John 15

John 15:2

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

He takes away. This is a poor translation; a better one is “He lifts up.” The word for take is airo which means to lift, pick or raise up and this is how the word is translated in many other places (e.g., Mark 16:18, Luke 5:24, 17:13, John 11:41, Acts 4:24, Rev. 10:5). Unfruitful branches are lifted out of the dirt and redressed so that their only source of life can come from the vine.

The reason why some Christians are barren is that they’re trying to draw life from the world instead of drawing from the life-giving Vine. They are busy, distracted, stressed, and have wandered from their primary love. When believers lose sight of Christ’s love they tend to become religious and busy (Rev. 2:4-5).

The remedy is to remember the height from which you have fallen and to allow God the Gardener to lift you back up to the high places of his love. As you bask in his love, you will bear his fruit effortlessly.

Further reading: “Are unfruitful branches lifted up?”

John 15:4

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Abide in Me. To abide in Christ is to rest in his love (John 15:9). It’s living with the complete dependence that a branch has for a vine and realizing that apart from him we can do nothing. See entry for Abiding.

John 15:5

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

I am the vine, you are the branches. What a wonderful picture of our total dependence on Christ. Our union with the Lord is the source of our very life (Gal. 2:20, Eph. 2:5, Col. 3:4). Apart from him we can do nothing, but in him we truly live and move and have our being.

See entry for Union.

John 15:6

“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

(a) Branch. The cut off branches are those who do not believe in Jesus. This includes the nation of Israel who rejected the Lord and cut themselves off on account of their unbelief (see entry for Rom. 11:17).

(b) Fire. The ungodly and all those things that are opposed to God’s goodwill will be destroyed by fire (2 Pet. 2:6, 3:7).

On numerous occasions, the Lord spoke of fire in connection with Judgment Day (Matt. 5:22, 13:42, 50, 18:9, 25:41, Mark 9:43, Luke 17:29–30, John 15:6). He did not dread this fire but he looked forward to it knowing that it would spell the end of sin and usher in eternity (see entry for Luke 12:49).

John 15:9

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

(a) The Father has loved Me. The original word for love means to be well pleased or fond of or contented with. It describes the unconditional love God the Father has for his Son (John 3:35, 17:26), for the whole world (John 3:16), and for his children (Eph. 2:4, 1 John 3:1). God loves you with the same sort of love he has for Jesus (see entry for John 17:23).

(b) Abide in my love. Under the old law-keeping covenant, you were commanded to love the Lord your God with all your heart (Deut. 6:5, 10:12). The flow was from you to the Lord. But in the new covenant of grace, we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). It is because we know the love of Christ (Eph. 3:19) that we are able to walk in his love (Eph. 5:2), keep ourselves in his love (Jude 1:21), and remain in his love (John 15:9, 10, 1 John 4:12, 16).

John 15:10

“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.

(a) If you keep My commandments. Obedience is a fruit of trusting Jesus (1 John 3:23).

In the new covenant, obedience follows trust, and we trust him because we know him. However, someone with an old covenant mindset reverses the order: “If you wish to know him, you must keep his commandments.” Perversely, this mindset will have the very opposite effect as it will cause you to trust in yourself while alienating you from Christ (Gal. 5:4).

(b) My Father; see entry for John 4:21.

(c) My Father’s commandments. God commands us to believe in Jesus and love one another (1 John 3:23)

In contrast with the heavy yoke of Moses (Act 15:10), the yoke of Jesus is light (Matt. 11:30). “His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3

(d) Abide in his love. To abide in the love of the Father is to abide in the love of Jesus (see previous verse).

John 15:12

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

(a) My commandment. Christ’s command to love one another is sometimes referred to as the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21, Gal. 6:2), or the new commandment (John 13:34, 1 John 2:8, 2 John 1:5).

(b) Even as I have loved you. In the new covenant of grace, we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Jesus was once asked to name the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus replied that the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt. 22:36-38). Note that this is the greatest commandment in the law. Under the law-keeping covenant, the flow was from you to the Lord (Deut. 6:5, 10:12). You loved God because it was a law that came with consequences. But in the new covenant of grace, we love one another with the same love that Christ loved us.

Further reading: “What is the law of Christ?”

John 15:13

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Greater love. By definition the agape-love of God is unconditional and self-sacrificing (Eph. 5:2, 25, 1 John 3:16). God will never make you jump through hoops to earn his love. He won’t love you any more if you succeed and he won’t love you any less if you fail. There is nothing you can do to make him love you more, and nothing you can do to make him love you less.

See entry for The Love of God.

John 15:16

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

Whatever you ask. The God Jesus revealed is a listening and responsive Father (Matt. 6:8, 7:11, 18:19, Luke 11:13, John 16:23, 26). He hears your prayers and knows your needs even before you ask him (Matt 6:8).

John 15:25

“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

Written in their Law. Jesus is quoting Psalm 35:19 or 69:4. The Psalms do not form part of the Law of Moses or the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Jesus is referring to the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. For similar examples, see John 10:34, 12:34 and 1 Cor. 14:21.

John 15:26

“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,

The Helper is the Holy Spirit; see entry for John 14:16.

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