2. What or who are the branches, and what is the relationship to the vine? ** and **

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1 Small-Group Bible Study for April 23-April 29, 2018 Memory verse: I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. --John 15:5 1. Read John 15:1-8. What does Jesus mean when he calls himself the true vine? * 2. What or who are the branches, and what is the relationship to the vine? ** and ** 3. What methods might God the gardener use to prune branches so they are more fruitful? 4. What does it mean to remain (or abide ) in Jesus? How do we abide in Christ and what is the pay-off? *** 5. How does Jesus remain in us? 6. What kind of fruit is Jesus talking about, do you think? **** and **** 7. What happens when the branch is cut off from the vine? 8. How can we glorify God? Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, you are the Master Gardener; your Son is the vine that connects us together. Thank you for helping us to grow, to produce fruit so others might know you. Help us to abide in you always. AMEN. Commentators: Pastor Robert Deffinbaugh, Community Bible Chapel, Richardson, Texas: * The Lord Jesus is the true vine. This word true is used primarily in two senses in the New Testament. First of all, it denotes that which is true or genuine in contrast to that which is false or spurious. Surely our Lord is the one genuine vine in whom we should abide, and surely we understand that there are other false vines. But this I do not think to be the emphasis [that] our Lord intends here. This word true is also used of that which is the ultimate realization, or here, of that which is the heavenly reality which transcends any earthly counterpart. I think, then, that Jesus is saying that whereas the vine was a picture of Israel in the Old Testament, He is the fullest realization of Israel s hope, of their expectations, of what God intended her to be as her Messiah. Israel, as a vine, was an utter failure; it never achieved its goal. Our Lord Jesus Christ Who came as the True Vine would accomplish all Israel failed to do.

2 ** As the true vine, our Lord is the source of life and strength and fruit. There is a relationship of complete dependence between the branch and the vine. The vine supplies lifegiving nourishment to the branches. Apart from it, the branches have neither life nor fruit. As the branches, we are the visible manifestation of the life of the vine. We are the instruments of fruit-bearing. Since our Lord s ascension into heaven, the church has been the body of Christ. The world is to see Him in us we are His hands, His feet, His mouth. The Lord once ministered in His earthly body, but now ministers and reveals His life in His spiritual body. What Jesus began to do and teach, His church now continues to do and say. The Father is intimately involved in this relationship between the vine and the branches. He deals with the unfruitful branches. Even those branches which are fruitful receive His care in order to effect greater fruitfulness. Lest the mention of removing unfruitful branches create any doubts or fears, Jesus assured the disciples that they had already demonstrated their genuineness and sincerity. They had already been cleansed by faith in His words. Only Judas was unclean, due to his unbelief. Verses 1-3 pertain to our position, while verses 4-8 speak of our practice. We come to the first imperative (or command) of the chapter in verse 4. Here our Lord tells us what we are to do as branches in Him. Abide in Me, and I in you. ** * This is our Christian responsibility to abide in Christ. John uses the term (meno) over fifty times in his writings; eleven times in this chapter. Underlying the meaning of this term is the idea of belief. Abiding, then, requires a belief in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. It is a dependence upon His provision of life and strength that is emphasized in John 15:4. It is a belief and a relation[ship] with the person of Jesus Christ and His Word. Abiding in Christ stresses belief, dependence, and endurance. Abiding in Christ in its simplest terms is trusting our Lord and obeying His word. It is as simple as our belief and behavior. Abiding in Christ provides us with life and strength. It is the only way to fruitfulness. Abiding in Christ assures us of answered prayer and an intimacy with Christ. Thomas E. Boomershine, Ph.D: This is the parable of the vineyard in Isaiah [5:7] in which the vineyard is clearly the nation of Israel; it is God's people. They are not bearing fruit, but wild grapes. What they bore was chaos. It was injustice rather than what God had in mind. In the series of sayings recorded in John 15, Jesus builds on the memory of Isaiah's parable The true vine is a metaphor for that which will bear good fruit. Jesus' parable begins with, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Thus, it is grounded in the relationship between Jesus and the Father. And in this sense, Jesus becomes the vineyard. He is the focus of the vineyard that God has planted. The community of those who bear fruit is the community of Jesus; it's the community that is tied to him. The branches that don't bear fruit are cut off. The branches that do bear fruit are pruned clean. ** This word in Greek has a double meaning. [T]he word cathirao in Greek means both to prune and to clean. They are made clean; that is, they are made pure and righteous by being pruned.

