John 15: The Vine: Sermon Prep Notes

Great Quotes & Notes

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). This fruit is nothing less than the outcome of persevering dependence on the vine, driven by faith, embracing all of the believer’s life and the product of his witness

John 15:5–6 John (PN

Although the fire is part of the symbolism here associated with the vine, there can be little doubt that John and his readers perceived a similar fate for the faithless themselves (cf. 5:29; 1 Jn. 2:18–19; Mt. 13:37–42).

To cast it in terms of prayer, such a truly obedient believer proves effective in prayer, since all he or she asks for conforms to the will of God (cf. notes on 14:12–14

We will pray according to the will of God if we are abiding in Christ! (by remaining in Him, and His word remaining in us, we see that the true disciple actually has conformity both to Christ and to His Word. they can’t be separated!)

The Gospel according to John (a. The Extended Metaphor (15:1–8))

More precisely, the fruitfulness of believers is part and parcel of the way the Son glorifies his Father

We don’t often think about it in those terms, but our fruitfulness being a result of the living Vine (Christ!) inside of us actually contributes to Jesus glorifying the Father. Our fruitfulness is one of Jesus’ primary ways of giving glory to God the Father!

These two verses do not impose on the believer an absolute alternative, perfect obedience or utter apostasy; rather, they set up the only ultimate standard, the standard of Jesus himself. The practical tensions between this supreme standard and the faulty steps of obedience practised by Jesus’ followers are more fully explored in 1 John.1 (John 15:9-10)

1 Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (pp. 520–521). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.