The Gospel of John Living in the Vineyard John 15:1-11 NORMALLY I DON T READ AN EXTENDED QUOTE, but I really appreciated Dr. McGee s introduction to this chapter. This fifteenth chapter is a part of the Upper Room Discourse, although our Lord probably did not speak it in the Upper Room. At least the assumption is that He did not, because the last statement in chapter 14 is, Arise, let us go hence. Somewhere between the Upper Room and the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord spoke the words found in chapters 15 and 16, then prayed the prayer, recorded in chapter 17, as He entered the garden. It has been the belief of many expositors that our Lord gave this chapter in a discourse down in the Valley of Kidron or on the side of the Mount of Olives, because we know that at that time there was a vineyard in that area which covered that valley. We also know that it was a full moon because it was the time of the Passover. He may well have spoken these words as they walked through the vineyard. It would have been an appropriate place. Another suggestion has been made by several English expositors and it is the one I accept that that night He went by the temple, following the Law as He so meticulously did. The gates would have been open during the Passover nights. Those beautiful gates of the temple were actually a tourist attraction. They had been forged in Greece, floated across the Hellespont, then brought to Jerusalem, and placed in Herod s temple there. The gates were made of bronze and wrought into them was a golden vine. That the vine symbolizes the nation Israel is apparent from the following verses: 1 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars (Psalms 80:8 9; Isaiah 5:1, 7; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1 ESV). It is clear that the vine is a picture of the nation Israel. Now, friend, our Lord is saying one of the most revolutionary things these men have ever heard. It sounds familiar to us today, but it was strange to their ears. Listen to Him. 2 VIII The Upper Room Discourse Chapters 13-17 D. Abiding in Christ Chapter 15 1. Called To Be Fruitful Verses 1-11 2. Called To Be Friends Verses 12-17 3. Called To Alienation Verses 18-25 4. Called To Witness Verse 26 1 McGee, J. Vernon, John 2: The Gospels, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1991. 2 Ibid.
Introduction: Jesus has been comforting the Disciples. He was preparing them for His crucifixion and leaving them to return to the Father. And while they don t understand what He was saying to them, they would when the appropriate time came and this would be after His resurrection, ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples that He would manifest, meaning show Himself to them. And He did so through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is why they could see Him but the world could not. And the world still can t, except to the extent the Spirit convicts individuals and helps them see Christ in His word, and in us. We are the manifestation of God s presence in a fallen world until He comes to take us out of the world. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (John 13:35, Acts 1:8 ESV). Of course as the manifestation of Christ, empowered by the Spirit the disciples and the Church that came after them would experience persecution as it still does today. Or as Jesus put it If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you (John 15:18 ESV). Nevertheless, as long as they kept their eyes on Christ, depending on the power of the Spirit, they would experience supernatural peace in the midst of their trials. And the same can be said for us. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it (John 14:27; Philippians 4:6 7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 24 ESV). Jesus, have completed what He needed to say there in the upper room called on the group to get up and leave which brings us to His ongoing discussion as He and the disciples walk towards the Garden of Gethsemane. 1. Called To Be Fruitful: The first thing we notice is Jesus is making the last of the Seven I AM statements. I Am the Vine. He is reiterating the truth that He is God even though the disciples may or may not completely understand His point. He is the great I AM. ) 358 (
Much of what we see here is presentation of Trinitarian truths. Jesus presents Himself as God. He speaks of His relationship to the Father. He says He will send the Holy Spirit. In these statements we see the interconnection between each member of the Godhead and the different aspects of their relationship to us as God s children. And much of what Jesus presents is not just about the relationships within the Godhead but something equally unique and that is how those who follow Him are, in a number of ways, brought into relationship with them. Here specifically the relationship leads to the believer being productive for the Father. Unfortunately, too often believers act as if the role of the church is to get people saved. Matthew 28:19 is read as if it says Go therefore and save the people of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The problem is first we can t save anyone, that s God s responsibility. Second, the call is to make disciples, that is to train up, minister to those whom God has saved. And in so doing we, and they, produce fruit. And it is that fruit which is the visible demonstration of the reality of God working in our lives. Jesus speaks to this as He uses the illustration of the Vine and the Branches. Now it is important to understand what we ve already noted. Israel is the Vine of Scripture. But it is no longer the true vine. And why is this the case? Because Christ is the true vine and it is only by being in Him that one can be in relationship to the Godhead. The nation was in the process of rejecting Him, therefore it was to be considered a false vine. Jesus emphasizes this truth when He first speaks of those who reject Him. Those who reject Him will be cast out because of their rejection. National Israel would be set aside, for a time, because she rejected her Messiah. Note this is only for a time. Or as Paul puts it I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob ; and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. (Romans 11:1, 11-12, 15, 25-27 ESV). Verses 4-5: What is being discussed here isn t salvation. This is the point of verse 3 and the idea that the disciples are clean, that is, they are His followers. He is speaking of our walk and service of Him. For those who are in Christ, for those who are walking in His ways, God prunes, that is, brings into their lives what will make them even more productive for His Glory and the advancing of the Gospel. ) 359 (
