This OT background informs what Jesus says in John 15. When Jesus declares himself to be the “true vine” in verse 1, he identifies himself as the true Israel. By adopting this imagery and applying it to himself, Jesus declares that one’s standing in the people of God depends no longer on genealogical descent from Abraham but on one’s vital connection to himself. To be part of the vine, one must be connected to Jesus. Whereas the Father formerly tended ethnic Israel as his vine, he now tends those who are united to Christ by faith.
In verse 2 Jesus explains the Father’s work as the vinedresser: he removes branches that do not bear fruit and prunes those that do, so that they might bear more fruit. What would keep a branch of a vine from bearing fruit? To grow and bear fruit, a vine needs sunlight, the right soil, pollination, and water. When God orchestrates the universe so that the climate, wind, rain, and soil are all in the right balance, the vines grow and bear fruit.
Jesus is not a literal vine, but he uses the metaphor to liken himself to a vine, and in verses 3–4 he provides some insight into why there might be, as described in verse 2, a branch that fails to bear fruit. In verse 3 Jesus says his followers are already clean, and the word “clean” in verse 3 is related to the verb “prune” in verse 2. An un-pruned vine will not bear fruit. Jesus said in verse 2 that the Father prunes the vines that bear fruit, so that they might bear more. In verse 3 Jesus says the disciples are already clean, already pruned, because of the word he spoke to them. This would indicate that, just as the Father did his works through the words of Jesus (14:10), so has the Father cleansed the disciples through the words of Jesus (cf. 13:10).
Whereas vines need sunlight, pollination, water, and soil, the people of God need Jesus. Jesus explains in 15:4 that the disciples are to abide in him. In the context of the vine metaphor, this invites us to think of a branch’s staying connected to the vine so that it benefits from the living root. Jesus says as much in verse 4 as he compares branches that can bear fruit only by abiding in the vine to disciples who can bear fruit only by abiding in him.
What does it mean to abide in Christ? It means to relate to Jesus in the same way that a branch relates to the vine. Jesus explains this in verse 5, saying that those who abide in him will bear much fruit, while apart from him his followers can do nothing. Sever the connection between branch and vine, and there will be no fruit. Sever the connection between the Christian and Christ, and there will be no Christlikeness.
In verse 6 Jesus explains what happens to those who begin to follow him but do not abide in him: They are like branches severed from the vine. They wither. They are gathered. They are burned. This elaborates on the first part of verse 2, where Jesus spoke of the Father’s taking away branches that do not bear fruit. Does this indicate that salvation can be lost if a Christian fails to abide in Christ? Given the audience Jesus is addressing at this point, it would seem we should think of Judas as a branch that did not abide in the vine. Given the way Jesus refers to Judas in 17:12, it would seem that Judas was never vitally connected to the vine. He was attracted to Jesus, but he was never “cleansed” (13:10), never born again.
If a man is not bearing fruit, it is because he is not abiding in Christ. If a man is not abiding in Christ, he has no grounds for confidence that he has been born again. If a man has been born again, he is a branch that enjoys a living connection to the vine. He abides in Christ. He will bear fruit. Notice that in 15:3 Jesus tells the disciples they are already clean because of the word he spoke to them, and then in verse 4 he commands them to abide in him. Disciples are not connected to Jesus because they obey commands. The words of Jesus do the miraculous work of cleansing disciples and connecting them to Jesus, and then, having made them alive, he commands their obedience.
Jesus commands his disciples to abide in him (v. 4), but what exactly does that call them to do? If we commanded a literal branch to abide in a literal vine, what would we want the branch to do? Jesus explains what the disciples are to do in verse 7 when he speaks of the disciples’ abiding in him, his words’ abiding in them, and their prayers’ being answered. Jesus invites his disciples in verse 7 to ask whatever they wish, promising that it will be done for them, precisely because those who abide in him and in whom his words abide will wish what he wishes. Those who abide in Jesus will want what Jesus wants. Those in whom the words of Jesus abide will pray for what Jesus has declared he will accomplish. Jesus can therefore guarantee to them that their prayers will be answered.
Thus the command to abide in Christ in verse 4 calls the disciples to several specific steps:
- 1. The disciples are to be conscious of their need for Jesus. They need him in the same way that a branch needs a vine, which demands that they live in perpetual reliance upon Jesus. Insofar as they drift from their awareness that they need Jesus, they drift from abiding in him.
- 2. Jesus speaks of his words’ abiding in his disciples, which requires them to be exposed to the words of Jesus, to examine, analyze, give attention to, and consider his words until they understand them, and to take pains to retain them. Steps 1 and 2 are related, for those who keep the words of Jesus fresh in their minds will be aware of their ongoing need for Jesus, even as awareness of the ongoing need for Jesus prompts them to expose themselves to the words of Jesus.
