15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
I am the true vine- This is the last of Jesus' ''I am...'' statements.
Jesus may have spoken these words as He and the disciples made their way from the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane (cp. 14:31)... perhaps, as they passed a vineyard in the Kidron valley, ...or perhaps as they passed by or through the Temple. The great bronze gates of the Temple were inlaid with a golden vine which symbolized the nation of Israel. cp. Psa 80:8,9
But Israel, Jehovah's vine had not been true to Him. Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Hos 10:1
Jesus, the true {ie., genuine} Vine, brought forth the fruit that Israel failed to bear.
My Father is the husbandman {ie., vinedresser}-
The Father, seeking fruit from the true Vine (ie., Christ, cp. Isa 53:2), tends to His branches (those who are ''in me'').
every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away {GK= airo, to lift off} -
Does this mean that a believer can lose his salvation? No! (cp. 3:16; 5:24; 10:28,29) - ''No fruit'' may be produced by either -
A dead branch (ie., from another plant), which may appear to be part of the vine,
but having never been in vital union with the vine, it bears no fruit, and can be easily lifted off.
Such false branches never were saved, and are consigned to eternal fire (eg., false disciples, like Judas Iscariot, cp. 13:10,11; Mat 13:30; Jude 1:12,13).
A withered branch (v.6), ie., a carnal Christian, who clinging to his own fleshly ways, hinders the life of the vine from working in him. Such fruit as he appears to bear will not stand the Father's test. cp. 1 Cor 3:11-15
Such branches, though saved from eternal condemnation, may be 'taken away' from the place of fruit bearing (ie., this earthly life, cp. Php 1:22). (eg., Ananias & Sapphira, Acts 5:1-11)
In ch. 15, Jesus is speaking to His disciples. The question is not salvation but fruitfulness. [McGee]
every branch... that beareth fruit, He purgeth {GK= kathairo, to cleanse, to prune}-
God's purpose for pruning: v.2; Heb 12:5-11. - - Purging is not painless, but it is profitable.
15:4 Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches:
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing.
abide- GK= meno, to remain, to dwell, to continue. (occurs 11x in ch. 15)
abide in me... the vine- He is Life, and the source of Life (1:4).
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself - because it has no life in itself.
He does not tell us to bring forth fruit (though He wants to see fruit in us, v.2,8).
Rather, He tells us to ''abide in Me''. The business of a branch is to be filled with the life of the Vine, only then can it be fruitful. Take a look at a tomato vine: a branch is largest and strongest where it is joined to the vine, but it holds its fruit by the slenderest of twigs.
15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;
and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.
15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
The Father's purpose for a branch is to bear fruit.
A branch that responds to the Father's tending will grow in fruitfulness: ''fruit... more fruit (v.2)... much fruit'' (v.5,8).
A branch that is fruitless is worthless. (cp. Ezek 15:2-7) Regarding ''cast into the fire'', see note at v.2; 1Cor 3:11-15
To abide in Christ is to live by continual dependence upon and fellowship with Him.
''To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share. On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not unceasing consciousness of these things, and of Him, but that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him.'' [ScofRB]
How can I abide in Christ? -
believe in (trust in) Him for salvation. The Holy Spirit joins the believer to Christ.
- - [you] in Me- Gal 3:26,27; 2Cor 5:17
- - I in you- cp. 6:47,54,56; Gal 2:20
confess & seek cleansing from all sin, to remain in unhindered fellowship with Him.
cp. v.2,3; 13:10; 1 Joh 1:3-9.
in this my Father is glorified... so shall ye be my disciples-
Christ's disciples, like their Master, live to glorify the Father. cp. 12:27,28; 13:31
They bear fruit, to His glory, only in the degree that they abide in Christ.
1Cor 6:20; 10:31; Col 3:1-25; 1Pet 4:11
15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
15:11 These things have I spoken unto you,
that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full.
continue {abide} in my love... as I have kept... and abide in His love-
Obedience to Christ is motivated by a believer's love for Him. (14:15; 1Joh 5:3)
But the emphasis here is that Christ's love is experienced by a believer according to the measure of his obedience to Him. (cp. the measure of Christ's obedience to the Father, and the expression of the Father's love for Him. 8:29; 14:21,23; Isa 42:1; Mat 3:17; Psa 91:14-16)
that my joy might remain {abide} in you... that your joy might be full-
my joy- To do the will of the Father, and to finish His work. cp. 4:34; 17:4,13; Heb 12:2
your joy- To share in My joy, as you live in fruitful obedience to the Father, through abiding in Me. cp. 10:10; 16:24; 1Pet 1:8; 1Joh 1:3,4
15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth:
but I have called you friends;
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
{cp. v.10 with 5:20}
15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
not servants {GK= doulos, slaves, cp. 13:16}... but friends-
15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you.
15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.
love- characterizes the relationship of the Father and the Son,
and of those who are joined to Him (v.9-12). Those who are joined to Him, and who share in His commission (v.15,16), must love one another (v.17), for they serve in a hostile world (v.18,19).
hate- characterizes the relationship of the world toward the Father, the Son,
The world despises the believer, who once was like them, but now has: a new Home (14:2), a new Hope (14:3), a new Love (15:9), a new Joy (15:11), a new Purpose (15:8,16)... cp. Jam 4:4; 1Pet 4:1-4,12-14
15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. {13:16}
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;
if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake,
because they know not him that sent me.
15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin:
but now they have no cloke {ie., cloak} for their sin.
15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin:
but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
15:25 But [this cometh to pass], that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law,
They hated me without a cause. {Psa 69:4}
if I had not come... they had not had sin-
Long before Christ came, men were under sin. Rom 5:12-14
He came to take away the sin of the world. 1:29; Rom 5:15
But men rejected Him, and remain under sin. 3:18,19; 9:41; 16:9
they have no cloak for their sin- ie., no covering, no excuse...
No covering-
- - Their heart attitude toward the Father was uncovered by their rejection of the Son. (v.23,24)
- - There is no other provision for sin's removal. 3:18,36; 8:24; Heb 10:26-29
No excuse-
- - They rejected His spoken Word (v.22),
- - They rejected His Works (which confirmed His words) (v.24). cp. 3:2; 6:36; 9:32,33; 10:25,26
they hated me without a cause-
The quote is from Psa 69:4 - Compare the last line of this verse, with the use of the GK word for ''without a cause'', translated ''freely'' in Rom 3:24; Rev 22:17.
15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
[even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
he shall testify of me:
15:27 And ye also shall bear witness {testify}, because ye have been with me from the beginning. {cp. Acts 1:21,22; 10:39-42; 2Pet 1:16; 1Joh 1:1,2}
the Comforter- is the Spirit of {the} Truth. cp. 14:16-18; 16:13
- proceeds from {GK= ekporeuomai, to go out from} the Father.
- is sent by the Son. 16:7; cp. 14:24,26 (where it is the Father who sends).
16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: {cp. 9:22}
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. {cp. Acts 22:3,4}
16:3 And these things will they do unto you,
because they have not known the Father, nor me. {cp. Acts 13:27; Rom 10:2,3}
16:4 But these things have I told you,
that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.
And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you. {cp. 17:12}
These things I have spoken...- with similar words, He prepared them for