John 15
The Vine and the Branches
15:1 “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.
Israel was supposed to be the choice vine which produced Gentile fruit. However, the vine produced nothing but rotten fruit. Since Israel did not produce any good fruit, then the Gardener will have to attend to them. Jesus is “the true vine” which will produce ripe fruit. God the Father is the Gardener who plants, cultivates, and protects the Vine.
15:2 He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more fruit.
If a vine is dead wood with no life in it, then the Gardener will cut it off.
15:3 You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you.
The disciples were not dead wood. Except for Judas Iscariot, the rest of these disciples were cleansed by the messages that were taught to them by Jesus.
15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.
The disciples must remain in Christ, or they will not bear fruit. To remain in Christ means to be obedient to the Word of God. One cannot remain obedient to the Word of God unless they know Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine comes from studying the entire counsel of the Word of God at the deepest level.
15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me – and I in him – bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.
Jesus is the vine that feeds the branches. The branches are the disciples. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit without the vine, neither can the disciples produce fruit without Jesus.
15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up.
A branch cannot produce fruit without the vine. If the branch breaks off, then it dies and is thrown into the fire. If Israel does not produce fruit, then they will wither up, die and be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.
The Greek word for "remain" is μείνητε (menage), an aorist active subjunctive second person plural verb, meaning to remain in good fellowship with another person. "My words" are Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
According to Jesus, a believer needs to do two things for an effective prayer. First, one must remain in fellowship with God. 1 John 1:9 teaches that one must continually confess his sins in order to stay in good fellowship with God. Second, the believer must know Bible doctrine. If one does not understand Bible doctrine, then he will not know how to pray for the right things.
15:8 My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.
The Gardener desires for the branches to bear as much fruit as possible. God the Father desired for Israel to produce good fruit.
15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love.
In the last chapter, Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments”. Love is knowing and applying Bible doctrine. Jesus was obedient to the Father. The disciples were to be obedient to the Son. To be obedient to the Son, the disciple must master and apply Bible doctrine. Believers who love Christ master Bible doctrine at the deepest level.
15:10 If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
Love is knowledge and obedience to the Word of God. Those who love Christ will master and apply Bible doctrine at the deepest level.
15:11 I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.
Jesus is joyful when His branches produce much fruit. A believer will be joyful if he is producing much fruit.
15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you.
One who loves Christ masters and applies Bible doctrine. One believer cannot love another believer unless he masters and applies Bible doctrine.
15:13 No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends.
One will not lay down his life for his friends unless he masters and applies Bible doctrine.
15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
To be a friend of Jesus, one must keep the commandments of Jesus. The commandments of Jesus are Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God.
15:15 I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.
A slave does not have a close relationship with his master as friends do. The slave simply does what he is told, not knowing the mind of his master. Jesus called the disciples “friends” because He had revealed the mind of God to them.
15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Usually, the student chose his teacher. Notice that the disciples did not choose Jesus. Jesus chose them and He appointed them to bear fruit. This is the doctrine of election and predestination. Whatever the disciples ask in the will of the Father, will be given to them. God the Father will give the disciples whatever they need to produce more fruit.
15:17 This I command you – to love one another.
One of the commandments of Jesus is that the disciples are to love one another. Disciples who are grounded in the entire counsel of the Word of God will have no problem loving other believers. Those who are not grounded in the Bible will be jealous, quarrelsome, apathetic, and unloving to other believers. Beware of the believer who wants to serve, but is not interested in Bible study.
The World’s Hatred
15:18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first.
The Greek word for world is κόσμος (kosmos), meaning the satanic world system. If one is friends with the world, then he is God’s enemy (James 4:4). If one is friends with Christ, this means that he loves Christ. If one loves Christ, then he is mastering and applying Bible doctrine. If one is applying Bible doctrine, then the world will hate him.
15:19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you.
The satanic world system hates Christ so much that they sentenced Him to death, humiliated Him, and crucified Him. Since Christ is no longer in this world, the satanic world system turns its attention toward the followers of Christ.
Christ chose the elect out of the world. The elect will choose Christ and live with Him for eternity. The non-elect will reject Christ and burn in the Lake of Fire forever.
15:20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too.
Notice that Jesus was not a prosperity teacher. He did not promise great fame or wealth to His disciples while they were on this earth. Jesus promised suffering and persecution, not wealth and prosperity, to those who know and apply His word.
15:21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.
Jesus was not a seeker-friendly pastor. He taught that those who follow Him will be persecuted. The modern church does not like this kind of teaching. They desire a more positive message.
15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.
Jesus taught all of Israel. They had no excuse. They were given more light, so their punishment will be greater.
15:23 The one who hates me hates my Father too.
Those who hate Jesus hate the Father as well. When a modern Christian says “I love Jesus”, but they are not involved in a deep Bible study, then one must question their claim. One cannot love the mind of Christ unless they know the mind of Christ. Most believers love the wrong Jesus. They love the Jesus of their imagination, not the Jesus of the Bible. They do not know the Jesus of the Bible, because they have not studied it at a very deep level. Shallow Christians love a shallow Jesus.
15:24 If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both me and my Father.
When Israel observed the miracles of Jesus, they should have believed. Instead, they put to death the One who came to save them. Total depravity causes one to hate both the Father and the Son.
15:25 Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’
This was a quotation from Psalm 35:19. There were many people who hated King David because of his righteousness. Jesus was also hated because of His righteousness. Obedient Christians will also be hated for their righteousness. Baby and carnal Christians will be tolerated, because they compromise with the satanic world system.
15:26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me,
Many Christians remain silent in their testimony because they fear the satanic world system. Monasticism, which is extreme separation from the world, has been very prevalent in church history. Jesus encouraged the disciples that He would give them a lawyer to help them win their case.
15:27 and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
The Holy Spirit will help the disciple present the case of Jesus to the satanic world system.