Faithful Savior and Fruitful Servants
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Introduction
Introduction
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
A relationship with Christ is a fruit bearing relationship.
A relationship with Christ is a fruit bearing relationship.
It is so easy to say, I must produce fruit for Christ, but it is clear by the Word that fruit is only produced by depending of Christ as our life.
The True Vine
The True Vine
“I am”--
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
John 15:1-
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
1. “I am”—This is the last of the instruction “I am” statements in John. As John seems to use these statements to define who Jesus is. In just a few chapters Jesus knocks people off their feet with this statement. . . literally.
2. The True Vine is a transfer of an OT idea that Israel was to be a healthy vine blessed of God, cared for by God and used for God’s glory. Here is where that analogy is transferred into NT or new covenant thinking. gives a great depiction of that analogy but the best verse is verse 8.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
The Father cultivates.
Jesus, as the vine, feeds and provides for the branches.
Branches are to produce fruit through a healthy relationship with the vine.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)
The transparent purpose of the verse is to insist that there are no true Christians without some measure of fruit. Fruitfulness is an infallible mark of true Christianity; the alternative is dead wood, and the exigencies of the vine metaphor make it necessary that such wood be connected to the vine.
Fruitful and Fruitless have their place.
Fruitful and Fruitless have their place.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
John 15:
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Fruitless get cut away and burned.
Real Christians bear some sort of fruit.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)
Fruitfulness is an infallible mark of true Christianity; the alternative is dead wood, and the exigencies of the vine metaphor make it necessary that such wood be connected to the vine.
The type of fruit; converts, good works, spiritual growth; is not as important as the truth that those He saves, he also sanctifies. All of those things happen, as a result of a relationship with Christ. Verses 7-10 and verse 16 tell us that all this is in prayerful reliance on the Christ.
Those that bear fruit must be trimmed to bear more fruit.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)
The Greek displays a play on words that is hard to render in English. The Father ‘cuts off’ (airei) every dead branch; he ‘trims’ (kathairei) every fruit-bearing branch; indeed the disciples listening to Jesus are already ‘clean’ (katharoi, v. 3) because of the word Jesus has spoken to them. The verb kathairei and its cognate adjective katharoi are appropriate to both an agricultural (cf. Barrett, p. 473) and a moral or religious context. Cf. Additional Note.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Purge= καθαίρει
καθαίρει
Clean= καθαροί
καθαροί JNPM(3) καθαρός
LXGRCANLEX
LXGRCANLEX
Because they had recieved the Word, or have received Christ He communicates to them that they already have that assurance.
καθαροί JNPM (6) καθαρός
We are either abiders or we are not.
We are either abiders or we are not.
LALS
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
The Lord now uses the same illustration but in a different way to indicate the source of fruit. It is not by our sheer passion or hard work, but by the work and power of God.
Abiding is not something that we do to be saved or have a relationship with Christ, it is instead a result of our relationship with Christ.
Being “in Christ” is the real point here.
7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Being “in Christ” has not just the value of title but the value of fellowship.
Abiding is Depending
Abiding is Depending
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8)
The branch’s purpose is to bear much fruit (v. 5), but the next verses show that this fruit is the consequence of prayer in Jesus’ name, and is to the Father’s glory (vv. 7, 8, 16). This suggests that the ‘fruit’ in the vine imagery represents everything that is the product of effective prayer in Jesus’ name, including obedience to Jesus’ commands (v. 10), experience of Jesus’ joy (v. 11–as earlier his peace, 14:27), love for one another (v. 12), and witness to the world (vv. 16, 27).
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:4-
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
A relationship with Christ means we treat each other as Christ treats us.
A relationship with Christ means we treat each other as Christ treats us.
Depe
Joy’s source and depth are in Christ and His commands
Joy’s source and depth are in Christ and His commands
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Following Christ’s commands lead to joy
One primary command is:
That the disciples love and care for each other.
That the disciples love and care for each other.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:11
Christians grow by caring for and nurturing one another.
The standard for that care and nurture is Christ’s love.
The greatest love a friend can show is self sacrificing love.
The greatest love a friend can show is self sacrificing love.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Christ did just that for His friends, therefore: keep His commandments.
Servant of Christ is the friend of Christ
Servant of Christ is the friend of Christ
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Moving from the slave (δοῦλος) to the friend (φίλους) relationship. This is moving from being slave to not only a friend but a brother.
δοῦλος
Teacher/Student relationship is turned around
Teacher/Student relationship is turned around
φίλους
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
BDAG
John 15:
Jesus chose them instead of them choosing Jesus.
The idea of choosing is sometimes difficult to reconcile with man’s free will. But when we look at just the disciples we can see the truth.
Judas and John are two great examples.
Therefore, keep this commandment: love one another.
It is only natural for the world to hate Christians, it hated Christ first.
It is only natural for the world to hate Christians, it hated Christ first.
Do not be surprised. . . look at how they treat Christ.
Do not be surprised. . . look at how they treat Christ.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:18-
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
John
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Humility and association principles.
Humility and association principles.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
John 15:
You will not be better than the master, then you will no longer be a student. So do not expect a different outcome than the master had. Look even today at the hatred that our world has for Christ. So many Christians want to be popular with the world, if you and I are popular with the world, we are not like Christ.
Because you are with me they will hate you too.
Reason for that hatred is Jesus very name sake.
Before Christ the masses could claim ignorance, but now the light has come and those who believe not are actively rejecting.
Before Christ the masses could claim ignorance, but now the light has come and those who believe not are actively rejecting.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
John 15:
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to John 2. Opposition from the World (15:17–16:4a)
The idea is not that if Jesus had not come the people would have continued in sinless perfection—as if the coming of Jesus introduced for the first time sin and its attendant guilt before God (the Greek behind ‘they would not be guilty of sin’ is, more simply, ‘they would not have sin’). Rather, by coming and speaking to them Jesus incited the most central and controlling of sins: rejection of God’s gracious revelation, rebellion against God, decisive preference for darkness rather than light (cf. notes on 3:19–21; 9:39–41).
Because they hate Christ they hate the Father (22-23).
Christ revealed truth and healed the sick. . . they hated Him without a cause (24-25).
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
:
Help has arrived!
Help has arrived!
:
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Comforter—helper; intercessor; advocate--παράκλητος.
παράκλητος
The comforter will give power to do what Christ has called us to do.
BDAG
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Reason Revealed.
Reason Revealed.
So that in the midst of persecution and difficulty you will not be (offended) fall into sin.
So that in the midst of persecution and difficulty you will not be (offended) fall into sin.
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
:
Remember the relationship of fellowship!
Remember the relationship of fellowship!
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Remember the relationship of fellowship so you can remain/abide, to be fruitful because of the faithfulness of the Savior.