- 3. Step 3 flows naturally out of steps 1 and 2, as those who abide in Jesus and in whom the words of Jesus abide are invited to ask whatever they wish. The disciples are commanded, then, to pray just as Jesus taught his disciples to pray: your will be done. This is not a resignation to whatever some detached, deistic, unconcerned Fate has determined. Rather, this is a declaration of war on unrighteousness, injustice, unbelief, disobedience, and dishonor. To pray for God’s will to be done is to pray for his name to be hallowed and his kingdom to come, requiring the crushing of idols, the tearing down of strongholds, and the charging of the gates of hell.
By commanding his disciples to abide in him, Jesus commands them to live in a state of reliance upon him, to keep his words active in their minds, and to pray for what reliance on him and the teaching of his words causes them to desire. Jesus tells his disciples that such prayers will be answered (v. 7), and their abiding in him will glorify the Father, with the result that they will bear much fruit and show themselves to be his disciples (v. 8).
15:9–11 That Your Joy May Be Full. In verse 9 Jesus tells his disciples that he has loved them just as the Father has loved him, and he then commands them to abide in this love. How has the Father loved Jesus? Jesus has previously stated that the Father loves him and shows him all he does (5:20). Jesus has said that the Father gave him what only he, the Father, had—life in himself—thereby sharing himself with Jesus (5:26). Jesus, in response, has loved his disciples the way the Father has loved him. He has revealed the Father to his disciples (1:18). He has commanded the disciples to remain in vital communion with him by abiding in him (15:4). He has told his disciples that they will continue his work and do greater works than he has done (14:12).
Jesus commands his disciples to abide in his love (15:9), explaining that if they keep his commands, they will abide in his love, just as he has kept the Father’s commands and thereby abides in the Father’s love (v. 10). Consider again the commands Jesus has given to the disciples in this context: love one another (13:34–35); trust God and Christ (14:1); believe what Jesus has taught them of his relationship with the Father (14:11); abide in him (15:4); ask whatever they wish (v. 7). Obeying these commands of Jesus will enable the followers of Jesus to abide in his love.
Jesus explains his motivation for saying these things to his followers: he wants them to know his joy, and to know it to the full (v. 11). There is an indissoluble bond between self-sacrificial love and joy. Truly caring for others produces self-sacrificial love for them, and benefiting others brings the joy that Jesus himself shares. If sacrifice of oneself does not bring joy, it may be because the sacrifice is motivated by something other than love for another. Self-sacrifice motivated by self-concern will not produce joy. Jesus desires his people to experience his joy, and the joy of which he speaks comes not from gratifying himself at the expense of others but from sacrificing himself to benefit others.
15:12–17 Love One Another. If the connection between abiding in the love of Jesus, experiencing his joy, and loving one another was not already explicit, Jesus makes it so in verse 12. Just as he commanded his disciples to serve one another the way he served them by washing their feet (13:14–15), so as he approaches the cross he commands his disciples to love one another as he has loved them (15:12). The cross is clearly in view in verse 13 as Jesus says there is no greater love than when someone lays down his life for his friends. Jesus spoke of the cross in precisely these terms—laying down his life—in 10:11, 15, and 17.
Jesus lays down his life for his friends (15:13), and those whom Jesus befriends become like him and do what he says to do (v. 14). This indicates not that obedience to Jesus earns his friendship but that friendship with Jesus transforms his people, with the result that they obey.
Jesus elevates the status of his disciples in verse 15. No longer do they occupy the place of servants who do not know what their masters do. Jesus has made them friends and related to them what he has heard from the Father. To be a friend of Jesus is to know what he has revealed of the Father. Those who reject what Jesus revealed of the Father cannot be among the friends of Jesus.
Why would Jesus at this point tell his disciples that they did not choose him but that he chose them (v. 16)? The second half of the statement provides the necessary clue: he not only chose them but also appointed them to go and bear fruit. The fruitfulness of the followers of Jesus is rooted in Jesus’ choosing them. It is not dependent upon a choice they make or on their effectiveness or attractiveness or anything else about them. It has been established in the fact that Jesus chose them and appointed them.
The fruit they will bear is not temporary but abiding (v. 16). The followers of Jesus will accomplish real results, with eternal ramifications. These are not short-term gains that will be overturned by the next round of elections. What the followers of Jesus accomplish will last forever as people experience everlasting deliverance from sin.
Once again Jesus promises his disciples that requests made to the Father in his name, the name of Jesus, will be granted (v. 16; cf. 14:13; 15:7).
Jesus then continues by stating that he has given his commands so that his disciples will love one another (v. 17). This reinforces the love command in 13:34–35 and brackets 15:12–17 as a unit that opens and closes with commands to love. In the flow of thought of verses 12–17, it would appear that the statements Jesus has made—concerning how they are to love as he has loved (v. 12), how he loves (v. 13), how they are his friends (vv. 14–15), and how he chose them to bear fruit (v. 16)—have all been made to free the disciples to love one another.