JOHN 15 [†]“I am the r true vine, and my Father is s the vinedresser. 2[†] t Every branch in me that does not bear fruit u he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, v that it may bear more fruit. 3[†]Already w you are clean x because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4[†] y Abide z 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; a you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that b bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6[†]If anyone does not abide in me c he is thrown away like a branch and withers; d and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7[†]If e you abide in me, and my words abide in you, f ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8[†] g By this my Father is glorified, that you h bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9[†] i As the Father has loved me, j so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10[†] k If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as l I have kept m my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, n that my joy may be in you, and that o your joy may be full.
12[†] p “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13[†] q Greater love has no one than this, r that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14You are s my friends t if you do what I command you. 15 u No longer do I call you servants, for the servant w does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for x all that I have heard from my Father y I have made known to you. 16[†]You did not choose me, but z I chose you and appointed you that you should go and a bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that b whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, c so that you will love one another.
18 d “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19[†] e If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because f you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: g ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, h they will also persecute you. i If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21But j all these things they will do to you k on account of my name, l because they do not know him who sent me. 22[†]If I had not come and spoken to them, m they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 n Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 o If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, m they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have p seen and hated both me and my Father. 25[†]But q the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: r ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26[†]“But s when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, t he will bear witness about me. 27And u you also will bear witness, v because you have been with me w from the beginning.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:5 Apart from me you can do nothing does not mean “nothing at all,” for unbelievers of course carry on their ordinary activities of life apart from Christ. Rather, it means “nothing of eternal value,” or an inability to produce spiritual fruit.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:10–11 Obedience is not to be equated with drudgery; it is all about joy. The OT prophets envisioned a period of great end-time rejoicing (e.g., Isa. 25:9; 35:10; 51:3; 61:10; 66:10; Zeph. 3:14–17; Zech. 9:9). God threatened judgment if his people would not serve him “with joyfulness and gladness of heart” (Deut. 28:47–48). that my joy may be in you. Just as Jesus had great joy in obeying his Father even in the midst of opposition, so Christians will have joy in obedience.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:13–14 You are my friends implies a stunning level of comfortable personal interaction with one who is also the eternal, omnipotent Creator of the universe (see 1:1–3, 10). In the OT, only Abraham (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8) and by implication Moses (Ex. 33:11) are called “friends of God.” Here Jesus extends this privilege to all obedient believers.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:16 You did not choose me does not negate the disciples’ willing decision to follow Jesus when he called them. Jesus is emphasizing that the ultimate factor in determining who would follow him was Jesus’ own choice. The Greek eklegomai has the sense of “to choose or pick out from a group,” and it clearly has that sense also in v. 19. That you should go and bear fruit implies that the purpose of Christ’s choosing people is not merely that their sins be forgiven and they have eternal life but also that their lives be fruitful and productive in fulfilling God’s purposes. For key passages on the doctrine of election, see Romans 9 and Ephesians 1.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:4 Abide in me means to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus, characterized by trust, prayer, obedience (see v. 10), and joy. And I in you is a phrase without an explicit verb, but it probably is an abbreviated way of saying, “See that I abide in you”; that is, “Safeguard your relationship with me so that I continue to abide fully in you.” (See notes on 8:31; 1 John 2:6.) The “in” terminology in the present passage refers back to OT covenant theology, including prophetic texts regarding a future new covenant (see Ex. 25:8; 29:45; Lev. 26:11–12; Ezek. 37:27–28; 43:9). The repeated references to fruit bearing (also John 15:5, 8) underscore that this is God’s primary purpose in creation (Gen. 1:11–12, 22, 28) and in redemption (cf. John 15:8, 16). The OT prophets envisioned a time when God’s people would “blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit” (Isa. 27:6; cf. Hos. 14:4–8).
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:8 God is glorified not by praise and worship alone but by his followers also bearing much fruit for the advancement of his kingdom on earth. Here again, fruit bearing is evidence of being true believers, or being Jesus’ disciples.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:9 Abide in my love. Mutual love between believers and Christ is another element of this “abiding” relationship (see note on v. 4).
