Abiding in Christ (15:1-17)

Jesus has just taught His disciples that "Because I love, you will live also. In that day, you will know that .... you are in Me, and I am in you" (14:19,20). This union with Christ is portrayed in scripture in various different guises: for example He is the head of the church, we are the body; He is the husband, the church is the bride. Those metaphors relate to us corporately, but first there must be the individual connections: 'I am the true Vine, you are the branches'.

This is the last of the great 'I AM' statements in John, and one of only two that are qualified. The vine was a common metaphor for Israel in the Old Testament, an imagery perhaps rooted in the clusters of huge grapes which the spies brought back to Joshua. But strangely, the vast majority of OT references express God's disappointment at its failure to bring forth good fruit (Isa 5:1-7). Instead of justice and righteousness there was oppression and cries for help. The noble vine He had planted, had become degenerate (Jer 2:20,21), committing spiritual prostitution. Asaph, a psalmist, saw Israel as a once-flourishing vineyard that spread over a vast area, but was then abandoned and re-wilded, the vine branches being burned. He prays for a God-empowered 'son of man' who will bring restoration (Ps 80:7-19) - a true vine who will fulfil Israel's original calling.

As they followed Jesus across Jerusalem to Gethsemane, the disciples would have passed the entrance to the Temple, which had huge clusters of golden grapes fixed to the stonework on each side. Jesus had previously declared His body to be the true Temple (2:18-21). Now He declares Himself to be the true vine. Barclay says, it is as if He had said: “You think that because you belong to the nation of Israel you are a branch of the true vine of God. But the nation is a degenerate vine, as all your prophets saw. It is I who am the true vine. The fact that you are a Jew will not save you. The only thing that can save you is to have an intimate living fellowship with me, for I am the vine of God and you must be branches joined to me."

Jesus's concern is not about Israel as a nation, but us as individual disciples. He focusses first on the Father''s role. God is planting a new vineyard with a truly noble vine, and He wants to ensure there is fruit (v2), abundant fruit (v5), fruit that will glorify Him (v8), fruitfulness that would continue (v16). Vines need constant care for this to be so. Over winter the vinedresser checks, then cuts away any branches that didn't bear fruit. Branches that can't find any support to climb on, do not develop foliage - so He lifts them up and attaches them to a support. (The word translated as 'He takes away' in verse 2, can also be translated as 'He lifts up). Then he prunes the fruit-bearing branches of all unnecessary foliage - so that all the sap will go into developing fruit.

It is easy to skip over this aspect of Jesus's analogy, since none of us like being pruned. But if truth be told, we have all experienced times when our roles suddenly ended, illness or disability limited our activity, and it seemed we were fruitless for a while. In fact young vines are routinely pruned so heavily for the first three years that they cannot bear fruit. So we can't judge one another by fruitfulness at a given point in time. It may be that this is a season of pruning, but the Father's aim is always positive: to bring forth more fruit.

What is the fruit that Jesus has in mind? Some commentators see it as being others we bring to Christ, but most see it as the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:25ff). We think of grapes as a source of delicious drink, but their natural function is to carry seed, in other words, to reproduce. So maybe both meanings are in mind. Jesus refers to the fruit bringing glory to God, and awe have previously seen that God's glory is His goodness, His character (Ex 33:18-34:7). In so far as our character reflects His holiness, His grace, His faithfulness, His love, we will bring Him glory: and we will attract others to Him. 'They will know you are My disciples, if you have love one for another'.

The Greek word for pruning is the same as for cleaning. Jesus tells the eleven, that they are already clean because of His 'logos', His teaching. It has cut away their wrong ideas of Messiah, undermined their worldly competition for status, changed their ideas of holiness from external rituals to internal purity, and so on. Any remaining self-righteousness is about to be cut away at Calvary. But they will still need a lifetime's regular attention from the Father's pruning hook!

Having put the primary emphasis on God's role, He now shifts to theirs (v4). Abiding, or remaining, usually simply means passivity, not going anywhere else.. One of the defining characteristics of vines is that they look for other things to which to attach themselves. And they can die from lack of water. But here Jesus is obviously envisaging an active commitment. Just as He has committed to indwelling us, we must commit to indwelling Him. We must abide in Him in the spiritual realm, and He must abide in us in the way we live. Otherwise, we will not develop any of the character-fruits that glorify Him: and instead, start to gradually wither (v6). We cannot produce fruit if disconnected; but worse still, we are utterly useless. The wood of the vine is useful for nothing else except to be burnt; and even then, it is no use as a fuel, for it burns too quickly.

