Dr. Robert P. Martin is Pastor of Emmanuel Reformed Baptist Church, Seattle, Washington, Professor of Biblical Theology in Reformed Baptist Seminary, Easley, SC, and Editor of Reformed Baptist Theological Review.
All that Jesus says in the final hours before his arrest (John 13-17) is designed to equip his disciples to fulfill their mission after his departure. Among the things that he addresses is the critical importance of on-going communion with himself. At the heart of his instruction is the remarkable declaration that they will be totally dependant on him for the doing of anything good. In order to convey this truth in a way that will be memorable, the Lord uses the image of a vine and its branches.
The Familiar Image: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. . . . I am the vine, you are the branches” (15:1, 5).As on so many occasions, Jesus here uses an image drawn from daily life. The Bible uses the imagery of a vine and its branches to illustrate the relation between God and his people Israel. Here Jesus uses this imagery to illustrate his (and his Father’s) relation to his disciples, who are the true Israel, i.e., the Israel of the New Covenant. There are three parts to this image—the vine, the branches, and the vinedresser. Each has a vital role to play. Later we will consider the role of the Father as the vinedresser. Now we focus on the relation of the vine (Christ) and the branches (his disciples).
There are many things about vines that I do not know, complexities of biochemistry that perhaps even mystify the experts. But an expert’s knowledge of such things is not necessary to understanding our Lord’s use of this image. The analogy is simple, and the lessons are meant to be virtually self-evident.
The relation of branches to a vine is the closest that may be imagined. Even a casual observer recognizes that all the life that a branch has flows from the vine. The vine is the root that creates and sustains life in the branch. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live, but withers and dies. I see this fact every year when I trim the blackberry vines at my home. The severed branches progressively show fewer and fewer signs of the life that they once had in union with the vine, until finally they are patently dead. And, of course, separated from the vine, their fruitfulness is at an end. I keep a withered blackberry branch on a bookshelf in my office to remind me of the basic fact that a Christian cannot live or bear fruit independently of Christ the vine. Remaining in vital union with the vine is necessary to a branch’s life and fruitfulness. Our Lord says, “The branch cannot bear fruit of itself,” i.e., isolated and separated from the life-sustaining vine. It must maintain a living union with (a communion with, a participation in the life of) the vine in order to bring fruit to maturity.
Jesus’ point in using this imagery is to press the truth that just as branches bear fruit only when they remain in vital union with the vine that gives them life, so his disciples will bear the fruits of consistent obedience and practical holiness and effective service in his kingdom only to the degree that they remain in vital communion with him. This is the only way that we may bring the fruits of righteousness to maturity.
Jesus calls himself “the true vine.” He is not just saying, of course, that he is the unique source of our life and fruitfulness as Christians, i.e., “I am the root of your spiritual life and vigor” (cf., John 1:4; 10:10; 14:6). That is true, but the vine imagery has another message, especially to his original hearers. In the Old Testament, the vine imagery was used to portray Israel, in some cases even with a notice of Israel’s failure to produce good fruit (cf., Psa. 80:8-16; Isa. 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21; Ezek. 17:6-10; 19:10-14; Joel 1:7). Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as superseding Moses, the temple, and the feasts. Here he is saying that he is the true Israel (he is the Messiah who is the nation), from which every true Israelite derives his life and fruitfulness. Whether Jesus thinks of Psalm 80 or expects that his disciples later will call it to mind, the psalmist speaks of “the man of [Jehovah’s] right hand . . . the son of man whom [Jehovah] made strong for himself” as the hope of the vine’s (Israel’s) salvation (Psa. 80:17). The implication of Jesus’ use of this imagery is that the true vine is not apostate Israel but Jesus and those joined to him. It is those whom Paul calls “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16), i.e., “the circumcision,[1] who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philip. 3:3).
The Crucial Exhortation: “Abide in me, and I in you” (15:4).
Jesus uses the imperative mood, which here conveys the ideas of entreaty, exhortation, even command. He urges all those who are joined to him by faith to “abide (remain, continue) in him.” In order that we better may understand and obey this exhortation, we must answer two questions: What does Jesus mean by “abide in me”? And what does he mean by “and I in you”?
First, what does our Lord mean by “abide in me”? The word “abide” (μένω) usually means to continue or remain in a place or in a condition (e.g., Matt. 10:11; 1 Cor. 7:8). Here Jesus uses this word to refer to abiding in a person, i.e., he says, “abide in me.” But what does this mean? How do we “remain” in a person? At first glance perhaps this idea seems too mystical for us to get a solid grasp on it, but the imagery that Jesus uses to illustrate his meaning (the vital union of a vine and its branches) suggests that he is urging his disciples to maintain a similar vital relationship with himself. The lesson of the vine and branches imagery is that of living connection, so that this seems to be the leading idea in the expression “abide in me” as well.
Jesus, of course, is not speaking of a static relation. At this point the vine and branch analogy breaks down to some degree, for a branch does not actually do anything to remain vitally connected to the vine. Whatever else “abiding” in Christ is, contrary to the doctrine of quietism, it is not a static but a dynamic thing. Perhaps another example will help clarify what I am trying to say. If we think of abiding in a place, remaining in that place may not require any effort on our part (remaining in your seat requires only your conscious decision to do so). I cannot imagine that Jesus is saying that abiding in him is a static thing involving only a decision to do so but not requiring effort on our part. From all that we know from the Bible’s larger teaching about the Christian life, we can only conclude that the Lord has in mind a vigorous, energetic activity on our part, by which we maintain living contact with him. The New Testament’s language on the subject of the Christian life contains such words as strive, buffet, run, and a host of other very active words. So here, while we may be tempted to read the word “abide” in a static way, that would be to miss our Lord’s meaning altogether. As the context plainly shows (cf., 15:10), “abide” is a very dynamic word.
The Christian life is not to be compared to a man in a boat floating peacefully in the middle of a pond. The Christian life is much more like a man rowing vigorously against the current of a strong river, who not only maintains his position and direction but who also advances only by expending a great deal of energy. In the same way, the strong currents of the world, the flesh, and the devil’s temptations continually pull on us, trying to break our living contact with Christ and carry us away—if not to our destruction, at least to a state of unfruitfulness in Christ’s service. The abiding in him of which Christ here speaks therefore requires more than a mere decision to do so. We must row!
Abiding in Christ may be epitomized in two expressions: (1) intimate communion and (2) energetic perseverance. In order to be fruitful in the Christian life, we need living, strength-giving, fruit-nurturing, intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ. We need to be drawing sap from the vine. Without that we will be barren in our walk and service. What Christ urges on us under the image of abiding in him is that we expend our energies in such a way and to such a degree that we cling to him, stick fast to him, live in close and intimate communion with him—that we get as close as we can to Jesus Christ and by every legitimate means try to stay in vital connection to him as the life-giving vine. This is the condition of blessing and fruitfulness.
Second, what is the meaning of the words “and I in you”? A verb, of course, is implied: “and I will abide in you.” The idea is that of mutual action, so that the communion that Jesus envisions with his disciples is meant to be reciprocal. Perhaps at one level he is promising that our drawing nearer to him in obedience will be met by his drawing nearer to us in grace. But as important as this thought is, there is much more. His words at John 14:15-23 (also spoken on this occasion) are helpful here.
If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; but you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.Jesus here refers to his imminent departure to return to the Father. “A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me” (14:19). In a few hours his death will be the end of the world’s opportunity to see him, but not the end of this privilege for his disciples. From one perspective, this promise was fulfilled in the events of the next forty days. After his resurrection, none but his disciples saw him before he ascended to heaven. In the sense of physically seeing him, the world will no longer see him, though for a brief time his disciples will. But this hardly exhausts our Lord’s meaning. As the context shows, his disciples’ seeing him (not shared by the world) will be in terms of his presence with them by the Holy Spirit. He will manifest himself (ἐμφανίζω, make himself visible) to them in this way (14:21). The world will see him no more until the end, but his disciples will continue to know his presence to guide and to sustain them.
The Father’s gift of the Holy Spirit as “the Helper” (παράκλητος), i.e., as “the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive” (14:16-17; cf., 14:26), will be vital to Christ’s disciples’ fulfilling their commission.[2] But the Spirit also will be present with them and in them as the Spirit of Life: “Because I live, you will live also” (14:19). In our text (15:1ff.), this intimate connection between Christ’s life and the life possessed by his disciples is symbolized by the imagery of the vine and the branches.
In his prologue, John already has spoken of the life that is inherent in Christ as God, saying, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:4). There John weaves together two of the great themes of his gospel—the identity of Christ and the life that he offers in the gospel. Those who believe on him will not perish but will receive eternal life as a gift. This is John’s message—this is the great promise of the gospel—this is the life that Christ freely offers to you and to me. “In him was life.” And what he was, he is now, and will ever be.[3]
John speaks in the most comprehensive way possible. He does not say, “In him was his own innate, essential, self-originating, self-sustaining eternal life,” or “in him was the physical life that all of his creatures possess,” or “in him was that eternal, spiritual, life that he gives to you who believe on him,” or “in him was that resurrection life that is communicated to the bodies of his people when all who are in the tombs hear his voice at the last hour.” He is the source of each of these. But in order to convey this in the plainest terms possible, John simply says, “In him was life.”