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:25 Jesus declares that the Jews’ hatred of him fulfills OT Scripture, specifically Ps. 69:4 (cf. Ps. 35:19; also note on Isa. 6:9–10). This Davidic psalm depicts the figure of a righteous sufferer who is zealous for God but is persecuted by God’s enemies for no good reason. Thus Jesus found a precedent for his enemies’ hatred toward him in the antagonism encountered by David. Without a cause reminds believers that hatred and persecution against Jesus and his followers is often not because of any wrong that they have done but simply because of irrational evil in the hearts of the persecutors.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:6 The person who does not abide in me is an unbeliever who does not have a personal faith in Christ (see note on v. 4). The verse echoes Ezek. 15:1–8, where a vine failing to produce fruit is said to be good for nothing but the fire (see Heb. 6:7–8). Fire is a common Jewish and biblical symbol for divine judgment (e.g., Isa. 30:27; Matt. 3:12 par.; 5:22; 18:8; 25:41). Some take this “fire” to imply loss of reward for true believers, not eternal judgment for unbelievers, but this does not fit as well with the image of branches being entirely burned up by a fire. See also note on John 15:2.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:22 They would not have been guilty of sin does not mean all sin (see Rom. 3:23), but the specific sin of rejecting the supreme revelation of God that came in Christ himself, a sin that is particularly manifested in hating Christ (see John 15:18, 23, 24). their sin. See note on 5:31–47.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:7 Two conditions are given for answered prayer: abiding in Jesus, and his words abiding in believers (thus transforming their thinking). Elsewhere Jesus says that believers must ask in his name (i.e., in accord with his character and for his glory; see 14:13–14; 16:23–24). If God’s people truly abide in Jesus (see note on 15:4), they will desire what he desires and will pray according to his words, and those prayers will be pleasing to him.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:1–17 Jesus’ allegory of the vine and the branches is at the very heart of the Farewell Discourse (13:31–16:33). The OT frequently uses the vineyard or vine as a symbol for Israel, God’s covenant people, especially in two “vineyard songs” in Isaiah (Isa. 5:1–7; 27:2–6). However, Israel’s failure to produce fruit resulted in divine judgment. Jesus, by contrast, is “the true vine,” and his followers abide in him and produce fruit.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:2 The divine vinedresser does two things to ensure maximum fruit production: (1) he removes unfruitful branches, and (2) he prunes all the others (cf. Heb. 6:7–8). Does not bear fruit seems to indicate that the person symbolized by such a branch is not a true believer (see John 15:6, 8). In that case, in me is just a loose connection needed to make the metaphor of a vine work, reflecting a claim to be Christ’s that is not genuine and not implying actual regeneration or true belief. This then would be one of several verses in John showing that not all who follow Jesus for a time and hear his teaching are genuine believers (cf. 6:66; also 13:10–11 on Judas). Others understand these branches to represent true believers who are “unfruitful” for various reasons. In favor of this view is the fact that Jesus says such branches are “in me,” and that seems parallel to being “in Christ,” as only believers are. However, these unfruitful branches appear to be the same branches that are “thrown away” and “burned” in 15:6, which seems clearly to be a picture of final judgment. Fruit is an image for good results coming from the life of a believer, probably in terms of bringing benefit to the lives of others and advancing the work of God in the world (see Matt. 13:8; cf. Gal. 5:22–23 for a different image of “fruit” as changed character). he takes away. The Greek verb airō can also mean “lifts up” in certain contexts, and some use this to argue that this means God “lifts up” unfruitful branches from the ground so that they will become more fruitful. This interpretation is taken by those who think the branches represent true believers who are not fruitful. But this sense seems less likely because the unfruitful branches in John 15:6 are “thrown into the fire, and burned,” which is an image of final judgment. “He prunes” gives a picture of painful but necessary removal of some interests and activities in order that the remaining branches may bear even more fruit. The word translated “prunes” (Gk. kathairō) often means “to clean,” and has the same root as the adjective katharos, translated “clean” in 15:3.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:1 This is the last of Jesus’ seven I am sayings in this Gospel (see note on 6:35). True contrasts Jesus with OT Israel (see previous note), reinforcing John’s theme that Jesus is the true Israel. The vinedresser refers back to Isaiah’s first vineyard song, where God is depicted as tending his vineyard, only to be rewarded with wild grapes (Isa. 5:1–7; cf. Ps. 80:8–9). The fruitfulness of those in Christ contrasts with the fruitlessness of Israel.
JOHN—NOTE ON 15:19 therefore the world hates you. Christians should not be surprised that unbelievers in the world hate them. It follows a pattern seen in the world since Cain murdered Abel (see Gen. 4:8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12), and it is seen in the world’s reactions to Christ himself (see John 15:18).