John 15:1-17--I Am the True Vine

John 15:1-17
English Standard Version

I Am the True Vine
15 “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 does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

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Last time, we saw Jesus with His disciples giving them hope for the future that even though He was going away, they would one day be with Him again in heaven, and that the Father would send the Holy Spirit to be their Comforter, Teacher, and Guardian while He was not physically with them.  They would not be left as orphans.  Jesus also focused on their need to abide in Him, something that I said was also going to be the theme of this next chapter.

Jesus starts off by saying that He is the Vine and His Father is the Vinedresser (the farmer who takes care of the vine, makes it to produce good fruit, and gathers the fruit that it produces).  Those who are part of the true Israel and the true Church are the branches that are connected to the Vine.  Every branch that does not produce fruit is cut off and every branch that does produce fruit is pruned so that it will be even more fruitful.  This is simple horticulture that many in that culture would understand, but the key idea here is that branch does nothing on its own to produce the fruit and that a branch that is separated from the vine is dead and can do nothing.  We must stay connected to the Vine to stay alive and be fruitful.

Jesus assures them that they are already clean because of the words that He has spoken to them which they have already believed.  He is speaking specifically to the Eleven here who have believed in Him in order to receive the eternal life that that comes only through Him.  Jesus says clearly what I said before, that He is the Vine and they are the branches.  Their whole job is summed up in one word--Abide!  All they are supposed to do is to stay connected to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit doe the work in and through them of making them fruitful.  While not specifically a part of the analogy that Jesus gives, I think we can probably extend the picture here and stay that the Holy Spirit is like the sap that runs through the vine that changes the identity of a branch that was grafted in to make it of the same nature as the vine and makes the branch to produce fruit.  The Spirit of Christ is life-giving and without being connected to the Vine, we cannot be connected to the Holy Spirit who connects us all to each other as a single organism.  We'll see other word pictures used in the Epistles of the Church as an organism and not just an organization.

Anyone who refuses to abide in Christ (take Judas Iscariot for instance who was not part of the Elect) would be cut off from the Vine and would be discarded and would wither and die and such branches would be thrown into the fire (which represents hell and the lake of fire).  Those who abide in Christ will be part of the harvest of the faithful that will be reaped by the Son and taken to heaven.

Jesus says that anyone who does abide in Him and allows His words to abide in Him (for His Word through the power of the Holy Spirit does the work of changing our nature) should be able to ask for anything in accordance with that new nature and it will be given to them.  This pleases the Father to have many adopted children through the son who bear much fruit and therefore prove to be disciples of the Son of God.  By our fruits we are known to each other and to the world.

As the Father loved the Son, so the Son loves all those who belong to Him.  They are like His children, though the Father loves us because when He looks at us, He sees His Son who He loves as we are being made into the image and likeness of the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit though what is called sanctification.  We are to abide in the love of Christ as Christ abided in the love of the Father and we are to keep the commandments of Christ as Christ kept the commandments of the Father.  We've seen over and over again that Jesus said that He said and did nothing unless the Father told Him to say or do those things.  In the same way we should do nothing apart from the words and works of Christ which is the will of God that we do and our obedience to His every command is evidence that we love Him, that He loves us and that we belong to Him.  Obedience is the only right response of a servant to his or her Master or Lord.  We submit to the authority of Christ and let our answer be "Yes and Amen" when He speaks to us (through the Word).  The reason He wants us to obey is not so that we would earn salvation, but because He wants our joy to be complete.  The Law of the Lord is perfect, renewing the soul (see Psalm 119).  God gave us the Law for our good--they are good boundaries meant to protect God's people and to allow others to see that nature and character of God reflected from us (like the moon reflecting the light of the Sun in a way that is gentler and beautiful and stands in contrast to the darkness of the night that surrounds it) so that God receives the glory for all the great things He has done, especially the work of salvation that He has done in us to take that which was dead and make it alive and able to bear much fruit.

Jesus now gives them a "new commandment" that they love one another as He has loved them.  It is not a new commandment that they love each other, for we've seen that the Law and the Prophets are summed up by the commands to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and to "Lover your neighbor as yourself."  What is new about this commandment is the part about loving as Christ has loved us.  This is another level of love that we cannot accomplish apart from the Holy Spirit living inside of us.  It is the very first fruit of the Spirit because it is our love for God and our love for each other that will primarily identify us as belonging to Jesus.  We are to love each other as family members, but we are to do more than that--Jesus loved us so much that He gave up all of His rights and privileges to take on the role of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 and willingly sacrifice His life for us.  We should also gave such great love that we would lay down everything on the altar, even our very lives for each other.  But the love of Jesus is greater than this.  He did not just die for those who were His friends, but for those who were His enemies.  This is a very different kind of love.  "


Romans 5:1-11
English Standard Version
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Peace with God Through Faith
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Jesus makes sure that they hear that He is laying His life down for His friends and that because of what He is about to do they will have a change in status and will no longer need to be seen simply as servants of their Master (though they are), but they are His friends, and He has told us everything that He has heard from the Father.  We don't need to be concerned about any "secret truth" being hidden from us that we need to know or seek out.  Everything we need for life and godliness is in the Word of God--we just need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and teach it to us.

We did not choose Him, but we were chosen by God with the purpose that we would be appointed to bear much fruit and bring much glory to God.  Just as the Bridegroom chooses His Bride,  But Jesus also promises us that just like the Father loves Him, so the Father will love us and anything that we ask of the Father in the name of the Son (consistent with His nature and character), the Father will joyfully, gladly give to us because He loves to give good gifts to His children--even His children that have come by adoption.  This is why we have received this "new commandment" from Jesus, that we love one another as He has loved us.  By this all men will know that we are His disciples, if we love one another.