A Work in Progress Bible Commentary
By: Chip Crush

JOHN
CHAPTER 15

The Vine and the Branches

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[1] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

The World Hates the Disciples

18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.'[2] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'[3]
26"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

The message of this chapter is simple: Union with Christ is the foundation of every spiritual blessing. Every good thing (from an eternal perspective) is a result of union with Christ. In other words, since everything done outside apart from faith is sin and without faith it is impossible to please God, nothing good can result apart from union with Christ. As v5 says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”

  1. V1-2 - We begin chapter 15 with an illustration of the truth that Jesus has been emphasizing: believers will do greater things than had been done in all of history – but this is only possible through their relationship with Him. Jesus’ new and great commandment to love one another is possible only by His indwelling Spirit. The illustration begins with another “I am” statement. This one is the climactic one – Jesus is the vine, the source of nourishment. The word vine denotes the actual plant, the source of life, and not some stringy thing that might extend from a trunk. See Psalm 80:8-19, Isaiah 5:1-7, and Ezekiel 19:10-14, in which the people are deemed to be the vine. But here Jesus declares Himself to be the “true” vine. Under the Old Covenant, the people proved to be rotten and fruitless vines. But Jesus, ever-faithful, is a good and fruitful vine. Some commentators even suggest that whenever there is a promise made to Israel, it is made to Jesus alone, as He is the true Israel. All united to Him by faith then share in His reward, as co-heirs with Christ of all things.

    Before He even gets to the point of explaining that we are the branches, Jesus announces that God the Father is the gardener. Now two things are emphasized in this chapter, one of which God does and the other of which we are to do. Our role, as branches, appears in v4. We see two aspects of God’s role here in v2: First, He cuts off fruitless branches, and second, He prunes or cleans those branches that are producing fruit.

    Two questions arise from these two aspects of God’s role. First, can anyone who is engrafted into Christ (a branch attached to the vine) be without fruit? Many, by their outward profession and perhaps from our perspective, are thought to be in the vine, but by their barrenness reveal themselves to have no root in the vine. In the writings of the prophets, the Lord calls the people of Israel His vine, but only the remnant was saved. Thus the fathers of the protestant reformation declare that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone for the glory of God alone. It’s by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Faith undoubtedly leads to fruitful works (Ephesians 2:1-10; James 2:14-26). So the answer to this first question is, “No.” We’ll elaborate in v5.

    Second, why must God prune or clean fruit-bearing branches? Calvin answers wisely, “Believers need incessant culture that they may be prevented from degenerating; …they produce nothing good, unless God continually applies His hand; for it will not be enough to have been once made partakers of adoption, if God does not continue the work of His grace in us.” God justifies us once; He sanctifies us continually. He sustains us, by granting us a new breath, another heartbeat. If for one minute, we think this is not true, beware! Our connection to the vine may not be as firm as we think!

  2. V3-8 – Jesus immediately comforts His disciples. At stake for them is not union with Christ (Remember He has already said to Peter, having refused the foot washing, “You are already clean.” He repeats it here in v3. “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”), but growth resulting from this already existing union. The burden of the chapter from here on out is to encourage the progress of this union with Christ. The whole passage assumes this reality of this union. Notice three primary points: first, we have no power of doing good except what comes from Jesus; second, we, having a root in Him, are dressed and pruned by the Father; and third, He removes unfruitful branches, that they may be thrown into the fire and burned.

    V4 explains our role – to remain (other translations say “abide”) in Jesus; He will remain in us. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless the sap of the vine flows through it, so believers can do absolutely nothing of worth in God’s sight, unless Jesus Himself flows through believers with true life and sustenance – something which He does, as He has just made known, through His Spirit which He would send to indwell His people. V5 repeats the “I am” statement and declares followers of Christ to be the branches. V5 also helps to answer that first question we asked earlier. Can a branch attached to the vine wither? No! Remaining in Christ guarantees much fruitfulness. If it fails to bear fruit, it is not a genuine branch. But that doesn’t mean a warning to be on guard isn’t important. In fact, the conclusion of the illustration is at the end of v5, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” What does that mean to you? What does the word “nothing” mean? Calvin says, “So long as we are separate from Him, we bear no fruit that is good and acceptable to God, for we are unable to do anything good” (Romans 14:23; Hebrews 11:6).

    V6 should cause us to tremble. Nominal Christianity is dangerous. The punishment for failing to abide in Christ is scary; thus we are encouraged to persevere in Him as we are preserved in Him. There are many hypocrites who, in outward appearance, flourish and are green for a time, but who afterwards, when they ought to yield fruit, show the very opposite of that which the Lord expects and demands from His people. They wither, just as the plants that sprout up quickly but are choked out by the thorns or die lacking a root.

    V7 is often mistreated, especially by health-and-wealth prosperity gospel preachers. Taken in context, we see that the expectation is for believers to ask for more nourishment from the Holy Spirit in order that their fruit-bearing might be enhanced for the glory of God. When we read, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” the expected result is not some genie-in-a-bottle mentality. Rather, our desires are to be conformed to the will of God. “Whatever you wish” becomes “whatever God’s will is.” It brings to mind Romans 12:1-2. Finally v8, reveals the truth about God’s glory stemming from enhanced Christian witness and fruit-bearing as the primary goal in this prayer-granting. Soli Deo Gloria!

