JOHN 15:1-3 1"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear
fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it
may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean
because of the word which I have spoken to you.
What does Jesus' statement, "I am the true vine"
(John 15:1) imply?
There are also false vine
s.
What is a "vinedresser" (John 15:1)?
Vinedresser is the person who "dresses" or takes care of the vine
for optimal fruit production.
What does the "fruit" (John 15:2) represent?
It represents the nine traits mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23:
"But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." In addition and
especially in light of the audience to whom
Jesus is speaking, it represents the people who will hear the Gospel through
them and also become Christians:
"You know the household of
Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia." (1 Corinthians 16:15)
Who is the "branch" (John 15:2)?
Jesus specifies them as
"in Me" (John 15:2) that are
"already
clean" (John 15:3) and
refers to them as
"You"
(John 15:2) while speaking to the 11 true disciples, so
"branch"
refer to His disciple.
What does it mean to "prune" (John 15:2)?
Pruning a branch involves ripping out any diseased parts, getting rid
of bugs and even cutting away seemingly healthy but unwanted shoots so that
the branch can grow stronger in the direction that the vinedresser desires.
From the branch's perspective, being pruned can be uncomfortable, if not
painful, and at times also appear to make no sense. But
"every
branch" (John 15:2) should trust that the vinedresser knows what He is doing
and be grateful for His care and attention. The time for concern is when the
vinedresser stops pruning, as that means either the branch is perfect, or
more often the case, the vinedresser is about to
"take away"
that branch because it
"does not bear fruit." (John 15:2)
JOHN 15:4-8 4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless
it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me,
he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw
them into the fire, and they are burned. 7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My
Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
What do disciples of Jesus have to do to "bear fruit" (John 15:4) for God?
"Abide" (John 15:2) in Jesus, the Word of God.
What can they do without this abiding?
"Nothing." (John 15:5)
But don't some branches today grow even without abiding in the
Word of God?
Yes, but they are not on the
"true vine" and their
fruits are neither of or for God.
Is Jesus saying in John 15:6 that if His disciples don’t
abide in Him, they will burn in hell?
No, the context of this verse is Jesus telling his 11 remaining disciples
(Judas had already left) - whom He knows to be true disciples who are truly
saved - about
bearing much fruit for Him; Jesus isn't talking to a group that includes the
unsaved. If any of His disciples
don't abide in Him, that disciple will be cast out
"as a branch" (John 15:6) - in
other words, "as a disciple" - and
"is withered" (John 15:2),
which means to dry up.
Then what does the "fire" (John 15:6) represent?
Had Jesus been speaking to a crowd that included the unsaved, this fire
could have been the fire of hell. But given the context and the audience
Jesus is addressing - saved disciples - this fire is the one that they are then thrown into,
along with
"wood, hay, straw" (1 Corinthians 3:12) mentioned in
1 Corinthians 3:9-15, which clearly
states about salvation,
"If anyone’s work is burned, he
will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire".
How is the "Father... glorified" (John 15:8)?
By His
"disciples" bearing
"much fruit". (John 15:8)
Who gets the credit for the fruit?
The vinedresser (God the Father) and the vine (Jesus). The branches are just
tubes through which the fruit-forming nutrients (Holy Spirit) flows.
All that the branch really has to do is to stay on the vine.
JOHN 15:9-13 9
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 If you keep My commandments, you will
abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide
in His love. 11 “These things I have
spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be
full. 12 This is My commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. 13
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his
friends.
How do we abide in Jesus’ "love" (John 15:9)?
By keeping His
"commandments." (John 15:9)
How important is it to keep His commandments?
If it weren't imperative, Jesus wouldn't have kept emphasizing it.
What are Jesus' commandments?
Jesus indicates one of them in John 15:12 (notice the change from plural to
singular), which is to
"love one another" as He has
loved us. He indicates both of them earlier in response
to a testing question from a lawyer:
"Then one of them, a
lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is
the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the
LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang
all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40)
What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for
his friends." (John 15:13)
Did Jesus walk His talk?
Yes, He laid down His life for us.
Do you walk your talk?
Think about the people to whom you've said, “I love you”. Do you love them
enough to die for them?
JOHN 15:14-17 14 You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you. 15 No longer do
I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is
doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from
My Father I have made known to you. 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 remain, that whatever you
ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17
These things I command you, that you love one another.
When did Jesus call them "servants" (John 15:15)?
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant
will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."
(John 12:26)
"Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master;
nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him." (John 13:16)
Why did Jesus elevate them to “friends” (John 15:15)?
He wanted them to know - understand - Him:
"A servant does not know what his master is doing." (John 15:5)
How had Jesus trained them to become His friends?
"All things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you"
(John 15:15) by both word and action.
What must they do to remain His friends?
"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you." (John 15:14)
And why did Jesus elevate them now?
Their training completed, they would soon be to sent off on a mission, so He
was commissioning them.
JOHN 15:18-21 18
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world
would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose
you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you,
‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they
will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours
also. 21 But all these things they will
do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
What is Jesus doing in this passage?
He's warning them about and explaining the
obstacles their mission will encounter. They will be
"hated"
(John 15:18) and
"persecuted" (John 15:20) but such hatred and persecution is logical since they
already hated and persecuted Jesus, whose message they will carry, and a
sinful world will hate those who are no
longer
("I chose you out of the world") "its own".
(John 15:19)
Were they really hated and persecuted as such?
All but one of the 11 ended up killed for their faith, as was Paul, who became a
disciple later and listed as highlights of his ministry,
"From the
Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten
with rods; once I was stoned." (2 Corinthians 11:24-25) The
"stripes" refer five whippings, each of 39 lashes from leather whips.
Are things any different today?
More Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years than in the
previous 1900 years combined, and the trend is accelerating. In China alone,
over 110 million members of the underground house churches continue to face harassment, imprisonment, torture and death
for their faith in Jesus.
JOHN 15:22-27 22 If I had not come and spoken to them,
they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the
works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have
seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25
But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in
their law, They hated Me without a cause.’ 26
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
27 And you also will bear witness,
because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Why would people have no sin if Jesus hadn’t come and spoken to them
and done His works?
They wouldn't have know how sinful they had become. John 1:5 refers to Jesus
coming into the world as
"the light shines in the darkness". Imagine
a bunch of people in a dark room wearing dirty clothes that they think are
clean, until someone switches on the light. Until the
light shines, they could claim ignorance of their dirty condition and even
remain in them. But once the light has shined,
"they have no excuse
for their sin." (John 15:22)
Who is Jesus referring to as "the Helper" and the "Spirit
of truth" in John 15:26?
Holy Spirit
Of whom will He testify?
"He will testify of Me" (John 15:2). This is an important point to keep in mind when
deciphering if something is the work of the Holy Spirit or the evil spirit. Holy
Spirit will testify not of Jesus, which means He
certainly won't do anything that contradicts Jesus, whom John 1:1 calls the Word
of God.