John’s point is that in Christ the Word, who has “life in himself” (5:26), is the original life to which all life (of whatever sort) must be traced. When you think of life, therefore, think of him! All the life that the world has known from the creation until now came from him. All the life that now exists is sustained by him. He is the powerful source to which the existence of everything must be traced and from which everything living has received its life. More to our present point, he is the source of the Christian’s life. Jesus says, “because I live” (14:19). This remarkable fact grounds the believer’s hope. As J. J. Owen says,
I think there can hardly be a doubt, that in the [words] I live, is included life in its most extensive and generic sense, and that the present tense is used because . . . the principle of life is immanent [inherent, intrinsic, innate] in him [i.e., it belongs to Christ’s essential nature]. . . . The passage then teaches, that the guarantee of the spiritual life of the believer, is the principle of life which inheres in the Redeemer, as the primeval source of all life. As his followers are united to him by the Spirit, his life becomes their life–as he lives, they shall live also.[4]At 14:20, our Lord points to the time when these things will be confirmed in his disciples’ experience, i.e., to the time when he comes to them as the Spirit of Truth and Life. “At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” The reference likely is to Pentecost, when the Spirit’s coming to them will confirm all that he has said about his relation to the Father and to them. Now they have great difficulty conceiving of his oneness with the Father (cf., 14:7-11), and the idea of union with himself is equally mysterious (cf., 6:53-60). But when the Spirit comes, who will take up his residence within them and manifest himself there as the Spirit of Truth and Life, when (as a result of the Spirit’s presence and working) they understand in much greater measure the truth and life of the gospel, when he is living in them and they are living in him, then they will understand as never before what he has said. As Godet says, “Then, finally, the transcendent fact of the communion between Jesus and God will become for them the object of a distinct perception through the immediate experience of their own communion with Jesus.”[5]
At 14:21, the Lord reminds his disciples again of the context in which these things will be fulfilled. He already has promised that if they ask in faith for those things that glorify the Father, they will receive what they ask so as to do the works that he has given them to do (14:12-14). This promise, which will be implemented according to God’s will and wisdom, is an invitation to attempt great things for God. But there is a moral condition to seeing this promise fulfilled. Even as faith and prayer are necessary (14:12-14), so love for Christ and obedience to his commandments are indispensable to fruitfulness and usefulness in his kingdom (14:15-18).
At 14:15, Jesus already has said, “If you love me,” i.e., if you are attached to me with the kind of devotion that my love for you deserves, if you are bound to me in this most basic experience of genuine discipleship, then you will not only believe in me and pray to me for help to do great things in my service, but you will also “keep my commandments” and so keep yourselves in the way of my blessing, i.e., so that I may give to you from heaven all that you need to glorify my Father in the work of my kingdom. At 14:21, he again confirms this, saying, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” His “manifesting” himself, i.e., his coming to them in the person of the Spirit, is the method of his blessing.
The inability of the disciples to understand what Jesus is saying is seen in the question of Judas (the son of James): “Lord, how is it (or, what has happened) that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” (14:22). Judas sees nothing that requires a departure from the program that he and the rest of the disciples assume that Jesus is following. As Carson says, for these men, the kingdom must arrive “in undeniable and irresistible splendour. If Jesus is the messianic king, then he must startle the world with apocalyptic self-disclosure.”[6] Isn’t this why they have come to Jerusalem at the Passover, when the city is filled with pilgrims from all parts of the world? Isn’t this the purpose of his dramatic entry into the city? Hasn’t everything that has happened been bringing them to the hour of his public coronation? Aren’t the pieces now in place for this to happen, so much so that even the Pharisees acknowledge among themselves that “the whole world is gone after him” (12:19)? Judas, only speaking what the others are thinking, simply doesn’t get it: “Lord, what has happened that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” They can’t fit his words into their assumptions. In response, Jesus gives no further explanation. Indeed, even after his resurrection, they still won’t understand (cf., Acts 1:6-8). Only the Spirit’s actual coming to dwell in them will open their eyes to see what he has been saying. For now, he simply repeats his emphasis on loving and obeying him and the blessing that will accompany these things: “Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (14:23).
Here is Christ’s promise to every believer. “If anyone loves me”–not just with feelings of admiration, merely attracted to my virtues as a saintly man,[7] but with a love of devotion, in which the heart is bound to me as Redeemer and Lord, with a love that shows itself by doing what I say. “If anyone loves me (in this way),” Jesus says, “he will keep my word.” He will embrace all that I say as his Redeemer, i.e., about his need of me and about my fitness for this office. He will do as I say and believe on me, not only by trusting the eternal safety of his soul to my care, but also by looking to me for the life that he is to live, walking in the strength that I give and in the way that I have appointed as the disciple’s way. He who does not keep my word does not love me in this way.
But, “if anyone loves me” in this way, “my Father will love him (i.e., show his love to him in terms of blessing) and we will come to him and make our home [μονή, abiding place] with him.” J. C. Ryle says, “The full meaning of this promise . . . is a deep thing. We have no line to fathom it.”[8] All believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit, having received the Spirit as the earnest of the heavenly inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14); but there is much more for the Christian in this life. The experience of the full blessing of peace and joy that is the fruit of unhindered fellowship with God is known only by those who walk with him in a careful keeping of his word. Ryle says,
We need not shrink from believing that eminent holiness brings eminent comfort with it, and that no man has such sensible enjoyment of his religion as the man who, like Enoch and Abraham, walks closely with God. There is more of heaven on earth to be obtained than most Christians are aware of. “The secret [סוֹד, friendship, familiar converse, intimacy] of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.”—“If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Ps. xxv.14; Rev. iii.20) Promises like these, we may be sure, mean something, and were not written in vain.[9]This abiding of the Father and the Son with the believer (by virtue of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit) is the reality that explains our Lord’s words at 14:18. “I will not leave you orphans; I come to you.” The word ὀρφανός basically means “deprived of one’s parents” (fig. “abandoned”). Even as he has addressed them as his “little children” (13:33), so Jesus here promises that the Spirit will be present with his disciples in loco parentis, i.e., as a parent sent in his place to be with them. And yet, in the presence of the Spirit with them, in a way that the mystery of the Trinity will not permit us to penetrate, he says, “I come to you.” The term ὀρφανός, of course, was also used of disciples who had lost their master.[10] This is the way that Jesus uses it here–to speak of the condition of these men after his departure. He will not leave them without a father-figure to guide them. The only thing lost to them will be his physical presence, but not the care and guidance that he (as their Master) had given to them.
In sum, Jesus promises you who obey him that you will know an intimate, loving, life-giving communion with him, in which he will come to you and make his abiding place with you. This is how we should understand “and I in you.” As the result of our obeying his exhortation to abide in him, by our nurturing an increasingly intimate fellowship with Christ, we will know greater measures of life-giving communion with him, in which he comes and makes his abiding place (his home) in us.
The Wonderful Promise: “He who abides in me, and I in him, this one (i.e., branch) bears much fruit” (15:5).
What is the evidence of vital communion with Christ? Shall we look for “mystic flights of subjective experience”[11] or for something more tangible? Certainly, increasing fellowship with Christ brings greater measures of joy and love and peace in the inner man; but as wonderful as these things are, this is not the evidence of communion with himself that Christ here promises. He says, “He that abides in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit.” If we are right in interpreting the word “fruit” in terms of fruitfulness in godly living and service, Jesus here is saying that a prominent proof of fellowship with himself is fruitfulness in these things. Those who draw near to him and abide in him will bear holy fruit. Later he tells the Eleven, “I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide” (15:16). Those chosen and appointed by him to his service, those abiding in him, will manifest that this is the case by bearing fruit that will endure. This is the best evidence of vital communion with Christ, apart from which “mystic flights of subjective experience” are proof of nothing.
And following in the train of the “abiding” fruit of godliness are a host of other blessings. “By this,” Jesus says, “my Father is glorified” (15:8). Fruitful abiding in Christ honors God, thus enabling us to fulfill our chief end. Or, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (15:7). Abiding in him, with his words abiding in us, we will prevail in prayer. Or, “These things have I spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (15:11). The joy imparted by Christ–the joy that springs from his love, will be full in us just so far as we abide in him and he in us. A life glorifying to God, confidence at the throne of grace, the joy of communion with Christ–these blessings belong to those who abide in him.
The Remarkable Fact: “Without (apart from) me you can do nothing” (15:5).
