Verse 1

This is the last of Jesus’ "I am" claims in this Gospel. [Note: See John C. Hutchinson, "The Vine
in John 15 and Old Testament Imagery in the ’I Am’ Statements," Bibliotheca Sacra 168:669
(January-March 2011):63-80.] Jesus and His Father occupy different roles in this extended
metaphor.

Jesus is the true (Gr. alethinos, cf. John 1:9; John 6:32) vine. The Old Testament writers
frequently used this plant to describe Israel (Psalms 89:9-16; Isaiah 5:1-7; Isaiah 27:2; Jeremiah
2:21; Jeremiah 12:10; Ezekiel 15:1-8; Ezekiel 17:1-21; Ezekiel 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1-2). The
nation’s failure to produce fruit and its consequent impending divine judgment are in view
whenever the vine represents Israel in the Old Testament. [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p.
513.] Because of this identification and emphasis it is clearly with unfruitful and guilty Israel that
Jesus contrasted Himself as the "true" vine. He would produce good fruit as God intended
(cf. Psalms 80:7-9; Psalms 80:14-17). No vine can produce good fruit unless it is good stock.

The Father cultivates the vine as a farmer (Gr. georgos) does his vineyard. The idea of functional
subordination within the Godhead appears again here. No vine will produce good fruit unless
someone competent cares for it.

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Verses 1-8

The vine and the branches metaphor 15:1-8

Jesus often used a grapevine to describe the nation of Israel (cf. Matthew 20:1-16; Matthew
21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 13:6-9; Luke 20:9-16). The vine as a symbol of Israel appears on
coins of the Maccabees. [Note: Morris, p. 593.] Here Jesus used the vine metaphorically of
Himself. One can hardly escape the inference that Jesus viewed Himself as the fulfillment of
Israel. Covenant theologians like to think of the church as the fulfillment of Israel, but there is no
scriptural warrant for this conclusion except the similarities between the two entities. However
the differences between them make dispensational theologians conclude that the church only
superficially fulfills Israel.

This is not a parable in the Synoptic sense since there is no plot. It is more of an extended
metaphor similar to the shepherd and sheepfold metaphors in chapter 10.

"It is possible that if the text of this discourse was spoken as they walked from the upper room in
Jerusalem down into the Kidron Valley and across to the Mount of Olives, they could have seen
the great golden vine, the national emblem of Israel, on the front of the temple." [Note: Tenney,
"John," p. 150.]

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Verses 1-16

5. The importance of abiding in Jesus 15:1-16

Jesus continued to prepare His disciples for His departure. He next taught the Eleven the
importance of abiding in Him with the result that they would produce much spiritual fruit. He
dealt with their relationships to Himself, one another, and the world around them in chapter 15.
Their responsibilities were to abide, to love, and to testify respectively.

"If in the Discourse recorded in the fourteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel the Godward aspect
of Christ’s impending departure was explained, in that of the fifteenth chapter the new relation is
set forth which was to subsist between Him and His Church. And this . . . may be summarized in
these three words: Union, Communion, Disunion [i.e., separation from the world]." [Note:
Edersheim, 2:519.]

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Verse 2

Jesus earlier taught about the mutual indwelling of believers and Himself (John 14:20).
Therefore it seems clear that Jesus was speaking here of genuine believers such as the Eleven,
not simply professing believers. [Note: Interpreters who argue for professing believers include J.
Carl Laney, "Abiding is Believing: The Analogy of the Vine in John 15:1-6," Bibliotheca Sacra
146:581 (January-March 1989):55-66; and John F. MacArthur Jr., The Gospel According to
Jesus, pp. 166, 170-71.]

"The phrase ’in Me’ is used 16 times in John’s Gospel (John 6:56; John 10:38; John
14:10 [twice], 11, 20, 30; John 15:2; John 15:4 [twice], 5-7; John 16:33; John 17:21; John
17:23). In each case it refers to fellowship with Christ. It is inconsistent then to say the phrase
in John 15:2 refers to a person who merely professes to be saved but is not. A person ’in Me’
is always a true Christian." [Note: Joseph C. Dillow, "Abiding Is Remaining in Fellowship:
Another Look at John 15:1-6," Bibliotheca Sacra 147:585 (January-March 1990):44-53. Cf.
Beasley-Murray, p. 272.]

This identification finds support in the illustration itself. Branches (Gr. klema, lit. tendrils) of a
vine share the life of the vine.

Jesus taught that some believers in Him do not bear fruit (cf. Luke 8:14). Fruit-bearing is the
normal but not the inevitable consequence of having divine life. This is true of grapevines too.
Grapevines have branches that bear fruit, but they must also have branches that presently bear no
fruit but are growing stronger so they will bear fruit in the future. [Note: Gary W. Derickson,
"Viticulture’s Contribution to the Interpretation of John 15:1-6," a paper presented at the annual
meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Lisle, Illinois, 19 November 1994.] There can
be genuine life without fruit in a vine, and there can be in a Christian as well. The New
Testament teaches that God effects many changes in the life of every person who trusts in Jesus
for salvation. Lewis Sperry Chafer noted 33 things that happen to a person the moment he or she
trusts Jesus Christ as Savior. [Note: L. S. Chafer, Systematic Theology, 3:234-65.] However
these are all invisible changes. Fruit is what a plant produces on the outside that other people can
see and benefit from. It is the visible evidence of an inner working power.
Thus a true believer who experiences the inner transforming work of the Spirit at conversion
may not necessarily give external testimony to that transformation by his or her character or
conduct immediately. It would be very rare for a Christian to resist the Spirit’s promptings so
consistently and thoroughly that he or she would never bear any fruit, but Jesus allowed for that
possibility here. The form of His statement argues against interpreting it as hyperbole.

What happens to the believer who bears no fruit? The Greek word airo can mean "to take away"
or "to lift up." Those who interpret it here as meaning to take away (in judgment) believe that
either the believer loses his or her salvation, or the believer loses his or her reward and possibly
even his or her life. Those who interpret airo to mean "to lift up" believe that these branches get
special attention from the vinedresser so they will bear fruit in the future. [Note: J. Dwight
Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, p. 441.] The second alternative seems better
since in the spring vinedressers both lifted up unfruitful branches and pruned (Gr. kathairo)
fruitful branches of grapevines. Jesus gave this teaching in the spring when farmers did what He
described in this verse. [Note: See Gary W. Derickson, "Viticulture and John 15:1-6,"
Bibliotheca Sacra 153:609 (January-March 1996):34-52.]

"Many commentators discuss only one pruning and incorrectly assume that all non-fruit
bearing branches are removed and burned at that time. We have demonstrated from both
historical and current cultural practices that such is not the case and only serves to confuse the
biblical record and our understanding of the Lord’s intended message. The spring pruning
actually encouraged the maturation of non-fruit bearing branches so they could bear fruit the
following year. The fall pruning excised all of the leafy vegetation and much of the ’brush-
wood’ (as Pliny termed it), and it was then in the fall of the year that the significant burning
occurred to eliminate the woody branches as they prepared the vine for the winter dormant
period." [Note: John A Tucker, "The Inevitability of Fruitbearing: An Exegesis of John 15:6 -
Part II," Journal of Dispensational Theology 15:45 (August 2011):52.]

Assuming that this is the correct interpretation, Jesus was teaching that the Father gives special
support to believers who are not yet bearing fruit. In viticulture this involves lifting the branch
off the ground so it will not send secondary roots down into the ground that will prove
unhealthful. Lifting the branch off the ground onto a pole or trellis also enables air to dry the
branch and prevent it from getting moldy and becoming diseased.

