purity of that life, and all that He did sprang from that purity. Indeed without it the remainder would have been invalid.

The fruit of faithful lives and the fruit of winning others go together. Both are the fruit of God, and the one will help to produce the other. If at any time they quail at the task they must recognise that this is what He has chosen them for, and called them to do. They have been appointed, and therefore they can be sure that whatever they need in the task ahead will be given, because they are His representatives. They can therefore ask for resources to carry out His purpose, and be sure of a reply.

The emphasis that He has chosen them both stresses their privilege and exhorts them to humility. Disciples of Rabbis were disciples by their own choice. But these are His disciples because He himself called them and commanded them to follow. They cannot congratulate themselves on their wisdom, but must humbly acknowledge their gratitude, while recognising the tremendous privilege that is theirs.

‘That whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give it to you”. The ‘that’ (hina) points back to the fact of their being chosen. It is because they are His chosen ones, and acting as His chosen ones, that this promise can be made. It is not an open-ended offer to all Christians.

We are reminded here again that His words in their primary meaning are to these men whom He has chosen and appointed. When we have the same dedication and commitment as the disciples, we can apply the words, with some discrimination, to ourselves.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Joh 15:16. Ye have not chosen me, “You have not, as principals in this affair, adopted me as your associate; but I, the great author of the gospel, have adopted you as my associates, to share with me in the honour and happiness of giving a new dispensation of grace to the world. For I have ordained you my apostles, that you should go out into the world, fraught with the doctrines of salvation; by the preaching of which you shall produce a general reformation and renovation, both in the opinions, hearts, and manners of the heathens, greatly to the glory of God, inasmuch as the Christian religion, thus planted by you, shall remain to all ages. Further, I have clothed you with the dignity of my apostles, that whatsoever miracle you shall ask of my Father, or whatsoever petition you shall put up in my name, for the confirmation of your doctrine, or for the success of it, the consideration of your character, and the end for which you ask it, may induce him to grant it.” See on Joh 15:7. What our Lord says, that He ordained them, that they should go and bring forth fruit, was a security to them, that they should be preserved from immediate danger, and that their life should be guarded by his providence, till very important services had been accomplished by their means. When he adds, that your fruit should remain, he may allude, agreeably to the preceding parable, to the custom of keeping rich and generous wines a great many years; so that, in some cases, (which was especially applicable to the sweet eastern wines,) they might prove a cordial to those, who were unborn when the grapes were produced. In this view, there is a beautiful propriety in the representation, which we hope will be particularly felt by those who are truly zealous for the salvation of immortal souls, when these reviving chapters are r

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Joh 15:16 . Along with this dignity, however, of being Jesus’ friends, they were not to forget their dependence on Him, and their destiny therewith appointed.

] as Master as disciples, which is understood of itself from the historical relation, and is also to be gathered from the word chosen (Joh 6:70 , Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:2 ). Each of them was a of Christ (Act 9:15 ); in each the initiative of this peculiar relation lay not on his but on Christ’s side. Hence not to be taken merely in a general sense of the selection for the fellowship of love (Euth. Zigabenus, Luther, and several others, including Luthardt, Lange).

] have appointed you , as my disciples , consequence of the . The “ dotation spirituelle ” (Godet) goes beyond the meaning of the word, although it was historically connected with it (Mar 3:14-15 ). Comp. on , instituere, appoint (not merely destine , as Ebrard thinks), 1Co 12:28 ; 1Ti 1:12 ; 2Ti 1:11 ; Heb 1:2 ; Act 20:28 , et al. ; Hom. Od . xv. 253, Il . vi. 300; Dem. 322. 11, et al. The rendering of Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, is incorrect: I have planted you (Xen. Occ . xix. 7, 9). The figure of the vine has in truth been dropped, and finds only an echo in the , which, however, must not be extended to , since the disciples appear not as planted, but as branches , which have grown and remain on the vine. Quite arbitrarily, Bengel and Olshausen see here a new figure of a fruit-tree .

