1. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He taught His listeners with stories and analogies, often using common objects and experiences to make His point. He used such metaphors as “I am the door”, and “I am the bread of life”, and “I am good shepherd.” Here He says, “I am the true vine.” Our task is to attempt to understand what He meant by the metaphor and then respond to what He was calling His followers to believe and obey. This is a familiar section of the Gospel according to John, but it not an easy one to interpret.

2. One commentator said of John 15, “Few passages of Scripture are better known, at a superficial level.” Then he goes on to say that it is “as perplexing as it is profound. Does any believer really enjoy the extravagant prayer promises in verses 7and 8? Exactly what does ‘remaining in Christ’ really mean? Above all, how is it that branches are said to be in this vine, yet fruitless? And how can these branches be cut off and destroyed?” (Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus, pp. 90-91).

3. Let’s open up the passage and see if we can unpack the essence of Jesus’ teaching to His disciples on this important night. Let’s start with the illustration that He uses.

I. THE ILLUSTRATION (1-2)

A. The vine

1. The vine was a familiar sight in Israel. We ended chapter 14 with Jesus and His disciples departing the upper room, presumably on their way to the Mount of Olives. While it is possible that they could have lingered a while longer in the building after Jesus spoke, they more likely began to walk. It was dark. It was late as they made their way through the city and down the Kedron Valley toward the Garden of Gethsemane. Vines were literally everywhere in Jerusalem, so seeing one and pointing it out to the disciples could have easily provided the object lesson for the teaching.

2. The vine was a familiar symbol for Israel. What Jesus said to the disciples about the vine, should have been easy for them to follow. The OT frequently called the people of Israel “God’s vine.” The prophets Isaiah (5:1-7) and Jeremiah (12:10-13) and Ezekiel (15:1-8) all used this image. What is interesting about the usage of the vine in the OT is that though the vine is presented as being privileged, it is also pictured as corrupt, as producing sour grapes, etc. Perhaps this is why Jesus does not just describe Himself as the vine but as the true vine. As an example, look at Psalm 80:8-16.

3. The vine was a fitting symbol for Jesus and the disciples.

B. The gardener (vinedresser)

1. The gardener’s objective – A gardener or vinedresser’s objective would be to make the vine as fruitful as possible. Here the Heavenly Father is identified as the vinedresser. The emphasis here is on fruit bearing.

2. The gardener’s work

a. “Takes away” (“lifts up”?) Immediately, we begin with some controversy. “Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes.” The word John chose to use here (airo) is translated variously (away, bear, carry, hoist up, lift, loose, put, remove, take). From the translation here, it sounds like if there is a branch that is not bearing fruit, the Father takes it away, and following with the rest of the passage, presumably he lops these branches off and burns them in the fire. Perhaps we are missing the point. If you have noticed, grapes for example, grow best on arbors. The vines produce best when they hang freely in the air and light. If the branches of the vine are on the ground they will not grow and will not produce fruit. The gardener lifts them up. Why? – so that they will bear fruit. Does it not make sense that the Father takes those who are in the true vine and lifts them up in order that they might bear fruit. That is the work of the Father! (To lift up is actually the more common meaning of the word).

b. “Prunes” The word John chose to describe this work of the Father was “katharizo” (catharsis) a cleansing or cleaning. Whatever might be harmful to the branches of the vine is cleaned away in order to provide the best possible environment for growth and fruitfulness. So the Father lifts us up and then cleans away whatever might be detrimental for our growth and development. That is the work of the Father. (Now let’s consider the third element of the illustration).