The Father also prunes (Gr. kathairo) or cuts back the branches that bear fruit so they will
produce even more fruit. This apparently corresponds to the disciplining process that God has
consistently used to make His people more spiritually productive (Numbers 14:22-24; Hebrews
12:4-11; et al.). It does not involve removing the believer’s life but his or her sinful habits and
purifying his or her character and conduct, often through trials (James 1:2-4). No fruit-bearing
branch is exempt from this important though uncomfortable process. The Father’s purpose is
loving, but the process may be painful.

"The fruit of Christian service is never the result of allowing the natural energies and
inclinations to run riot." [Note: Morris, p. 594.]
Grapevines, in contrast to other types of wood, do not have many uses. Their total value is that
they can produce fruit, specifically grapes. Vines do not yield timber from which people can
make other things (Ezekiel 15). They are "good for either bearing or burning, but not for
building." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:355.] Similarly the only reason believers exist on the earth is to bear
spiritual fruit.

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Verse 3

Jesus assured His disciples that they were indeed already clean. The Father’s treatment of them
was not to make them clean. Jesus again used the figure for possessing eternal life that He had
used earlier when He had washed these disciples’ feet (John 13:10). Divine care and discipline
follow the granting of eternal life. Jesus did not want the Eleven to conclude, as many people do,
that the absence of fruit or the presence of difficulties indicates the absence of salvation.

"The ancients spoke of pruning as a ’cleansing’ of the branches, just as we speak of

’cleansing’ the land." [Note: Tasker, p. 175.]

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Verse 4

The first sentence in this verse is capable of three different interpretations. It may be a
conditional statement. In this case Jesus meant that if His clean (i.e., saved) disciples abode in
Him He would abide in them. I believe this is the best interpretation. Earlier Jesus had presented
abiding in (in contrast to departing from) Him as a real possibility for His believing disciples
(cf. John 8:31-32; John 15:10). He did not speak of abiding as the inevitable condition of
believers. Jesus’ described His relationship with believers as more or less intimate depending on
their love and obedience to Him (John 14:23-24). He did not present abiding and not abiding as
white and black categories, as being either completely in or completely out of fellowship. Rather
He presented our relationship to Him much more realistically, namely, as having a more or less
intimate relationship.

Second, the sentence may be a comparative statement. The meaning would then be that the
disciples should abide in Jesus as He abode in them. Obviously Jesus wanted His disciples to
abide in Him, but the use of "and" (Gr. kago, from kai ego) is unusual. A comparison would
usually contain "as" rather than "and." Moreover the verb "abide" (Gr. meinate) is an imperative,
and the possibilities surrounding this verse indicate that not abiding is a real possibility for a
believer. Jesus, on the other hand, would always abide in the believer by His Spirit even if the
believer did not abide in Him (John 14:17; cf. 2 Timothy 2:12-13).

Third, this may be an imperative statement. If it is, Jesus meant that the disciples and He should
commit themselves to abiding in one another. The idea would be, Let us commit to abide in one
another. The problem with this view is that Jesus had already committed Himself to abiding
within His believing disciples (John 14:17). Furthermore the strong second person imperative in
the first clause of the sentence argues against a mutual exhortation. It puts the emphasis on the
believer’s responsibility primarily.
The branches then should make a deliberate effort (indicated by the imperative verb "abide") to
maintain a close personal relationship to the true vine. We should do this not because failure to
do so will result in our losing the life of God that we possess. Jesus promised that He would
never withdraw that from us (John 6:37-40; John 10:28-29). We should do it because the extent
of our fruitfulness as believers is in direct proportion to our intimacy with Jesus. Divine life
depends on connection with the true vine by exercising saving faith in Him, but fruitfulness
depends on abiding in the vine by exercising loving obedience toward Him.

Much confusion has resulted from failing to recognize that Jesus spoke of "abiding" in two
senses. He used it as a synonym for saving faith (John 6:56). Some interpreters have imported
that meaning into this verse. [Note: E.g., Blum, p. 325.] However, He also used it to describe the
intimate relationship that those who have exercised saving faith need to cultivate with God (John
8:31). All believers abide in Jesus in the first sense, but all do not abide in Him in the second
sense (cf. John 15:10; 1 John 3:24). It is in this second sense that Jesus spoke of abiding here
(cf. John 15:9-10). He stressed the importance of believers abiding in Him by using the
word meno ("abide") three times in this verse alone. It occurs 11 times in this chapter and 27
times in John’s epistles, where John expounded Jesus’ teaching on this subject further.

"The imagery of the vine is stretched a little but the point is clear: continuous dependence on
the vine, constant reliance upon him, persistent spiritual imbibing of his life-this is the sine
qua non of spiritual fruitfulness." [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 516.]

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Verse 5

Jesus continued to stress the importance of believers abiding in Him (i.e., cultivating intimacy
through loving obedience, John 14:23; John 15:10) to bear much fruit. The negative alternative
illustrates the positive truth. No contact with the vine results in no fruit. Jesus had spoken of no
fruit (John 15:2), some fruit (John 15:2), more fruit (John 15:2), and now He spoke of much fruit
(John 15:5).

Obviously it is impossible for a branch to bear any fruit if it has no contact with the life-giving
vine. Many unbelievers appear to bear the fruit of godly character and conduct, but their fruit is
phony. It is similar to plastic fruit that one could hang on trees to give them the appearance of
being healthy and productive. It is natural, though not inevitable, that a branch that has vital
connection with the vine bear some fruit. The way to bear much fruit is for the branch to
maintain unhindered fellowship with the vine by allowing the vine to have its way with the
branch. The alternative would be resisting the Holy Spirit’s work by neglecting and disobeying
God.

Lack of fruit in the life, therefore, may not necessarily be an indication that the branch has no
vital relationship to the vine (i.e., that the person is unsaved). It may indicate that the branch,
though connected to the vine, is not abiding in it (i.e., that the believer is not cultivating an
intimate relationship with the Savior).
 "How strange that in our day and time we have been told so often that fruitlessness is a sure
sign that a person is unsaved. Certainly we did not get this idea from the Bible. Rather, the
Bible teaches that unfruitfulness in a believer is a sure sign that one is no longer moving
forward, no longer growing in Christ. It is a sign that the Christian is spiritually sick, and until
well again, cannot enjoy spiritual success." [Note: Zane C. Hodges, Absolutely Free! p. 118.]

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Verse 6

Jesus appears to have been continuing to speak of abiding in the sense of believers remaining
close to Himself. The "anyone" in the context would be any believer. Therefore what He said
applies to believers, not unbelievers.

It is not proper to conclude that non-abiding disciples are all unbelievers. Many interpreters who
believe that all genuine believers will inevitably persevere in the faith and good works tend to do
this. They tend to impose their doctrine on this verse and make the verse fit their theology rather
than interpreting the verse in its context. This is an example of allowing theology to determine
exegesis rather than allowing exegesis to determine theology. Jesus was speaking in this context
of abiding and non-abiding disciple believers and gave no hint that He was speaking about
unbelievers.

Many interpreters have taken John 15:6 as an exposition of John 15:2. However the viticulture
process that Jesus described in John 15:6 took place in the fall whereas the process He mentioned
in John 15:2 happened in the spring. [Note: Derickson, "Viticulture and . . .," pp. 50-51.] In the
fall the vinedresser would prune (Gr. kathairo) the vines for the winter by cutting off the dead
wood. He would not cut off the unfruitful branches that would produce grapes the next season
but only the branches that did not have a healthy connection to the vine. The point of the verse is
that branches with other serious problems, not just non-fruit-bearing branches (John 15:2), also
experience pruning.

