How the theme develops
- New birth and eternal life are gifts from above.
- Disciples receive cleansing before washing one another's feet.
- Branches abide in Christ before bearing fruit.
- The forgiven and Spirit-given community is sent.
- Restored Peter tends sheep who remain Christ's own.
Key passages
- John 3:3-18
- John 6:35-40
- John 13:1-17,34-35
- John 15:1-17
- John 20:21-23
- John 21:15-19
What it reveals about Jesus
Jesus gives life coram Deo and shapes loving vocation coram mundo without confusing justification and sanctification.
Old Testament background
Genesis 15:6; the servant vocation of Isaiah; Ezekiel 36
Confessional Lutheran reflection
Justification is God's gift received by faith alone; sanctified life follows as the fruit, never the cause, of that saving relation.