John
15 Outline
(top)
The True Vine. (vv.1-8)
• Jesus is the true vine. (v.1)
-The main stalk. The vine through which all the nutrients flow to the various branches.
• The Father is the husbandman. Literally the "vine-dresser". The one who tends the vineyard.
• Every branch that bears no fruit is taken away, or cut off. (v.2)
• Every branch that does bear fruit is purged, or pruned. (v.2)
• The branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine and we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Christ.
(v.4)
• If one abides in the true vine, he brings forth much fruit. (v.5)
• If a man does not abide in Him, he is cast forth like a branch that has been cut off of the true vine. The branch:
-Withers.
-Is gathered by men.
-Is burned. (v.6)
• If we abide in His words and they abide in us, we shall ask what we will and it will be done for us.
(v.7)
• God is glorified by disciples bearing much fruit. (v.8)
Abide In Love. (vv.9-13)
• Christ loves His disciples as the Father has loved Him. His disciples are commanded to continue in His love.
(v.9)
• The disciples abide in Christ's love by keeping His commandments. (v.10)
• Christ's commandment: "Love one another as I have loved you".
(v.12)
• There is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friends.
(v.13)
• Jesus tells His disciples that they are His friends if they do what He commands them.
(v.14)
• He says that they are not called servants anymore but friends. Because a servant does not know what the Lord does but friends do and He had made known to them all things that He had heard of the Father.
(v.15)
• They had not chosen Christ but He had chosen them:
-And ordained them.
-That they should go and bring forth fruit.
-That their fruit should remain.
-That whatsoever they ask of the Father, He would give them.
(v.16)
If The World Hate
You. (vv.18-25)
• Jesus tells them that if the world hates them they should remember that it hated Him first.
(v.18)
• If they were of the world, it would not hate them. But Christ chose them out of the world, and therefore, it would hate them.
(v.19)
• The servant is not greater than the Lord. If they persecuted Christ, they would persecute His servants.
(v.20)
• The world will persecute them for Jesus' name sake, because they do not know Him that sent Jesus.
(v.21)
• Jesus says that if He had not spoken to them they would not have had sin. (Probably saying that they would not have persecuted Him). However, now they had no excuse. He had spoken to them and they chose to reject Him.
(v.22)
• He that hate Jesus, hates the Father. (v.23)
• In their rejecting Christ, they fulfilled the prophecy that said they would hate Him without a cause.
(v.25)
(Psalms
35:19)
The Comforter. (vv.26-27)
• Jesus promises to send the Comforter. (v.26)
-The Comforter would come from the Father.
-Also called the Spirit of Truth.
-Would testify of Him.
• His disciples would bear witness because they had been with Him from the beginning.