So close is the relationship that Jesus envisions between himself and his disciples that he says: “Without me you can do nothing.” Apart from vital union with him, apart from the graces that he as the life-giving vine supplies, apart from his working in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure–“apart from me,” he says, nothing that is glorifying to God, nothing that can justly be called the fruits of righteousness and useful service, nothing that is holy fit for the Master’s use will be produced by us. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus wants us to understand that we are absolutely helpless to do anything holy or useful apart from the supplies of his grace that are had only in union and communion with him. Unless the blessing flows from the vine to us, we will be fruitless branches, fit only to be pruned off and taken away.
At Philip. 4:10-13, Paul touches on the theme of dependence on Christ. There he says that he learned the secret of being a godly man whether in prosperity or in poverty. “I can do all things,” he says, “in (union with) him who strengthens me.”[12] Paul had experienced seasons of prosperity and seasons of want. Apart from union with Christ, he would have been helpless to produce the fruits of righteousness in such seasons. Each of these conditions (both poverty and prosperity) involved unique temptations; and apart from the life flowing from the vine, Paul would have fallen before those temptations. But by the strength that he received from Christ, he was able to be a holy man in both states. Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)–yes, but Paul’s says, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” I can be faithful in his service. I can glorify God. I can bear the abiding fruits of righteousness. I can live a distinctively Christian life. If I abide in Christ!
Apparently it is very hard to persuade us of our impotence apart from Christ, because again and again we try to live the Christian life with no conscious sense that we need Christ’s strength to be victorious. Much of this attitude surely is due to our carelessness and immaturity; but much of it also must be traced to our pride. We don’t like to think of ourselves as dependant, i.e., that we are helpless apart from the strength of another. That thought is humbling to our pride; and so, rather than acknowledging the truth that apart from Christ we can do nothing, we repeatedly go out to battle in our poor armor, wielding the sword as best we can with a crippled arm. And repeatedly we return bloodied and beaten and humiliated. And yet, though this is our recurring experience, we would rather be humiliated than humble ourselves. Can it be that we prefer to have our remaining sin trample us under foot rather than to tread on our precious pride? Surely, there is no greater proof of our need of grace than this.
It will do us well to observe that the Lord has so designed the method of our sanctification that our pride is abased and his glory as our Sanctifier is exalted. He has entreated, exhorted, even commanded that we abide in him. He has said that apart from close communion with himself we can do nothing, but that joined to him, walking with him, strengthened by him, we can bear much fruit. If our experience has not yet taught us the truthfulness of his claims, either we have not been paying attention or our pride has blinded us. Do not our failures testify against us, that we too often lean on the weak arm of flesh? Does not our shame in returning from the battle teach us that our pride going out to the battle is foolish? Have not those seasons when we have been near to Christ, knowing the grace and power that flows from the vine—have not such seasons taught us where the real power for the Christian life is to be had? How dull we are to learn lessons so clear! The nearer we draw to Christ, the more we long for and cultivate communion with him, the greater our certainty will be that apart from him we can do nothing. Walking with him, living the Christian life by that strength that he gives to those who abide in him, the more our dependence on him will grow, the more our pride will die, and the more our progress in holiness will be manifested.
When I was a small child, I fantasized that I could fly; but eventually that fantasy had to give way to the reality that without the acquisition of power that I did not innately possess, I could do nothing. Some of us think that in the Christian life we can fly on our own power; but in reality, God has grounded us until we learn that apart from Christ we can do nothing. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” These words are meant to humble you and to drive you to him. But there, humbled before him, acknowledging that all your fruitfulness comes from him, you will find that his strength is made perfect in weakness and that you can do all things in Christ who strengthens you.
The Diligent Vinedresser: “My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (15:1,2).Having seen in some measure the relation of the vine and the branches, we will now consider the Father’s role as vinedresser. This part of our Lord’s imagery often is overlooked; however, it is important that we understand the role that the Father plays in our lives as Christians. As Carson says, “Although the Son’s role is central in these verses, the Father’s is not mere background: he trims and prunes the branches.”[13]
Our Lord here likens his Father to a vinedresser. The word γεωργός properly means “farmer.” In the present setting, the translation “vinedresser” conveys the correct idea. The context in which γεωργός is used often tells us much about the person in view. In some cases, the farmer is a servant who labors for the landowner (cf., Jer. 52:16, LXX). In other cases, the farmer leases the land from the landowner, usually for a share of the produce (cf., Matt. 21:23). Neither of these images fits the case here. In still other cases, the farmer is the landowner, who works the land and receives all its fruits for his own use (cf., Gen. 9:20, LXX). This is closer to the image here, although the “revenue” produced by the fruitfulness of the branches to some degree returns to them, i.e., in the case that our Lord here has in view, blessedness also comes to the branches (his disciples) as the result of the vinedresser’s labors.
The church (the true Israel) is Jehovah’s vineyard. His Son is the vine, his disciples are the branches; but the Father is the vineyard’s owner and the vinedresser, whose diligent labors promote its optimum fruitfulness. This image of the Father is plainly suggestive of the vital role that he has in Christ’s thinking about the church and the individual disciples that comprise it.
Consider the overarching relation that this image suggests between the Father and the church and between the Father and the individual believer. In the ultimate sense the Father owns both. Although the church is Christ’s body and his disciples are members of his body (cf., 1 Cor. 12:12ff.), in the supreme sense, whether individually or corporately, we are the people and property of God the Father. Individually, “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).14 Corporately, the church is “the church of God” (1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; cf., Acts 20:28). Now, as Jehovah said of Israel, so he can say of the church of the New Covenant: “This is my vineyard and my vine.” In the final resolution of the question then, the Father owns the church and all of its individual members, i.e., the vine and each of its branches. Jesus here points to this fact and to his Father’s role as the owner/vinedresser, who has an obvious interest in the fruitfulness of his property.
We will be wrong, of course, if we limit our thinking to mere commercial imagery. The relation between the Father and the Son (the vine) and the Father and his disciples (the branches) is much more personal and intimate than any merely economic image can convey. Jesus already has said that the relation that exists between his disciples and the Father is like that which exists between himself and the Father, i.e., a relation marked by love and intimate fellowship (cf., 14:23). In this relation, the Father’s care for his vineyard takes place in a context much more personal than that of mere commerce. In this setting, his labor as the vinedresser is undertaken in a significant degree for the blessing of the vine and its branches, i.e., out of his love for his own, the Father labors for the blessing of Christ, for the blessing of the church that is his body, and for the blessing of the branches that are its individual members. In his role as the divine vinedresser, therefore, for purposes that fulfill his plan–a plan that provides both for his profit and for our blessing, the Father is deeply interested in our fruitfulness and deals with us (both corporately and individually) in such a way as to produce in and through us the increasing fruits of righteousness.
The image that captures the essence of the vinedresser’s present dealings with the branches is that of pruning (15:2, 6). Jesus speaks of two kinds of branches that have some kind of connection with himself. Both the unfruitful branches and the fruitful branches are “in me,” he says, but their history is very different.
One branch is barren. Season after season it bears no fruits of righteousness. The Father (the vinedresser) eventually “takes it away.” It is “cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” The image is that of the spiritual and moral barrenness of the individuals envisioned, of the Father’s decision finally to separate them completely from his Son, and of their complete destruction in hell.
Who are these branches—who have some kind of connection to the Son of God but who are barren of the fruits of righteousness? It would be wrong to speak of them as “carnal Christians”—in the way that this expression is used by many, i.e., as true Christians who nonetheless are generally ungodly in their conduct and unfruitful in their walk but who will be saved in the end because they are joined to Christ by faith. No such person exists in the Bible’s description of Christians, though they allegedly abound in our day. It is clear that here Jesus does not speak of such a class of people, since he says that the connection of these branches to himself is temporary and in the end they are to be separated from him and perish.
Jesus does not speak of “carnal Christians” but of formalists who fit Paul’s description in 2 Tim. 3:4-5. “Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Formalists have only an outward connection to Christ. They claim to be joined to him, may appear to others to be joined to him, but their faith is notional, merely consent to a body of religious ideas. Their religion is not a “walking with God” or “abiding in Christ” by genuine, saving faith. They are strangers to repentance, strangers to warfare with their indwelling sin, strangers to dependence on Christ for the doing of any good, strangers to the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, strangers to delight in God’s presence, strangers to a vital, fruitful Christian life.
They are “in Christ” by an outward connection but not joined to him in the only way in which sap runs from the vine to the branches. They have no living connection to the life-giving vine. They are saintlings, not saints, mere formalists, not Christians who abide in Christ and in whom Christ abides by the Holy Spirit. And thus, season after season they are barren of the fruits of the Spirit. God may for a great while endure their presence in his church and in his world; but sooner or later, he cuts them off and delivers them to judgment. Then even the life that they seemed to have is taken away (the charade of union with Christ is at an end), they wither under the judgment of God, and in the end he gives them over to eternal destruction.
