By Judy Laredo
The Gospel of John Chapter 15:1-17.
But before we begin there, I want to do a quick overview of what we’ve heard in these studies so far.
Jesus and the disciples are still in the upper room. The Passover meal is over, and Jesus has washed His disciples’ feet. He predicts and reveals His betrayer and says to Judas Iscariot, “what you do, do quickly” (John 13:27). Jesus tells His disciples He’s leaving them, but tells them the Father will send them another Helper,
the Holy Spirit who will be with them forever.
A couple weeks ago, Nicole ended her study with John 14:31 where Jesus says to His disciples, “. . .Arise, let us go from here.” But there’s still a lot of teaching going on. Jesus had much to say to His disciples and they still had much to learn before Jesus would leave them and go to the Father. In fact, it isn’t until John 18:1 that Jesus finally left the upper room “…with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden,
which He and His disciples entered.”
Ok, now, we’ve arrived at John 15:1-17. InWarren Wiersbe’scommentary, he titled this section in John 15, “Branches and Friends.” He said, “These two pictures of the believer—branches and friends—reveal both our privileges and our responsibilities. As BRANCHES, we have the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding. As FRIENDS, we have the privilege of knowing His will and the responsibility of obeying.”
So let's, read the first part of this section together starting in John chapter 15 verses 1–11:
V1 I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. V2 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. V3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. V4 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. V5 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. V6 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. V7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. V8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. V9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. V10 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. V11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
BRANCHES: The Privilege and Responsibility to Abide
V1"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser:Notice the words "I am.” Many bible scholars have pointed out that this is the seventh and last of the “I AM” statements by Jesus, recorded in the gospel of John.
The “I AM” Statements of Jesus in the Book of John are:
- “I AM The Bread of Life” - John 6:35
- “I AM The Light of the World” - John 8:12
- “I AM The Door of the Sheep” - John 10:7
- “I AM The Good Shepherd” - John 10:11
- “I AM The Resurrection and the Life” - John 11:25
- “I AM The Way, The Truth and The Life” - John 14:6
- “I AM The True Vine” - John 15:1
If you study these statements, you’ll see that Jesus is boldly proclaiming His Deity. "I AM" is the Self-Existent One; the Eternal One; YAH; The LORD.
In the Old Testament, when it speaks of a vine or vineyard, it’s usually being used as a picture or a symbol of the Nation of Israel. Back in those days, there were grapevines and vineyards everywhere in Israel. Some commentators noted that even in Herod's temple, there was a very large grapevine carved into the temple wall and overlaid with gold. It is said to have been massive.
But notice, when the vine or vineyard is used to speak of Israel, it usually describes the failure of the Nation to bear good fruit. JEREMIAH 2:21 (NIV) “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?" Here, in John 15, Jesus boldly declares “I Am the true vine.” The disciples knew that the grapevine represented Israel. Israel was God’s grapevine. You had to be attached to Israel to be saved. But now, Jesus is having them look to Him, not to Israel, but to Jesus, as the “true vine.” Jesus is declaring, as the “true vine,” He is the One who brings forth good fruit unlike the nation of Israel.
The word, “Vinedresser” in the Greek is Georgos, which means gardener, farmer, or tiller of the ground, or Husbandman. Normally, these are not names we use to refer to God.
For the Oasis Ladies Home Fellowship, we are currently going through a devotional book called, “100 Names of God,” and the name “Georgos” (gardener) is mentioned as one of the names of God. I wanted to share with you how the devo pointed out, the garden imagery contained in the bible and how scripture portrays God as the Divine Gardener. That’s what Jesus called Him, “the vinedresser,” with good reason.
“Human history began in a garden. God placed Adam in the garden and walked with him in the cool of the day.
Adam was instructed to tend and keep the garden but, when sin entered the world, the garden was ruined, and access to the garden was lost. But that didn't stop the Divine Gardener. God farmed. In a sense, He sowed seed. He planted and watered, He mended and tended, and He carefully and patiently grew a nation. He pruned and fertilized, He replanted and transplanted, and He even uprooted and shored up. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus overcame and defeated Satan. And it’s from a garden tomb that Jesus rose victoriously over death.” And the Divine Gardener's work continues today in us as we learn to abide as His branches in the vine.