.] that you on your side may go away , etc., is by Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euth. Zigabenus, in consequence of their interpretation of , erroneously explained by . Nor does it merely denote “ independent and vital action” (De Wette, Lcke, Baumgarten-Crusius, Luthardt, Godet; comp. Luther: “that you sit not still without fruit or work”), or “ continual movement ” (Hengstenberg), with which sufficient justice is not done to the peculiarity of this point, which, in truth, belonged in the most proper sense to the disciples’ calling. According to Ebrard, it is said to be simply an auxiliary verb, like ire with the supine. It signifies rather the execution of the , in which they were to go away into all the world, etc. Comp. Luk 10:3 ; Mat 28:19 .

] comp. Joh 4:36 . The results of their ministry are not again to decline and be brought to naught, but are to be continuous and enduring even into the .

The second is co-ordinated with the first. See on Joh 15:7-8 . It is in truth precisely the granting of prayer here designated which brings about the fruit and its duration in all given cases. Comp. the prayers of Paul, as in Col 1:9 ff.; Eph 3:14 ff.

. .] See on Joh 14:13 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1697
THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION EXPLAINED

Joh 15:16. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

IT is of great importance to have a just view of the doctrines contained in Scripture. There are many passages which at first sight appear to contradict each other; but they are all true and consistent when properly explained. The assertions respecting the freedom of our will, and our proneness to apostasy, are true, and necessary to excite us to care and watchfulness: nor are those that respect our election of God, and our assured perseverance in his ways, less true, or less conducive to our spiritual welfare. They have a strong tendency to produce in us humility and a dependence on God. All these passages therefore ought to be insisted on in their season. That which now demands our attention is a part of our Lords farewell address to his Disciples. It naturally leads us to consider,

I.

The doctrine of election

This being frequently misrepresented, it will be proper to state what we mean by the doctrine of election
[It imports, that that we have not chosen God. No man by nature does choose him. The carnal mind is enmity against him [Note: Rom 8:7.], and prefers the vanities of time and sense before him: nor is any man ever brought to choose him without having discovered much reluctance, and been overcome by the constraining influence of Divine grace [Note: Psa 110:3.]. It imports, moreover, that God has chosen us. He from eternity chose some to life. This choice of his was free and sovereign, without any respect whatever to works either done, or to be done, by us. In due time, God manifests his election, by sending his grace into our hearts: nor does any man differ from another, but in consequence of grace thus derived from God [Note: 1Co 4:7.]. Hence every saint on earth or in heaven must say, By the grace of God I am what I am [Note: 1Co 15:10.].]

The doctrine thus stated is capable of the fullest proof,

1.

From reason

[God is a Being of infinite perfection. But he could not be independent if the accomplishment of his purposes depended on our free-will; nor omniscient, if he did not know how we should act; nor immutable, because his knowledge must increase with a succession of events [Note: It is not sufficient to say that He foresees every thing, though he has not fore-ordained it; for if things be uncertain, they cannot be foreseen; and if they be certain, they cannot but be fore-ordained, since the certain operation of every distinct cause must be traced up to the first great Cause of all.]. Again, It is ordained, that man shall never have whereof to boast before God [Note: Rom 3:27. 1Co 1:31.]. But if the doctrine of election be not true, man may boast that he has made himself to differ [Note: Contrary to 1Co 4:7. before quoted.]. Again, Jesus Christ must have a seed to serve him. But if none are elected of God, it may happen that none will choose God; and thus Christ may have shed his blood in vain.]

2.

From Scripture

[In the Old Testament we find that God had a peculiar people, and that some from among them were chosen by him to particular stations [Note: Levi to the priesthood, David to the throne, &c.]. Nor can any argument be brought against Gods election of men to eternal life, which will not be equally valid against the right he has confessedly exercised in choosing them to the enjoyment of the means of grace. In the New Testament, we are plainly told that some of the Jews were chosen to special and saving mercies [Note: Rom 11:5; Rom 11:7.]: they were called in time, in consequence of having been predestinated from eternity [Note: Rom 8:30]. God had no respect to any works of theirs, either done by them, or foreseen by him; but simply to his own eternal purpose [Note: 2Ti 1:9.]. St. Paul not only argues this point at large, but, conceiving that he has fully established it, he lays it down as an incontrovertible truth, that the salvation of every man is entirely owing to the grace and mercy of God [Note: Rom 9:16.].]