What happens to these branches? Jesus said the vinedresser disposes of them. This has led some
interpreters to conclude that they lose their salvation and go to hell, especially since He
mentioned burning in fire. Others believe He implied that believers who do not abide in Christ
will suffer the loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:15 where fire
appears in connection with the judgment of believers). Fire is a common figure that occurs
throughout Scripture to describe the judgment of believers as well as unbelievers (cf. Genesis
19:24-26; Numbers 11:1; Isaiah 9:19; Ezekiel 15:1-8; et al.). Still others think the mention of fire
is only incidental since vinedressers burned the branches they cut off in the fall pruning. They
believe Jesus’ point was that some Christians are as useless to God as these branches were to
vine-growers. The point is their uselessness, not their judgment. Pruning may involve premature
death or some other form of divine discipline but certainly not loss of salvation and perhaps not
even loss of reward. I prefer view three, but I concede that view two may be correct. All
interpreters believe Jesus mentioned this pruning to encourage His disciples to abide in Him.
Then they would bear much fruit. [Note: See also John A. Tucker, "The Inevitability of
Fruitbearing: An Exegesis of John 15:6 - Part I," Journal of Dispensational Theology 15:44
(April 2011):51-68.]
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Verse 7

Here the second use of "abide" is obviously in view, namely, its use as a synonym for fellowship
rather than salvation. Jesus addressed His believing disciples and told them what would happen
if they did abide in Him. He had already explained that believers may or may not abide in Him
(John 15:3-5). Not only do abiding disciples bear much fruit (John 15:5), but they also receive
what they ask God for in prayer.

This verse has also been a stumbling block to some sincere Christians. It appears to be a blanket
promise to grant any request the disciple may offer. Really it is a blanket promise to grant any
request that an abiding disciple may offer. An abiding disciple will ask only those things that are
in harmony with or subject to God’s will, as Jesus did. The wishes of abiding disciples are the
same as Jesus’ wishes. To ask anything else would make the praying believer a non-abiding
disciple.

Putting this revelation together with what Jesus said earlier, we can see that abiding disciples
pray in Jesus’ name, and praying in Jesus’ name requires abiding in Christ (John 14:13-14).
[Note: See Thomas L. Constable, Talking to God: What the Bible Teaches about Prayer, pp. 175-
76.] Perhaps we can understand better now what Jesus meant when He said earlier that He
wanted His disciples to experience the same unity with Himself that He enjoyed with His Father
(John 14:20-21).

"To remain in Christ and to allow his words to remain in oneself means a conscious
acceptance of the authority of his word and a constant contact with him by prayer." [Note:
Tenney, "John," p. 152.]

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Verse 8

The granting of petitions to abiding believers glorifies the Father. Answered prayer is one form
of fruitfulness. All fruitfulness springs ultimately from the Son, the vine. Therefore it is really the
Son who is bringing glory to the Father through His abiding disciples (cf. John 13:31; John
14:13; John 17:4). The believer’s fruitfulness is one means by which the Son glorifies the Father.

Fruit-bearing demonstrates that a believer is one of Jesus’ disciples (cf. Matthew 7:20; Luke
6:43-44). Notice that Jesus did not say that a believer will inevitably produce fruit. It is possible
for a believer to give little or no outward evidence of being a believer in Jesus (John 15:2). This
is one of the greatest problems in the church today: genuine Christians who make little or no
attempt to follow God’s will for their lives. However the presence of fruit in a believer’s life
shows others that that disciple really does possess eternal life.

Some expositors argue that fruit is inevitable in the true Christian’s life by appealing to Matthew
7:20: "You will know them by their fruits." However in the context of that verse Jesus was
talking about false teachers, not believers.
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Verses 9-10

Jesus proceeded to explain that obedience is the key to abiding (cf. John 15:7). The relationship
between the Father and the Son is again the paradigm for the relationship between the Son and
the believer. The idea is not that we can withdraw from the circle of God’s love by being
disobedient. God does not stop loving His disobedient children (cf. Luke 15:11-24). It is rather
that we can withdraw from the enjoyment and blessings of His love. John stressed Jesus’
obedience to His Father in this Gospel (John 4:34; John 5:19; John 6:38; John 8:29; John
8:55; John 10:17-18; John 12:27-28; John 14:31). Now Jesus called His disciples to follow His
example.

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Verses 9-16

The exposition of themes in the metaphor 15:9-16

Jesus proceeded to expound further on some of the themes that He had introduced in His
teaching on the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). We observed the same pattern in Jesus’
teaching about the Good Shepherd in chapter 10. The subject moves generally from the believing
disciple’s relationship with God to his or her relationship with other believers.

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Verse 11

Loving obedience is the cause of the disciple’s fruitfulness, but joy is its result. The fullness of
believers’ joy was John’s purpose for writing his first epistle, as it was Jesus’ purpose in giving
this discourse (1 John 1:4). Specifically Jesus had told His disciples that joy would follow their
obedience to His teachings (John 15:10). He intended His teachings to produce freedom and joy,
not bondage and grief (cf. John 10:10; Matthew 11:30).

"How can we tell when we are ’abiding in Christ’? Is there a special feeling? No, but there are
special evidences that appear and they are unmistakably clear. For one thing, when you are
abiding in Christ, you produce fruit (John 15:2). . . . Also, you experience the Father’s
’pruning’ so that you will bear more fruit (John 15:2). The believer who is abiding in Christ
has his prayers answered (John 15:7) and experiences a deepening love for Christ and for
other believers (John 15:9; John 15:12-13). He also experiences joy (John 15:11)." [Note:
Wiersbe, 1:355.]

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Verse 12

Jesus summarized His teaching with the command to love one another as He had loved them
(cf. John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:16). This was especially relevant because of the disciples’ earlier
arguments about who of them was the greatest and their unwillingness to wash each other’s feet.
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Verse 13

Love for a friend reaches its zenith when one willingly sacrifices his or her life for that friend.
Jesus had spoken of His love for His disciples (John 15:12). He would shortly show them how
great it was by making the supreme sacrifice for them. After that, they would not only have His
command but also His example to follow.

Really Jesus did more than lay down His life for His friends. He died for His enemies
(cf. Matthew 5:43-47; Romans 5:8-10). However in the context of this audience His statement
was true as it stands. The most a person can do for a friend is to die for him or her.

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Verses 14-15

"Friend" is another relative term such as "abiding" or "fellowship." A person can be a casual
friend, a close friend, or an intimate friend depending on his or her love and loyalty. Likewise all
believers are God’s friends in one sense, but abiding believers are His friends on a deeper level
because they seek to obey Him consistently (cf. Psalms 25:14).

A good servant (Gr. doulos, lit. slave) also obeys his master. What then is the difference between
a servant of God and an intimate friend of God? Jesus proved to His disciples that they were His
friends as well as His servants but pointing out that a master shares his plans with his friends but
not with his slaves. He had told them what was coming thereby treating them as His friends.
Abraham and Moses, the only Old Testament characters whom God called His friends, also
received revelations of God’s plans from Him (cf. Genesis 18:17; Exodus 33:11; 2 Chronicles
20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). Jesus also referred to Lazarus as "our friend" (John 11:11).

Slaves customarily receive orders but no explanations or reasons for their orders. One of the
differences between friends and slaves is the degree of intimacy they share with the Master.
Jesus raised His disciples from the level of tools to being partners with Him in His work (cf. 2
Corinthians 5:20 to 2 Corinthians 6:1).

