Charles Ellicott Commentary John 15

I am the true vine.—For the word “true,” compare with the Note on John 1:9. The ideal truth, of which the natural vine is a figure, is fulfilled in Him. The thought is introduced suddenly, and with nothing in the context to lead up to it. The natural explanation of this is that here, as in other instances, it was suggested by some external object that met the eye.

If we suppose (compare with the Note on John 14:31) that they were crossing the valley on the way to Gethsemane, it is reasonable to think they passed a vineyard, which would have supplied the form for our Lord’s expressed thoughts. However, the journey itself during the discourse is improbable, and the sight of a vineyard is less likely, as it was night.

On the supposition that they were still in the room where they had eaten supper, several sources for the imagery have been suggested: a vine whose tendrils grew into the room; the vine carved on the doors of the Temple (Josephus, Wars, v. 5, § 4; Antiquities, xv. 11, § 3); vineyards seen in the distance by moonlight; or the vine suggested by “the fruit of the vine” of which they had drunk.

Of these suggestions, the last has the most probability, as it is bound up with the significance of the cup of which they had drunk that night. We cannot say more than this.

The imagery may have followed from some incident, custom, or remark now entirely unknown to us. It was, as in the case of the Good Shepherd, familiar to them from the Old Testament and would have come to their minds from any slight suggestion.

(See, for example, the following passages: Psalms 80:8–19; Isaiah 5:1 and following; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 19:10.) It seems to have been expressed also in Rabbinic precepts, for example, “Whoever dreams of a vine-branch shall see the Messiah” (Berachoth, folio 89).

And my Father is the husbandman.—Compare Matthew 21:33 and following; Mark 12:1 and following; Luke 20:9 and following. The thought here is of the owner of the vine, who Himself cultivates and trains it.

Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away.—The two chief duties of the vinedresser, cutting off all fruitless tendrils and cleansing those that bear fruit, supply illustrations of the training of human souls by the Divine Husbandman. We are not to interpret these words, as they frequently have been interpreted, of the unbelieving world or of the Jews, but of Christians in name, who claim to be branches of the true vine. These the Husbandman watches day by day; He knows them and reads the inner realities of their lives, and every one that is fruitless He takes away.

And every branch that bears fruit, he purges it.—Better, he cleanses it . This means in the natural vine the cutting off of shoots that run to waste, and the removal of every excrescence that hinders the growth of the branch. It means in the spiritual training the checking of natural impulses and affections, and the removal of everything—even though it is by a pang as sharp as the edge of the pruner's knife—that can misdirect or weaken the energy of the spiritual life, and thus diminish its fruitfulness.

A vine that has been pruned—here a tendril cut off, and there one bent back; here a shoot that seemed of greatest promise to the unskilled eye, unsparingly severed by the vinedresser, who sees it is worthless; here a branch, in itself good, made to yield its place to one that is better, and itself trained to fill another place—such is the familiar picture of the natural vine.

Such, also, to a wisdom higher than ours, is the picture of human life.

Now ye are clean.—Better, Already are you clean. The pronoun is emphatic. “Already are you, as distinct from others who will become clean in the future.” (Compare Note on John 13:10.)

Through the word which I have spoken unto you.—Better, on account of the word which I have spoken to you. The word was the revelation of God to them, and because of its moral power they had been cleansed. We are not to limit the reference to John 13:10, but are to understand it of our Lord’s whole teaching. (John 8:31–32; John 12:48; John 17:10; and compare Note on Ephesians 5:26.)

Abide in me, and I in you.—The clauses are here connected as cause and effect. The second is the promise, which will not fail if the command of the first is observed. The union then, and all that follows from it, is placed within the power of the human will. All is contained in the words, “Abide in Me.” The one who obeys this command has Christ abiding in him, and is a fruitful branch of the true vine.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.—The branch regarded by itself, apart from (“except it abide in”) the vine, has no original source of life. The sap flows from the vine to branch and tendril and leaf and fruit. The branch by itself is a lifeless organ, and only fulfills its functions when it is connected with the vine.

So in the spiritual life, people apart from Christ have no original source of life and fruitfulness. The true life flows from Him to every branch that abides in Him, quickening by its power the whole person, and making them fruitful in good. The person who lives without faith in God may be said to exist, rather than to live, and misses the true aim of their being.

I am the vine, you are the branches.—The first clause is repeated to bring out the contrast with the second. It has been implied, but not directly stated, that they are the branches. It may be that there was a pause after the end of the fourth verse, accompanied by a look at the disciples, or at that which suggested the imagery of the vine. His words would then continue with the sense, “Yes, it is so. That is the true relation between us. I am the vine, you are the branches. The fruitful branches represent men that abide in Me . . .”

For without me you can do nothing.—Better, separate from Me, or, apart from Me. (Compare margin.) The words bring out the fullness of the meaning of the fruitfulness of the man who abides in Christ. It is he, and he only, who brings forth fruit, for the man who is separate from Christ can bear no fruit. The words have often been unduly pressed, to exclude all moral power apart from Christ, whereas the whole context limits them to the fruit-bearing of the Christian life. The persons thought of all through this allegory are true and false Christians, and nothing is said of the influence on men of the wider teaching of God, the Light of the Logos ever in the world. A moral power outside the limits of Christianity is clearly recognised in the New Testament. (Compare, e.g.,Romans 2:14–15, Notes.)