3 What is the experience to which this refers? It is about the spiritual discipline that happens when someone who has borne fruit needs now to learn new things and to have some things cut off, some traditions cut away in order to be prepared for the new situation in which they will live. So the word of Jesus has cleansed them. It has pruned them. It has enabled them to distinguish between that which is essential and that which can be left behind. How is it that we maintain connection with God? How is it that we maintain the ability to be fruitful, to be creative, to generate new ideas? Well, it's by staying connected with the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the one who is the vine out of which the energy of the spirit flows One of the ways to abide in Jesus is to have his words abide, stay, remain in you to get them inside you. Then you can ask whatever you want and it will be done. There is a confidence that prayers and the requests of the people can simply be asked for and it will be done. In this God will be glorified in our bearing much fruit. David Lose, president, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, PA.: [S]ome of the language here is kind of fierce cutting, pruning, being thrown into the fire, etc. I think this is less intended as a threat about what happens if you don't abide in Jesus but more a metaphorical description of what actually happens when you are not connected to the source of life. You end up cut off, withered, useless, like the branches and scraps we clean up from our yard and haul away or burn. Plus, if you've ever seen pruned bushes, you know it's not a pretty picture. Sometimes a pruned bush looks so ravaged that it's hard to believe it will ever bear fruit or flower again. But cutting away the dead growth is the only way for new life to take place. This passage is all about abiding, remaining, with Jesus. [B]ranches don't last long apart from the larger tree or vine or plant to which they're attached. So Jesus, in this portion of the narrative essentially what is the evening of Maundy Thursday in John's account is urging his disciples to remain in him and with him. He knows he is about to go, to leave them behind, first in the event of the cross but even after the resurrection through his ascension. And he wants them to be prepared, to remain in fellowship with each other and to abide in his teaching and example. [T]o what do we feel connected? Or maybe it's more than connected. [O]ne of the challenges of our modern life is that we're more connected than ever, yet also feel increasingly isolated. We seem to be almost drowning in information while simultaneously starved for actual experience, particularly the experience of being in real relationship. I think that's what Jesus offers his disciples here. Not simply connection but relationship, community, life in its abundance. Pastor Brian P. Stoffregen, Faith Lutheran Church, Marysville, CA: ** * * What is the fruit that the gardener expects from the branches? When chapter 15 is read in context of chapter 14 loving Jesus (vv. 15, 21, 23) and chapter 13 loving each other (vv ), it would appear that love is the expected fruit. If so, then the unproductive branches of 15:2 are the people who are in Jesus in the community of faith who are not loving who are not seeking the good of the whole body.

4 I think that our text does ask us not only to consider what it means for me to bear fruit, but also what it means for us as a community to bear fruit. Is it only new converts? Is it only greater love for one another? For the world? William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia: ** * * Fruit could also be love. Certainly 15:9-17 emphasizes the command to love. But in the light of previous use of the fruit image (for instance, 12:24-32) and the emphasis in 14:10-14, it is more likely that fruit bearing relates to bringing others into this relationship with Christ. The two ideas are in any case closely connected. Karoline Lewis, associate professor of preaching and the Marbury E. Anderson Chair in Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN: How can you bear fruit? How can you imagine being beyond yourself? How can you realize your potential if you have no grounding, no sense of origin, no affirmation of possibility outside yourself? The bearing of fruit depends on dependence. It depends on connection. It depends on origin. It depends on belonging. As soon as you think you can produce anything from the basis of your own sovereignty, from your own efforts, from your own sense of independence, think about it. What kind of fruit will that be? Because bearing fruit has everything to do with who you are in relationship. That the manifestations of our faith are not individual expressions of our theological commitments and convictions but are deeply lodged in and arise from the communities of our lives. That there is truncated potential for faith embodied if we do not realize that the bearing fruit of our faith is premised on dependence. I fear there is a fear of bearing fruit. And that fear has many levels. Because once we bear fruit, we lose control. We chance exposure. Others will be able to see on what or whom we rely; in what and in whom we locate and lodge our strength. And once we re out there? Well, it s awfully hard to take it back. Impossible, actually. And others are then free to pick and choose the fruit they preference, like perusing the options at a farmer s market or in the produce section in the grocery store. Bearing fruit is risky business. It will reveal who you are and on whom and what you depend. It will expose your lack of self-sufficiency. It will show others that there is no other way to be but to be dependent. Many will think it s weakness. Many will think the ties should be broken. Many will think that being cut off is beneficial because it will result in some sort of selfactualized and admirable autonomy. Pastor Edward Markquart, Sermons from Seattle, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA A question is: How do we glorify God? We glorify God, not primarily by going to church and singing praise songs and old classic hymns. The primary way we glorify God is by bearing MUCH fruit. God is glorified with we bear much fruit and are loving and compassionate.

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