An old, gnarled grapevine trained along a low stone terrace wall in morning light, young green branches reaching out.

The Gospel According to

John 15

An old vine, its branches and its fruit: the last night, and what it means to stay close to Jesus when everything is about to change.

27 verses≈ 5 min1 personBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Jesus the True Vine

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.

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You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.

John 15:4

Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.

Jesus

apart from Me you can do nothing

John 15:5

Reflect

Staying connected

A branch does not strain to make grapes. It stays joined to the vine, and the fruit comes. Jesus says, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.” What helps you stay close to Him in an ordinary day, and what tends to pull you away?

No Greater Love

One fresh green branch growing out of an old vine trunk, sunlight shining through its leaves.

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

0:19

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Jesus

Greater love has no one than this

John 15:13

Servants → friends

Whiteboard

A servant just does the job. A friend is let in on the plan. Jesus says, “I have called you friends,” because He has shared with them what He heard from His Father. Then He sends those friends out to bear fruit.

Question

Quick question

On the night before He died, Jesus gave His disciples a new name.

What does Jesus say He now calls His disciples?

The Hatred of the World

If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.

John 15:18

If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.

A servant’s plain sandals set below his master’s fine ones at a doorway, a traveler’s staff leaning beside them.

Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.

When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me. And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

He will testify about Me. And you also must testify

John 15:26–27

Pray

Helped to testify

Jesus did not send His friends into a hostile world alone. He promised “the Spirit of truth,” who “will testify about Me.” Ask the Spirit to be your Helper today: to steady you when you are misunderstood, and to give you words when it is your turn to speak about Jesus.

You’ve experienced

John 15

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A verse to carry with you

I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:5

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