3.

From experience

[Whence is it that so small a part of the world is evangelized? or that the persons who, according to human appearance, are least likely to receive the Gospel, are still, as in the early ages, the first to embrace it? Whence is it too that all the godly, not excepting even those who are most prejudiced against the word Election, are yet ready to ascribe their own salvation to the unmerited grace of God? These things strongly corroborate the testimonies of reason and Scripture; and though there are difficulties attending this doctrine, yet are there much greater difficulties attending the denial of it. And since God has affirmed it to be true, we should say to all objectors, Who art thou that repliest against God [Note: Rom 9:20.]?]

The principal objection against this doctrine will be obviated, if we consider,

II.

The ends to which we are elected

There is no reason to think this doctrine injurious to morality. Indeed there is no other doctrine that secures morality on so firm a basis

1.

We are chosen expressly to good works

[Our Lord might refer in part to the labours of his Disciples, and to their consequent success in them. But he certainly had a further view also to the fruits of righteousness which they should bring forth. In this sense his words are applicable to all believers. God has ordained holiness as the way to heaven [Note: Heb 12:14. Eph 2:10. Rom 8:29.] and has appointed the means no less than the end [Note: 1Pe 1:2. Eph 1:4.] yea, he has decreed the end to be obtained only in and by the means [Note: 2Th 2:13.] Hence the performance of good works is secured by that same decree which secures the salvation of Gods elect.]

2.

We are chosen also to persevere in them

[God does not leave us at liberty to return to sin: on the contrary, he will have no pleasure in those who do [Note: Heb 10:38.]. He will regard all the righteousness which they have wrought as though it had never been [Note: Eze 18:24.]: and their latter end will be worse than their beginning [Note: 2Pe 2:20-21.]. But against such apostasy God will secure his own elect. He has given them a new heart, that they may fear him for ever [Note: Jer 32:39.]. He has promised, that their path shall be steadfast [Note: Job 17:9.], and progressive [Note: Pro 4:18.]. And every saint may indulge a humble confidence that it will be so [Note: Php 1:6.].]

Address
1.

Those who object to this doctrine

[For argument sake, we will give up the doctrine, and allow the first choice to arise from ourselves. Have ye then chosen Christ? Have ye chosen him as your almighty Saviour and your rightful Lord? If you think you have, consider how much is implied in such a choice. If you acknowledge you have not, out of your own mouth shall ye be judged.]

2.

Those who doubt their own election

[You are too apt to perplex yourselves with unprofitable inquiries. You should rather examine whether ye have been called. It is by your vocation that you are to know your election [Note: 1Th 1:4-5.]. Keep your evidences of conversion clear, and they will be indisputable proofs that you have been chosen to life.]

3.

Those who have good reason to hope that they have been elected of God

[Never can you sufficiently admire the goodness of God to you. Well may you say, Why was I taken, while so many better than myself were left? But at the same time remember to what ye are chosen. Never attempt to separate the end from the means. If ye have this hope, ye are bound to purify yourselves, even as God is pure [Note: 1Jn 3:3.].]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Ver. 16. And ordained you, that you should go, &c. ] Not that ye should lord it over your brethren (as the pope ordained his caterpillars), and get up the best of the land for your private use and pleasure. The pope, when he maketh his cardinals, useth these words, Estote confratres nostri, et principes mundi. You shall be our brothers and leaders in the world. The archbishopric of Toledo is said to be worth a hundred thousand pounds a year: a greater revenue than some kings have.

That whatsoever ye shall ask, &c. ] Bernard in his Meditations giveth various rules of strictness, of purging the heart, of being faithful and fruitful, et cum talis fueris (saith he) memento mei, intimating, that then they might have what they would of God, for themselves or others, that were so qualified.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

16. ] See 1Jn 4:10 ; 1Jn 4:19 . Further proof of His love, in his choosing His, when they had not chosen Him.