  3. V9-11 – Notice again as Jesus works in His teaching to show the progress our union with Him makes and the purpose for which it transpires. The progress of our union with Christ is many-fold: perseverance in suffering and persecution, God-ordained fruit, answered prayer, enhanced witness, experiencing the love of Christ, complete joy, and ultimately God’s glory, in which we get to share.

    Jesus uses this word “remain,” or, in some translations, “abide,” numerous times in this chapter. We need to be careful with it, because some use it to speak of a spiritual experience that only some achieve – a level of holiness and blessing and sanctification that is beyond the warfare and spiritual struggle where most of us are. Jesus clearly teaches that in this world, we are never beyond struggle. To abide in Jesus is to cling to His love and His word – even in these times of struggle that each of us face. And in clinging to His love and His word, we learn the method of perseverance and sanctification – obey His commands.

    Do you get joy from obeying God’s commands? Jesus did! For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. He knew what He was buying, and He did it with pure Selflessness. We should enjoy obeying – for His glory, never for our own; for we must always remember that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. Augustine once prayed, “Lord, the good in me, You wrought; everything else is my fault.” And this is true. When we fend off an attack from Satan, it is by grace – for surely we are too weak to win on our own. But when we yield to the enemy, we prove our weakness and learn to be ever repenting to trust Christ alone. He’s the One who obeyed the Law on our behalf. Indeed, trusting Him alone, abiding in Him, remaining in Him, is the obedience required (Romans 1:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Lastly, the whole reason for Jesus to explain this to His disciples is that their joy might be complete. The Gospel of salvation by grace is indeed cause for great joy!

  4. V12-17 – We certainly must strive to love God first (our priority), but it is impossible to love God without loving each other. Thus, the two objects of our love (God and others) are not prioritized by which happens first – loving each occurs simultaneously.

    Once again, Jesus repeats His great commandment, to love even as He loved, a commandment that includes the whole law in its very essence (Romans 13:10). But, whereas the outward commandments of the law, written on stone, might be done in a superficial way by anyone, this commandment of Christ-like love is utterly impossible to the natural man. Anyone weighing his works against this standard will find them all as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)! But Jesus does not leave them without comfort in this impossible task – instead, He reminds them that they did not choose Him, but Jesus chose them; and He is certainly able to do what we are unable to do. Yes, His commandments are too great for us. But we ought not despair, but rather be full of faith, first, because He has invincibly determined to produce good fruits in us who have believed (Ephesians 2:10), and second, because He has given us His Spirit to open our hearts to His unfailing love. Through our immersion in the Word of God, the Spirit will bring to our minds what Jesus has said and will begin to change us into that image revealed to us in the face of Jesus – and in this way, our joy will be complete (v11).

    Our relationship with Jesus is so close that He calls us friends. “What a friend we have in Jesus!” But a question arises as Romans 5:8,10 declares that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners and God’s enemies. How can we be both friends and enemies simultaneously? Martin Luther never could wrap his brain around this mystery, declaring in Latin, “Simul justus et peccator” – at the same time, saint and sinner. But it’s hard to apply this statement made by Jesus to His earthly friends to us, who are here on earth 2000 years after Jesus last dwelled here in bodily form. Any thoughts?

    The second half of v15 is interesting too. Jesus says this: “Everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you.” He’s saying that there is nothing we need to know in relation to the message of the gospel that has gone unsaid. Jesus has forwarded to His disciples every detail that the Father wanted Him to convey. We have all that we need; let us eat the food of Jesus and be satisfied (Mark 6:42). The second half of v16 again declares that Jesus’ disciples will receive whatever they ask in Jesus’ name, in accordance with their bearing of lasting fruit. Again, we think of Ephesians 2:10. It is God who gives growth (1 Corinthians 3:7). Thus we guard against pride in our labor on one hand and failure to pray diligently on the other hand. And finally, v17 calls specifically these disciples of Jesus, as ministers of the gospel, to love each other – working together for the building up of the Church, not multiple heaps, but one great mountain to the glory of God.

  5. V18-21 – Jesus is warning the disciples of impending persecution in v18-20. He uses the word hate repeatedly. He’s saying that God’s pruning will come to them in the form of persecution. (Calvin says here that a preacher of the whole and true gospel will never be able to escape the world’s hatred.) In the opening verses of chapter 16, when He tells them why He’s saying these things, in order that they might know in advance and not be caught off guard; He even speaks of their impending death. Perhaps John was thinking of the death of his brother, James (Acts 12:2) as he recorded these words from his memory. Who knows what form God’s pruning shears will work in our lives? Have you experienced pruning that you’d like to share?

