Notes for Bible 101 April 16, 2007—John 15-16

Review: As we learned in John 13 and 14, Jesus is concentrating—in these his last hours before the trials and crucifixion—on teaching and reassuring his disciples. They are doubtless in shock knowing that first, he’ll be betrayed by one of them; second, Jesus will be put on trial, and third that he will die. Or as he says to them “I am going away” and indeed, he is going from them and from his personal mentoring of them for the previous three years. But he’s also assured them that he’s not leaving them alone; a Comforter will be with them to remind them of all Jesus has taught them and to lead them into all truth. This Comforter, of course, is the Holy Spirit. We’ll learn more about him and his work tonight. As Jesus completes the Last Supper with the disciples, washes their feet, and tells them to love each other and to wash each other’s feet, he leads them from the room, but continues to teach. They’re on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, the scene of Jesus’ agony in prayer, followed by his betrayal and arrest.

John 15: In this very beautiful chapter, Jesus uses an analogy—that of the branch’s very life being dependant on the vine—for the way all disciples are to live (abide, dwell) with and in him. Having recently driven through the great central valley of California, images of grape vines are vivid in my mind. Right now, they’re in their spring green, still growing, still inching toward their final maturity to become great fresh snacks, raisins or wine. As we drove, I noticed a couple of workers in one vineyard, walking along the rows looking at the vines from all angles. I’m picturing that scene now as I read John 15 where Jesus tells us that He is the vine, we are the branches and the Father is the gardener.

John 15:2: The Father’s work among us is discipline: he “prunes” branches which need to be more productive, and he “cuts off” those that are not productive. In this picture we see Jesus’ meaning: those who are believers, those who have been redeemed to new life in Christ, are to bear fruit. Vineyard owners in the central valley do not take up ground with vines that are unproductive; the vines that do not produce are uprooted. The good vines are pruned in order to increase production. That’s what God does: he cleans us, prunes us, and he feeds us in order that we grow, reproduce, and bear fruit. Jesus tells the disciples “you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” meaning that the message of salvation, now at work within each disciple, has cleansed them. And recall in John 13, he washed their feet as a foreshadowing of the cleansing his shed blood would bring. We, too, who believe in Jesus’ sacrifice, have been cleansed. Then Jesus tells them “remain (live, abide, dwell) in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself.” He is the vine; we are the branches. No branch produces when unattached. The vine is the trunk, the stalk from which the branches grow; the vine’s roots go down into the soil to draw up nourishment. As long as a branch is attached, it is fed by the vine. Paul told the Colossians: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith you were taught” (Col. 2:6-7), or as the New Living Translation puts the latter verse, “Let your roots grown down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught.” The Christian life is not a stagnant one; it must be a life of growth.

Nemo, the Greek word translated “abide” in the KJV according to Strong’s concordance means: 1) to remain, abide; in reference to place: to sojourn, tarry 2) not to depart; to continue to be present; to be held, kept, continually; 3) in reference to time: to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure

With this expanded definition, we can see why Jesus chose a word that meant “to live in,” but not temporarily. This isn’t a night’s lodging; Jesus is talking about a day to day place where we are cared for—and not by strangers. Jesus is the one whose life we’re tapping into (he’s the vine) and when we are “living in” the vine, we are drawing sustenance from it. A note in the Scofield Study Bible puts it well:

“To remain (or abide) in Christ is on the one hand to have no known sin unjudged or unconfessed, no interest in anything He’s not involved in, no life which He cannot share. On the other hand, the “remaining” (or “abiding) one takes all burdens to Him and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not unceasing consciousness of these things andof Him, but that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him.”

John 15:5: Jesus repeats and then elaborates on the basic life-giving situation he’s described in the first four verses, telling the disciples, “apart from me you can do nothing.” He is the vine; we are the branches, and there is no life, no growth apart from the vine, Jesus. Further, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.” Can we miss this message? We are worthless and good only for the trash heap when disconnected from Jesus, the source of life. God has given us our new life in Christ so that we will reproduce, not to wither and die. And as we’ve read so often in John, we get contrasting statements: first the negative and then the positive. We’ve read what happens when separated from the vine; now the good news: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Abiding in, living in, connected to Christ Jesus, we have a vital relationship with him. When we are thus living in him, we can pray to be used for God’s glory. In ch. 13, Jesus told the disciples “A new command I give you: Love one another. . . by this all men will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35). So now, when Jesus says that bearing fruit is a way to show ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples, we can put the two together and assume that love has something to do with bearing fruit, and both mark us as disciples of our living Lord and Savior.

