John 15:1–17

On the journey to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus teaches his disciples critical truths about how to serve and follow him
in the years (and millennia) to come (Coleman, 1735).

The True Vine

1 “I AM THE TRUE VINE, AND MY FATHER IS THE VINEGROWER.

In this verse, Christ gives his seventh and final great “I Am.” The force of his words was, “You all know how Israel is pictured as a vine that is meant to produce refreshing fruit. Well, I am the fulfillment of all that symbol suggests.” Christ is the vine (the trunk), we are the branches, and God the Father is the gardener. True believers are organically related to Christ, and the Father walks among the vines, lovingly caring for them so they will bring forth fruit (Hughes, 352).

2 HE REMOVES EVERY BRANCH IN ME THAT BEARS NO FRUIT. EVERY BRANCH THAT BEARS FRUIT HE PRUNES TO MAKE IT BEAR MORE FRUIT.

REMOVES … PRUNES. A gardener cuts off dead branches that do not contribute to the plant and trims small branches so that when they grow back they might be stronger (Coleman, 1735). You prune to help the plant to be its true self (Wright, 69). If you’ve ever done any gardening, how does horticulture illuminate the spiritual life?

HE REMOVES. We would rather prune things ourselves, but we cannot, and even if we could, we would not remove what really has to go. The truth is, what is noble and attractive in us has come from the cutting we would have avoided (Hughes, 355). How do you see this truth play out in your own life?

God’s hand is never closer than when he prunes the vine. During those times of severest cutting when, to us, he may seem to have departed, he is the closest. His pruning may pain us, but it will never harm us. When the gardener does his pruning well, he leaves little more than the vine. Similarly, the more we are pruned, the more of Christ there is in our lives! (Hughes, 355-356) How have you experienced God’s “pruning” as God’s nearness and blessing? How can it be true that the more we are pruned, the more of Christ we have?

BEARING FRUIT is the identifying mark of a true believer. Some claim to be in the vine, but the absence of fruit disqualifies them (Hughes, 352). If the fruit of the Holy Spirit are not present in our lives (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,” Gal 5:22–23), we must face the fact that we may not be true believers (Hughes, 353). How do most Christians assess their devotion? Why is Gal 5:22-23 a good way to assess spiritual health?

MAKE IT BEAR MORE FRUIT. The Father’s pruning removes those habits, activities, and attitudes that hinder us from being productive. In some cases God may strip from us those items we think are necessities in order to make us aware of our dependency on him (Redford, 266). If you are aware of it, what do you sense God stripping from you so that you can grow?

3 YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN CLEANSED BY THE WORD THAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU. 4 ABIDE IN ME AS I ABIDE IN YOU. JUST AS THE BRANCH CANNOT BEAR FRUIT BY ITSELF UNLESS IT ABIDES IN THE VINE, NEITHER CAN YOU UNLESS YOU ABIDE IN ME.

BEAR FRUIT. Just as Jesus’s fruitfulness was dependent on his doing the Father’s will, so the disciples’ are dependent on holding on to Jesus’s teaching (Coleman, 1735).

5 I AM THE VINE, YOU ARE THE BRANCHES. THOSE WHO ABIDE IN ME AND I IN THEM BEAR MUCH FRUIT, BECAUSE APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING.

ABIDE IN ME. The word “abide/remain,” a key word in John’s theology, is menō which occurs 11 times in this chapter, 40 times in the entire Gospel, and 27 times in John’s epistles. What does it mean to remain? It can mean, first, to accept Jesus as Savior (cf. 6:54, 56). Second, it can mean to continue or persevere in believing (8:31 [“hold” is remain]; 1 John 2:19, 24). Third, it can also mean believing, loving obedience (John 15:9–10) (Blum, 325).

However much God’s love for us is gracious and undeserved, continued enjoyment of that love turns, at least in part, on our response to it (Carson, 520). How do you hold God’s action and your own action in tension? What is God’s work, and what are you responsible for?

6 WHOEVER DOES NOT ABIDE IN ME IS THROWN AWAY LIKE A BRANCH AND WITHERS; SUCH BRANCHES ARE GATHERED, THROWN INTO THE FIRE, AND BURNED.

How do you respond to this imagery?

Bearing Fruit is Dependent on Abiding in Christ

7 IF YOU ABIDE IN ME, AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, ASK FOR WHATEVER YOU WISH, AND IT WILL BE DONE FOR YOU.

ASK FOR WHATEVER YOU WISH. Here, the promise is in the context of spiritual fruitfulness (Coleman, 1736). How does Jesus’ promise encourage?