V2"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:God the Father, “the vinedresser,” is the One who takes care of the vineyard.
He watches over it, He prunes it, He supports it, He protects and nourishes it.
You all have seen a fruitful tree, right? It’s a tree loaded with beautiful fruit. That’s what we need to look like.
Fruitful. So, when we abide in Christ, what’s the fruit? GALATIANS 5:22-23 says, 22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control...”
Not only that, Wiersbe also stated that, “We bear fruit when we win others to Christ”
Romans 1:13 says, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.”
“We bear fruit when we are a part of the harvest”
John 4:35-36says,
35
"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the
harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the
fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 "And he
who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal
life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
“And as we grow in holiness and obedience, we are bearing fruit.”
Romans 6:22says,
“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of
God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end,
everlasting life.”
Have you ever seen a freshly pruned tree? A tree that has been freshly pruned may not even have a single leaf left on it, let alone fruit! Have you ever looked at a pruned tree and thought, that tree looks dead? They need to chop that thing down. Now, how many of us have thought that about another brother or sister in Christ, who may have just been pruned by the Lord? I hate to admit it, but I have! It never occurred to me to think that maybe that person was just pruned by the Lord. The Lord pruned them even though they were bearing fruit. But He pruned them so that they would bear even more fruit. And that’s what He wants for us. He wants us to bear more fruit.
Notice, in verse 2 it says of the branch “that it bears fruit. ” Then it says of the branch “that it bears more fruit. ” Then in verse 5 and verse 8 it says of the branch “that it bears much fruit. ” Therefore, as we abide in the Lord and in His word, the more fruitful we’ll become. He does the work in us. We just need to abide.
As Wiersbe said, “we have the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding.”
V3"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you:Again, Jesus said to them, “You are already clean because of the word…” As we abide in Jesus, and we read, pray, and obey the word of God,
there is a supernatural cleansing being done in us. We’re being washed, cleansed, and pruned by the word of God. In his commentary, David Guzik wrote, “The word of God is a cleansing agent. It condemns sin, it inspires holiness, it promotes growth, and it reveals power for victory. Jesus continues to wash His people through the word.” Ephesians 5:26 “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”
Back in chapter 13, Diane Barstow taught about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. If you missed her study, you could read it at ccwomen2women.com in the “At The Feet of Jesus” series.
There is an initial cleansing, and a continuing cleansing. The initial cleansing: when we receive Jesus (repent of our sins) and believe in our hearts (His death and resurrection), we become children of God. Romans 10:9-10 (NASB20) 9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” That is the initial cleansing.
The continuing cleansing: confessing our sins daily. When we sin, and we will, we need to confess our sins to the Lord as soon as we become aware of it. It’s the 1 John 1:9 promise! 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
The Scofield commentary writes, “The underlying imagery is of a man returning from the public baths to his house. His feet would contract defilement and require cleansing, but not his body. So the believer is cleansed as before the law from all sin "once for all" (Hebrews 10:1-12) but needs ever to bring his daily sins to the Father in confession, that he may abide in unbroken fellowship with the Father and with the Son (1 John 1:1-10). Christ cannot have communion with a defiled saint, but He can and will cleanse him.”
V4 "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”: A branch is useless, and cannot bear fruit, if it is separated from the vine.
It is good for burning but not for building. Jesus, as “the true vine,” is the center and source of the Christian life. Apart from Him, we can do nothing that bears fruit.
The Greek word for "abide" is Meno. It means to remain, to stay, dwell, tarry, to endure. It also indicates perseverance. The word, “abide” is used ten times in this section of John 15. Ten times in 6 verses. Three times in verse four alone. So, what does it mean to “abide?” It is to live in Christ or remain in Him. Abiding in Jesus is a privileged position of all true believers. Warren Wiersbe said, “It means to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit .”