Reflection: How does this work? What does it mean to “bear fruit”? Bruce Wilkinson, in his book Secrets of the Vine explains: “In practical terms, fruit represents good works—a thought, attitude, or action of ours that God values because it glorifies Him. The fruit from your life is how God receives his due honor on earth. . . You bear fruit when you allow God to nurture in you a new Christlike quality: ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Gal. 5:22). . . .Whether you’re chopping wood for a widow, taking care of an ill neighbor, or spending a lifetime as a missionary in the jungle, outward fruit appears when your motive is to bring God glory” (pp. 21-22; emphasis mine). Notice that it’s when what we think and do, how we speak and react, glorify God. We don’t bear fruit in order to make ourselves proud; we don’t feed the poor or pray for others so that our name is spoken in church as a model Christian. We do so not for the thanks for men, but for the honor of God.

OT connection: Whenever Jesus speaks of the vine or vineyard, it bears remembering that God called Israel his vineyard. This is the second image Jesus uses which has both OT and NT implications; the first was the Good Shepherd. God’s representatives (prophets, kings, priests) were his shepherds and Israel was his flock. In the NT, Jesus is the Good Shepherd leading us, his flock. The vineyard image is one we encountered in Isaiah 5 in the song of the vineyard. God mourns over the people who haven’t produced the fruit he anticipated even with all the care he lavished on them. Now Jesus updates this image calling himself the Vine, us the branches and God the vine dresser or gardener. Again, God demands fruit from the people he tends and cares for.

John 15:9: Jesus once again commands that his disciples love each other, but that they also love and obey him. “Live in my love,” he tells them, adding that obedience is a sign of love. The nation of Israel had a hard time obeying God prior to the exile and that’s why they were defeated by their enemies. God had promised abundant living if they obeyed his commandments, but they had failed. Now Jesus is saying obedience follows love. And he tells them (and us) the standard of loving obedience: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” We are to be as intimately united to Christ as Jesus was (and is) to the Father; Jesus obediently follows the Father’s plan of salvation, going to the cross. They may have nailed him to the tree, but it was love that kept him there, as one poet has said. And Jesus says “Geater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus will do this; he is our example in obedience and in love.

John 15:13: All of this leads to joy, Jesus says. Complete joy—not just a temporary pleasure in life or accomplishments, but a permanent, truly fulfilling joy. Just as Jesus gives peace which the world cannot give, so he gives joy which the world cannot give (such joy has been defined as a happiness or satisfaction which does not depend on outward circumstances). Jesus calls the disciples his friends because he has told them what lies ahead; he’s told no one else. He confides in them, the ones he’s chosen to bear fruit, lasting fruit, fruit for the kingdom. And we know that the disciples did so; following Pentecost, they spread the Gospel to the ends of their world. And it is because of their witness that we are believers today.

John 15:18: Jesus gives joy, but the world around the disciples then and now does not. In fact, he warns them that the world will hate them; it hated him, and because they are associated with him, they, too, will be hated, excommunicated from their synagogues and made objects of scorn. All of this is because Jesus’ very presence has made Jesus’ enemies aware of their sin; they’ve fallen short of God’s standard of obedience. And so, they make Jesus their target: he makes them feel guilty, and so he’s the one to hate, not their own sin. The disciples will cause this response, too. But they will have the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and he will guide them and be with them, Jesus promises.

John 16:1: “All this” meaning all that Jesus has been saying to the disciples since he welcomed them to the Passover supper, is for their benefit. He tells them “If I do not go away, the Comforter cannot come.” It’s to their advantage that the Holy Spirit comes. Why? Jesus’ physical presence was limited to one place at a time; he could only see and be seen, hear and be heard by a crowd in one city or town or mountain side. He was an external presence with them, just as our family members are external to us. Now with the Holy Spirit’s arrival, Jesus can be everywhere at once, and he will live in believers. He does so in us. When we receive Christ, saying “yes” to salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us (See Rom. 8:9ff). This is why Paul admonishes us not to grieve the Holy Spirit (I Thes. 5:19). We are instead to listen to the Spirit speaking to us, reminding us of what Jesus taught, leading us into all truth.