] appointed: see Act 13:47 ; 1Th 5:9 , and reff. Euth., Chrys., Thl. explain it , in the parabolic sense. But the parable seems to be no further returned to than in the allusion implied in . ‘ Ordained ,’ in E. V., is objectionable, as conveying a wrong idea.

. . . . ] . probably merely expresses (see ref. and Mat 18:15 ; Mat 19:21 , and , Luk 8:14 ) the activity of living and developing principle; not the missionary journeys of the Apostles (Grot., Lampe, Meyer). The is not the Church, to be founded by the Apostles, and endure; this is evident, for here the fruit is spoken of with reference to themselves , and their ripening into the full stature of Christ. Much of their fruit will be necessarily the winning of others to Christ: but that is not the prominent idea here.

] See 2Jn 1:8 ; Rev 14:13 .

] This is parallel with the former one, not the result of it; the two, the bringing forth of fruit and the obtaining answer to prayer, being co-ordinate with each other; but ( Joh 15:7-8 ) the bearing fruit to God’s glory is of these the greater, being the result and aim of the other.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 15:16 . . This is added to encourage them in taking up and prosecuting the work of Jesus. Euthymius says it is ; but it is more. They are invited to depend on His will, not on their own. They had not discovered Him, and attached themselves to Him, as likely to suit their purposes. “It is not ye who chose me.” But “I chose you,” as a king selects his officers, to fulfil my purposes. , “and I set (or, appointed) you,” cf. 1Co 12:28 , Act 20:28 , etc., see Concordance. The purpose of the appointment is , “that you may go away” from me on your various missions, and thus (resuming the original figure of the vine and branches) , may bear fruit in my stead, and supplied by my life. Or to express this purpose in a manner which reveals the source of their power to bear fruit, , see Joh 15:7 , and Joh 14:13 .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

y e have not, &c. = Not that ye chose Me, &c. Figure of speech Antimetabole. App-6. Thus reversing the custom of the Jews for the disciple to choose his own master. See Dr. John Lightfoot, Works, vol. iii. p. 175.

have chosen = chose.

ordained = placed. Greek. tithemi, as in Joh 15:13. Compare 1Ti 1:12; 1Ti 2:7. 2Ti 1:11. Heb 1:2.

go = go forth.

ask of = ask, as in Joh 15:7.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

16.] See 1Jn 4:10; 1Jn 4:19. Further proof of His love, in his choosing His, when they had not chosen Him.

] appointed: see Act 13:47; 1Th 5:9, and reff. Euth., Chrys., Thl. explain it , in the parabolic sense. But the parable seems to be no further returned to than in the allusion implied in . Ordained, in E. V., is objectionable, as conveying a wrong idea.

. . . .] . probably merely expresses (see ref. and Mat 18:15; Mat 19:21, and , Luk 8:14) the activity of living and developing principle; not the missionary journeys of the Apostles (Grot., Lampe, Meyer). The is not the Church, to be founded by the Apostles, and endure;-this is evident, for here the fruit is spoken of with reference to themselves, and their ripening into the full stature of Christ. Much of their fruit will be necessarily the winning of others to Christ: but that is not the prominent idea here.

] See 2Jn 1:8; Rev 14:13.

] This is parallel with the former one, not the result of it; the two, the bringing forth of fruit and the obtaining answer to prayer, being co-ordinate with each other; but (Joh 15:7-8) the bearing fruit to Gods glory is of these the greater, being the result and aim of the other.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 15:16. , I have appointed [Engl. Vers. ordained]) Castellio elegantly renders it: destinavi, I have marked out, or assigned you your place, expressing (keeping up) the allegory concerning trees [placed down in their appointed spot].-, ye may go your way) So , 2Sa 3:1, said of progress, not in reference to place, but to time and degree.- your,-, to you) It is for you that the seed is sown, for you that the harvest is reaped.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 15:16

