You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, a fruit that will last; so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in the name of me — the disciples' election flows from Jesus' sovereign choice, not from their merit or initiative. The choice of disciples by the rabbi is itself remarkable; the disciples of John and Jesus usually came to seek out the teacher. Jesus reverses this: he chose them before they could choose him, establishing that grace is prior to all human response. The appointment (tithēmi—place, set) to bear lasting fruit gives the disciples their vocation and meaning. Their prayer, grounded in this election and mission, will be heard by the Father.

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