John 16:5: The Holy Spirit’s primary work, Jesus has said, is to enable believers to remain faithful to him and to produce fruit. To that end, the Holy Spirit indwells each believer to remind him/her of what Jesus has said and to lead the believer into all truth. Now Jesus says that the Spirit also has work to do in the world—that is, among unbelievers. “When he (the Counselor) comes,” Jesus says, “he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (v. 8). So here is the Holy Spirit’s job to those who haven’t accepted Christ: he convicts or convinces them, makes them aware of their unrighteous state without Christ. He brings them to repentance and to salvation. And this does not happen without the Holy Spirit. Recall how many times Jesus said to the disciples that “My Father has revealed this to you” or “those who have ears can hear and understand” because of the Holy Spirit’s work to “reveal” Jesus and the truth of his word to them. That is why we pray before our study of God’s word for the Holy Spirit to be with us and to open our minds and hearts to the truth. The human mind is, as Paul tells believers, focused on human things; but when we “live by the Spirit,” we’re focused on spiritual things (see Romans 8). Jesus is very clear with the disciples: the world around them has rejected Jesus, and because of that, they will reject his disciples, too.

John 16:12: Jesus, sensitive to the disciples’ feelings and ability to comprehend, tells them “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” He knows they need time to absorb all that he’s told them, and more, they need the experience of seeing Jesus on the cross, and then seeing him after the resurrection to make it all quite clear. Along with their experience of witnessing what Jesus will do at the cross and through his resurrection, the Holy Spirit will be their teacher. What will he say? What the Father and Jesus tell him to say. He then adds: “In a little while you will not see me and then you will see me,” meaning, he will die but will then return to life in a glorified body and be seen by his disciples (but by no one else). His statements have met with pure bewilderment by the disciples; Jesus sees their faces and says “Are you asking each other what I mean?” And so he continues by comparing their grief to a woman’s labor pains; she may suffer, but once the baby arrives, her pain becomes nothing but a distant memory because she now holds the little one and feels joy. Jesus will labor on the cross to produce a new life for all mankind; his disciples will feel pain, too, at being separated from him. But when he is resurrected, their joy will know no bounds.

John 16:23: Jesus describes the new relationship they will enjoy with him and with the Father. They will be able to go directly to the Father to ask him to supply their needs. The symbol of this liberty to approach God is the tearing of the curtain in the temple, a veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. At the time Jesus dies and salvation’s plan is completed, the curtain is torn from top to bottom, providing mankind complete access to God (Matt. 27:51). Recall that only the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies and only once a year to offer the sacrifices of Yom Kippur. Now, Jesus, the Lamb of God, has been sacrificed once and for all for the sins of the world, making the sacrifices of the High Priest unnecessary and ineffective. And Jesus’ blood also opens the door between us and God, bridging the gap between unrighteous people and and an infinitely holy and righteous God. I think it’s time to say “Halleleujah!”

John 16:25: Jesus tells the disciples (who haven’t yet said “Halleleujah!”) that he’s speaking plainly to them—no more analogies or parables. They are loved by the Father just as Jesus has loved them, and this relationship with the Father is a lasting one. The disciples say “Now we see,” and Jesus replies “Now you believe,” and we can see that lightbulbs have gone on in the disciples’ heads. They are beginning to see what Jesus is saying, but even now, with all they’ve learned, it still puzzles them. Luke 24 shows us that their understanding was incomplete until Jesus came to them after the resurrection and said “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-46). And when we consider how many Bible studies we’ve attended, how many sermons on the Gospel we’ve heard, how many Holy Communion services we’ve been part of—and we’re on this side of the cross—we can see why it took time for the disciples to fully grasp Jesus’ teaching. Faith is based on God’s revelation of himself, a revelation that is progressive—one step at a time. Jesus last statement to them is that he gives them peace, and that he has “overcome the world.” And with it, he defeats death, the prince of this world and our slavery to sin.

Next week: We’ll read Jesus’ beautiful “high priestly prayer” in John 17 and begin the trials that carry him to the cross.

Homework for those who want to go deeper:

1. What does Jesus mean when he tells the disciples he has “overcome the world”? (John 16:33) What does it mean to you?

2. Study a plant—a rosebush, for example. Notice how essential it is that the branches be attached to a central trunk in order to be fed and produce flowers. How does this translate into your own life in Christ?

3. How conscious are you of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling you? How can you become more conscious of this “still small voice”?