It greatly behooves you to take care that you are not such a branch. Terrible sorrow awaits those who have only a notional faith and an outward connection to Christ. The Father takes away the branches that bear no fruit—either in this world, by prosperity or adversity (Matt. 13:21-22), or in the world to come (Matt. 13:40). A day is coming when he will separate true and false believers. What of you? Is it not in your interest to know if you are really joined to Christ? Can you stop short of knowing living communion with the vine? Can you safely be satisfied as to the state of your soul when there is little of the fruitfulness in godliness that is proof of that communion?
One kind of branch is barren. The other, however, is fruitful. It has what the barren branch lacks—a living, nourishing connection to the vine that shows itself by actual fruitfulness in godliness and service to Christ. It bears the fruits that the vinedresser intended when he planted the vine. It does not do so all at once—the fruits are varied and they do not all mature at the same rate. Moreover, even healthy branches do not always bear fruit without interruption or always to the same degree as other branches. In every case, however, cultivation is needed. There is work for the vinedresser in every case and in every season before the vine fulfills his overall plan and produces the fruits that he intends. And so he very deliberately and patiently cares for each branch—doing for it and to it what is necessary to its producing at its optimal level. All is done according to the vinedresser’s wisdom and all is done by the application of the vinedresser’s hand. The relationship between the vinedresser and the vine and its branches is very much hands-on. And this is especially the case with what Jesus here describes using the imagery of pruning.
The purpose of pruning is to take away from the vine and the branches anything that is unfruitful or that impedes optimal fruitfulness. This means that the vinedresser will cut off unfruitful branches (we have already seen this) and that he will trim away anything from the fruit-bearing branches that hampers the growth of more and better fruit. Even very fruitful branches receive his attention and care.
In the natural world, pruning has several benefits. In the case of a tomato vine, whenever the suckers[15] are removed, the main stem is made stronger, the fruit is larger and matures faster, the plant is protected from disease, the leaves have more exposure to sunlight, and the plant’s energy (sugars) is used not in maintaining a mass of fruitless branches and leaves but in the production of recurring fruit. This pruning is done not just once but repeatedly, so that the plant bears fruit throughout the whole season of its life. The Father treats branches in his Son much the same way. He cultivates and nurtures and where and when necessary prunes his people and his church. This is his continual activity as long as we are in this world. The result is that he takes away the fruitless parts of our lives, e.g., besetting sins, evil companions, unproductive habits. In this way he protects us from spiritual disease, increases in us his empowering grace (cf., 2 Cor. 12:7-9), and makes us more fruitful than if we were left to grow without his wise attention.
Pruning involves cutting, and if a branch had feelings, it would fret and complain under the vinedresser’s shears. It would not always understand the necessity of what was happening to it. At times it might even think of the vinedresser as a cruel enemy. But if it really knew the vinedresser and his ways, though the pruning still would be painful, the branch would rejoice that it was going to be more fruitful because of the vinedresser’s nurture.
Very commonly God’s pruning comes in the form of trials and afflictions. This seems to be the point in a number of familiar texts. By God’s appointment, “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope,” even a hope that “does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:3-5). “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Js. 1:2-4). “Now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7). If tribulations sent by God may be likened to the vinedresser’s pruning shears, according to these texts the Father’s purpose in pruning Christians is to produce in us increasing measures of godly graces and holy blessings, all to “be found to result in (God’s)[16] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:7, NASB). And what do the words “that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (Js. 1:4) imply but that the pruning process is in the interest of optimal fruitfulness? None of these texts, of course, directly imply that God’s pruning us in this way is the result of our sin. Hebrews 12:5-13, however, points to a kind of pruning that is of the nature of chastening.
You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him; for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.In some cases, the afflictions that come upon us are due to our sins.[17] In such cases, God acts in love through those afflictions to discipline, correct, and purify us. Solomon spoke of this at Prov. 3:11-12. “My son, regard not lightly the discipline (upbringing, child-rearing) of the Lord, nor faint when you are corrected by him; for whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he spanks every son whom he receives (i.e., into his family).”[18] God’s fatherly discipline aims at correcting, purifying, and maturing us in the way of holiness and righteousness. Christian, what you endure in such seasons, “you endure for the purpose of discipline;[19] God is dealing with you as with sons.” What has come upon you is rooted not in God’s wrath but in his fatherly love and is intended not for your destruction but for your correction and maturity in holiness. In pressing this truth home, the writer draws on an analogy between earthly fathers and the heavenly Father. From this analogy he makes three observations:
First, the proof of sonship is the concern that a father has to correct his child. The principle in view is derived from common grace and general revelation as well as from special revelation. The writer uses a rhetorical question to express the commonly held truth (i.e., among Jews and Gentiles alike) that as a general rule fathers discipline their children. He asks, “What son is there whom a father does not discipline?” (12:7). While this question will make little sense to many modern fathers, the biblical answer is “none.” The deduction that the writer draws from this is that if you are not the object of God’s fatherly discipline, it is because you are not his child: “But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons” (12:8). Therefore, Christian, expect God’s fatherly discipline. Expect the vinedresser to prune you. It is a sign that God is your Father and that you are his child.
Second, we should be thankful to God and respectfully submit to his discipline, especially in view of the goal that he has in view—that we may live and be partakers of his holiness. “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed best to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness” (12:9-10). Pruning is painful. We recognize that it is a distressing experience. But are we thankful for it? And should not our esteem for our heavenly Father rise even higher when we consider that he is not only a loving but also a principled parent who will not let his children simply go their own way? Shall we regard our earthly fathers in this way and not esteem our heavenly Father when he disciplines us for our good and for his glory?
Third, the value of discipline must not be gauged by our present experience of it but by its long-term results. “Now no discipline seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (12:11). Albert Barnes says,
It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. It is a tree that bears good fruit, and we do not expect the fruit to form and ripen at once. It may be long maturing, but it will be rich and mellow when it is ripe. It frequently requires a long time before all the results of affliction appear–as it requires months to form and ripen fruit. Like fruit it may appear at first sour, crabbed, and unpalatable; but it will be at last like the ruddy peach or the golden orange. When those fruits are ripened, they are (1) fruits “of righteousness.” They make us more holy, more dead to sin and the world, and more alive unto God. They are (2) “peaceable.” They produce peace, calmness, submission in the soul. They make the heart more tranquil in its confidence in God, and more disposed to promote the religion of peace. The apostle speaks of this as if it were a universal truth in regard to Christians who are afflicted. And it is so. There is no Christian who is not ultimately benefitted by trials, and who is not able at some period subsequently to say, “It was good for me that I was afflicted. Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept thy word.” When a Christian comes to die, he does not feel that he has had one trial too many, or one which he did not deserve. He can then look back and see the effect of some early trial, so severe that he once thought he could hardly endure it, spreading a hallowed influence over his future years, and scattering its golden fruit all along the pathway of life. I have never known a Christian who was not benefitted by afflictions; I have seen no one who was not able to say that his trials produced some happy effects on his religious character, and on his real happiness in life. If this be so, then no matter how severe our trials, we, should submit to them without a murmur. The more severe they are, the more we shall yet be blessed–on earth, or in heaven.[20]With these great truths in view, the Apostle exhorts us to strengthen our running lest we be turned out of the way. “Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed” (12:12-13). As he had at 12:1, so here again the writer takes up the imagery of a foot race. As one nears the end of a race, the hands begin to droop, the knees become weak, and the feet begin to stray from a straight course. In view of what the writer has said about perseverance, here he exhorts us to strengthen our running (to reach, if you will, for “a second wind”–not from within ourselves, but from Christ and the Holy Spirit) and to press on, not swerving from the straight path that the Father has marked out before us, lest our weakness and lameness lead to dislocation, i.e., lest our unheeded and unremedied deterioration in perseverance become a deserting of the race in apostasy.
Returning now to the imagery of John 15, if you are a living member of the vine, expect the Father’s pruning work in your life and in the life of the church of which you are a member. “Every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (15:2). Don’t expect to grow in grace or fruitfulness without this. Recognize and submit to your Father’s right to deal with you in this way. Don’t surrender to a fretful, complaining spirit, especially when you do not see all that God is doing or yet find the mature fruit that he purposes. Recognize that God deals with you in love and wisdom, for his glory and your good. Be patient. James says, “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (5:7-8).
In light of the vinedresser’s purpose, which is that branches in his Son should “bear much fruit,” the Bible has much to say about the branches’ duty in the accomplishing of this purpose. Most of the Bible’s admonitions addressed to Christians should be considered in the light of our Lord’s imagery on this occasion. We cannot begin to harvest such a rich field in the short space allotted to an article. Let us at least glimpse, however, at one familiar text. In Psa. 1:1-4, we read:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.Bringing forth “in its season” the fruits of godly living and godly service is the great business of the Christian life. Is this not the background of all that David says in this psalm? And is this not also the business that our Lord’s imagery in John 15 implies? Avoiding the counsel, conduct, and character of the ungodly, the Christian is to aspire to be like a tree planted not beside one but beside many nourishing streams.[21] There, Christian, in such a favored place, you will bring forth “fruit in its season.” There you will enjoy an abundance of spiritual blessing, i.e., your “leaf will not wither.” And there your Christian life “will prosper,” i.e., will be visited with God’s blessing. Should you not then desire to “be like a tree planted by the rivers of water”?
