60: Promise of the Holy Spirit & the “True Vine” – John 14:15-15:17

14 ¹⁵ If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. ¹⁷ This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

¹⁸ “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. 

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me; ³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us be on our way. 

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 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. ¹¹ I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷ I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is Jesus talking about here? Why would he introduce another “person” at this point? How do you think the disciples felt about this “Advocate?”

2. How does Jesus describe the Holy Spirit? What seem to be the important attributes of this member of the Trinity? What links the disciples to the Trinity? 

3. How does Jesus attempt to prepare the disciples for the immediate future? What gift does he leave with the disciples? What does he say about the larger picture?

4. What image does Jesus use next in describing the disciples? Why do you think he chose this image [see Notes]? 

5. How does Jesus describe the relationship between the disciples and himself? What does he tell the disciples to do? What will happen to those who do as Jesus says? To those who do not?

6. What is the relationship of love and Jesus’s commandments? How does this affect the disciples’ relationship with Jesus? With each other? 

Get Personal

How do you feel about being Jesus’s friend? How does this affect your daily walk with Jesus? How does this affect your relationship with other believers? With people who may not be believers? How does this affect your testimony about Jesus?

14:16. Advocate — the Greek word is also translated “Counselor,” “Helper,” “Encourager,” and “Comforter.” This verse is also one of the first descriptions of the Trinity: Jesus, the human manifestation of God, says he will ask “the Father,” who will give another Advocate: “the Holy Spirit.” There clearly are three “persons” involved (or soon to be involved) with the disciples.
14:27. Peace — which comes from trusting in Jesus’s promises about our ultimate future.
15:1. Vine — vineyards, grapes and wine are common Old Testament images for Israel.
15:2. Removes . . . prunes — Jesus uses two different words here – those who bear no fruit (because they do not have Christ’s spirit) are cut off; but those who do bear fruit (because they do have his spirit) are pruned so they can continue to be fruitful.
15:3. Cleansed by the word — when we accept the Gospel we are cleansed of our sin and purified for our relationship with God through Christ.

15:4. Abide — we must be integrated into Christ and he must be an integral part of every aspect of our life.
15:9. As the Father has loved me — Jesus is not offering a discounted or “second label” love; his love for believers is the same complete and total love that the Father has for the Son.
15:12. Love one another as I have loved you — loving another person is a decision, not an emotion – the disciples were definitely not “likeable” at times, but Jesus still loved them. Jesus calls us to make such a decision about other people: to support, encourage, teach, admonish, guide, grow – and pray for them.
15:15. You are my friends — in Jesus’s time a rabbi’s disciples often were treated as slaves. At the same time Greek and Roman culture placed considerable emphasis on friendship, including loyalty, equality and intimacy (which Jesus underscores by saying he told the disciples “everything that I have heard from my Father”).