Some have a problem with verse five: if the branch was once joined to Christ, and if we cannot lose our salvation, how can the branch be cast out? Some try to get round the apparent problem by taking 'branch' to mean one's works, rather than the person themselves. But its straightforward interpretation aligns with the parable of the wheat and the tares, where Jesus says some who looked like wheat, actually end up being burnt because they are tares. Or with Jesus account of His judging the peoples, where some who had prophesied and cast out demons in His name, are told to depart into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt 13:30, 25:41). Or with those who, Hebrews says, 'have become partakers of the Holy Spirit' but then fall away (Heb 6:4-6).

There are various references to abiding, in both Old and New testaments. David frequently refers to deliberately seeking God's Presence, and the joy and delight of worshipping Him (E.g. Ps 63:1-8). Isaiah prophesies to a nation seeking protection through dubious political alliances, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength" (30:15) And again, "Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee" (26:3). Jesus tells His disciples, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, and you shall find rest for your souls; for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt 11:29). In Acts we find the church at Antioch 'ministering to the Lord and fasting' before receiving the Holy Spirit's instruction to ordain Paul and Barnabas for missionary work (Acts 13:1-3). Hebrews talks about a promise open to us, of entering into rest; a rest which comes from allowing the word of God to distinguish soulish activity from spiritual (Heb 4:1-12). It is significant that this entering into rest can only be reached by faith. Just as keeping the sabbath requires that G

Some may object to spending time in this seemingly passive pursuit of God's Presence, pointing to all the scriptures about pressing on in our Christian walk and the emphasis on our personal responsibility. But without time spent in devotion - in abiding and resting in God's Presence - we may tragically discover that our life has been wasted building with materials which can't withstand the testing fire of the Bema seat (1Cor 3:11-15). Time spent 'abiding' is what fuels our passion to 'press on'.

Jesus now puts flesh on the concept of abiding, in verses 9-17. What does it mean in practice?

Our study group came up with various answers: being aware of God; being part of the Body of Christ; seeking to walk in the truth; and simply, confidence in God. Three themes stand out in Jesus's unpacking of the concept:

• Love for Him, expressed in obedience to His commandments. Walking in His footsteps is not burdensome, but a cause of joy - fullness of joy (v11). Especially following His command to love each other self-sacrificially (v12,13): not competing for honour and status as they had done, but honouring each other and considering each other's interests before one's own. John elaborates on this them extensively in his first Letter: love means actions not just words (1Jn 3:16-18); it is as we love one another that we experience God abiding in us (1Jn 4:12); and the old dictum, 'Love me, love my child' applies (1Jn 4:20-5:1) not only to our relationship with Christ as God's Son, but also to all who have been born again.

• Being God's friend. Many Old Testament characters are described as servants of God, and Paul repeatedly describes himself thus. But only one man is actually described as 'the friend of God', namely Abraham (Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23). What's the difference? Well, a servant simply obeys orders to do this, or do that: they are not told why, or what their master is trying to achieve by these actions. They don't know his heart's desires, or his future plans. Whereas a friend is in on his friend's inner thoughts and motivations. We are party to God's heart; that He so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We know that Jesus will come again in glory, to judge the living and the dead. We know that His plan is to bring all things together under Christ's headship, and to make known His manifold wisdom to the heavenly powers, through the church. We know He is arranging every circumstance in our lives to mould us more into the likeness of Christ. Christ has told us everything the Father has revealed to Him!

• Prayer. As this moulding goes on, and we bear the fruits of God's character (which is no kudos to us, but all to Him who called us and ordained us for this destiny), our freedom and power in prayer grows and grows (v16). In fact prayer becomes itself a primary means of bearing fruit. Instead of seeking to change things (or people) by ourselves and our own actions, we 'work' through prayer. So that eventually, when we are called to give account, it becomes manifest that 'all our deeds are wrought in God' (Jn 3:21).

Closing off this exposition of abiding, Jesus underscores the pre-eminence of love. These things which He has just commanded - obedience, waiting on God, and prayer - are all subsumed in His supreme command, that we love one another. This will be vitally important as we face the implacable hostility of the world and its Prince, which is His next major concern.