John 6:44
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day."
What does this mean? Does it mean God is pulling ALL the strings?
John is saying that Jesus taught them that as followers of Christ they aren't just stumbling into the unknown universe and happening upon these universal truths. He's saying that the Creator has a plan, and he's keeping humanity's freewill on a short leash.
John 15:16
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
Jesus is talking about producing a faith of lasting persevering value. Faith, fruitful works, sharing the good news, transforming lives. The word abide here means to endure which carries with it a predictive nature of possible consequences for adopting this lifestyle. It infers a cost to discipleship. Jesus wants permanence from his followers, and he makes himself ultimately responsible for their complete conversion to his kingdom purposes.
The Greek word “abide” (menō) carries this sense of enduring, a sticking it out connotation. There is this predictive edge, this cost baked into it. Jesus isn’t just painting a rosy picture here; he’s laying out a mission with staying power that’s going to demand something more from his followers. It's inevitable that they will face danger for his sake. He's told them this before. He demands faith that doesn't just glare up and fade later. It's not experiential. It's not performative in the sense that one can play at it. It's productive. One must produce faith.
I said Jesus is, “ultimately responsible”, for their conversion to his purposes because it ties back to “I chose you and appointed you”—he’s the initiator, the sustainer (that vine connection in 15:4-5), but he’s asking them to lean in, to endure with him. It’s almost like he’s saying, “I’ve got you, but you’ve got to keep showing up.”
He’s not after temporary hype; he wants his followers to have impact that holds up under pressure, time, and even persecution (which, let’s be real, he hints at plenty in John 15-16). The cost of discipleship—like pruning the vine (15:2) or facing the world’s hatred (15:18-19)—is right there, and “abide” implies sticking with it despite the heat.
Okay, so we're zeroing in now...
John 15:16:
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit..."
The word "appointed" here comes from the Greek ethēka, from tithēmi, which means to place, set, or establish something imperative—think of it like being intentionally positioned in a place or vocation for a divine purpose. Jesus is saying he’s the one who picked the disciples (not the other way around) and set them up for something specific: to "go and bear fruit." That "go" part—hypagēte in Greek—implies an active participation, like he’s sending them out on a mission. They're on a mission from God. Think Blues Brothers if you must.
What's the purpose of the trip?
“Bearing fruit”, in John’s vine imagery (15:1-8), fruit seems to be the natural outcome of staying connected to Jesus by persevering. Through faith, obedience, love, good deeds, and spreading his message. So, “appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” could mean Jesus has deliberately placed them in that role of taking what they’ve received from him...his teaching, his life...picking up that cross and carrying it outward, producing something lasting and visible. It’s not passive; it’s purposeful, and directional. He’s saying, "I’ve set you up to move forward with my work, to make an impact." It’s tied to their identity as his chosen ones, and that "go" echoes his commands like the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), though John keeps it less explicit.
What's the point from humanity's perspective? Are we just dancing on divine strings?
From our human perspective it can feel like we're caught between God's predetermined script and our own steps. We're not truly free to act of our own accord but we're held responsible for our actions.
Clearly God initiated everything. He literally created all things through The Word. And if he has set the stage, chose the players, and is directing the plot, where is humanities stake in it all?
Is it maybe more of an invitation than a predestination? An invitation to act, to move on, to go and be what we must be? But predetermined in that we must abide in him, sticking with him, no matter the cost.
Think about this:
That, "that you should go" (hypagēte) feels like a call to step up, not a forced march. Jesus has picked them, showed them the door and now he's telling them to walk through it while abiding in him. The predestined anchor is the abiding commandment. It's not like they're windup toys, but they are faithful to whatever he asks of them or places in front of them. And the byproduct of that faithfulness is he is faithful to abide to their asks. That faithfulness isn't blind obedience, it's an active trust. It's probably a sacrifice of freedom this is true, but its stepping into whatever he has appointed for them. The reciprocal nature of this relationship seems to suggest that because they are abiding in him, "in my name", he abides in them. They are assured a response from The Father when their faithfulness is aligned with his will. Their faithfulness triggers his faithfulness which really started with his faithfulness.
Did you follow?
"Their faithfulness triggers his faithfulness which really started with his faithfulness."
It's a chain reaction with Jesus as the starter.
"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you..."
He starts and sustains it all from the beginning to the end.
Jesus' Role As Creator And Savior:
He picks the fruit bearers, prunes the branches, and produces the promises. It's the original divine initiative. From the beginning. It's the light entering into the void. And because his disciples are in sync with him, abiding with him, he gives them his word to hear their prayers and act upon them. It's not an outcomes-based approach, it's a promise to be heard and a promise to be fulfilled in the way God intended all along. It's a seamless thread. A living promise. It's like Genesis 1 meets John 15. The Creators light breaks into the darkness and his chosen disciples are the light of the world filling the dark void.
So, we’ve just woven John 15 into the grand tapestry of the creation and God's mission purpose.
Nice!
Starting with John 1:4-5—"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Jesus is that primal light, piercing the primordial void. Then he spins it in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world." But here’s the twist—he doesn’t keep it solo. In Matthew 5:14, he tells his disciples, "You are the light of the world." He breaks in as the Creator’s light, chooses them (John 15:16), and appoints them to carry that light—filling the dark void with their fruit, which is their abiding faith.
WHOA!
Back to John 15:16—"I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit"—They’re not the source, but they’re mirroring Christ-like reflectors, extending his light into the world’s corners. That "light of the world" role ties to my earlier thoughts—faithfulness, enduring, transforming lives—all spilling out as they abide in him. And the promise of answered prayer (15:16) fuels it, keeping them lit.
This predestined image feels like a bridge from creation’s dawn to the disciples’ mission: God's light invades, the disciples are chosen to shine, and the darkness gets pushed back. It's the power and glory of the divine initiative. It's the meaning of life. And all the glory goes to God.
As a final reflection on a lighter note:
It's all very heavy and beautiful stuff, and it's got me reflecting upon a song.
From The Beginning, by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
"From the Beginning" by Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) has this haunting, and reflective vibe that in my mind right now is totally in sync with this cosmic and personal thread I've been unraveling in John 15:16.
The song, from their 1972 album Trilogy, is Greg Lake’s mellow masterpiece—those acoustic strums, that dreamy feel, and lyrics that wrestle with choice, fate, and what could’ve been really resonates with me right now. Lines like "There might have been things I missed / But don’t be unkind / It don’t mean I’m blind" feels like they could echo the disciples’ human side in John—chosen yet almost stumbling into this divine dance. Then there’s "You see it’s all clear / You were meant to be here / From the beginning"—it’s got that predestined-but-invited tension I've been chewing on. Jesus picking them “"from the beginning" (15:16), appointing them to bear fruit, yet calling them to step into it willingly.
The song’s mood is intimate, and a little melancholic. It mirrors the weight of abiding in him "no matter the cost". And that trippy Moog solo at the end? It’s almost like the Holy Spirit is swirling above and through the void, tying back to "the Creator’s light breaking into the darkness."
ELP’s whole progressive rock thing—blending the grand and the personal—feels like a soundtrack to this idea of disciples as "light of the world," carrying his spark into the chaos.
Wow...far out man!