Prelude
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 [a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already [b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
All pertinent parties, save one, are introduced in the first three verses of Chapter 15 of the Gospel of John. The analogy presented is that of a vineyard with God, our Father as the vinedresser. Jesus is the Vine and we (Christians) are the branches. The Holy Spirit is not mentioned but plays a significant role in the illustration. There are a couple of things to note in this analogy. In that Israel was an agrarian culture in Jesus’ day, all of Jesus’ listeners would have been familiar with the production of grapes. I just want to point out a couple of things before we get started. Grapevines were pruned before growing season in order to remove all of the old-growth and maximize the opportunity for the growth of the main vine and accompanying root system. During the season, unproductive vines were removed in order to optimize the production of the vines that were producing. All of this happens at the discretion of the vinedresser. He knows what is best.
John 15: 4-5a
4 Remain in Me, [c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit [d]of itself [e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5a I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him [f]bears much fruit,...
Jesus reiterates our position in Him: He is the vine, we are the branches. He encourages his disciples to remain in Him. The word 'remain', in Greek, is meno. It is the same word used for ‘abide’. Abide infers an ‘abode’, a place of shelter and...rest. Jesus is saying find your abode in Him and you will bear much fruit. Beloved, we find that place of rest and peace through placing our trust in Christ.
John 15:5b-6
5b …, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
So, during the growing season, a healthy branch of a grapevine is as thick, supple, and, in appearance, as healthy as the vine from which it gains sustenance. However, when a branch is disconnected from the vine, it withers and becomes very brittle. So much so, that a grapevine branch has no use except to be burnt as kindling and fuel for cooking or heating your home. You see, a grapevine branch is more akin to a drinking straw than, say, a limb from a tree. That allows it to maximize the flow of water and nutrients from the soil to the fruit, the grapes. Subsequently, when separated from the vine stem, the branch becomes brittle and useless.
John 15:7
7 If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
In the same way that the branch cannot subsist independently of the vine, we cannot subsist without Christ. Consequently, if we are ‘in Christ’, the desires of our hearts are not our own, but rather a reflection of the desires that emanate from the source: Christ.
John 15:8-11
8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [g]prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
We have been introduced to three vital entities in Jesus’analogy: The Vinedresser (God, the Father), the Vine (Jesus), and the branches (the church). The fourth and necessitous entity inferred throughout this analogy is the Holy Ghost. He baptizes us into the Body of Christ. He seals us until the day of redemption. He abides in us and with us. He is the agency of God the Father and of Jesus Christ in the earth. Jesus was not inviting the disciples into a thought exercise, whereby they maintained their abode in him through the force of their own will. Rather, they would be kept in a place of His Rest by the Holy Ghost by maintaining their trust in Christ.
Thus, the Holy Ghost is the source of life that flows from Christ through his disciples to produce fruit: the fruit of the Spirit. Abiding in Christ produces, in Christians, the fruit of the Spirit, which reflects the character of God. Beloved, God is Love. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control are all attributes of God’s character. They are the very attributes that God wants to reflect through the Church to a dead and dying creation so in need of the life God offers.
John 13:12
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
And herein lies God’s greatest command: Love God and love one another. Our love for one another should come from our understanding of how great God’s love is for us. In the verses above we learn that because of God’s love for Him, Christ loved us. His desire for us is that we bear witness of His love for us by loving one another.
John 13:13
13 Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.
As the next few hours begin to unfold into the most consequential days in human history, Jesus will demonstrate just how great His love is for His disciples and for all who trust in Him. The honest truth is that the events yet to unfold would be so traumatic that they could drive irreparable wedges between the disciples. A death in a family can do that. When a leader is violently removed from the scene, it takes courage to maintain the focus and vision of the original mission. This would be the dilemma that the disciples would soon find themselves in. Jesus’ final words to them would offer the strength to forge on.
John 15:14-15
14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
No longer slaves, but friends. No longer on the outside, looking in. Now, seated at the table. Friends. Ones who have been taken into God’s confidence. Ones with whom God reveals His secrets, His plans. Friends. He calls us ...friends.
John 15:16
16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Jesus closes by shortly summarizing all that He sought to impart on this night. A night that began with Jesus washing the feet of His beloved disciples. He chose them from the beginning. He chose them, as friends, to build His Church. He appointed them to be examples of His love in the earth so that others would be drawn to Him through them by ...Love.
John 15:17
17 This I command you, that you love one another.
Love God. Love one another. In this are all of the law and the prophets fulfilled.
Selah
wb
Awesome read!!!
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