35: I am the True Vine. You are the Branches (John 15:1 – 17)

The vine tree analogy so vividly illustrates our relationship with Jesus. As the branches of a vine share the life of the vine, we share and live from Jesus’ life.

👉 Read John 15:1 - 17

Q1. Why do we need to remain in Jesus? (2, 4)

To bear fruit.

God takes away any branch that doesn’t bear fruit.

We might debate the security of salvation: do we lose our salvation if we bear no fruit? However, it is better to focus on how to bear fruit rather than how to get salvation. 

“You are clean already.” It would refer to a born-again status, a rightful relationship with the Father, one who bathed (13:10). John uses the imagery of cleanness for salvation. In the OT bible, one should be ritually clean to stand before God. 

When we believe Jesus’ gospel, we are reconciled with the Father. Though sinners, we can approach God by Jesus’ blood.

The pruning (lit. cleaning) (2) of our life is to make us bear more fruit.

“Remain”: You should stay, not stop by. No plant produces fruit instantaneously; it takes time for a plant to grow strong enough to bear fruit.

Q2. What is to remain in Jesus? (7)

To make Jesus’ words remain in us. In specific, the words from the Father (15)

Q3. What kind of fruit does the Father want from us? (8)  

The fruit of Jesus’ disciples

The gardener who planted a vine tree expects grapes. 

As Jesus’ words remain in us, our prayers will change, and our lives will change accordingly. People will see Jesus in us and recognize us as His disciples. In this way, the Gardener is glorified because He receives the fruit He desires.

Let your life bear the taste of Jesus. This is the fruit the Father desires as He sent His Son into the world

Q4. Note Jesus repeats, ‘Remain in me, I will remain in you.’ Such mutual remaining is the necessary and sufficient condition for bearing fruit. Verses 1-8 illustrate the message using the vine tree analogy. And verses 9 – 17 unfolded it deeper. How to remain in Jesus’ love? 

To obey Jesus’ command

We could remain in Jesus’ love in the same way that Jesus remains in the Father’s love. 

Jesus wants us to know the Father’s love and to remain in that love. Thus, Jesus explains how He remains in His Father’s love—by obeying the Father’s command and loving us to the end. He then calls us to remain in His love by obeying His command: to love one another. This command of love ultimately comes from the Father, the Creator of life.

When we know that such love has come from the Father because the Father sent Jesus, love one another, and remain in the Son’s love, we will be filled with the joy of Jesus. Jesus’ joy is the joy He has when His desire—to make us know the Father’s love and remain in that love—is accomplished. It is also the joy He experienced in the Father’s love through His obedience to the cross. Such joy will be complete because it originates from the Father, the Creator of life. We will no longer seek any other joy.

Remaining in Jesus is to let the Father’s love (which is life for us) and the joy of Jesus—the joy of obedience—flow through us as we devote our lives to being branches of the Vine.

Q5. Jesus laid down His life for His friends. What makes you say you are His friend? (14, 15)

When we obey His command: to love.

When we are given the word from the Father through Jesus

Verse 16 says, Jesus has chosen us and revealed us the truth of the Father. If you have accepted the gospel, you are chosen and His friend. Jesus’ love and our obedience secure our friendship with Jesus. 

Q6. Why do we need to stay in Jesus to bear fruit? (8, 16)

It is the Father who makes you bear fruit. When you are in the Son, the Father answers your prayer. 

The only acceptable fruit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and a disciple of Jesus.

From the Father, the word and the love flow to us through Jesus the Son. The love is poured on us through death, the word gives us life. Thus, Jesus said, 'If you remain in me, you bear much fruit.' What an easy and encouraging promise to bear fruit!

The Vine and the Branches.

            The vine and its branches

            Together and not apart from each other

            Lord You are the vine

            And we are the branches

            Unless we abide in you, we cannot bear fruit

            Let us abide in You and bear fruit in plenty

            And live abundantly for eternity.

- Solomon Raj