Pruning can be best understood as the process of sanctification. It is the work God does constantly in our lives to increase our spiritual maturity and as a consequence our productiveness for Him. This includes lots of factors, encouraging us through His word, the leading of the Sprit, and where necessary, the work of discipling us. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29; Philippians 1:6 ESV). Jesus primary point here is we cannot be productive for the Lord unless we abide in Him, that is, in constant fellowship/communication with Him. A productive Christian life is one grounded in Christ and dependent on the Holy Spirit. We are not called to lead the Christian life out of our own strength. In fact Jesus words here make it clear that this isn t a possibility. For some, this is a hard truth because of pride. But believers cannot accomplish anything of value outside of their dependency on Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith (Colossians 2:6 7 ESV). Verse 6: At first glace this verse is a bit less clear. Some will want to interpret this as believers who produce no fruit and so lose their salvation. But this is obviously not the case as Jesus Himself noted when He said All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out (John 6:37 ESV). Instead the best understanding would seem that Jesus is referring to those who claim to be His followers. These are the individuals who say they re believer, but have only attached themselves superficially to the vine and have never really followed Him. These individuals are found in the Church. They are with us but not of us. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19 ESV). And so the day will come when they are cast out of His body. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Matthew 13:20 22 ESV). Verses 7-8: Jesus continues to reinforce the truths that He has previously presented. When we abide in Christ, then whatever we ask will be accomplished. The reason this is true is self evident. We will always pray that our desires will be conformed to the will of God. ) 360 (
And unless there is any doubt, for those who still want to hold on to the magic formula approach to prayer, Jesus states that the reasons our prayers are answered is because through them God is glorified and we are more productive in the carrying out of His will. The closer we walk with God, the closer we will be aligned to His will. And to the extent this is the case the more productive we will be for Him and the more obvious it will be to the world that we are Christ s disciples. I say, walk by the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Galatians 5:16, 22-23; Matthew 5:16 ESV). Verses 9-11: And how is all this to be accomplished? through total dependency on God and grounding in a foundation of love. Now it isn t surprising that John keeps coming back to the subject of love. But keep in mind He is simply disseminating what Jesus had said. Once again Jesus reiterates the love commands. Now think about the context. Jesus is focusing on the importance just prior to His being crucified because He loves us. The natural reaction of the disciples to the powers that be would have been anger and hatred, probably even after the resurrection. But Jesus wants them to refocus. Jesus message is God loves all human beings. And in turn those who love Him are called to manifest that love to all humanity. Christ paid the price for the sins of every single human being because He created us. He loves all of us. He desire is that none should be lost. God our Savior, desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3 4 ESV). Sadly, even though God desires all to be saved, only those who accept His payment for sin will be saved. God will not overrule the free will of people, regardless of His own desire. God will not drag anyone into heaven who doesn t want to enter on His terms. So will scripture does not teach limited atonement it does teach that Christ s payment is only efficacious to those who accept it. he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV). And how does Jesus end this section? First, by inference saying that serving Him is not something onerous, even though it comes at a cost. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30 ESV). But what is even more thrilling is that our following Christ gives Him joy. Think about this. We have the capacity of bringing joy to the creator of the universe. Can you think of any- ) 361 (
thing more joyful that that? And that s exactly what He says. The joy we bring Jesus in turn fills us with joy. Happy is our condition when the glory of God fills both heart and tongue! Oh, to swim in a sea of gratitude, to feel waves of praise breaking over one s joyful head, and then to dive into the ocean of adoration, and lose one s self in the ever-blessed God! 3 So no matter the circumstances we face, our dependency of the Lord to carry us through, to walk in His strength brings Him great joy and give us the opportunity to experience great joy ourselves. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV). 3 Spurgeon, C. H., Exploring the Mind and Heart of the Prince of Preachers: Five-thousand Quotations, Illustrations, and Axioms, Fox River Press, Aurora, IL 2005, paragraph 2974. ) 362 (
The Gospel of John Living in the Vineyard John 15:1-11 VIII The Upper Room Discourse Chapters 13-17 D. Abiding in Christ Chapter 15 1. Called To Be Fruitful Verses 1-11 2. Called To Be Friends Verses 12-17 3. Called To Alienation Verses 18-25 4. Called To Witness Verse 26 Introduction: (Psalms 80:8 9; Isaiah 5:1, 7; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1; John 13:35, Acts 1:8; John 15:18; John 14:27; Philippians 4:6 7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 24) 1. Called To Be Fruitful: (Romans 11:1, 11-12, 15, 25-27) Verses 4-5: (Romans 8:29; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 2:6 7)
Verse 6: (John 6:37; 1 John 2:19; Matthew 13:20 22) Verses 7-8: (Galatians 5:16, 22-23; Matthew 5:16) Verses 9-11: (1 Timothy 2:3 4; John 3:16; Matthew 11:30; Zephaniah 3:17) Personal Application: This week meditate on the truth that we can bring God joy. What is the implication for your walk? Prayer for the Week: Lord may Your Spirit help me to walk in a way that brings You glory and joy. In Jesus name, a men.