Jesus said that He no longer called His disciples slaves implying that He had done so in the past.
One of the common titles God used for the prophets in the Old Testament was "my servants the
prophets" (e.g., Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 25:4; Jeremiah 29:19; et al.). In former times God had
not revealed His mind fully to His people (cf. 1 Peter 1:10-12). However with the coming of
Jesus He revealed His plans as to friends rather than as to servants. This is another indication that
Jesus viewed His Incarnation as the culmination of divine revelation. The revelation that Jesus
gave through the apostles following His ascension was a continuation of that revelation (cf. Acts
1:1-2).

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Verse 16
Again Jesus stressed that the initiative in the relationship between Him and His disciples lay with
Himself, not them (cf. John 1:39; John 1:42-43; John 6:70; John 10:27). He probably did this
because of their tendency to think too highly of themselves and since in their culture it was
common for disciples to choose their rabbi. Even today students love to seek out the teacher of
their choice and attach themselves to him or her.

He had chosen them to be His friends, but He had also appointed them to a specific task. They
had a job to do as His servants, a mission to fulfill. Part of His purpose for them was that they
bear fruit and that their fruit would have lasting effects. Evidently the fruit of their missionary
outreach was particularly in Jesus’ mind since He linked going with bearing fruit. In this case
new converts are the fruits in view (cf. John 20:21).

Asking the Father in prayer in Jesus’ name was necessary for fruit-bearing to happen. Jesus
linked prayer and fruit-bearing in a cause and effect relationship. Prayer plays an essential role in
the believer’s fruitfulness (cf. James 4:2).

The NIV translation is misleading. It implies that answers to prayer will be the disciples’ reward
for effective fruit-bearing. In the Greek text there are two purpose clauses each introduced
by hina: "that you should go and bear fruit," and "that whatever you ask the Father . . . He may
give you." These purposes are coordinate, but logically praying precedes fruit-bearing (cf. John
14:12-14; John 15:7-8).

"Five characteristics of genuine love are detailed in John 15:13-16. True love is sacrificial; it is
demonstrated in obedience in Christ; it always communicates truth; it takes the initiative in
meeting the legitimate needs of others; and it will always bear fruit with abiding results." [Note:
Bailey, p. 186.]

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Verse 17

Again Jesus repeated the absolute importance of His disciples loving one another (cf. John
13:34; John 15:10; John 15:12; John 15:14). This was not only a repetition for emphasis, but it
set the stage for Jesus’ teaching on the world’s opposition that follows.

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Verses 17-27

6. The warning about opposition from the world 15:17-27

Jesus had discussed the Father’s unity with the Son, the Son’s unity with His disciples, and the
disciples’ unity with one another, as recorded in this chapter. It was natural then that He should
also address the disciples’ relationship with the world. His reference to their mission led Him
into this subject (John 15:16).
"This study [John 15:1-16] began in the vineyard and ended in the throne room! The next study
will take us to the battlefield where we experience the hatred of the lost world." [Note: Wiersbe,
1:359.]

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Verse 18

Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for the opposition that they would face after His departure.
To do this He announced first that they would encounter opposition from the world (cf. 1 John
3:13). Here the world (Gr. kosmos) refers to the mass of unbelievers. The conditional sentence in
the Greek text assumes the reality of what Jesus stated for the argument’s sake. The world would
hate them. A person cannot be an intimate friend of Jesus (i.e., an abiding believer) without
drawing hatred from His enemies.

The world hates Jesus because He testified that its deeds are evil (John 7:7). His abiding
disciples draw hatred from the world because they associate with Him and His teachings and
because they seek to advance His mission. Remembering the world’s hatred for the Master
makes bearing that hatred easier for His disciple.

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Verse 19

Believers are aliens in the world because Jesus has called us to fulfill His plans and purposes
rather than simply living for ourselves (cf. 1 Peter 1:1). The world does not hate us because we
are superior but because we are servants of the Lord whom it has rejected.

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Verse 20

Jesus reminded the disciples of the principle that He had mentioned when washing their feet
(John 13:16). Then He used this principle to encourage them to serve one another. Now He used
it to explain why they would experience persecution.

People normally treat a person’s servants as they treat him. Since unbelievers persecuted Jesus,
His disciples should expect persecution too. Conversely if some people in the world followed
Jesus’ teachings, some would also follow His disciples’ teachings. This is a more likely
interpretation than the one that sees Jesus saying that since they had rejected His teaching they
would also reject the disciples’ teaching (e.g., NEB). Some in the world did indeed believe
Jesus’ teachings, and some would believe the disciples’ teachings.

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Verse 21

Ultimately the disciples would experience opposition because of Jesus. "My name’s sake" is the
equivalent of "me." Responses to the lives and witness of Jesus’ disciples really turn on who He
is, not on who the witnesses are. Obviously we can aggravate and provoke persecution by our
inept or carnal conduct, but Jesus was explaining the basic theological reason for the opposition
we face, not the secondary sociological reasons.

People rejected Jesus because they did not know God who had sent Him. They were ignorant of
Him because they were spiritually blind (cf. Romans 1:28). Consequently they could not
evaluate the Messenger whom God had sent. Jesus implied that they would reject His disciples
too because they did not know God who had sent them. Again the close unity between the Father
and the Son and between the Son and abiding believers comes through.

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Verses 22-23

Jesus obviously did not mean that it would have been better for the world if He had remained in
heaven. His point was that by coming into the world and preaching and working miracles He had
confronted people with their rebellion against God (cf. Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 11:31-32).
Jesus’ words and works were the Father’s who had sent Him. Therefore the world’s rejection of
them constituted rejection of the Father. To hate Jesus amounted to hating God. This is another
strong implication of Jesus’ deity.

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Verses 24-25

These verses amplify the former two. They also add the idea that the world’s hatred did not
jeopardize God’s redemptive plan. Its hatred was part of what God predicted would accompany
Messiah’s mission. The Jews’ own Scriptures condemned their unbelief. Probably the quotation
comes from Psalms 69:4. David experienced hatred for no reason. How much more would the
Son of David experience it?

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Verses 26-27

Even though the world rejected Jesus, the Spirit characterized by truth would
bear witness that Jesus was the Son of God (cf. John 14:16-17; John 14:26).
He would do this after He came on the day of Pentecost. After that, the
disciples would also testify, similarly empowered by the Spirit. The basis of
their testimony would be their long association with and intimate knowledge
of Jesus (cf. Acts 1:21-22).

These verses explain how the conflict between Jesus and the world would
continue after He departed to heaven. The essence of the conflict would
continue to be who Jesus is.
John 15:26 also contains a strong testimony to the deity of the Holy Spirit
whom Jesus described as proceeding from the Father as He had done (cf. John
14:26). [Note: See Gerald Bray, "The Double Procession of the Holy Spirit in
Evangelical Theology Today: Do We Still Need It?" Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 41:3 (September 1998):415-26.] It refers to all three
members of the Trinity and reveals something of their functional relationships
to one another. "The beginning" is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

ii. “Although the coming of the Advocate is clearly stated to be dependent

upon the initiative of the Son, He is only said to ‘proceed’ from the Father.
Hence the long controversy between East and West over the filoque clause in
the Nicene Creed.” (Tasker)

iii. “The western expansion of the clause, ‘who proceeds from the Father and
the Son’ (filioque), could be justified by the fact that the Son as well as the
Father is said to send the Spirit; the basic objection to it was that it was
unwarranted for one part of the church to make such an alteration in the
wording of the ecumenical creed without reference to the rest of the church.”
(Bruce)

b. He will testify of Me: Jesus had told them that the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
would continue the teaching work of Jesus (John 14:26). Here He explained
that the Helper would speak of and about Jesus.