C. The branches

1. In relation to the vine – apart from the vine the branches are dead. The word abide or remain speaks of the relationship of the branches to the vine. The only hope of life for the branch is the connection to the vine. Severed from the vine, the branch has no life in itself. As Jesus makes very clear, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

2. In regard to fruitfulness – without fruit the branches are worthless. The branches exist for one purpose – to bear fruit. The wood of the branches is too soft to be used to build anything useful. Usually the wood is twisted and gnarled. It is brittle. Branches of the vine are not even good for burning; they burn too quickly. In fact, in the OT there were times prescribed for various people to bring wood to the temple for the fires of sacrifice. The wood of the vine specifically was prohibited. If it were to be discarded it would be burned quickly in a bonfire. It had only one real purpose – to bear fruit! Okay. That is the illustration. What does it mean? What is the explanation?

II. THE EXPLANATION (At least three issues are brought to the front)

1. Abiding in Christ

1. This passage speaks of abiding or remaining in Christ, reminding us that only by such abiding can there be life and can there be fruitfulness. But the question, “How does one remain in Christ?” is still before us.

2. Part of our problem is in our theological assumptions. Some assume that if a believer fails to be fruitful, God lops him off and that person perishes (he looses his salvation). Others assume in our decisional-based Christianity, that once we “make a decision for Christ” we are in, no matter what, so whatever this is, it has nothing to do with our salvation, but probably deals with dead works that He cuts away and burns up. True, faith in Christ is rather simple. We ought not to add a list of qualifications to the simple instruction, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” But we must remember that God is the one who quickens the heart, who gives new life, who transfers us from darkness to light, from blind to sight, from lost to found, from death to life, but the evidence of that new life for us is fruitfulness over time resulting in endurance to the end. Remember the Parable of the Sower? Only one soil yielded fruit from the seed planted, and thus only one represented genuine conversion. But two other soils produced something of promise. In fact the shallow soil was the first to give the promise of harvest! But it shriveled and died, producing nothing.

3. D. A. Carson writes, “…the believer is responsible for remaining in Jesus’ love, and he accomplishes this by means of obedience. This does not suggest perfect obedience: the fruit-bearing branch still needs to be trimmed and pruned, and will continue to require such treatment until Jesus comes again. Nor should we be so arrogant as to think we are wise enough and committed enough to keep ourselves: those who with much striving remain in Jesus’ love discover that Jesus himself is keeping them. In the words of Paul, they work out their own salvation only to learn that God is working in them to will and to act according to his good purpose (Phil. 2:13). But when all qualifications are carefully registered, the full force of Jesus’ teaching in John 15 must burn its message on our minds: as Jesus remains in the Father’s love by means of obedience, so the believer must remain in Jesus’ love by means of obedience. This is what it means to remain in the vine: this is what intimacy with Jesus entails. Failure at this point calls into question the validity of our commitment to Jesus Christ” (p. 99). So, this passage is about abiding in Christ and what that means. But it is also about …

2. Bearing fruit

1. Those who abide in Christ will bear the fruit of that abiding relationship. The fruit is not defined here, but obviously it will produce the characteristics of the true vine. The fruit produced from the true vine will be sweet, premium fruit, fully loaded with the capability to bear more fruit.

2. Some speak of such things as “convert fruit” (Romans 1:13) and “conduct fruit” (Colossians 1:10 and Romans 6:22) and “character fruit” (Galatians 5:22-23). The point is that over time, those who are in the true vine will bear the fruit of that relationship in their lives. They have to for that is the purpose of their existence in the vine and God is the one who placed them there. Fruitfulness over time gives evidence of the Lord’s presence and the believer’s attachment to Him!

3. Glorifying God

1. Bearing fruit brings glory to the Father because that is the evidence that we belong to Him and are connected to the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. In our abiding relationship with the Lord Jesus, our desire will be to bear more fruit and thus we will pray, asking Him to do that in us, so that we can continue to bear even more fruit. And He will answer because that will bring greater glory to the Father! Okay, so what do I take from this passage?

III. THE APPLICATION

1. The theological controversy

1. Does this passage speak of losing one’s salvation, or of revealing one’s true nature or is it about destroying worthless works? What was Jesus talking about when He spoke of branches being thrown away and gathered up and burned? There are well-respected Bible teachers in all three camps.