But what means does David point to in the interest of seeing this happen? Of all the “rivers of water” (i.e., of all of the means of grace) that God has provided for our nourishment, growth, and fruitfulness, to which does David here direct our attention? The plain answer is that he directs us to delight in and to meditate continually on God’s word! David describes the blessed man as the man whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.” I will not try to open up these words beyond simply saying that our use or disuse of God’s word greatly influences our fruitfulness. Apart from daily meditation on the Scriptures, where the voice of our Lord is heard, and where a deep and wide river of living water flows, we will be barren. Would you be a fruitful tree? Would you know the full blessing of union with the vine? Then sink your roots daily into the river of God’s word and drink deeply!
The Marvelous Blessing: “That your joy may be full” (15:11).
At 15:9-11, Jesus continues with the subject of abiding in himself; and again he refers his disciples to his own example (cf., 13:34). The train of thought in these verses, as we move from one statement to the next, is such that one grand theme follows closely after another. There is, however, a unity of concern throughout the whole text, in which Jesus traces from its divine and eternal fountainhead a freely flowing blessing that is promised to all who abide in him.
The Divine and Eternal Fountainhead: “As the Father loved me, I also have loved you” (15:9).
Long before Jesus the Messiah came, his Father had said through Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights (or, is pleased)”[22] (Isa. 42:1). Matthew, citing this text as fulfilled in Jesus, paraphrases it this way: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased” (Matt. 12:18). The heart of these statements is the same, the differences between them notwithstanding. The Son is the object of the Father’s “delight.” He is his “beloved,” his “chosen one,” in whom his soul is “well pleased.” Twice during Christ’s earthy ministry, direct revelation of his Father’s love for him was expressed from heaven through his Father’s speaking with an audible voice. At his baptism, as he enters upon his public ministry, the Father dramatically confirms his love to him: “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). And at his transfiguration, as Jesus neared Calvary, the Father again speaks from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5).
Jesus clearly is the object of his Father’s love. He is the special object of his delight and active devotion. And Jesus understands this. He knows this wonderful reality from the experience of his communion with his Father in eternity. And he knows this from his Father’s declarations to him on the occasions of his greatest need. Concerning his knowledge of his Father’s love, we have from his lips the plain statements found in this gospel. “My Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again” (10:17). “Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me; for you loved me before the foundation of the world. . . . And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them” (17:24-26).
Jesus is very aware that he is the object of his Father’s heartfelt delight and affectionate attachment. And even as genuine love expresses itself in whole-souled, active devotion to its object, so the Father loves his Son in this way. He expresses his love to his Son repeatedly, especially in those seasons when a confirmation of his fatherly delight will be of greatest benefit. The Father also gives him gifts suitable to his station. He gives his Son the Spirit without measure (3:34). He gives him all authority in heaven and earth (5:26-27; 17:2; cf., Matt. 28:18). He takes him into the intimate communion of close and transparent friendship with himself, so that he openly communicates his heart and mind to his Son (1:18; 5:20).
How shall we measure the love of God the Father for his only-begotten Son? Is any scale sufficient? Is not his love eternal in its origin, infinite in its scope, perfect in its virtues—utterly without defect or interruption—always wise, always noble, always giving, always nurturing? Is there any love like it? Yes, there is! Jesus here says that the love with which he loves his disciples is like this. We therefore should regard ourselves not merely as Christ’s disciples and servants but also as his dearest friends. And he expresses his love for us in the ways that his Father has expressed his love for him. He shows us love repeatedly, especially in seasons when a confirmation of his delight will be of greatest benefit to us. And he gives us gifts suitable to our station, e.g., eternal life, the Holy Spirit, a part in his own inheritance, his peace, his joy, and intimate communion with himself (cf., 15:15).
“As the Father loved me, I also have loved you.” Christ’s love for his own is the divine and eternal fountainhead from which flows the blessing promised to all who abide in him. It is a love pattered after the example of the Father’s love for his Son. It is a love that is eternal in its origin, infinite in its scope, perfect in its virtues, without defect or interruption, and that is always wise, noble, giving, and nurturing.
The Loving Exhortation: “Abide in my love” (15:9).
It is important that we begin our consideration of these words by noting what they do not mean. When Jesus says in the next verse, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (15:10), he is not saying, “You must do certain things in order to enter into my love.” He loved us before the world began. This love stands behind our predestination to the adoption as sons (cf., Eph. 1:4-5). Also, Jesus is not saying that we must do certain things in order to warrant his ongoing love for us, i.e., things apart from which his love for us will diminish or perhaps cease altogether. Having loved us with an eternal love, having committed himself to do everything that is necessary to our ultimately being glorified with him, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of Christ (cf., Rom. 8:28-39).
The words “abide in my love” (15:9) are a further development of Jesus’ earlier entreaty that we abide in him (15:4). Here our Lord makes a vital point concerning the experience of abiding in him. In our abiding in vital fellowship with Christ, in a living union in which we receive from him those things needed to bear the fruits of righteousness and effective service (this is the primary purpose of abiding in Christ), we also are abiding in a connection with him that keeps us in the place where his greatest blessing comes to us spiritually (this is a secondary but exceedingly important purpose of abiding in Christ). Abiding in close fellowship with the life-giving vine, we are brought into the sphere of an intimate relationship in which Christ’s Father-like love for us nourishes and encourages us with the special blessings of his fellowship with his own. This is but to say that by abiding in Christ, we abide in his love, and there (in that favored relation and place) we find not only fruitfulness in godliness but also the peculiar blessings of godliness–one of which we will consider when we come to verse 11.
The Appointed Means: “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” (15:10).
How does a Christian abide in the love of Christ? Is it simply the case that once union with Christ has been secured by faith that the full blessings of that living union flow automatically from the vine? Is there not in fact a means by which this is designed to take place, i.e., so that there is much more than simply saying, “I have believed on Christ, and therefore I am abiding in him and in his love”? The answer is yes. As we saw above, abiding in Christ is a dynamic experience. The same is true of abiding in Christ’s love. The Lord Jesus here says that the way that we are to abide in his love, i.e., in the place of the Son’s fullest blessing of his disciples, is the same way that he abides in his Father’s love, i.e., in the place of the Father’s fullest blessing of his Son. “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” (15:10). Clearly Jesus wants us to see that our keeping his commandments is the way appointed by God for our abiding in his love, i.e., in the place where his fullest blessing comes upon us.
The challenge presented by this text is that we should reciprocate in our relation to Christ in the same way that he has responded to his Father’s love toward him. The Father loved the Son and expressed his love for him in an active and appropriate way. The Son responded to his Father’s love in the way that was appropriate to his filial place in the relationship, i.e., by obeying his Father’s commandments, thus keeping himself in the place where his Father could bless him in the greatest way possible, with special tokens of his love and favor. If the Son had not been in submission to his Father (a submission that manifested itself in obeying his Father’s commandments), it would have been inappropriate (even irresponsible) for the Father to bless him in these special ways. To bless him apart from genuine submission would have sent the message to the Son that insubordination and disregard for his Father’s will were acceptable behavior, and that the Father cared so little for these things that he would bless his Son even when these things were missing in their relationship.
Christ is our example. Christ loves his disciples and has expressed his love for us in active and appropriate ways. Indeed, he has fulfilled his responsibility to us even to the laying down of his life for us, that we may be saved. We in turn are called to respond to Christ’s love (and to the proofs of his love found in the things that he has done for us) in a way appropriate to our place in our relationship with him, i.e., by obeying his commandments. In order to fulfill our responsibility to our Teacher-Master,[23] this kind of response is indispensable. And when we conduct ourselves in this way, we discover that we are in the place where we experience his greatest blessing. In the center of his will as he has revealed it in his word, we find ourselves in the place where we receive special tokens of his approval of our filial love and submissive behavior.
Does not our relationship with our children, as well as our relationship to our parents, confirm that what Jesus says here is right? As parents, we expect that our children will submit to us and obey our commands. We give them special tokens of our favor when they do so and we withhold these special tokens when they do not do so. When they are disobedient, we still love them and care for them, but we do not reward them for bad attitudes and unrighteous behavior. Is not the place for our children to experience the fullest blessings of the parent-child relationship precisely in the place where they are submitting to our parental authority and doing the things that we have taught them to do? And, as children, is it not right that our parents (who are wiser than we are and whose commands represent much more mature purposes than the goals that we have for ourselves) require that we submit to them and obey them before they bless us in extraordinary ways? Surely we see the wisdom of the relation that Christ describes between ourselves and himself.
