New Testament · Gospel

John 15

The True Vine

Abide in me, Jesus says. A branch cut off from the vine withers. But those who remain bear fruit that lasts — and face a world that hates them.

King James Version BSB KJV

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1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17These things I command you, that ye love one another.

18If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

23He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Understand This

John 15, explained

What John 15 is saying

Jesus delivers the extended vine metaphor: 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.' Branches that remain in the vine bear fruit; those that do not are removed. The imperative to 'abide' (menein) occurs eleven times, establishing it as the chapter's central concept. Jesus redefines the disciples' relationship to him—no longer servants but friends—and warns them of the world's hatred, grounding persecution in the world's prior rejection of both the Father and the Son.

The background behind it

The vine was a primary symbol of Israel in the Old Testament (Psalm 80, Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 2:21, Ezekiel 15), and the temple itself featured a massive golden vine over its entrance. Jesus' claim to be the 'true' vine implies that he fulfills and replaces Israel's role as the locus of God's fruitful purpose. The warning about being 'put out of synagogues' and killed reflects the experience of Johannine Christians facing expulsion from Jewish communal life.

Themes running underneath

The vine metaphor establishes organic union with Christ as the source of all spiritual productivity—apart from the vine, branches can do 'nothing.' The progression from servants to friends marks a revolution in the divine-human relationship: friends are those to whom the master has disclosed his purposes. The world's hatred of believers is presented not as incidental but as inevitable, flowing from its prior rejection of Christ.

Why it still matters

The call to 'abide' challenges activist spirituality that substitutes doing for being. Fruitfulness is presented not as the result of effort but as the natural outcome of sustained connection to Christ. The servant-to-friend transition reveals that God desires intimacy, not mere obedience.

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Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.