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| A Study of John 15:1-11 | |
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| Introduction We naturally want to do things our own way and in our own strength. We like to think we are in charge of our own life, and are in control of what’s happening to us. So we find it difficult to allow God to be the master of our life. We think we are so self-sufficient and in command of everything, but the fact is we spend our entire life dependent on others. Helig wrote, "If I travel on an airplane, I am abjectly dependent upon the expertise of a pilot, of men who design airports and navigational systems, of an industry that co-opts more skills than I can count to manufacture and service planes. If I simply stay home and drink a glass of water, I depend upon plumbers and engineers, upon chemists who know how much chlorine to put in the water, upon a giant technical and political system that defines watersheds, designates reservoirs, and gets tolerably drinkable water into cities." We really are totally dependent on so many others throughout every day of our life. John 15:1-11 teaches us how we need to be totally dependent on God, to abide in Christ and allow him to do the work through us. Verse 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Jesus is the vine, and God is the one who takes care of the vineyard. We are merely the branches. The branches grow in the vine and are totally dependent on the vine for nourishment. The branches can not clean themselves of pests, nor prune themselves, nor take care of themselves. They depend on the vinedresser. The fact that Jesus calls God the Father the vinedresser, or the keeper of the vineyard, is instructive. In ancient Israel much work had to be done to have a successful vineyard. Gower comments, "The vineyard was placed on the hillside where there was good drainage and where the grapes could catch the sun. The land was first terraced so as to use up the stones that littered the soil, at the same time providing a means of soil conservation during the heavy rains. The plot was then surrounded by a wall and a ditch, the excavated soil from the ditch forming the foundation for the wall. A fence of thorns was placed on top of the wall to keep out any damaging wild animals.... The soil was prepared by turning it over with a mattock. Finally, a watchtower was constructed that served as a summer cottage, a place for the family to stay during the summer while the grapes were being picked. It was not a cheap thing to build." We can see from this account how much work the husbandman had to do in order to have a successful harvest. It is God that is working in our life so that we might be fruitful in our Christian walk. He trims us, waters us, and takes care of us. Verse 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. This verse tells us that we need to bear fruit. This is a requirement from the Lord. There are some things we can’t do. I can never be a heavy metal star. I cannot play the piano, and I’m no good at flower arranging. But there are some things we can do that the Lord requires of us. The reason we belong to Jesus is to bear fruit. God wants us to be fruitful. So it only makes sense to me that we should try to bear fruit. Verse 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Verse 2 warns us that every branch that bears no fruit God casts away. But this verse gives us the assurance that Jesus is not talking to believers. He says that we are already made clean by the word. We are not in danger of being cast aside for being unproductive. But this verse tells us that God’s word has a cleansing effect on us. This means we need to spend time reading and studying the Bible in order to learn how to be fruitful. MacDonald makes an interesting point, "A vine branch has one great purpose — to bear fruit. It is useless for making furniture or for building homes. It does not even make good firewood. But it is good for fruit-bearing — as long as it abides in the vine." Verse 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. We must abide in Christ. We must commit our life to him, and place our trust in him. There are certain conditions that are necessary for vines to produce a good grape harvest. 1. There must be water. When we moved into our house years ago, the grass in the back yard was brown. It obviously had not been watered for months. But after just a short time of soaking the back yard with water, it was amazing how we began to see the green grass growing once again. Just like plants, we need water for our physical health. But there is also a spiritual water that we need for the health of our soul. Jesus said in John 14:14, "...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." And again in John 7:37-38 Jesus said, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ " If we want to tap into this heavenly supply of water, we need to abide in the vine. That is our source. 2. There must be sunlight. Plants cannot grow without the warmth and the light from the sun. The sun’s rays cause a change to take place in the leaves of the plant. Without this process of photosynthesis the plant will not survive. Psalm 119:130 tells us, "The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple." The Lord shines down his light of understanding on us to help us to grow spiritually as we read his word. Plants need a lot of sunlight. We need a lot of the light of God’s word. Psalm 119:105 tells us, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." 