Joh 15:16

Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you,-Jesus had chosen the apostles to be his witnesses, and to this end he had made known to them the will of God and commissioned them to teach all things he had taught them. [A wholesome memento after the lofty things he had just said about their mutual indwelling, and the unreservedness of the friendship to which they had been admitted. The initiative of their present relationship was with him. They were still under the highest obligations to him. He had set them apart to the apostolate.]

that ye should go and bear fruit,-[The purpose for which they were set apart. The great object of the apostleship, as of all Christian activity, is to garner fruit for heaven.]

and that your fruit should abide:-His choosing them brought them into a closer relationship to him; he taught them more fully and they were enabled to bear much more fruit as his friends, and in doing his will he again assures them that the Father will hear them.

that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.-[That is, in all that appertains to the accomplishment of the work given into their hands.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

have not: Joh 15:19, Joh 6:70, Joh 13:18, Luk 6:13, Act 1:24, Act 9:15, Act 10:41, Act 22:14, Rom 9:11-16, Rom 9:21, 1Jo 4:10, 1Jo 4:19

ordained: Joh 20:21-23, Joh 21:15-17, Isa 49:1-3, Jer 1:5-7, Mat 28:18, Mat 28:19, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16, Luk 24:47-49, Act 1:8, Rom 1:5, Rom 15:15, Rom 15:16, 1Co 9:16-18, Gal 1:15, Eph 2:10, Col 1:23, 1Ti 2:7, 2Ti 1:11, 2Ti 2:2, Tit 1:5

bring: Joh 15:8, Pro 11:30, Isa 27:6, Isa 55:10-13, Mic 5:7, Rom 1:13, Rom 15:16-19, 1Co 3:6, 1Co 3:7, Col 1:6, Jam 3:18

that your: Gen 18:18, Psa 71:18, Psa 78:4-6, Psa 145:4, Zec 1:4-6, Act 20:25-28, Rom 15:4, 1Co 10:11, 2Ti 3:15-17, Heb 11:4, 1Pe 1:14-21, 1Pe 3:2, 1Pe 3:15

that whatsoever: Joh 15:7, Joh 14:13, Joh 14:14, Joh 16:23, Joh 16:24, Mat 21:22

Reciprocal: Gen 45:8 – it was not Exo 28:34 – General Num 16:5 – even him Deu 10:8 – time the Lord 1Sa 12:22 – it hath 1Ki 2:20 – Ask on 1Ki 3:5 – Ask what Psa 4:3 – the Lord Psa 33:12 – people Psa 37:4 – and Psa 75:7 – he putteth Psa 105:6 – his chosen Psa 106:5 – may see Psa 106:23 – his chosen Psa 145:19 – fulfil Pro 12:12 – the root Son 6:11 – the garden Eze 16:61 – but not Mat 7:7 – and it Mat 13:23 – beareth Mat 18:19 – That if Mar 3:14 – he ordained Luk 11:9 – Ask Luk 13:6 – and he came Luk 20:10 – sent Joh 9:31 – and doeth Joh 15:2 – may Act 4:31 – spake Act 15:7 – God Rom 6:22 – ye have Rom 16:13 – chosen 1Co 1:1 – through Gal 5:22 – the fruit Eph 1:4 – that Eph 5:20 – in Phi 1:11 – filled Phi 4:17 – fruit Col 1:10 – fruitful Tit 3:14 – that 1Pe 1:2 – Elect Rev 17:14 – and they

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

6

See the comments on the preceding verse as to the special need for information to be given the apostles. The English word ordain occurs a number of times in the New Testament, and does not always have the same meaning. Much confusion has existed in the religious world over this word, and most of it is due to the erroneous principles taught by Rome, and brought over into the so-called Protestant groups by their teachers. It will be helpful to give the reader a complete view of this word as it comes from the various Greek originals. It will not be quoted in full again, hence he should make note of its location for ready reference. The following table gives all the words in the Greek New Testament that are rendered “ordain” in Authorized Version, together with the references where they are found, followed by the definitions according to Thayer.

