1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 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. 3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 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. 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. 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. 7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 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. 11“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
12“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14“You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 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. 17“This I command you, that you love one another.
18“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. 22“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23“He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. 25“But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’ 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, 27and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Interesting Words
vine
(ἄμπελος – Greek) – ampelos ► vine, grape-vine, Jesus Christ, “the true vine“, also used symbolically of Christless Judaism and apostate Christianity, i.e. the (external) religious body of people which merely pretends to bear fruit but is in fact fruitless – Jer 2:21 (LXX); James 3:12;
vinedresser
(γεωργός – Greek) – geórgos ► husbandman, vinedresser, worker of the soil, farmer, farm-laborer , from “ge” (land) and the base of “ergon” (worker); a land-worker – Mark 12:1, 7, 9; 2Tim 2:6;
branch
love
(ἀγάπη – Greek) – agapé ► love, benevolence, good will, esteem – John 3:16; Rom 5:8;
friend
(φίλος – Greek) – philos ► beloved, dear, friendly, friend, an associate, someone dearly loved (prized) in a personal, intimate way; a trusted confidant, held dear in a close bond of personal affection, The root (phil-) conveys experience-based love. – Luke 12:4-5; James 2:23, 4:4;
Cross References
▪︎ James 5:7;
▪︎ 1John 4:7-8, 10
Discussion Questions
1. Consider John 15:1, 4, 5 … What does this tell you about your ministry as a Christian in the world today?
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2. What does 1Cor 12:13 add to the discussion about vines and branches? Also consider Matt 10:29-31 and Ps 84:3.
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3. What is the key to a fruitful ministry as part of the vine?
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4. What are the advantages of this effort?
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5. Jesus brings up a subject that He talked about in John 13. What is that subject and why is it so important?
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6. Jesus reclassified our relationship with Him. How does He describe that new aspect? How does it change things?
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7. In the last half of the chapter, Jesus presents several contrasts between Him and us His children (us), and the world. What are they and how do they affect our lives?
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