15:1-11
Vine & Branches
Chapter 15 contains two sections that are related. First, Verses Jesus uses a metaphor of vines and branches. Second, he gives an explanation. So, Jesus did not leave us to our own devices to interpret the vine and branches. He explained it.
This image of grape vines would be very familiar to the disciples, since grape vines were plentiful in Israel and vital as a source of food and drink. They would be at least somewhat familiar with the work of the vinedresser. They knew the vine grew up and put out branches. The branches draw life from the vine. And it is on the branches that the grapes grow.
Jesus said he is the true vine. (1) Some people slide by the word “true” here to get to the metaphor. But we must assume that Jesus said it on purpose.
Jesus is the true vine in comparison to Israel. In the Old Testament, Israel was several times portrayed as a vine or a vineyard. But Israel did not fulfill its role as the vine. It did not bear fruit by loving God and keeping his commandments.
Psalm 80 shows us this. The Psalmist says Israel was a vine God brought out of Egypt and planted. But God let the vine be cut down and burned because it did not bear fruit for him.
In contrast, Jesus fulfilled the mission where Israel failed. He loved the Father and obeyed him. He built a new people of a new covenant and gave them a way to live in love and obedience.
So, Jesus is the true vine. (1) And the Father is the vinedresser, the who tends the branches if the vine. He removes, or cuts off, the branches that do not bear fruit. (Because every one who is in Christ bears fruit.) And every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. (2)
As the vinedresser, the Father prunes the branches that bear fruit. He does this in love so they branch can bear even more fruit. He often puts believers into situations where they learn to bear more fruit, such as learning to be patient by having to wait for something or learning to love by having someone not that lovable put into their lives.
The Father also removes the branches that do not bear any fruit. There are no Christians that do not bear some fruit. If there were, Jesus could not be the true vine. Fruitfulness is the mark of true faith in Christ.
John would later say this another way: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19)
Only when connected to the vine can a branch bear fruit. In other words, the vine bears fruit through the branches. Jesus had already told the disciples that they were in him and he in them. (14:20) He is now giving an illustration of this.
Jesus also told the disciples they were clean, repeating what he said when he washed their feet at the last supper. (13:10) Clean here refers to saved or being in Christ. They are clean because they have believed in Jesus and his word. (3)
And so, being already connected to Jesus, he tells them to abide, or remain, in him. “Abide” means to dwell with, to stay connected with. Jesus makes it plain that they cannot bear fruit unless they are connected to him. In fact, they can do nothing on their own. (5) Notice that Jesus said this plainly and without metaphor so they would understand it.
This shows us that we are not saved by grace to work on our own to bear fruit. It is Christ working in us that produces the fruit. So, by staying connected to him in prayer, in study of his word, and in worship, we experience the Spirit’s work in our life, producing fruit even as the Father works in us to make us bear more fruit.
Paul wrote “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
I think it is the living without an abiding connection to Christ, and trying to work only in our own strength, that creates hypocrisy in the church. It allows our minds to be conformed to the world’s standards rather than the commandments of Jesus. We love only the lovable, we fellowship only with those who look like us or earn as much money as us. It allows us to be prideful about who and what we are and unsympathetic to those who stumble or suffer.
In contrast to those who abide in Christ and bear much fruit, the one who does not abide in him is thrown away and withers, then is thrown into the fire. Those who are not in Christ cannot bear the fruit that Christ produces. They wither, a picture of spiritual death. And they are thrown into the fire and burned, a picture of judgment. (6)
Jesus may have been alluding to Ezekiel 15 here. In that passage God says he will take the vine, which is Israel, and give it to the fire. It was a picture of God giving Israel over to judgment by letting a nation conquer it and destroy it.
Those who reject Christ, however, have a much greater judgment to face. Though many have sought to downplay this or deny the reality of eternal punishment, the Bible is clear that eternal punishment exists. Revelation 20:15 says, if anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he is thrown into the lake of fire for ever.
But those who abide in Christ, there are many blessings. If we abide in Christ and his words abide in us, we may ask whatever we wish and it will be done for you. (7) When we abide in Christ, and his words abide in us, we will begin to think as he thinks and desire what he desires.
Because of that, we will not pray for a new Bentley automobile or to live in a huge house. We will pray for our needs to be met and trust God to do so. We will pray according to the Lord’s prayer, that his will be done and his kingdom come. We will pray for the salvation of souls and expansion of the kingdom. We will pray for our fellow disciples who are in trials. We will pray for Christ to make us more like him.
When we abide in Christ, we also bring glory to the Father. Our love for each other and prayers glorify him. (8) Not only will we bring glory to the Father, we will prove that we are disciples of Jesus. Tertullian famously wrote that pagans would say “Look how they [Christians] love one another…and how they are ready to die for each other…” (Apologeticus, ch. 39, sect. 7)
Finally, as we abide in Christ we experience his love. He said he has loved us as the Father loved him. This is a perfect and complete love. In that great love, we can abide. (9) We can feel happy and secure knowing he loves us.
Part of how we abide in Christ is keeping his commandments. (10) This is how Jesus abided in the Father’s love. He was obedient to the Father. The Gospel of John repeatedly records Jesus saying he completely obeyed the Father in all he said and all he did. And again, we obey Jesus because we love him.
And when we do this, we experience Christ’s joy in us and have it to the full. (11) Jesus’ obedience to the Father brought him joy. In fact, Hebrews 12:2 says “…Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”. (Hebrews 12:1–2)
We can have this joy to the full. All other joy in a fallen world is temporary and small compared to this. It only comes to those who abide in Christ.
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