This week's gospel lesson gives us a portion of the "true vine" unit, usually understood to include John 15:1-17. The theme of Jesus as the true vine, with his Father as the gardener, continues through verse 4, when two alternatives are then placed before the listener. Verses 5-6 expand on these choices, one positive, one negative. The lectionary verses read today (vv.9-17) are part of the next unit of this chapter where only the positives are developed.

Fundamentally, the first half of this chapter is about love: the love of God for Jesus, the love of Jesus for his disciples and the love of the disciples for Jesus. Verse 9 declares that there is no distinguishing difference between the love of the Father for the Son and that which the Son has for his chosen disciples. But even though this…