In an hour that is so filled with darkness and despair, it is so like our Lord to be the antithesis of this gloom. Judas, a chosen one, has betrayed Him, no longer abiding, and Jesus knows in a few short hours will commit suicide, but He could not help him any further than Judas was willing to open his heart to His Love. If Christ really loved him, and we know He did, how His heart must have ached for him, unable to retrieve him from Satan's sway now solidly over him. Compare Jesus' earlier actions of purging Judas from among the group to the one Paul encourages to be purged from the Church in Corinth. Notice that this current teaching by Jesus immediately follows Judas' dismissal by Jesus.

All we will say at this point is, one should be careful not to draw hasty conclusions concerning others' eternal condition, as many do with Judas. It may surprise us on that Day who may, or may not, be present. Those who will allow Him, He will love. He never forces His way into anyone's heart. Peter will deny Him, and the rest will scatter into the night (except John), but His love for them does not depend upon their actions, but His nature (know this for your own confidence, freedom, and joy in Him). God is Love!

So, it is fitting in His final moments with them that He pour out His heart to them. Though for now they do not comprehend, seen in their recent bickering over their individual positions in His Kingdom, however, in time, they will come to understand and embrace this crucial Lesson of Love (as seen in their lives and writings). ( I Pe.5:5, I John)

Jesus turns now to contrast their love for each other, given from the Father, to the way the world will treat them in His absence. They are not to be discouraged, nor mourn the loss of the world's love; a greater love, comfort, and assurance will come to them, in which there can be no comparison. And when it comes, they will know that He was The True Vine descended from the Father, to whom they are now eternally attached, obeying His commands, abiding in His love, bearing fruit for the Father's Glory, just as did His Son!