DIATASSO. 1Co 7:17; 1Co 9:14; Gal 3:19. “To arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order.” KATHIS-TEMI. Tit 1:5; Heb 5:1; Heb 8:3. “To set, place, put; to appoint one to administer an office; to set down as, constitute, to declare, show to be.” KATASKEUAZO. Heb 9:6. “To furnish, equip, prepare, make ready; to construct, erect; adorning and equipping with all things necessary.” KRINO. Act 16:4. “To determine, resolve, decree.” HORIZO. Act 10:42; Act 17:31. “To ordain, determine, appoint.” POIEO. Mar 3:14. “To (make i. e.) constitute or appoint one anything.” PRO-ORIZO. 1Co 2:7. “To predetermine, decide beforehand.” TASSO, Act 13:48; Rom 13:1. “To place in a certain order, to arrange, to assign a place, to appoint.” TITHEMI. Joh 15:16; 1Ti 2:7. “To set, put, place.” CHEIROTONEO. Act 14:23. “To vote by stretching out the hand; to elect, appoint, create.” PROGRAPHO. Jud 1:4. “To write before.” PROETOI-MAZO. Eph 2:10. “To prepare before, to make ready beforehand.” GINOMAI. Act 1:22. “To become, i. e., to come into existence.” The reader should note that most of these Greek words have been translated also by other words in the New Testament, but I have given only the places where they have been rendered “ordain.” The latter part of the verse is explained at verse 7.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

[Ye have not chosen me.] For it was a custom amongst the Jews that the disciple should choose to himself his own master. “Joshua Ben Perachiah said, ‘Choose to thyself a master; and get a colleague.’ ”

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Joh 15:16. Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go away and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide. But He had not taught them merely to fill their minds with knowledge. He had heard from the Father that He might do. They hear that they may do also. As the Father, having taught, had sent Him, so He, having taught, sends them. He had chosen thema choice having here nothing to do with eternal predestination, but only with choosing them out of the world after they were in it. He had appointed them, had put them into the position which they were to occupy on their post of duty. The manner in which their post is described is important. It is by the word go away, the word so often used of Jesus Himself in this part of the Gospel. They were to go away; that is, they had a departure to make as well as He. This can be nothing else but their going out into the world to take His place, to produce fruit to the glory of the Father, and to return with that fruit to their Fathers house. How manifest is it that here again we have to do with the fruits of active Christian labour, not of private Christian life!

That whatsoever ye ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. This is the culminating-point of the climax, taking us to the thought of that intimacy of communion with the Father which secures the answer to all our prayers, and the supply of all our needs.

Three times now have we met in this discourse the promise just given, and the attentive reader will easily perceive the interesting gradation in the circumstances in which those to whom it is successively given are supposed to be. At Joh 14:12-13, they are viewed simply as believers; at Joh 15:7, they abide in Christ, and His sayings abide in them; now they have gone away, and have borne abiding fruit. To each stage of Christian living and working the same promise in words belongs, but the fulness included in the words is dependent in each case on the amount of need to be supplied. It may be questioned how we are to understand the second that of this verse, whether as co-ordinate to the first that, and so, like it, dependent on I have chosen you, or as expressing a consequence of their bringing forth abiding fruit in their work of Christian love. The latter is undoubtedly to be preferred. Jesus chooses out His disciples for work first, for correspondingly higher privilege afterwards; and those who faithfully bear fruit are here assured that in this sphere of fruit-bearing with all its difficulties, and temptations, and trials, they shall want nothing to impart courage, boldness, hope, to make them overcome the world, as He Himself overcame it.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Here our Saviour gives another instance and evidence of his love to his disciples; he tells them, that his mercy and free goodness had prevented them in their election to eternal salvation, and in their vocation unto the office of apostleship: Ye have not chosen me, to be your Master and Lord, but I have chosen you, to be my disciples, friends, and servants.

