You Can Do Nothing

On the night after Jesus’ final meal with His twelve disciples, known as “the last supper,” He made this daunting statement, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). He reiterates it again in the same discourse, saying, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:12). That’s twice He told them to love each other in the same way that He loved them. And it wasn’t a suggestion, it was a commandment.

If you think about it, it seems impossible on a couple of levels. First, can we, as fallible human beings, ever love as perfectly as Jesus? More about that in a moment. Second, can we love people that we may not even like? If we’re tempted to apply this commandment only to a select few people we believe to be true disciples of Christ, Jesus closed that loophole in his Sermon on the Mount when He said, “…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Add to that Paul’s outline of what love looks like and you have a standard for which we seem destined to fail. “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

So why the seemingly impossible commandment? The key lies in Jesus’ words immediately preceding it. In fact, the one thing He said that we should all be able to agree on is “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). His illustration leading up to this commandment is one of a vine with branches that bear fruit. He describes Himself as the vine and His followers as the branches. Love is the fruit produced on the branch if, and only if, that branch is connected to the vine.

This is an illustration most people can easily understand. Any branch not connected to a vine or a tree cannot produce anything. It simply withers and dies. A branch draws all of its life from the thing to which it is connected. In fact, a branch doesn’t need to work at producing fruit. It is a natural, unstoppable byproduct of being connected. An orange tree doesn’t struggle to produce oranges when the branches are properly connected to the trunk. A grapevine automatically produces grapes when the branches are connected to a healthy vine. The trunk or vine provides everything the branch needs to thrive.

As people, we tend to focus on fruit production. We think I’m supposed to love, so I’m going to focus on loving more. Or I need more patience, so I’m going to try my hardest to be patient. Certainly, that awareness is a good thing, but how we go about it determines whether we succeed or fail. Usually, we focus on the wrong end of our branch – the fruit. That’s why loving others in the same way that Jesus loves us seems impossible. If left to our own capability, we will inevitably fail.

“Abide in Me, and I in you,” Jesus said. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4). To abide is to remain, to not depart, to continually be present. The noun form of the word is an abode, which we would call a home. It is where you live.

Jesus was telling His followers to live every moment in His presence. Immediately after laying out this commandment, He told them that His departure would be a benefit since He would send the Holy Spirit who is omnipresent. Jesus called the Holy Spirit “the Helper,” which is apropos, given our need for assistance. Living with the awareness that the Holy Spirit is present with us and in us at every second of every day wherever we may be is the essence of kingdom living. This connectedness is what enables us to love in a way that we never could on our own. It is how we manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the outward virtues that mark a follower of Christ who is living in a right relationship with Him.

Trying to exhibit these things is exhausting when you attempt to do it in your own strength. Even the most forceful willpower eventually falters. The effort it takes can lead to burnout and misery. And the fruit it produces is typically artificial. Fake fruit looks good from a distance, but anyone who’s actually tasted it will tell you that it’s unsatisfying.

However, the fruit effortlessly produced by a branch that draws its very life from the vine is sweet and nourishing. Those who taste it will likely know that you could never produce such a thing on your own, which in many ways is the point. And yet there is a significant benefit for the branch that functions in this way. It produces a joy that the world cannot take away. Others may reject the fruit of this branch, but it does not affect the joy. Even in the most difficult times, when the connection to the vine is tested, the joy remains when the connection holds. Jesus said it Himself. “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).

In a way, you could just consider your own happiness (real happiness, not the kind that simply seeks fleeting pleasure). Live each moment with the awareness of His presence. Read the words He has given us in scripture. Pray and listen. Stay connected to the vine. When you are continuously oriented in His direction, the virtues will follow. You won’t have to struggle to produce the fruit. He will make it miraculously appear.