V5 "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”: Listening toDavid Guzik’sbible study on abiding, he said another way to say verse 5 is,
“without abiding in Jesus, we can be busy and do a lot of activity but do nothing that lasts for eternity.” In other words, we need to be careful that our service unto the Lord doesn’t become routine or mechanical. We’re just being busy, trusting in the process or the momentum instead of waiting and relying upon the Lord. Fruitless.
V6"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”: F. B. Meyer said, “service to God and man is possible only through an abiding union in Him. Let us yield ourselves to be pruned by the Word, that we may not need the pruning of awful sorrows.”
In the upper room, there were two kinds of people. Those who were abiding in Jesus, and one who wasn’t. The ones who were abiding in the vine bore fruit. The one who wasn’t abiding, did not bear fruit. Judas Iscariot, who left the room by this time, seemed to be visibly attached to “the vine.” I’m sure he spoke Christianese. There was no fruit, no life. Judas was not attached to “the vine.” He was spiritually dead. Hebrews 6:8says , “but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.”
Now, the other disciples didn’t know that Judas was not a true follower of the Lord. After Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, He said in, John 13:21 “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” As Beverly shared in her teaching, the disciples looked at one another, wondering who it was. In Matthew 26:22 the disciples were saying, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” and in Luke 22:23 “Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.” So, to the disciples, Judas appeared to be just like them. He looked like all the other branches in the room. But he was cut off. Luke 6:43-44 43 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 "For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.”
Now, Jesus didn’t say if anyone does not bear fruit, he is cast out. Jesus said “If anyone does not abide in Me”
he is cast out. We are not to worry about the fruit. If you’re abiding in Jesus, the fruit will come. Let our passion, our obsession, be about abiding in Christ. He’s the One that causes fruit to grow. Not us. He’s the One that causes us, our character, to become more like Him. As mentioned earlier, Jesus is the center and our source of life. In John 14:6 , Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
V7a "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”: Wiersbe said, “Abiding in Christ demands worship, meditation on God’s word, prayer, sacrifice, and service.” In her bible, Diane Barstow said (in a nutshell),
we need to read the word, speak the word, pray the word, and obey the word. And His word will abide in you.
V7b“. . .you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you”:Remember, context. We haven’t left the upper room yet. In John 14, Jesus said in verses 12-14, " 12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” When Jesus departed, the work of God was far from over. Diane Caston shared a few weeks ago that, “the greater works that will be done, would still be His works, carried out by His disciples with the Holy Spirit working in and through them.” She also mentioned that the greater works are in number, not sensationalism. Greater works because He has a few more fruit-filled, Spirit-led disciples running around.
When we pray, we’re asking the Lord for His will to be done. For His purposes, for His glory, for our good,
and the good of the church.
V8"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples”:The Father is glorified when we are fruit-bearing follower of Jesus. We honor the Father when we abide and obey.
V9"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love”:In one of his bible studies, David Guzik talked about How much the Father loves the Son. He said, “The Father loves the Son with a love that has no beginning, no end, it’s without measure, it’s constant and it never changes. Jesus says, I love you the same way.” Jesus receives this love from His Father and He gives this same kind of love to us. Perfect love. Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT) 18 “And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Diane Barstow has a t-shirt with the Hebrew word HESED on it. It’s the Hebrew word for Lovingkindness. The caption under the word HESED reads, “It’s a love that won’t let go.” Jesus is saying, “As the Father loved Me,”I love you the same way! Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV) 38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
V10"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”:Jesus connects obedience to love. If we love Jesus and abide in Him,
with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will keep His commandments, and we will abide in His love. We may not obey perfectly! Who can? Only He is perfect.
V11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full”:
David Guzik said, “Jesus had the joy of knowing who He was in His place in God’s kingdom.
And that’s the joy God wants you to have. He wants you to have the joy of knowing the love of God for you.
He wants you to have the joy of a life with God. He wants you to have the joy of peace with God.”
We now come to the next section titled, “FRIENDS.” “As friends, we have the privilege of knowing His will and the responsibility of obeying" (Wiersbe).