2. He acquaints them with the end, design, and intention, of his chusing of them; namely, that they should bring forth fruit, and persevere therein, even in all the fruits of holiness and obedience, which are the praise and glory of God by Jesus Christ: I have ordained you, that you should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

3. He directs them, that in order to their being fruitful, they should have access to the Father through him for whatsoever they wanted and stood in need of: Whatever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Learn hence, That all those whom God hath chosen, and called to the knowledge and service of Jesus Christ, ought to make it their care and endeavour to bring forth fruit, and to persevere therein to their lives end: I have chosen you, that you should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Ver. 16. You have not chosen me; but I have chosen you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that, whatsoever you may ask the Father in my name, he may give it you.

The very origin of the relation thus formed between them depends only on Him. Jesus has the consciousness of the greatness of the proof of love which He has given them by associating them of His own impulse in that work which constitutes the highest activity of which man can be judged worthy. By the term: I have chosen you, He alludes, as in Joh 6:70 and Joh 13:18, to the solemn act of their election to the apostleship, related in Luk 6:12 ff. The word , have appointed, designates their gradual installation into this office, as well as their spiritual education, for which He had labored with so much perseverance.

The expression , that you should go, refers to their apostolic mission in the world, and sets forth the relative independence which they will enjoy as they take His place in this task.

The fruit designates here, more specially than in Joh 15:2, the communication to other men of the spiritual life which they themselves possess. This fruit does not perish, as that of earthly labor does: it remains.

The second , in order that, cannot be dependent on the first, as Hengstenberg, Luthardt and Keil would have it, as if Jesus meant that they would go and bear fruit in order that, being thus in communion with the Father, they might be heard by Him. This thought is unnatural. The second in order that is simply co-ordinate with the preceding, as in Joh 13:34; comp. as to the substance and form, the two clauses dependent on , Joh 14:12-13. Jesus reminds them that the very efficacy of their labor will be due to the revelation which He has given them of His person and the prayer which will result from it, the prayer in His name. Thus, through their dependence on the verb: I have appointed you, these words mean: And you are now, through my name which you know, in the glorious position of gaining for yourselves directly from the Father whatsoever you will have to ask from Him. All this as the fruit of the free initiative of His love towards them.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

15:16 {5} Ye {c} have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

(5) Christ is the author and preserver of the ministry of the gospel, even to the end of the world, but the ministers have above all things need of prayer and brotherly love.

(c) These words plainly teach us that our salvation comes only from the favour and gracious goodness of the everlasting God towards us, and of nothing that we do or can deserve.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Again Jesus stressed that the initiative in the relationship between Him and His disciples lay with Himself, not them (cf. Joh 1:39; Joh 1:42-43; Joh 6:70; Joh 10:27). He probably did this because of their tendency to think too highly of themselves and since in their culture it was common for disciples to choose their rabbi. Even today students love to seek out the teacher of their choice and attach themselves to him or her.

He had chosen them to be His friends, but He had also appointed them to a specific task. They had a job to do as His servants, a mission to fulfill. Part of His purpose for them was that they bear fruit and that their fruit would have lasting effects. Evidently the fruit of their missionary outreach was particularly in Jesus’ mind since He linked going with bearing fruit. In this case new converts are the fruits in view (cf. Joh 20:21).

Asking the Father in prayer in Jesus’ name was necessary for fruit-bearing to happen. Jesus linked prayer and fruit-bearing in a cause and effect relationship. Prayer plays an essential role in the believer’s fruitfulness (cf. Jas 4:2).

The NIV translation is misleading. It implies that answers to prayer will be the disciples’ reward for effective fruit-bearing. In the Greek text there are two purpose clauses each introduced by hina: "that you should go and bear fruit," and "that whatever you ask the Father . . . He may give you." These purposes are coordinate, but logically praying precedes fruit-bearing (cf. Joh 14:12-14; Joh 15:7-8).

"Five characteristics of genuine love are detailed in Joh 15:13-16. True love is sacrificial; it is demonstrated in obedience in Christ; it always communicates truth; it takes the initiative in meeting the legitimate needs of others; and it will always bear fruit with abiding results." [Note: Bailey, p. 186.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)