8 MY FATHER IS GLORIFIED BY THIS, THAT YOU BEAR MUCH FRUIT AND BECOME MY DISCIPLES.

CONSIDER (VV. 1–8): How does this metaphor explain the Christian life?

Many Christians pray that God will make them more fruitful, but they do not enjoy the pruning process that follows (Wiersbe, 356)! What do you tell yourself when you are about to face a challenge or discipline?

9 AS THE FATHER HAS LOVED ME, SO I HAVE LOVED YOU; ABIDE IN MY LOVE.

Jesus affirms that the love he has for the disciples is the same that his Father has for him (Newman, 478). How have you experienced God's love in your life and felt it flowing through you?

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.

Obedience to the commands of Christ is the means whereby the disciples remain in his love (Newman, 485). How does obedience and love fit together?

Jesus’ Desire for the Joy of the Disciples

11 I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU SO THAT MY JOY MAY BE IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE.

How can we tell when we are “abiding in Christ”? Is there a special feeling? No, but there are special evidences that appear and they are unmistakably clear. For one thing, when you are abiding in Christ, you produce fruit (John 15:2). You experience the Father’s “pruning” so that you will bear more fruit (John 15:2). The believer who is abiding in Christ has his prayers answered (John 15:7) and experiences a deepening love for Christ and for other believers (John 15:9, 12–13). He also experiences joy (John 15:11) (Wiersbe, 355). Have you experienced this joy before?

Bearing Fruit Means Loving One Another

12 “THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.

By an unbreakable chain, love for God is tied to and verified by love for other believers (Carson, 521). Christians grow by caring for and nurturing each other. The standard for that love is Christ’s example of humble sacrificial service: as I have loved you (Blum, 326). If you were to assess your recent behavior, how loving have you been towards others? How does your love of God influence your love of others?

13 NO ONE HAS GREATER LOVE THAN THIS, TO LAY DOWN ONE’S LIFE FOR ONE’S FRIENDS.

Sacrifice is essential to genuine friendship and love (Hughes, 361). Do you agree or disagree with Jesus’ saying? Have you found any greater display of love?

14 YOU ARE MY FRIENDS IF YOU DO WHAT I COMMAND YOU.

MY FRIENDS. The main ideals of friendship in ancient literature included loyalty (sometimes to the death), equality and mutual sharing of all possessions, and an intimacy in which a friend could share everything in confidence (Keener, Jn 15:14–15).

This describes the “inner circle” around a king or emperor. (In John 3:29, it refers to the “best man” at a wedding.) The “friends of the king” would be close to him and know his secrets, but they would also be subject to him and have to obey his commands. There is thus no conflict between being a friend and being a servant (Wiersbe, 357). What other characters in the Bible were called God’s friend and servant?

I COMMAND YOU. How is it possible for Jesus to command us to love one another? Can true love be commanded? Christian love is not a “feeling”; it is an act of the will. The proof of our love is not in our feelings but in our actions, even to the extent of laying down our lives for Christ and for one another (1 John 3:16). Jesus laid down His life for both His friends and His enemies! While the emotions are certainly involved, real Christian love is an act of the will. It means treating others the way God treats us (Wiersbe, 357-358).

15 I DO NOT CALL YOU SERVANTS ANY LONGER, BECAUSE THE SERVANT DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE MASTER IS DOING; BUT I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS, BECAUSE I HAVE MADE KNOWN TO YOU EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE HEARD FROM MY FATHER.

Slaves are simply told what to do, while friends are informed of their master’s thinking, enjoy his confidence and learn to obey with a sense of privilege and with full understanding of his heart (Carson, 523).

16 YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME BUT I CHOSE YOU. AND I APPOINTED YOU TO GO AND BEAR FRUIT, FRUIT THAT WILL LAST, SO THAT THE FATHER WILL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU ASK HIM IN MY NAME.

How does it feel to know that God chose you to be his friend?

17 I AM GIVING YOU THESE COMMANDS SO THAT YOU MAY LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

How can Christians get better at loving one another?

Works Cited

Blum, Edwin A. “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.

Coleman, Lyman. Life Connections Study Bible. Nashville: Holman Bibles, 2019.

Hughes, R. Kent. John: That You May Believe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

Newman, Barclay Moon and Eugene Albert Nida. A Handbook on the Gospel of John, UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies, 1993.

Redford, Doug. The Life and Ministry of Jesus: The Gospels. Vol. 1. Cincinnati, OH: Standard Pub., 2007.

Tom Wright. John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004.

Warren W. Wiersbe. The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996.