    If the disciples have learned one thing well, throughout the course of their time with Jesus, it is that the world as a whole is opposed to Him and hates Him. Ultimately, this is because the world loves their own father, the devil, and hates God (as we saw in John 8:31-47). Jesus came to reveal the Father to men; and when men hated Jesus, they showed that they hated God the Father, even while they were claiming to worship Him. Furthermore, we see the reason the world will hate Jesus’ disciples – they are not of the world (anymore). Jesus has chosen them out of the world (this means “set apart” or sanctified. Yet, as Jesus will pray in John 17, disciples of Christ are to remain in the world (physically) but be not of the world (spiritually). By the word “world,” Jesus is referring to a massive number of unregenerate souls serving their father, the devil, in darkness.

    Jesus tells His disciples in v20 to remember that no servant is greater than his master. When the world hates us, it is only because the world hates Jesus; when sinners turn to Christ for forgiveness and righteousness as a result of our evangelism, it is only because they heed the words of Christ spoken to them internally by the Holy Spirit. Thus when the world rages in hatred against Christians, it is out of ignorance, for they suppress the knowledge they have of the Creator God and act in ignorance to the reality of His presence and impending judgment.

  6. V22-25 – V22, along with v24, has often been used to suggest that the only sin is that of unbelief. There are vast theological problems with this assessment. Just to mention one, consider that if this assessment was true, it would be a grievous error to proclaim the gospel to foreign lands; they would certainly be better off to have never heard of Jesus, than to have heard and thereby been forced to decide one way or another. Jesus is declaring, rather, that His words to the Jews serve as the final element of revelation that they will receive – with their willful rejection of Christ, they are making their final decision on their eternal destiny. This is much like Romans, where Paul gives all of the benefits of being Jewish. It’s not enough.

    Jesus’ words and actions among the people, then, served as the final stamp of their wickedness and just condemnation. Even if they had an excuse for their sins (ignorance) before Jesus came (which they didn’t), their unwarranted rejection of Him left them without excuse; although this, too, was a fulfillment of prophecy (see Psalm 35:19; 69:4). How unreasonable it is to hate God! Yet the world at large did so by their denial of Jesus Christ; but Jesus had chosen His disciples out of the world, and so it would be different with them. They loved Jesus, and hence, the Father; but the world would hate them,, and hence, the Father. This is the exclusivity of the Christian faith. One cannot love God and despise Jesus; one cannot love God and fail to worship Jesus as only Savior and Lord. This is from the mouth of Jesus Himself! For us, when the world crashes down, our reply – abiding in Jesus – ought to be to quote Scripture. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15).

  7. V26-27 – Jesus moves on to explain how He will continue to reveal Himself to mankind – as He had done while on earth – even after His departure. And so, for a third time, Jesus reminds them that He will send the Spirit. Yes, the world will hate them, persecute them, cast them out of the synagogues, and even kill them (as we’ll see in John 16:1-4); but they would be strengthened and comforted through it all by the Spirit of God who would dwell within them. He would bring to their minds what Jesus had taught, as they studied and reflected upon His word, and this would be exactly what they would need to persevere and finally to triumph. And so the case remains today. When we are persecuted, tempted, hard-pressed by doubts, fears, and indwelling sin, we must look to the word of God to be reminded of the love of God revealed in His Son; and the Spirit of God will cause our faith to grow through all opposition.

    The Holy Spirit here is called the Counselor. Isn’t that appropriate, given the context? Jesus has spoken words to a vast audience of Jews (and some Gentiles too). But they, as a whole, have refused to appreciate those words. Thus, when a few are convinced of the truth of Jesus’ words, those few might struggle with the reality that they are indeed few in number. Why, if this is so clear to me, are so few people embracing the truth? We need a Counselor in circumstances such as these, the Holy Spirit to continue to testify to Jesus Christ in the face of opposition from the world in which we live, to encourage us to hold fast to the only Savior, Jesus Christ. And this is exactly who Jesus provides, One who would drive His people to Himself and keep them there. 1 Corinthians 2:12 says, “But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.” Calvin says, “This single witness powerfully drives away, scatters, and overturns, all that the world rears up to obscure or crush the truth of God. All who are endued with this Spirit are so far from being in danger of falling into despondency on account of the hatred or contempt of the world, that every one of them will obtain glorious victory over the whole world. Yet we must beware of relying on the good opinion of men; for so long as faith shall wonder in this manner, or rather, as soon as it shall have gone out of the sanctuary of God, it must become involved in miserable uncertainty. It must, therefore, be brought back to the inward and secret testimony of the Spirit, which, believers know, has been given to them from heaven.”

    As they followed the example of Christ, they would find themselves walking the same path (v27), a path that passed through persecution but ended in victory. But, empowered by the Spirit, they would not waver, but instead would rejoice to share in the fellowship of Jesus’ sufferings, knowing that they would also partake of the power of His resurrection life (Philippians 3:8-11). And the phrase, “for you have been with Me from the beginning,” is added as further confirmation of the truth of the gospel. There should be no doubt of who Jesus is, of what He is doing, and what will happen next. When we face doubt, we must return to the Word of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, and led into prayer for comfort, understanding, and empowering. John understood this well (see 1 John 1:1).

Footnotes

  1. 15:2 The Greek for prunes also means cleans.
  2. 15:20 John 13:16
  3. 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:4

Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

BACK TO MENU   PREVIOUS CHAPTER   NEXT CHAPTER