Earlier, when we considered our Lords words at John 14:15-18, I used the expression “moral condition” in describing the relation of our love for Christ, our obedience to his commandments, and his blessing of us. Here the same expression applies. Jesus occupies a parental position in relation to his disciples, in a way like the parental posture that his Father has in relation to him, and in some important ways like the relation that we have with our children. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves his “little children,” we love our children. Nothing can change our affection for them; however, the granting of the blessings of the parent-child relationship in its fullest expressions hangs on a “moral condition,” i.e., on our children’s submitting to us and obeying our commandments. If they are obedient to us, honoring us in the way that is right for persons under our authority, we are disposed to show our delight in them by means of the fullest possible expressions of blessing. If they disobey, however, though we love them nonetheless (so that our love for them is not diminished), we are disposed to diminish or withhold certain blessings that might otherwise be theirs (as well as to use appropriate chastisements), so that the love of sin and rebellion may be driven from their hearts. Our goal is their correction so that they will have godly attitudes and pursue holy purposes. All of the instructions that the Bible gives concerning child training assume these things. Now, is it strange to you that Christ regards and deals with his “little children” in this way? Keeping his commandments is the way appointed for abiding in his love, in the place of his fullest blessing. Disobedience causes him to diminish or withhold from you blessings that might otherwise be yours, so that the love of sin may be driven from your heart. His concern in training you as his child is not your immediate comfort but your godly conformity to his goals for you and his instructions to you.
Jesus has kept his Father’s word and so abides in his love. And there, in the place in which he is the object of his Father’s approval (a fatherly approval that, because of the Son’s submission, may express itself in an unrestrained way), he possesses the blessings of that relationship in all of their fullness. Viewed from the Son’s perspective and experience of that place of greatest blessing, here he expresses that reality in a singular expression–“my joy.” This brings us then to our final point.
The Promised Blessing: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (15:11).
When we come to ver. 11, we see that the parallel is complete: (1) The Father loves the Son; the Son loves his children. This is the fountainhead of all our blessings. (2) The Son obeys the Father, and so abides in his love. We obey Christ and so abide in his love. This is the moral condition necessary to our abiding in his love, i.e., in the place of his greatest blessing. (3) The blessing that Christ enjoys in his relation to his Father—“my joy.” The blessing that his obedient children enjoy–his joy becoming our joy and abiding in us in fullness.
Opening up verse 11 requires several things: a proper, biblical definition of “joy,” at least some sense of what Jesus meant by the expression “my joy,” and some understanding of what it means that Jesus’ joy remains in us, in an experience that he describes as our joy being “full.”
1. A proper (biblical) definition of joy
Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language defines joy as “a very glad feeling.” That is not very helpful, because it is so incomplete a definition of joy that it little serves our need. The Oxford English Dictionary is better. It defines joy as “a vivid emotion of pleasure arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction; the feeling or state of being highly pleased or delighted.” In that definition, the emotion of joy (Webster’s “very glad feeling”) is traced to a source, i.e., to “a sense of well-being or satisfaction.” Webster’s 7th New Collegiate Dictionary is even more helpful. It defines joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” This definition is helpful, because if traces joy not just to a present satisfaction with what one possesses, but also to “the prospect of possessing what one desires.” As we will see, these ideas are helpful to understanding the joy that is distinctively Christian.
The Greek word χαρά is used twice in vs. 11. It is derived from the verb χαίρω, which means “to rejoice.” These words are used in the New Testament to express the doctrine of Christian joy. And they are used to speak not only of the joy that arises because of our present possession of God’s blessings but also of the joy that comes from a well-grounded hope of possessing (in the future) all that God has promised to us in his word.
Of course, the New Testament connects Christian joy to specific truths and to specific things that are experienced by the Christian. Here I will make no attempt at comprehensiveness. What follows is merely suggestive, as I take up only a few things. There is, of course, much more that may be said on the theme of Christian joy. I invite the reader to use a concordance to search out words like joy and joyful, rejoice and rejoicing, glad and gladness, etc. By paying close attention to the connection that these words have to other biblical themes, you will be blessed richly by such a study. In what follows, however, in order to see what is central to our present concern, notice how certain things are illustrated in Christ’s own experience of joy!
First, Christian joy results from our understanding, loving, and embracing divinely revealed truth.[24] We see this, for example, at Acts 8:39, where we read of the Ethiopian Eunuch, that though before he met Philip he was perplexed as to the meaning of Isaiah 53, after Philip explained the text and preached the gospel to him, and after he believed in Christ and was baptized, “he went on his way rejoicing (χαίρω, i.e., with joy).” The Eunuch’s new understanding of the Scriptures (and his embracing and delighting in the truths that he now understood) became the occasion of great joy in his heart, as the light of truth replaced the darkness of confusion.
One of the great purposes of God’s word is that in our discovering in it nothing but pure, unadulterated truth, and in our embracing and loving the truth that our Lord has revealed, we may rejoice in all that he teaches us. As John says, “these things we write to you that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4). This is one of the chief purposes of Scripture. Our privilege is like that of the psalmist, so that we may say, “I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure” (Psa. 119:162). Indeed, let us say with Jeremiah, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jer. 15:16).
Was not truth the occasion of Jesus’ own rejoicing? He had clear and full views of the truth, so that his understanding and his faith in his Father were well grounded. Psalm 45:7 says of him, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions” (cf., Heb. 1:9). Christ’s love of righteousness in no small measure was a love of truth. So also, the Father’s anointing him with the “oil of gladness” was in no small part the reward of his love of the truth. And now Jesus offers us his joy, but it will come to us in the same way that it came to him, i.e., by our understanding and embracing and loving the truth.
Second, Christian joy results from confidence in our identity as God’s children. The Lord says to us, “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Jesus was able to rejoice because he knew who he was in relation to God his Father. In John’s Gospel he repeatedly speaks of himself in unequivocal terms as the Son of Man sent from heaven. He is the Word become flesh, the promised Messiah, the only-begotten Son of the heavenly Father. In a myriad of ways he revealed his absolute certainty as to his identity. And he understood that nothing could or would separate him from his Father’s love. He rejoiced in this knowledge and in the assurance of his Father’s blessing that it contained. So also we may rejoice in the assurance that we are God’s children by the new birth and adoption.
Third, Christian joy results from witnessing God’s majestic works.[25] We see this illustrated in Isaiah’s prophecy of the joy of the captives that the Lord would restore to the land: “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isa. 35:10; cf., Jer. 31:6-8; 33:10-11). We also see this illustrated in the reaction of the seventy when they returned to Jesus: “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name” (Luke 10:17). Having seen the works of God displayed in their casting out of demons, the disciples rejoiced greatly at this rich display of God’s power and grace. It also is this connection between beholding God’s works and rejoicing that explains Jesus’ description of the angels’ joy: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Beholding the grace and power of God displayed in his work of saving a sinner, the angels rejoice.
Christ will be satisfied in beholding the fruits of his labors (cf., Isa. 53:11). Will not a great part of his satisfaction be experienced in the form of rejoicing over his works? Do we not see this in Zephaniah’s prophecy of his consummate kingdom?
Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear. Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst. The Mighty One will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing (Zeph. 3:14-17).The Son rejoices over his people, who are the fruit of his labors, and he rejoices over the works that are the basis of our salvation. And now Jesus offers us his joy, but it will come to us in the same way that it came to him, i.e., by considering his works and what he has accomplished (and is yet accomplishing) through them.
Fourth, Christian joy results from seeing the fulfilment of God’s promises.[26] We see this in the experience of those who participated in the dedication of the temple in the days of Solomon: “and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for his servant David, and for Israel his people” (1 Kings 8:66). We also see this illustrated in the words of the angel to Zacharias: “your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (Luke 1:13-14). Witnessing the birth of his son in fulfilment of God’s promise will be the occasion of Zacharias’s great rejoicing (cf., Luke 1:64). We also see this illustrated in the experience of the Eleven. Jesus told these men, who were overcome by grief because of what he had said about his imminent death, “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (John 16:22). When they see Jesus’ promise fulfilled, they will experience a fullness of joy that will endure for the rest of their days and beyond.
Was not seeing the fulfillment of his Father’s promises the occasion of Jesus’ own joy? We read at Luke 8:1 that “he went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.” In his person and in the work that he will accomplish, the kingdom of God has come. For those who loved God and desired that he should be glorified, this was glad tidings indeed. Shall we imagine, however, that this glad news had no effect on Jesus’ own heart? He says of himself:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified (Isa. 61:1-3).Would he have fulfilled this ministry and preached the glad tidings of the kingdom’s coming (with emphasis on the joy that would now come to God’s people) in a spirit of heaviness, or would not the One who came to give his people such joy have felt the oil of joy in his own soul? To ask this question surely is to answer it.[27]
Seeing God’s promises fulfilled should be an occasion of great joy for us. Considering all that already has come to pass as the fruit of God’s promises, shall we not rejoice in these things, even as our Lord and his apostles rejoiced in them? Revelation 19:7 opens a window into the age to come, where we hear the saints speaking these words: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.” While we will not here experience the full rejoicing that will be ours in heaven, can we not at least know something of the joy of heaven, and rejoice in the fulfillment of God’s promises?