i. Everything the Holy Spirit does is consistent with the testimony of the nature
of Jesus. His job is to tell us, and to show us, who Jesus is. If spiritual things
happen that are not consistent with the nature of Jesus, it isn’t the Holy Spirit
doing it. He is the One who will testify of Jesus in all that He does.

c. And you also will bear witness: The disciples were not left in the world
merely to endure the world’s hatred. Empowered by the Helper and His
testimony about Jesus, they will bear witness of who Jesus is and what He did
to rescue the world.
i. “The witness of the Advocate and the witness of the apostles are in effect a
single witness.” (Tasker)

ii. “Their witness is linked with that of the Holy Spirit. It is the same Christ to
whom they bear witness, and it is the same salvation of which they bear
witness. At the same time it is their witness. They cannot simply relax and
leave it all to the Spirit.” (Morris)

iii. This bearing of witness may have had special application to the apostles.
“This verse alludes to the historical witness which the Holy Ghost in the
ministers and eye-witnesses of the word, Luke 1:2, should enable them to give,
— which forms the human side of this great testimony of the Spirit of truth,
and OF WHICH OUR INSPIRED GOSPELS ARE THE SUMMARY: the Divine
side being, His own indwelling testimony in the life and heart of every believer
in all time.” (Alford)

d. Because you have been with Me: The disciples were qualified to bear
witness of Jesus because they trusted Him, had the Holy Spirit, and had simply
been with Jesus – they were part of His life and He was part of their life.

“It must occur to all who read these discourses preserved by John how simple the text looks,
and yet how transcendent is the thought when it is even dimly understood. John is sailing sky-
high: are we? It is the strongest food in the Bible.” (Trench)

A. Relating to Jesus when Jesus departs.

1. (1-3) Jesus as the true vine.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does
not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may
bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to
you.”
a. I am the true vine: This was a familiar symbol. God repeatedly used a vine as a
symbol of His people in the Hebrew Scriptures (one example is Psalm 80:8-9). Yet it
was often used in a negative sense (as in Isaiah 5:1-2, 7 and Jeremiah 2:21). Just in
the previous week Jesus publicly taught about Israel being like a vineyard in the Parable
of the Vineyard (Matthew 21:33-44).
i. Jesus spoke this to His disciples, probably as they stood in the upper room and
prepared to leave. He used the picture of the vine because there were grapevines
everywhere in ancient Israel. Also, there was a large golden vine set as a prominent
decoration on the front of the temple communicating the idea that Israel was God’s
vine. As well, “The vine was a recognized symbol also of the Messiah.” (Dods)
ii. In contrast, Jesus is the true vine. We must be rooted in Him (not in Israel) if we will
bear fruit for God. In the New Covenant community, our first identification is in Jesus
Christ Himself, not in Israel or even in the church as such.
iii. Of the many pictures of the relationship between God and His people,
the vine and branch picture emphasizes complete dependence and the need for
constant connection. The branch depends on the vine even more than the sheep
depends on the shepherd or the child depends on the father. As Jesus was about to
depart from His disciples, this was important encouragement. He would remain united
to them and they to Him as truly as branches are connected to the main vine.
b. And My Father is the vinedresser: In the Old Testament use of the vine as a picture
of Israel, God the Father was also presented as the One who cultivated and managed
the vine. God fulfills this role also for the believer under the New Covenant.
i. The New Covenant participant has relationship with both the Father and the Son;
with both the vine itself and the vinedresser.
c. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away: The branches that are
taken away were never properly abiding in the vine, demonstrated by the fact that they
did not bear fruit.
i. There is an alternative understanding of this passage that bears some consideration.
James Montgomery Boice (among others) believes that the ancient Greek verb airo,
translated, takes away is more accurately translated lifts up. The idea is that the Father
lifts up unproductive vines off of the ground (as was common in the ancient practices of
vineyard care). Those caring for ancient grape vines made sure to lift them up off the
ground that they might get more sun and bear fruit better.
ii. “The verb translated ‘cut off’ (aireo) means literally ‘to lift up’ or ‘to take away’; the
second, ‘trims clean’ (kathaireo), a compound of the first, means ‘to cleanse’ or ‘to
purify.’” (Tenney)
d. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes: This word for prunes is the same word
translated cleanse in other places. The same word could apply to either “pruning” or
“cleansing” in ancient Greek. The vinedresser cleans up the fruit-bearing vine so it will
bear more fruit.

i. “Left to itself a vine will produce a good deal of unproductive growth. For maximum
fruitfulness extensive pruning is essential.” (Morris)

ii. “Dead wood is worse than fruitlessness, for dead wood can harbor disease and
decay…God removes the dead wood from his church and disciplines the life of the
believer so that it is directed into fruitful activity.” (Tenney)
iii. “And if it be painful to bleed, it is worse to wither. Better be pruned to grow than cut
up to burn.” (Trapp)

e. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you: The work
of pruning, of cleansing, had already begun in the eleven disciples Jesus spoke to. They
had heard and received much of His teaching and were in some sense already clean
because of the word.
i. In saying you are already clean, Jesus repeated an idea from earlier in the evening:
that there is an initial cleansing, and then a continuing cleansing (John 13:10).
ii. The word of God is a cleansing agent. It condemns sin, it inspires holiness, it
promotes growth, and it reveals power for victory. Jesus continues to wash His people
through the word (Ephesians 5:26).

iii. “The means by which pruning or cleaning is done is by the Word of God. It
condemns sin; it inspires holiness; it promotes growth. As Jesus applied the words God
gave him to the lives of the disciples, they underwent a pruning process that removed
evil from them and conditioned them for further service.” (Tenney)

2. (4-5) The vital relationship between the branch and the vine.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in
the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing.”
a. Abide in Me, and I in You: Jesus emphasized a mutual relationship. It isn’t only that
the disciple abides in the Master; the Master also abides in the disciple. Something of
this close relationship is described in Song of Solomon 6:3: I am my beloved’s, and my
beloved is mine.
i. Jesus used this picture to assure His disciples of continued connection and
relationship even though He was about to depart from them. Yet He spoke this in a way
that also indicated an aspect of choice on their part. Abiding was something they
must choose.
ii. “When our Lord says: Abide in me he is talking about the will, about the choices, the
decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to him and
keep ourselves in contact with him. This is what it means to abide in him.” (Boice)
b. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine: It is impossible
for the branch to bear grapes if it isn’t connected to the vine. The disciple can’t do true
good for God and His kingdom if they do not consciously connect with and abide in
Jesus.

i. “All our sap and safety is from Christ. The bud of a good desire, the blossom of a
good resolution, and the fruit of a good action, all come from him.” (Trapp)

c. I am the vine, you are the branches: Perhaps Jesus spoke so because they were so
accustomed to thinking of Israel as the vine and thought mainly in terms of their
connection to Israel. They now had to think of Jesus as the vine, and emphasize their
connection to Him.
d. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit: Fruit bearing is inevitable with
abiding. The quality and quantity of the fruit may differ, but the presence of fruit will be
inevitable.
i. The purpose of the branch is to bear fruit. Though there are uses for grape leaves,
people don’t raise grape vines to look at the pretty leaves. They take the trouble to
cultivate, plant, water and tend the vines so that fruit can be enjoyed. In this sense, we
can say that fruit represents Christian character (such as the fruit of the Spirit
in Galatians 5). God’s work in us and our connection to Him should be evident by fruit,
and perhaps by much fruit.

