John 15 v 1-11 – Your Relationship with Jesus – Staying Clean, Clear and Connected

“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

“37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

On Sunday Paul talked (YT: Knowing & Flowing in God’s Love) about the channels that we are, the channels out of which God’s Spirit can flow. He gave us 3 c’s –

Keep our channels clean, clear and connected.

I think this is well covered by the verses in John 15 where Jesus tells his disciples to remain in him. He talks about branches being pruned or cleaned. He tells them that they have been cleaned by his word. If we are to be channels of God’s blessing, grace, peace, shalom, we would do well to revisit the following passage:

John 15:

In this chapter, Jesus dealt with three relationships that involve the disciples: (1) their relationship with him (1-11), (2) their relationship with one another (12-17), and (3) their relationship with the world around them (18-27).

Henri Nouwen spoke about these three sections as if they were progressive, i.e. one leads to the other, in such a way that it is impossible to skip one step and be fruitful in another. We start with relationship with the Father – communion. Then we are able to enjoy fellowship with other believers, knowing we are loved by the Father – we don’t look for our identity anywhere else – community. Once we have a community of secure believers who know who they are in Christ we are ready for ministry, together. Many of us try to do things the other way around. We start off doing something really good, then we realise we need help from our brothers and sisters, then if we get stuck we turn to God!

But this chapter starts with our connection to Jesus.

Let’s just look at that first section today.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
– Jesus is the true vine. The metaphor of the vineyard is used in the OT to symbolise Israel, often in a context where there is something wrong, some sense of inadequacy. But Jesus is here and he is the true vine.
– His father is the gardener, or vineyard keeper. The responsibility is God’s in the main. It’s the gardener’s job to look after the garden. Our job as mere branches is to hang on for dear life. Literally.

2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes [cleans] so that it will be even more fruitful.
– Ouch! You’re either in for a full chop – reminds me of the church in Ephesus and how in Revelation 2:5 – “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” They had lost their first love. Our connection to Jesus is through love. He loved us first and we love him back.
– You’re either in for a full chop, or if you escape that, a pruning! A father disciplines a child if he loves that child. Any painful pruning is not just for your good but for the good of the Kingdom, or to follow the analogy, for the good of the vineyard. We bear more fruit when we allow God’s hand to have full access to our hearts.
– Dead wood is worse than fruitlessness, as it can become diseased and spread decay.

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
– Prune and clean sound the same in Greek, so this is a play on words. Notice it’s the spoken words of Jesus that prune us and make us clean. Will we allow Jesus to speak to us today? Is he speaking now, asking your cooperation in some pruning project? A habit to tackle with his help, an apology to be made or some area of forgiveness to work on as you walk with him and stay connected? Let the word clean you. He wants clean channels to flow his Spirit through.
– Remember the 3 c’s – clean, clear, connected. Here’s a key verse then, as pruning clears away unnecessary foliage and prevents fruitlessness while cleaning allows a free flow of the Holy Spirit without any dirty obstructions in our lives.

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
– In case any of the disciples were thinking they could manage this Christian lifestyle on their own, Jesus makes it abundantly clear – you have to remain in him. Without him we will not bear fruit.
– So what about people who seem really fruitful but all evidence shows that they are not connected to Jesus in the slightest? Perhaps Jesus has a different definition of what he classes as fruit. Good works that are not inspired and led by the Spirit may impress people, but it’s only fruit if it’s the result of connection with Jesus.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
– Jesus didn’t mince his words. I believe that in the Greek it’s “the branch” rather than “a branch”. Some commentators suggest that Jesus is making a reference to Judas here. Nevertheless, there is a general principle not to be ignored.
– Again, like some of the warnings to the churches in Revelation, Jesus, in his abundant love, warns of the dangers of becoming disconnected from the vine that is Jesus.
– An unpruned vine will develop long rambling branches that produce little fruit because most of the strength of the vine is given to growing wood.
– Jesus is saying that a true believer and follower will inevitably bear fruit.

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
– Let’s not take verse 7 in isolation. First we stay close to Jesus. Then we ask whatever we wish. Question: what kind of things do you think you wish for when you are close, really close to Jesus? So close to him that you are feeding from him? Money, fame and all that kind of stuff? If you don’t know the answer, there’s a clue in verse 8.
– Answered prayer is to God’s glory. We ask, God answers, God is glorified. If what you are asking for does not give glory to God, or your motives in answering do not, then you’ve just triggered the exclusion clause that is often skipped over in verse 7 -IF. If you remain in Jesus and his words remain, dwell, live in you. Then naturally what you ask for will be in line with his wishes and his word. Your prayers will bear fruit and God will receive the Glory.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
– Here in verse 9 Jesus develops the thought of remaining in him to remaining in his love. It’s an easy extension to make – Jesus is God; God is love; remain in him. This is a reminder not to just remain religiously in God’s word, reading daily but receiving nothing in your spirit. Do not lose your first love. Come to him in prayer, in silence, in tongues, but seek him with all your heart. He so loves you and just wants to spend time with you as friends do. Have fellowship with him. Remain in his love.
– But apart from knowing him in person, what else can I do to remain in his love? Glad you asked.

10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
– The closer you walk in God’s ways, the more you know his love. Jesus could have put it the other way around – when you love me you will want to follow me. But think of it this way – love is shown by actions. Follow him. Walk in his ways, and you’ll not stray from him. “Keep my commands and you’ll remain in my love.”
– Perhaps if we look at this idea in the negative form. If you don’t keep my commands, you won’t remain in my love. Isn’t that true with people we love? If we deliberately offend someone, i.e. not respecting their wishes, we are not showing them love.
– Oh, and what are Jesus’ commands? I don’t think he’s talking about the Jewish law here! Jesus said that the main commands are to love God and love one another. And his new commandment is to love other disciples the way that he loved them. Keep those and you’ll remain in his love. But of course there are individual commands that we might hear him tell us through his Spirit. When he nudges or prompts you, obey. If you ‘re not sure it’s him, ask, will it do any harm, even if I’m wrong? Will it to any good either way? If it seems safe, step out and obey! He will judge you by your heart not by your genuine mistakes.
– So we obey his commands and the results are not just fruitfulness but also joy! Verse 11 tells us so: his joy will be in us and it will be complete joy!

So in this first section of three we learn the importance of remaining in Jesus. This is before any effective ministry with others can take place. We have to connect to Jesus and remain connected.

We’ve seen that his disciples are already close to him because of his word, and that we stay close to him through the connection of love which is expressed by following his commands.

We’ve seen a warning and a reward – those who don’t remain in him become cut off. And those who do stay close will pray in line with God’s wishes and see great fruit. The final reward is joy – this is all so that our joy may be complete. Complete joy comes when we love and obey Jesus. No other way.

What can we do today to ensure a continued connection?
1. Remain in his word and his words in us
2. Remain in his love
3. Obey his commands.