1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Those who hate me hate my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' 26 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing ('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. This is the difference between utter depravity and total depravity). 6 If you do not remain in me (The person who '...do not remain in me...' is an unbeliever who does not have a personal faith in Christ. The verse echoes Ezekial 15:1-8, where a vine failing to produce fruit is said to be good for nothing but the fire, Hebrews 6:7-8), you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned ('fire' is a common Jewish and biblical symbol for divine judgment [Isaiah 30:27; Matthew 3:12; 5:22; 18:8; 25:41]). 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (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; John 14:13-14; 16:23-24]. If God's people truly 'abide in' Jesus, they will desire what he desires and will pray according to his words/will, and those prayers will be pleasing to him. What we have here is the two-sided fellowship of prayer. When the Biblical words of Jesus abide in our mind, we hear the very thoughts of the living Christ, for He is the same yesterday. today, and forever. Out of that deep listeningof the heart comes the language of prayer, which is asweet incense before God's throne. The life of prayer leads to fullness of joy because prayer is the nerve center of our vital fellowship of Jesus. In a nutshell, God's appointed way to fullness of Joy because it is the vent of the inward burning of our heart for Christ. If we had no vent, if we could not commune with Him in response to His Word, we would be miserable indeed.). 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (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. So, how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. Prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy. So, on a practical level what does this look like? The church glorifies God, as it is obedient to Jesus; that is as it fulfills its divinely given mandate. Specifically, in our common life we are to be a true community of faith, manifesting the community bond in corporate worship; Fellowship; and mission!).
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (Jeremiah 15:16; Psalm 1:1-2; Psalm 19:8 - Not to pursue our joy every day in the Word of God is to abandon the revealed will of God - it's sin!). 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you - The point so far is this, Without an intimate union with Jesus adn thereby with on another, we cannot bear fruit, in fact the whole life of the church is the life of Jesus Christ. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends (It's here that Jesus reveals to us the love of the Father for humanity, this verse basically says that the love of God is not just sentimental, but it is also efficacious, in other words, God's love for us is not just a 'feeling' of love, but a love that is so compelling it moves him to change us even if the cost is laying down one's life...). 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you (Jesus as the chosen one is assigned by the Father the task of brining those whom he has chosen into the eschatological context of the Kingdom of God. He does this while simultaneously realizing the eschatological kingdom is his own person. So then, his electing grace is represented as the activity of a shepherd gathering the sheep - the scattered Children of God [John 11:52; John 10:16, 26-30]- However since they are empty of that which will alone make them fit for his presence, he must die for them. Only in their being a 'redeemed people' will they be given the grace for faith to discern who He is and to respond to his voice. It is their election that gives them security within Jesus keeping power [John 6:37, 44, 65,; 10:29]. For them alone he prays [John 17:9]. As a result they experience peace in the present and have hope for the future - John 14:1-3, 27; 15:4-5; 17:24-26). 17 This is my command: Love each other. - The question here is, "Why is the Father going to give the disciples what they ask in Jesus' name?" The answer is, because they have been sent to bear fruit. The reason the Father gives the disciples the gift of prayer is because Jesus has given them a mission. In fact, the grammar of John 15:16 implies that the reason Jesus gives them their mission is so that they will be able to enjoy the power of prayer: "I send you to bear fruit...so that whatever you ask the Father...he may give you." It's plain that the purpose of prayer is to accomplish a mission? A mission of love!
21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Those who hate me hate my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' (Psalm 35:19) 26 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me (The Holy Spirit is sent by both the Father and the Son to continue Jesus' witness and work in the world - John 16:7-11 - In the Book of John the Holy spirit is invariably described as participating in the mission of the post-Easter believers [John 3:5-8, 6:63, 7:37-39, 14:16-26, 15:26-27, 16:7-15, 20:22]. In John no mention is made of the Spirit bringing any ecstatic, joyous, or overmastering feelings. Rather the spirit is described as being with them, teaching them, guiding them, and bearing witness alongside them in much the same way that Jesus himself served his disciples - with greater intensity [John 14:12]. Best of all, he will enter them [us] into a prophetic confrontation with the non-believing world, the Spirit comes to save us into the Missio Dei!). 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. - When we consider the many texts that refer to the Holy Spirit-in-mission, we see that the Spirit is the primary agent of mission, and human beings are secondary. So then, Christians are to sense their God-given responsibility to put heart, soul, conscience, and resources to the task of proclaiming the gospel; but to one and all - But how? Matthew 10:19-20! The truth is, Jesus himself promised that He would give his disciples (me and you) the full measure of the Spirit, who would be a well of living water flowing from our inner being. Following Jesus' departure His Father would send another 'Counselor' to empower them/us for their/our missioin. This coming helper would teach the disciples, reminding them of Jesus' instructions and guiding them into truth. This same Spirit would testify about Jesus to the world, adn assist us in taking our stand as Christ's witness - John 4:14, 7:37-39, 14:16, 16:7, 14:25-27, 16:12-15, 16:7-11, and here, 15:26-27
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