3. There must be pruning. Now I’m sure this is not pleasant for the grape vines, but every year they have to be pruned. This is done so that they can produce more fruit. God wants us to be fruitful, so there are some areas in our life that he may have to prune. He may cut back that twig of anger and chop off that branch of stubbornness. In a vineyard the pruners know exactly where to cut. They want to cut off enough to produce an abundant crop but not cut off so much that the plant is damaged. In the same way the Holy Spirit knows exactly how to purge us. He knows what needs to be clipped and tossed away. If the Spirit tells you to get rid of something, even if everyone else is doing it, you better get rid of it. The Holy Spirit is the pruner. We need to be willing to be in God’s hands. 4. There must be a dormant or unfruitful stage. All plants have a dormant stage when the roots are getting deeper. This dormant period is a time of preparation. Fruit only comes when it’s the right season. Sometimes we may feel we’re not fruitful. But maybe we are in our dormant stage — the time when the Lord is preparing us for the fruit-bearing stage. God is busy watering us, and pruning us, and making sure we have plenty of nutrients and sunlight so that when the harvest season comes, we will have an abundance of fruit. 5. The branches must abide in the vine. There are some grape varieties where they have actually grafted in branches into the vine. That’s what we are — branches grafted into God’s grapevine. As long as we abide in the vine we will bear fruit. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. We’re nothing but branches. We will only be successful Christians as we abide in Christ. Verse 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. This verse tells us that we will bear much fruit. We might ask ourselves, what kind of fruit do we bear? I want to look at three different areas where we can be fruitful. The first area is in our own life. We can bear fruit as God helps us to become a new creature. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul lists some of these areas of personal improvement, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...." As we abide in Christ we find our character being transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Old desires fade away and are replaced by new feelings of compassion and kindness. Although we never do truly conquer all of our old sinful nature, we discover that as we serve the Lord these new godly characteristics begin to grow and blossom in our life. The next area of bearing fruit is that of encouraging others. As we are filled with God’s love, we naturally want to share it with others. And when we see others struggling in their Christian walk, we are filled with compassion to come along side them to encourage and help. Hebrews 10:23-25 instructs us, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Another area of bearing fruit is that of winning new believers by sharing the Gospel. As we reach out to others in love, we are going to want to share with them the wonderful things Christ has done for us. If we are faithful in sharing our testimony with others, we will see some decide to invite Jesus into their heart. When we share our faith with others, we are obeying Jesus’ command in Mark 16:15-16, "You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Those who believe and are baptized will be saved. But those who refuse to believe will be condemned." Verse 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. This verse teaches us the folly of trying to do anything in our own strength. The reason the branch withers and is cast aside is because it stopped abiding in the vine. We must continue abiding in Christ. We cannot waver from our commitment. Our own efforts, our own abilities, and our own strength will fail us. We need to learn to depend on the Lord. MacDonald writes, "To abide means to stay where you are. The Christian has been placed in Christ; that is his position. In daily walk, he should stay in intimate fellowship with the Lord. A branch abides in a vine by drawing all its life and nourishment from the vine. So we abide in Christ by spending time in prayer, reading and obeying His Word, fellowshiping with His people, and being continually conscious of our union with Him. As we thus maintain constant contact with Him, we are conscious of His abiding in us and supplying us with spiritual strength and resources." Verse 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. Again, Jesus exhorts us to live by God’s words. Not only do we need to abide in Christ, but we also need to allow his words to abide in us. We can only do this by studying and reading the Bible. But look what happens when we have God’s words in us. We can then pray confidently knowing that he hears us and will answer us. What a contrast this is to the previous verse. The man who doesn’t abide in Christ withers away and is cast aside. But the person who abides in Christ and learns from scripture is promised an abundance of blessing. We can ask anything of God. It can be a small, insignificant need, or it can be a life-threatening need. Either way we confidently enter into God’s presence with our request. Hebrews 4:16 assures us, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Verse 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. We all want to be disciples of Christ. Verse 8 tells us that when we bear fruit, we prove that we are the Lord’s disciples. The reason for this is that we cannot bear fruit in our own strength. We must depend on the Lord. As we see the fruit of the Spirit in our life, we realize how much God has been working in us to make us a new