ii. Fruit also implies inherent reproduction. Virtually every piece of fruit has seeds within
it, seeds that are meant to reproduce more fruit.

iii. The concept of abiding is not restricted to our abiding in Jesus; it also includes His
abiding in us (and I in him). It is a mutual dynamic that expects our life to be spiritually
and practically in vital connection with Jesus, and that expects Him to indwell us in an
active, real way. In no way is the responsibility for abiding only upon the believer.
e. Without Me you can do nothing: It isn’t that they disciples could do
no activity without Jesus. They could be active without Him, as were the enemies of
Jesus and many others. Yet they and we could do nothing of real, eternal value without
Jesus.

i. “The ‘I am’ comes out in the personal word ‘me,’ and the claim of all power unveils
the Omnipotent. These words mean Godhead or nothing.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “It is only by union with Him that any branch can bear fruit: once that union is
broken, the sap no longer flows; and fruit in that branch is no longer possible, though
the remains of the sap that lay in it may be enough to bear leaves and so for a time
give semblance of life.” (Trench)
iii. “Paul does not use the Johannine idiom but he expresses the same truth when he
says, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20), and ‘I can
do all things in him who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13).” (Bruce)

iv. “‘Without me ye can do nothing;’ if this be true of apostles, much more of opposers!
If his friends can do nothing without him, I am sure his foes can do nothing against
him.” (Spurgeon)

3. (6-8) The price of not abiding and the promise to those who do
abide.
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they
gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
a. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered: Jesus
warned His disciples that failing to abide means that life fails. A branch only has life as
it is connected to the stock of the vine; a disciple only spiritually lives as they are
connected to the Master.

i. These verbs describe a progression for the one who doesn’t abide: cast out, withered,
gathered, thrown, and burned. Like other parables, the picture Jesus used here was not
meant to describe a whole theological system. Yet the progression described is a sober
and significant warning of the danger of not abiding.

ii. The phrasing Jesus used here was important. He didn’t say, If anyone does not bear
fruit he is cast out. He said, if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out. He knows
who abides and who does not, and this can’t be perfectly discerned by our outward
estimation of fruit.
b. They gather them and throw them into the fire: The lifeless branch bears no fruit
and even its wood is good for nothing but burning. This reference to burning
and fire raises the association of punishment in the life to come and warns of the great
consequences of failing to abide.

i. We think of how these words would impact the eleven disciples who first heard them.
Jesus told them He would depart; yet they would not be disconnected from Him. The
work of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, would be to keep them connected to Jesus.
If they were disconnected from Him, they would be ruined – perhaps as Judas was.

ii. This passage is interpreted at least three ways regarding the security of the
professed disciple’s position in Jesus.

· The first view believes cast out branches are ones who, though once true believers,
end up in hell for lack of abiding and fruit. They were once disciples, but are now cast
out.
· The second view is that the cast out branches are ones who only appeared to be
disciples, and who never really abided in Jesus, and therefore go to hell (like Judas).
· The third view sees the cast out branches as fruitless disciples who live wasted lives
that are in effect burnt up, and this passage doesn’t refer to their eternal destiny (like
Lot, Abraham’s nephew).

iii. The emphasis seems plain: there are no true disciples who do not abide. The branch
must remain connected to the vine or it has no life and is of no lasting good.

iv. Are burned: “Not, ‘is burned,’ in any sense of being consumed; ‘and must burn,’ as
Luther renders it.” (Alford)
c. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it
shall be done for you: Jesus connected the principle of abiding to two ideas previously
mentioned in this upper room talk.
· My words abide in you: Jesus connected abiding to the idea of faithfulness to His
words, as previously mentioned in John 14:23-24.
· You will ask what you desire: Jesus connected abiding to the idea of answered
prayer, as previously mentioned in John 14:13-14. “Prayer comes spontaneously from
those who abide in Jesus… Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion
with Jesus.” (Spurgeon)
i. Abiding in Jesus means abiding in His words, and having His words live in the
disciple. “We should not overlook the importance of the reference to ‘my words’. The
teaching of Christ is important and is not lightly to be passed over in the interests of
promoting religious feeling.” (Morris)

ii. “The connection is maintained by obedience and prayer. To remain in Christ and to
allow his words to remain in oneself means a conscious acceptance of the authority of
his word and a constant contact with him by prayer.” (Tenney)

iii. This faithful, abiding disciple should expect answered prayer as part of their
relationship with Jesus. A failure to see prayer answered means something is not right
in the disciple’s relationship. Perhaps something is not right in the abiding, and prayers
are amiss and unanswered. Perhaps something is not right in the asking and there is no
perception of what Jesus wants to do in and through His disciple.
iv. It shall be done for you: “It becomes safe for God to say to the sanctified soul, ‘Ask
what thou wilt, and it shall be done unto thee.’ The heavenly instincts of that man lead
him right; the grace that is within his soul thrusts down all covetous lustings and foul
desires, and his will is the actual shadow of God’s will. The spiritual life is master in him,
and so his aspirations are holy, heavenly, Godlike.” (Spurgeon)
d. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit: The purpose of fruit
bearing is to bring glory to God, not to the disciple. A branch that bears much
fruit brings honor to one who cares for the vine, and a disciple who bears much
fruit in a spiritual sense brings honor to God.

i. “Branches and clusters have no self-seeking, no aim outside the Vine and the
Husbandman’s glory: all other aims are cast out as unworthy.” (Trench)

ii. By this My Father is glorified: “Or, honoured. It is the honour of the husbandman to
have good, strong, vigorous vines, plentifully laden with fruit: so it is the honour of God
to have strong, vigorous, holy children, entirely freed from sin, and perfectly filled with
his love.” (Clarke)
iii. Real fruitfulness is only determined over an extended period of time. “Genuine
conversion is not measured by the hasty decision but by long-range fruitfulness.”
(Carson) This principle is displayed in the Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13).

4. (9-11) The link between love and obedience.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 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. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy
may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
a. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you: Jesus deliberately loved His disciples
according to the way God the Father loved Him. We know that Jesus loved His
disciples by teaching them, protecting them, guiding them, sacrificially serving them,
and using His power and authority to do these things. In some way, the Father also did
all those things for Jesus and Jesus did them for the disciples after that pattern.
i. The love of Jesus for His people is so remarkable, that this is the analogy or
illustration that He must make. He didn’t say, “I love you as a mother loves her baby”
or “I love you the way a husband loves his wife” or “I love you the way the soldier loves
his buddy” or even “I love you the way an addict loves his dope.” The only way He
could paint the picture was to use the love of the Father for the Son.
ii. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you: “This surely is Christ’s superlative
word concerning His love for His own. It leaves nothing more to be said. What the love
of the Father is for the Son, who can tell? The very suggestion fills the soul with the
sense of profound depths which cannot be fathomed.” (Morgan)

iii. “Beloved, you do not, dare not, could not, doubt the love of the Father to his Son. It
is one of those unquestionable truths about which you never dreamed of holding an
argument. Our Lord would have us place his love to us in the same category with the
Father’s love to himself. We are to be as confident of the one as of the other.”
(Spurgeon)

iv. The Father loved the Son with a love:

· That has no beginning.

· That has no end.

· That is close and personal.

· That is without measure.