Fifth, Christian joy results from our possessing, or even from our anticipating possessing, those things of infinite value that are ours in union with Christ.[28] At Matt. 13:44, our Lord says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” This parable illustrates the earnestness with which we should seek Christ’s salvation and kingdom. But it also illustrates the experience of the Christian who rejoices in the treasure that is his in union with Christ, and who, as the result of his joy at the prospect of possessing all that the treasure contains, is willing to trade every other thing that he has for it, i.e., for the sake of the greater joy of actually possessing it in its fullness. Paul calls this a “rejoicing in hope” (Rom. 12:12). This idea of conducting ourselves now in a self-sacrificing way as the result of anticipating enjoying the fullness of God’s blessing in the future is at the heart of Christ’s own example. As the writer of Hebrews says, “For the joy that was set before him, Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
Now, surely, among the greatest of the treasures that we have in union with Christ is the blessing of fellowship with him. And not only is it true that “in his presence is fullness of joy” (Psa. 16:11; cf., Acts 2:28), but also, like Zacchaeus, we may rejoice in even the prospect of his intimate fellowship (cf., Luke 19:5-6). Should we not then be willing to sacrifice the many sinful things that the world regards as valuable, and even be willing to deny ourselves a great many lawful pleasures, for the sake of enjoying this blessing in all its fullness?
Sixth, although we have anticipated this point, observe that Christian joy is the companion of faith. Paul calls it the “joy of faith” (Philip. 1:25).[29] Peter speaks of joy in this way, i.e., as the fruit of faith, when he speaks of our believing in him “whom having not seen you love; though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” Now, is not the joy that is the fruit of faith illustrated in our Lord’s experience? At Psa. 16:8-11 we read concerning him:
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.[30]Having fixed his faith on his Father, fully confident of his Father’s purposes, promises, and power, as Jesus faces the cross, he nonetheless experiences the “joy of faith,” which includes his anticipating the fullness of joy that will be his in his Father’s presence when he is raised from the dead. In view of Christ’s example, consider Paul’s benediction: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Rom. 15:13). There is a “joy in believing” that we may experience. Like our Savior, if we fix our faith on the Lord, fully confident of his purposes, promises, and power, though we may face many trials of our faith, nonetheless we may experience the “joy of faith,” including anticipating the fullness of joy that will be ours in the Father’s presence when he has raised us from the dead.
Seventh, in light of our Lord’s example (as described in Psa. 16:8-11 and Heb. 12:2), we may say that Christian joy need not be absent in seasons of trial and affliction. The Bible’s multiplied testimony on this point is rich and varied.[31] For example, Paul can say, “I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Cor. 7:4). Paul’s words to the Romans are very helpful at this point.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.The word καυχάομαι, translated rejoice in both places that it appears in this passage,[32] conveys two ideas–joy and confidence. In texts where the idea of confidence seems uppermost, the translation “boast” is correct (cf., Rom. 2:17). In other texts the idea of joy predominates, so that the translation “rejoice” is more fitting (cf., Js. 1:9). Basically, however, the word expresses joy rooted in solid confidence (i.e., in a well grounded hope) and, conversely, solid confidence manifested in exuberant joy.
The first time that Paul here uses this word (5:2), he is saying that if we have been justified by faith in Christ, and are reconciled to God, and have a secure standing in “this grace,” then far from fearing the future revelation of “the glory of God,” we can “rejoice with confidence” when we consider our appearing before the Lord at the last day. Therefore, the Christian’s anticipation of the future can and should be marked by joy and confidence, not by fear and dread.
The second time that Paul uses this word (5:3), he is saying not only that may we rejoice in the prospect of the future but also that we may rejoice in the present, even in the midst of trials and tribulations. Indeed, because of what God teaches us in his word, we are able to rejoice in present tribulations because we know something about God and his relationship to us and we know something about our afflictions and their relationship to our hope.
Taking to heart such passages as Rom. 5:1-2, which speak of our present status in union with Christ, and such passages as Rom. 8:28-30 and Heb. 12:5-11, which speak of God’s working in all things (including in his fatherly discipline) for our good, we know something about God and his relationship to us. We know that in our tribulations (whatever else he may be doing) the Lord is not acting as an angry judge who is pouring out his wrath on us, or as a powerful avenger who is pursuing his enemies, but as a loving Father who by his molding and chastening hand is bringing us to full maturity as his children. Even when he chastens us for our sins, he is still manifesting his love for us and he is doing us good and not evil.
And, considering Paul’s words at 5:3-4, we also know something about our afflictions and their relation to our hope. Paul here describes a relationship between the Christian’s hope and tribulations. In sum, these verses teach us that the Lord designs our tribulations as means of grace to confirm and to strengthen our hope and assurance. Therefore, understanding God’s purpose, we are able to rejoice in tribulations not because they are pleasant in themselves but because they produce in us greater measures of hope and assurance.
Eighth, returning now to the teaching of John 15:9-11, we may also say that Christian joy is the fruit of abiding in Christ and in his love (i.e., in the place where we will experience his fullest blessing), so that joy is a blessing that comes in the train of obedience. Having sufficiently established this point above, we note it here again simply to underscore that as was true in Christ’s experience, so also in ours, filial obedience is one of the chief things from which joy springs.
As we noted above, these thoughts are merely suggestive of a larger range of biblical truths relating to the subject of the relation of Christ’s joy and our joy. From what we have seen, however, we are able to say not only that Christian joy is “a vivid emotion of pleasure, a feeling or state of being highly pleased or delighted” but also that it is a thoroughly religious joy that arises from understanding divine truth, from witnessing God’s works, from considering God’s promises, and from possessing (or from anticipating possessing) great and valuable blessings from God. Joy is the companion of faith and hope and obedience, and, indeed, it also grows in proportion as these things are present in us in increasing measure. And it need not be eclipsed by trials and tribulations. In the end of the day it is Christ’s own joy conveyed to us by his grace and by his own presence with us.
2. What does Jesus mean by “my joy”?
Again, we have anticipated this question in the remarks above. Our Lord’s joy was “a vivid emotion of pleasure, a feeling or state of being highly pleased or delighted.” And his joy arose from the sources described in the texts that we have already considered. His joy came from understanding divine truth, from witnessing God’s works, from meditating on God’s promises, from possessing of (or from anticipating possessing) great and valuable blessings from God. It was the companion of his faith and hope and obedience. And it was not eclipsed by the trials through which he passed.
Jesus’ joy was a marked feature of his experience. It was not uninterrupted (was he joyful as he wept over Jerusalem, or as he anguished in Gethsemane?), yet we never see him overcome by the kind of morose spirit that so often grips us. Except on the cross, where Jesus expressed his anguish at his Father’s abandonment of him, the Father and the Son enjoyed unbroken fellowship. While the mystery of the Trinity does not allow us to fathom the full inter-relations of the Godhead, the Father was with his Son in the presence of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure. And in his presence, Christ would have experienced fullness of joy (cf., Psa. 16:11). We certainly may say therefore that when Jesus speaks of “my joy,” he is speaking of joy to the uttermost, of a joy that is infinite both in its quality and quantity.
3. What does our Lord mean by his joy remaining in us, in an experience that he describes as our joy being full?
Earlier on this occasion Jesus had said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (14:27). There he spoke of a blessing (“my peace”) that he conveys to his disciples by the working of the Spirit in us. It is the peace experienced in our walking with God, the peace of God that passes all understanding, which guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philip. 4:6-7). In calling this “my peace,” he is saying that it is nothing less than the peace of mind and heart that he himself has in his relationship with the Father. This is no small part of Christ’s own fullness that we have all received, having received him (John 1:16). In like manner, Christian joy, which he here calls “my joy abiding in you,” is a fruit of the Spirit’s working in us, conveying to us Christ’s joy in such a way and under such conditions that his joy (become ours) “may be full.” This also is part of Christ’s own fullness that we have all received, having received him (John 1:16). At Rom. 15:13, Paul says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” From this text we learn that there is not only a fullness of peace in believing but also a fullness of joy in believing, that enables us to abound in hope by virtue of the powerful presence and working of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This is nothing less that Christ’s own joy being made full in ourselves.
Jesus obeyed his Father’s commands and was well pleasing in his sight. In this way he abode in his Father’s love, in the place of blessing where the Spirit conveyed to him the fullness of joy in believing. In like manner, Jesus here entreats us to obey his commands, so that in the path of obedience we may abide in his love, in the place of blessing, where the Spirit will convey to us his joy in an ever-increasing experience of its fullness. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus speaks of the faithful servant’s reward in these terms—“His lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter into the joy of your lord” (Matt. 25:21, 23). And so it will always be–joy is the portion of those who faithfully walk with Christ in obedience to his commands. Thomas Brooks (4:37) rightly says, “Holiness differs nothing from happiness but in name. Holiness is happiness in the bud, and happiness is holiness at the full.”