creature. The Spirit helps us do things that we know we cannot do in our own ability. Bearing fruit is our assurance that God is working in our life. Notice from this verse that our fruitfulness glorifies God. Whenever we grow in an area of our life, we honor God. When we encourage others in the faith, we magnify God. When we lead others to Christ, it is God who is glorified. When we are fruitful, we cannot boast in our own ability or feel self-righteous, because it is God who is working in us. The Spirit blesses us so that we may glorify God. You want to bear fruit, but you may be asking how can I do it? Perhaps you feel you have never been very fruitful as a Christian. In the next two verses Jesus gives us two things we can do to help us to bear spiritual fruit. Verse 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If we want to be productive Christians, we must abide in Christ’s love. When we are filled with his love, we will have a desire to do those things that make us fruitful. We will want to be a better person. When we lose our temper or exhibit lack of control, we will feel bad because we know how much Jesus loves us and cares for us. We will want to become fruitful in our personal life. When we are filled with Christ’s love, we will have a desire to help others — to be there with kind words of encouragement, and sometimes firm words of admonishment. As we are filled with God’s love, it will overflow out of us toward others. When we are filled with Christ’s love, we will want to share the Gospel with others. God has done so much for us that we long to see others also receive the Lord’s blessing. As Christ’s love fills our life, we will bubble over with excitement at the goodness of God. This excitement is contagious, and we will want to share it with others. The excitement of serving the Lord only comes as we abide in Christ. If we have lost that excitement, and our desire to be fruitful seems to have diminished, maybe we need to ask ourselves if we are still abiding in Christ. Are we spending time in prayer and fellowship with him, or have we become busy with our own endeavors and projects? If you want to be a fruitful believer, you must abide in Christ. Verse 10 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. The second thing Jesus tells us we need to do in order to be productive followers of his is to keep his commandments. Again, he gives another call to study God’s word. This is the third time this has been mentioned in these few verses. If we want to be fruitful, we need to study the Bible, meditate upon it, and live it. The Bible reveals to us the nature and character of God. It also reveals to us who we are. As we read and study scripture, we gain a new understanding of the kind of person God wants us to be. When we neglect Bible reading, we will discover that our focus shifts from God to the cares of this world. Suddenly we discover all our attention is being placed on our possessions, our work, and our activities, and the things of God retreat into the background. When we read the Bible, we are re-focusing our soul onto spiritual matters. In order to bear fruit we need the help of the Spirit. As we neglect Bible reading, we find ourselves drifting further and further from God’s presence. Fortunately for us, God is very merciful towards us. Even if it’s been a long time since we spent time alone with him, he is ready to hear us and teach us as soon as we return to him. He doesn’t make us go through an 8-week rehabilitation course in order to enter his presence. He is always there patiently waiting for us to make time for him. When we do, he is ready to meet our needs and strengthen us right where we are in spite of our weakness and failures. It should be mentioned that Jesus doesn’t say that we only need to know the commandments, but he says we need to keep his commandments. In other words, we’ve heard the Word, and researched the church, but we need to obey the Way. Brown comments that the keeping of God’s commandments is from, "the obedient spirit of true discipleship attracting and securing the continuance and increase of Christ's loving regard." When we read the Bible, we need to apply the teaching to our life. We need to allow God’s word to be the standard by which we live. Just reading the Bible isn’t enough. We have to also obey it. As we study God’s word, we will find areas of our life that need to be changed. If we are willing, we will find the Holy Spirit is ready to help us make the changes. Being a follower of Christ is a constant growing process. Verse 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. As we learn to abide in Christ, not only do we become a fruit-bearer for the Lord, but through the process of being fruitful, we find our life filled with joy. When we see others encouraged by our help, when we see others led to Christ because of our witness, and when we see our own life being made more like Christ, we can’t help but rejoice that God is so good to us to bestow all these blessings upon us. Macleod points out, "Love and joy characterize the spiritual union of the disciples with their Lord. His joy is also theirs." So if we want to have a joyful life, if we want to have a fruitful life, we need to learn to abide in Christ. Let him be the vine who nourishes us, who strengthens us, who helps us, who causes us to be fruitful. Footnotes: This study of John 15:1-11 © 1997 by David Humpal. All rights reserved. Some of the comments on verses 2 and 4 are
taken from a message on Romans 7:4-6 given by Jack Holt on December 6, 1992 |
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