So let’s read together, John 15:12-17:
V12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. V13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. V14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. V15 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. V16 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. V17 These things I command you, that you love one another.
FRIENDS: The Privilege and Responsibility to Obey
V12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you”: Guzik wrote in his commentary, “Jesus really cared that His disciples love one another, and that they do so according to the measure and quality of His love for them.”
V13"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends”:Jesus is talking about the greatest expression of love, and in this verse, Jesus is pointing to the cross. His love for us has nothing to do with who we are or what we say or do. It’s all about what He did. Jesus gave the highest degree of love.
V14"You are My friends if you do whatever I command you”:God called Abraham His friend because he obeyed God. He had a close relationship with God. Isaiah 41:8 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.” Jesus said,“You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.”And what was the commandment? That you love one another. Calling the disciples His friends must have really blown them away. Rabbi’s almost never call their students friends. Yet the Son of God called them friends.
V15"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”:In one commentary, it stated,“In Jesus, we have the greatest possible friend. He loves us so much that He was willing to lay down His life on the cross to save us (John 3:16; Romans 5:7-8). He is the ‘Good Shepherd’ who ‘lays down his life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). He is ‘a friend who sticks closer than a brother’ (Proverbs 18:24) and a faithful companion who ‘will never leave us nor forsake us’ (Joshua 1:5). He loves us ‘to the very end’ (John 13:1) which in the original language means He loves us “to love’s fullest extent and uttermost limit.”It is only by His grace, His amazing grace, that we have the privilege and honor of being called His friends.
V16"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”:In those days, the disciple would be the one to choose which rabbi he wanted to follow. Here, Jesus reminds them that it was He who chose them. Before the world was formed, before anything ever existed, Jesus chose us. He knew you. He knew me. He knows everything about us, and He still chose us! Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
In his teaching, Skip Heitzig said, “Jesus knew Peter was going to deny Him. But He chose him. He knew Judas was going to betray Him. But He chose him. He knew James and John wanted to ‘nuke’ the Samaritans. But He chose them.”
Charles Spurgeon said, “It’s a good thing God chose me before I was born, because He surely would not have afterwards.” Jesus chose us to be fruitful followers. And by that, we glorify the Father when we bear much fruit and prove to be His disciples.
V17"These things I command you, that you love one another”:Jesus gave this command back in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” The word “new” used here in John 13:34, isn’t like saying a “brand new” commandment, it’s meaning is more like “fresh.” Besides, we know that this commandment has been in the scriptures from the beginning.
Leviticus 19:18 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! 5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
In Mark 12:29-31 29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31 "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Charles Spurgeon wrote, “We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we are to love our fellow-Christians as, Christ loved us, and that is far more than we love ourselves.” When you abide in Jesus, you will bear spiritual fruit. And when you bear spiritual fruit, you will be a blessing to others. Warren Wiersbe said, “branches do not eat the fruit; others do. We are not producing fruit to please ourselves but to serve others.” So, the longer we abide in Jesus and abide in His word, we will desire to be filled with spiritual things
so that we can pour into others. That’s how we love one another.
Like the prophetic blessing Jacob gave to his son Joseph in, Genesis 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.” When we abide in Christ, and in His word,
we will be well watered (like a fruitful bough by a well), becoming fruitful followers of Christ Jesus.
And as the Lord prunes us and increases His fruit in us, and as our character becomes more like His, our branches will extend out over walls to reach others with the love of Christ.
Let’s pray: Lord God, we thank You for loving us and helping us to abide in You and in Your word. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit working in us and teaching us to be more like You, Jesus. Thank You for the fruit You are and will produce in us so that we can bless others. Keep us close Lord we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.
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Bibliography:
Warren Wiersbe, Be Transformed (The BE Series Commentary)
The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord and Zuck
C. I. Scofield Commentary
F.B. Meyer Commentary
Pastor Paul LeBoutillier, Calvary Chapel Ontario
Pastor Skip Heitzig, Calvary Albuquerque
Pastor David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary
100 Names of God Daily Devotional
e-Sword.net (Free Software Program)
GotQuestions.org