Jesus is very concerned about our emotional life. The Christian life not just a matter of principle and duty, but is meant to include an experience of peace and joy in the inner man. As Paul says to the Romans, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking (i.e., the unbounded exercise of our Christian liberty), but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). But are we walking in such a way that we take seriously our Lord’s teaching on this occasion, that the blessing of his joy is known only by those who abide in his love by obeying his commandments? Are we forfeiting the joy that could be ours if only we would apply ourselves energetically to abiding in Christ and his love by the means that he has appointed? Christ here promises us the greatest of all blessings—his joy made full in ourselves. Do we need a greater reason than this to motivate us to draw nearer to him and to seek his nearer fellowship with us? Do we have not because we seek not? Brethren, abide in Christ, and you will know the joy of your Lord in an ever-expanding fullness. That is his promise. That is your privilege. That is your duty. Embrace it, even as you embrace him.
Notes
- Christians are the true “circumcision” (περιτομή), as contrasted with the Jews according to the flesh, who, apart from union with Christ, are merely the “mutilation” (κατατομή), whose physical circumcision is a symbol without the spiritual reality that gives it meaning (cf., Rom. 2:28-29).
- Jesus here calls the Spirit “Helper” (NKJV), “Counselor” (NIV), “Advocate” (NEB), “Comforter” (ASV), “one who helps, by consoling, encouraging, or mediating on behalf of” (Louw and Nida). These all are attempts to translate παράκλητος, which means “one called along side.” Louw and Nida observe: “The principal difficulty encountered in rendering παράκλητος is the fact that this term covers potentially such a wide area of meaning. The traditional rendering of ‘Comforter’ . . . suggests only one very limited aspect of what the Holy Spirit does. A term such as ‘Helper’ is highly generic and can be particularly useful in some languages. . . . A rendering based upon the concept of legal advocate seems in most instances to be too restrictive. Furthermore, there may be quite unsatisfactory connotations associated with any word which suggests a lawyer, especially since in so many societies, a lawyer is thought of primarily as one who ‘bribes the judges’ or ‘can speak two truths’ or, as in one language, is ‘a professional liar.’” Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989), 1:142-43 (12.19). “It is very rare indeed that any one term in a receptor language will have all of the distinctive features of meaning possessed by παράκλητος, especially in reference to the role of the Holy Spirit.” Ibid., 1:460 (35.16, fn.4). When Jesus uses this term to designate the Spirit, he is saying that the Holy Spirit will come as One “called along side” to do for these men what he himself did for them when he was with them. This is the implication of the word “another” (ἄλλος) at 14:16, which means “another of the same kind” as Christ had been to them while he physically was present with them. Perhaps the translation Helper best expresses Jesus’ meaning, though we must avoid the idea of subordination and inferiority that attaches to that English word in other settings.
- By saying “was” (ἦν), of course, John is not precluding the idea that life “is” in Christ now, for that is one of major themes of his Gospel. At 1:4 he is still speaking of the Word in terms of what he was before he “became flesh and dwelt among us.”
- John J. Owen, A Commentary, Critical, Expository, and Practical, on the Gospel of John (New York: Leavitt and Allen, 1860), 350.
- F. Godet, Commentary on the Gospel of John (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1886), 2:284.
- D. A. Carson. The Gospel According to John, in The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), 504.
- The atheist Charles Templeton once said, “I know it may sound strange, but . . . I adore him. . . . There’s no question that he had the highest moral standard, the least duplicity, the greatest compassion, of any human being in history.” Cited by Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 21-22.
- J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, John 13:1-21:25 (reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977), 81.
- Ibid.
- G. H. R. Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), 4:162-63.
- The expression is A. N. Martin’s, in his Union With Christ (Toronto: Gospel Witness, 1978), 110.
- The preposition ἐν with the noun in the dative case here likely means “in union with” (cf., Phillip. 1:1, 13, 14; 2:1; 4:1, 2, 7, 19, 21). Several versions translate this as “through,” i.e., “through the agency of.” While this idea is not without parallel (cf., Acts 17:31), here, as with John 15:2 (ἐν ἐμοί, “in union with me”) and 15:4 (ἐν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ, “in union with the vine”), the idea is that of vital union with Christ in his life.
- Carson, 513.
- At 1 Cor. 6:20, the words καὶ ἐν τῷ πνεύματι ὑμῶν ἅτινά ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦV likely are not original; however, they nonetheless represent the logical extrapolation of Paul’s idea as expressed in the undisputed part of the verse.
- On tomato plants, new growth that emerges at the juncture of the stem and an already bearing branch is called a “sucker,” from the fact that it usually is barren and only “sucks” nutrients (and life) from the plant, thus decreasing its overall fruitfulness.
- The Geneva Bible reads “might bee founde unto your praise, and honour and glorie,” but the insertion of the word “your” seems out of place. Surely the “praise, and honour and glorie” belongs to our Triune God.
- John 15:3 (cf., 13:10) seems oddly placed: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” There is, however, a play on words between καθαροί (“clean, pure”) at 15:3 and καθαίρει (“prune”) at 15:2. Jesus is saying that the pruning process is not the beginning of the work that fits Christians for fruitfulness. A fundamental work in that direction occurs at conversion and in the new birth, in which the believer is purified from sin by Christ. This work is carried on by the Father’s work of pruning (or “cleansing”) the branch further as it matures. This flow of ideas at this point seems to imply that uppermost in Jesus’ mind as he speaks of the Father’s pruning work is his dealing with our remaining sin(s) as the greatest hindrance to optimal fruitfulness.
- Hebrews follows the LXX. In some cases the word μαστιγόω means “to scourge,” but that is too strong a translation to express the idea of fatherly child-training. The image plainly is that of the Father’s spanking his children in the interest of their moral correction and character formation.
- In the phrase εἰς παιδείαν, εἰς with the accusative expresses the idea of purpose.
- Albert Barnes, Hebrews, in Notes on the New Testament, Explanatory and Practical (reprint ed., Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974), 302.
- David uses the plural of פֶּלֶג, i.e., saying מָיִםïגֵי òל¤עַל־פַּ ְ(“by streams of water”).
- The verb רָצָה may be translated here as “is pleased with.” The LXX translates this with προσδέχομαι, so that it reads “has waited for.” Matthew returns to the sense of the Hebrew text, using εὐδοκέω, which means “to be well pleased.” Both רָצָה and εὐδοκέω, however, have the secondary meaning “to delight in,” so that the delighting of the Father in his Son is to be understood as deriving from his being pleased with his Son, i.e., not just, of course, pleased with his Son’s person but also pleased with his Son’s commitment to his Father’s will and pleased with his obedience to his Father’s commands.
- The teacher (master)-disciple relationship very much is like the father-son relationship. This accounts for our Lord’s addressing his disciples on this occasion as “my little children” (John 13:33).
- See also Psa. 126:3; Matt. 28:5-9; Luke 10:20; 24:41; John 8:56. Matthew 13:20 (and its parallels, Mark 4:16 and Luke 8:13) teaches that there is a kind of temporary rejoicing that comes from a misconception of the truth; but that is not what Jesus is speaking about in John 15:11.
- See also Luke 1:58; 13:17; 24:52; Acts 8:8; 15:3.
- See also Luke 1:14; 2:10.
- Shall we not assume that the same dynamic pertained in the soul of Paul, when he said to the Jews of Antioch of Pisidia, “And we declare to you glad tidings–that promise which was made to the fathers” (Acts 13:32)? Would he not joyfully have preached the fulfillment of God’s promise in the gospel?
- See also Luke 15:6, 9.
- Paul speaks of his presence with the Philippians as being in the interest of “your progress and joy of faith” (τὴν ὑμῶν προκοπὴν καὶ χαρὰν τῆς πίστεως). Some versions translate this as “your progress and joy in the faith.” This idea is possible, in which case, Paul is speaking of progress in understanding the Christian faith and of the joy that attends that process of greater understanding. Taking the word “faith,” however, in the sense of the Philippians’ faith in Christ, Eadie says “The genitive is . . . that of possession. Their faith possessed a susceptibility of progress, and it would be excited and urged on; that faith, too, possessed or had in it an element of joy, which would be quickened and developed.” John Eadie, A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians (reprint ed., Minneapolis: James and Klock Christian Publishing Co., 1977), 63-64.
- Although these are David’s words, Peter assures us that ultimately they are words that speak of Christ’s own experience of faith (cf., Acts 2:25-31).
- See also Matt. 5:11-12; Luke 6:22-23; John 16:33; Acts 5:41; 2 Cor. 6:10; 8:2; 12:9-10; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 5:16; Heb. 10:34; Js. 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:13.
- Some versions translate this word as “glory,” or “boast,” or “exult.” While these renderings are within the range of the word’s meaning, “rejoice” gives the leading idea in the context. However translated, at both places the word should be translated the same. The reader of the KJV (and NKJV), which translates the word as “rejoice” at 5:2 and as “glory” 5:3, cannot readily see the thematic connection of Paul’s statements in these verses.
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