· That is unchanging.

b. Abide in My love: There is no single way to describe the nature and character of
Jesus. He is filled with power, wisdom, truth, holiness, devotion, submission, sacrifice,
and dozens of other qualities. Of all these to emphasize, Jesus said abide in My love.
When the disciple stays connected to the love of Jesus the relationship stays strong.
i. You will abide in My love: “Notice that this is done as an explanation of the means of
abiding in His love. This is not some mystical experience. It is simple obedience. It is
when a man keeps Christ’s commandments that he abides in Christ’s love.” (Morris)
c. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love: Again, Jesus connected
true discipleship with obedience to His command and honoring His word. Jesus fulfilled
this in regard to His Father; the disciple must fulfill it in regard to Jesus.
i. As noted previously (John 14:15) what Jesus did and taught that evening in the upper
room emphasized the commandments of Jesus mainly in love for fellow disciples,
sacrificial service for fellow disciples, and trusting love for God the Father and Jesus the
Son.
d. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your
joy may be full: When the disciple fails to abide in the love of Jesus and thereby fails to
keep His commandments, that disciple will not experience the fullness of joy Jesus
promised to those who do abide in His love and obedience.

i. “No one is more miserable than the Christian who for a time hedges in his obedience.
He does not love sin enough to enjoy its pleasures, and does not love Christ enough to
relish holiness. He perceives that his rebellion is iniquitous, but obedience seems
distasteful. He does not feel at home any longer in the world, but his memory of his
past associations and the tantalizing lyrics of his old music prevent him from singing
with the saints. He is a man most to be pitied; and he cannot forever remain
ambivalent.” (Carson)

e. That My joy may remain in you: The joy of Jesus isn’t the same as what is
commonly understood as happiness or excitement. The joy of Jesus is not the pleasure
of a life of ease; it is the exhilaration of being right with God, and consciously walking in
His love and care. We can have that joy – we can have His joy – and have it as an
abiding presence.
i. My joy: “Not ‘joy concerning Me,’ nor ‘joy derived from Me,’ nor ‘My joy over you,’ but My
joy, properly speaking…His own holy exultation, the joy of the Son in the consciousness
of the love of God.” (Alford)

ii. When Jesus spoke of His joy, “Nobody ever asked Him what He meant. They did not
look at each other in perplexity. To them it seemed entirely natural that the Master
should make reference to His gladness. From this we gather that the joy of Christ was
something they were perfectly familiar with.” (Morrison)

f. That your joy may be full: This is the result of abiding in Jesus’ love, and obedience
flowing from that abiding relationship.
i. That your joy may be full: “Or, complete-plhrwyh, filled up: a metaphor taken from a
vessel, into which water or any other thing is poured, till it is full to the brim. The
religion of Christ expels all misery from the hearts of those who receive it in its fulness.
It was to drive wretchedness out of the world that Jesus came into it.” (Clarke)

ii. “God made human beings, as he made his other creatures, to be happy. They are
capable of happiness, they are in their right element when they are happy; and now
that Jesus Christ has come to restore the ruins of the Fall, he has to bring back to us
the old joy, — only it shall be even sweeter and deeper than it could have been if we
had never lost it.” (Spurgeon)

B. Relating to each other when Jesus departs.

1. (12-15) Jesus speaks of the extent of His love that they are to
imitate.
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater
love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My
friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a
servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all
things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
a. That you love one another as I have loved you: As Jesus spoke these words to the
disciples as they stood in the upper room, having risen from the table, we sense the
emphasis created by repetition. Jesus really cared that His disciples love one another,
and that they do so according to the measure and quality of His love for them.
i. “Perhaps they expected minute, detailed instructions such as they had received when
first sent out (Matthew 10). Instead of this, love was to be their sufficient guide.”
(Dods)

ii. “We are sent out into the world to love one another. Sometimes we live as if we were
sent into the world to compete with one another, or to dispute with one another, or
even to quarrel with one another.” (Barclay)

iii. As I have loved you: “His love was at once the source and the measure of theirs.”
(Dods)

iv. “Unity instead of rivalry, trust instead of suspicion, obedience instead of self-
assertion must rule the disciples’ common labors.” (Tenney)

v. This is My commandment, that you love one another: “So deeply was thus
commandment engraved on the heart of this evangelist that St. Jerome says, lib. iii. c.
6, Com. ad Galat., that in his extreme old age, when he used to be carried to the public
assemblies of the believers, his constant saying was, Little children, love one another. His
disciples, wearied at last with the constant repetition of the same words, asked him,
Why he constantly said the same thing? ‘Because (said he) it is the commandment of
the Lord, and the observation of it alone is sufficient.’” (Clarke)
b. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends: Jesus
described the measure and quality of His love for them, to use as a pattern for the way
they should love each other. His love is complete and of surpassing greatness, laying
down its life.

i. “No man can carry his love for his friend farther than this: for, when he gives up his
life, he gives up all that he has. This proof of my love for you I shall give in a few
hours; and the doctrine which I recommend to you I am just going to exemplify
myself.” (Clarke)

c. I have called you friends: Jesus descried the measure and quality of His love for
them as a love that treats servants as friends. In the relationship between a disciple
and his rabbi of that time, it wasn’t expected to be a friendship. Yet Jesus the rabbi
called His disciples, His servants friends.
i. In the thinking of the ancient world a slave could be a useful and trusted tool but
could never be thought of as a partner. It was possible that a slave and a friend might
be of similar help, but a friend could be a partner in the work in a way a slave never
could.

ii. “John Wesley, looking back on his conversion in later years, described it as a time
when he exchanged the faith of a servant for the faith of a son.” (Bruce)

d. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you: They were friends because
they were obedient (though not perfectly so). Friendship with Jesus can’t be
disconnected from obedience to His commands.

i. “It must be active obedience, notice that. ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
command you.’ Some think it is quite sufficient if they avoid what he forbids.
Abstinence from evil is a great part of righteousness, but it is not enough for
friendship.” (Spurgeon)

e. I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made
known to you: They were friends because Jesus didn’t keep secrets from them, but
openly revealed what He had received from God the Father.

i. “The friend is a confidant who shares the knowledge of his superior’s purpose and
voluntarily adopts it as his own.” (Tenney)

2. (16-17) Chosen to bear fruit and to love one another.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My
name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.”
a. You did not choose Me, but I chose you: Jesus just spoke of great privilege for the
disciples – friendship with the Master, answered prayer, bearing much fruit, knowing
things from the Father. The disciples should rightly treasure these without becoming
proud as if they had earned them. They were all rooted in the fact that
Jesus chose them, not that they chose Him.

i. “We are in Christ, not because we hold Him, but because He holds us.” (Meyer)

ii. “It was not they who chose Him, as was normally the case when disciples attached
themselves to a particular Rabbi. Students the world over delight to seek out the
teacher of their choice and attach themselves to him. But Jesus’ disciples did not hold
the initiative. On the contrary it was He who chose them.” (Morris)

iii. That you should go and bear fruit: “The word go probably merely expresses the
activity of living and developing principle; not the missionary journeys of the Apostles,
as some have explained it.” (Alford)
b. Appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should
remain: Jesus chooses disciples not simply so they would have the thrill of knowing
they are chosen, but so that they would bear fruit that remains, to the glory of God the
Father.
i. “Much of their fruit will be necessarily the winning of others to Christ: but that is
not the prominent idea here.” (Alford)
c. That whatever you ask: Again, Jesus connected fruit bearing with answered prayer.
When He departed from them their experience of asking and receiving would not end
but would change, and Jesus prepared His disciples for this.
d. That you love one another: Again, Jesus commanded love among the disciples.
When He departed from them they must not disband or turn against each other, and
Jesus prepared them to stay together and love one another.