2. To suggest the loss of salvation, to me, goes counter to so much of the Scripture, creating many more problems than it solves I have a hard time even entertaining such an idea. Here it is clearly God Himself thrusting these branches out, not because of some horrific sin, but because they have ceased to be (or never were) fruitful. Given our at least occasional fruitlessness, is anyone then safe in Christ? The suggestion (held by Boice and others) that the branches are not believers but the dead works of believers, is attractive and generally true but not a very good or honest fit with what the text appears to say. Further it distinguishes too finely the elements in the metaphor, and that would be at best unusual. It is true that fruitfulness is the issue, but to say that salvation is not in the picture is to miss the point of what fruitfulness demonstrates. Fruitfulness is the evidence of abiding in Christ, thus the evidence of genuine connection to the true vine.

3. There are many who appear to be in the vine, who are not. One close to this discussion with the disciples was Judas (who by now had gone to do his dastardly deed). The eleven would soon discover the truth about him. The nature of the fruit he bore revealed the core of his being. He was never known by the Lord, never connected to the vine, and never a bearer of good fruit. It took a while, but his true nature eventually was revealed. He was removed, as it were, and met an awful end.

B. The basic responsibility – abide in Christ

1. There is a sense in which we don’t do anything to bear fruit. That is the natural result of a healthy relationship between the vine and the branches. I don’t need to bear down like I am trying to lay an egg or work myself into a frenzy of fruit-bearing finesse. True believers bear fruit. That is what we do. Further we do not need to work hard at keeping ourselves united with the true vine. We are in Him and His grace and mercy and power flow freely to and through us producing fruitful lives.

2. However, there is also the matter of the kind and quality and quantity of fruit that is produced. Responding to the work of the Father as He lifts me up and as He cuts away the dead stuff around me, and being obedient to the Lord Jesus as He directs my life by His Word and by His Spirit, all of this has an effect on the quality and quantity of fruit that is produced in me for the glory of God and for the good of the body of Christ. So though I cannot bear fruit on my own, I certainly can cooperate as He works in me. So what do I need to do?

C. The necessary changes

1. Change the criteria of our assurance. Ask the average professing Christian about their salvation and they will usually give you the details of what they believe to be their conversion. “I responded to an invitation”; “I prayed the sinner’s prayer”; “So and so had me repeat a prayer after them”, etc. The Bible never teaches us to find assurance in a conversion experience, but in current evidence of obedient perseverance – or in the words of this text, bearing fruit. If there is no growing likeness to Jesus, there is little reason to be confident of salvation.

2. Change the content of our prayers. When we abide in Christ, our concern ought to be about fruitfulness. Read any of Paul’s prayers in his epistles and that is what you will find. In Ephesians, Paul prayed for enlightened hearts and growing hope and greater power and greater love and increasing knowledge of Christ. For the Philippians, Paul prayed for abounding love and increasing discernment and a pure and blameless lifestyle. It was about fruit for the glory of God.

3. Change the focus of affection – As we will see later, it is love both vertically and horizontally, but never toward ourselves. Love Christ. Love one another. That is the result of a fruit-bearing life – a life that abides in Christ! We are so busy looking in the mirror, enamored by ourselves that we don’t see anyone else.

Conclusion

1. Are you in the vine? Apart from Christ, you can do nothing – and that starts with salvation. You cannot save yourself and you have no hope apart from Christ. If you will trust Him, cry out to Him to forgive you and believe what He did on Calvary. The Bible says that when we do that, He will save us.

2. It is never wrong to do some checking, some evaluating. Peter talked of making sure of one’s election. Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves to see if they were in the faith – not the least of which because they appeared so fruitless. So, what were they looking at? Was there any evidence of faith in Christ? Was there any fruit?

3. It is not wrong to confess our fruitlessness and to ask God to help us obey Him and desire to cooperate with Him as He does His work in us.

4. Finally, may all of us who are in Christ, determine today to be more intentional about bearing good fruit and make that a concerted effort for the long haul.