C. Relating to the world when Jesus departs.

1. (18-20) The world may reject the disciples because of who they
are.
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of
the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I
chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I
said to you, ‘A servant 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.”
a. If the world hates you: Jesus told the disciples that the world would often hate
them. As wonderful as Jesus was and His message was, they should expect to be
rejected when Jesus departed, just as much as they were often opposed while Jesus
was with them.

i. The disciples Jesus spoke to that night would know the hatred of the world. They
were persecuted and all of them died as martyrs in Jesus’ name, except for John —
whom they tried to kill, but he miraculously would not die at their hands.

ii. The earliest Christians would know the hatred of the world. “Tacitus spoke of the
people ‘hated for their crimes, whom the mob call Christians.’ Suetonius had spoken of
‘a race of men who belong to a new and evil superstition.’” (Barclay)

iii. “It is an odd fact that the world soon justified its hostility to them by imputing to
them the initiative in hatred. The earliest extant reference to Christians in pagan
literature charges them with ‘hatred of the human race’.” (Tacitus, Annals, 15.44.5)
(Bruce)
iv. Christians through the centuries have known the hatred of the world, and millions
have died for Jesus. It is said that more died as martyrs for Jesus in the 20th century
than in all previous centuries combined.

v. “It is not without significance that the disciples are to be known by their love, the
world by its hatred.” (Morris)
b. You know that it hated Me before it hated you: Jesus hoped to comfort the disciples
with the knowledge that the world’s hatred was first directed toward Him. Jesus
attracted attention from great multitudes and devotion from individuals of all kinds; yet
as a whole, the world hated Jesus.
i. You know: “Ye know can also be read as an imperative know ye. The sense is
therefore either ‘Ye are aware’, or ‘Be very sure’, so that (on either interpretation) the
hatred of the world for them will not take them by surprise.” (Tasker)
ii. It hated Me: “The perfect tense of the verb ‘hate’ (memiseken) implies that the
world’s hatred is a fixed attitude toward him — an attitude that carries over to his
disciples as well.” (Tenney)
iii. When Jesus spoke to Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus, He asked Saul: Why
do you persecute Me? (Acts 9:4) “The Lord who was personally persecuted on earth
continued to be persecuted, even in his exultation, in the person of his persecuted
followers.” (Bruce)
iv. It hated Me: “He and the world are antagonistic. The world is glad to forget God: He
came to bring men back to God.” (Trench)
c. Because you are not of the world: Jesus said this both as a fact and an explanation.
This further explained why the world would hate the disciples of Jesus. It was also to
be a factual description of the disciples – that in many ways they were different
than the world.
i. But I chose you out of the world: “The hatred of the world, instead of being
depressing, should be exhilarating, as being an evidence and guarantee that they have
been chosen by Christ.” (Dods)
d. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you: Jesus was mostly persecuted
by the religious establishment, which mainly reflected the values and goals of the world
in opposition to God. One may be religious and very much part of the world.
i. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also: “The force of the last clause in this
verse is well brought out by Knox ‘they will pay the same attention to your words as to
mine; that is, none’.” (Tasker)

2. (21-25) The world may reject disciples because of who Jesus is.
“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not
know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no
sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also.
If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no
sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this
happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated
Me without a cause.’”
a. Because they do not know Him who sent Me: If people do not know God as He
really is, they often attack and persecute those who represent God in some way. This
should cause sympathy in the persecuted for their persecutors.
i. “Men may prefer to evolve an idea of their universal Father, but that idea of theirs will
take their own colour and the colour of their Age. The only true idea of Him is to be got
from The Son.” (Trench)

b. Now they have no excuse for their sin: Because Jesus did come to and speak to the
world, they knew something of God that they did not know before. This made them
without excuse for hating and rejecting Jesus and His Father in heaven. Jesus
did among them the works which no one else did, and they still hated and rejected
Him.
i. Spoken to them… done among them the works: “By both his life and his words he
rebukes human sin and condemns it. He uncovers the inner corruption and hypocrisy of
men, and they react violently to the disclosure.” (Tenney)
ii. Spoken to them… done among them the works: “So then He puts before us two
forms of His manifestation of the divine nature, by His words and His works. Of these
two He puts His words foremost, as being a deeper and more precious and brilliant
revelation of what God is than are His miracles.” (Maclaren)
c. They hated Me without a cause: Jesus quoted this line from Psalm 69:4 (and
possibly Psalm 35:19) to show the Scriptural precedent and prophetic fulfillment that
there was no just cause for the world to hate Jesus and His Father as they did.
i. “Their unreasonable hatred both of Himself and His Father is inexplicable except as a
corroboration of the truth of the Psalmist’s words They hated me without a cause (Psalm
35:19; 69:4).” (Tasker)

ii. “The irony of his quotation is clear: the men who posted as the champions of the
Law were fulfilling the prophecy concerning the enemies of God’s servant.” (Tenney)

iii. As the disciples of Jesus expect some measure of hatred and rejection from the
world, they should live in such a way that it is also without a cause. Peter
communicated some of this heart in his letter: If you are reproached for the name of
Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is
blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief,
an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let
him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. (1 Peter 4:14-16)

3. (26-27) The witness of the Holy Spirit and the disciples.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of
truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear
witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
a. When the Helper comes: Jesus previously spoke of the sending of the Helper (John
14:16, 14:26). The departing Jesus knew the disciples would need the presence and
the power of the Holy Spirit to face the opposition the world would bring.
i. Who proceeds from the Father: This line is one source of a historic controversy
between the eastern and western branches of Christianity, debating if the
Spirit proceeds from the Father alone or from the Father and the Son.
ii. “Although the coming of the Advocate is clearly stated to be dependent upon the
initiative of the Son, He is only said to ‘proceed’ from the Father. Hence the long
controversy between East and West over the filoque clause in the Nicene Creed.”
(Tasker)
iii. “The western expansion of the clause, ‘who proceeds from the Father and the Son’
(filioque), could be justified by the fact that the Son as well as the Father is said to send
the Spirit; the basic objection to it was that it was unwarranted for one part of the
church to make such an alteration in the wording of the ecumenical creed without
reference to the rest of the church.” (Bruce)
b. He will testify of Me: Jesus had told them that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would
continue the teaching work of Jesus (John 14:26). Here He explained that
the Helper would speak of and about Jesus.
i. Everything the Holy Spirit does is consistent with the testimony of the nature of Jesus.
His job is to tell us, and to show us, who Jesus is. If spiritual things happen that are not
consistent with the nature of Jesus, it isn’t the Holy Spirit doing it. He is the One who
will testify of Jesus in all that He does.
c. And you also will bear witness: The disciples were not left in the world merely to
endure the world’s hatred. Empowered by the Helper and His testimony about Jesus,
they will bear witness of who Jesus is and what He did to rescue the world.

i. “The witness of the Advocate and the witness of the apostles are in effect a single
witness.” (Tasker)

ii. “Their witness is linked with that of the Holy Spirit. It is the same Christ to whom
they bear witness, and it is the same salvation of which they bear witness. At the same
time it is their witness. They cannot simply relax and leave it all to the Spirit.” (Morris)
iii. This bearing of witness may have had special application to the apostles. “This verse
alludes to the historical witness which the Holy Ghost in the ministers and eye-
witnesses of the word, Luke 1:2, should enable them to give, — which forms the human
side of this great testimony of the Spirit of truth, and OF WHICH OUR INSPIRED
GOSPELS ARE THE SUMMARY: the Divine side being, His own indwelling testimony in
the life and heart of every believer in all time.” (Alford)
d. Because you have been with Me: The disciples were qualified to bear witness of
Jesus because they trusted Him, had the Holy Spirit, and had simply been with Jesus –
they were part of His life and He was part of their life.