Road Trippin With Rachael

As we move into the next chapter of John (Chapter 15), we see more and more of the literary talent that John brings to his Gospel. John does a good of job of displaying the theological nature of who Jesus is, and drawing those connections between the Old and New Testament. John’s main goal in his Gospel is to show that Jesus is God, while his is telling the story of Jesus’ ministry.

As we have been reading, John has really been focused on giving us scenes from Jesus’ ministry. We see the interplay with different individuals, with the Pharisees, and in teachable moments. But where chapter 14 drills down into Jesus really explaining who he is, and helps us to develop a doctrine of the Trinity, chapter 15 is what I think of as the ramp up. John is deliberately moving the reader towards the cross with Jesus and now Jesus is focused more on how believers will be recognized and the Christian life, preparing them disciples to live life without their teacher being with them physically.

To that end, we are going to be looking at three ways that Jesus teaches that other will be able to know that someone is one of his followers.

Watching Things Grow

The Gospel of John is famous for the “I Am” statements of Jesus. These include statements like “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6 CSB). Here in chapter 15, we get to see another one of Jesus’ statements – “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5 CSB). In other words, people will know that you are a Christian, because you are going to be producing fruit that points others to Jesus.

But what does this mean?

To answer, we need to know a bit about growing. Now, I am not in possession of a green thumb; however, I know enough to understand how it is supposed to work. The vine is the main source of nutrients for everything else on the plant. Everything is affected by what is happening with the vine. Branches are attached to the vine and are going to be getting their nutrients from it as the vine pulls nutrients out of the ground. Branches will grow out of the vine as well, as the vine grows up and around a fence post or along a wire. (In my mind, this has always been a grape vine because that was what my grandmother had in her backyard.) That branch will then produce the fruit that will later be harvested.

That is the basics of how it is supposed to work. Now concerning the fruit. Jesus says that we will product “much fruit” if we are remaining in him. When I hear “much” another word that comes to mind for me is “abundant,” which we tend to have a positive association with. In the branch is healthy, and has a good connection to the vine, not only should there be much fruit, but it should also be good fruit. Horticulture examples are used in more than only John. The Gospel of Matthew also records Jesus using growing things as an example of the Christian life and he takes it further here. Speaking of false prophets who will claim to follow him Jesus says, “You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18 CSB). In other words, as a Christian, what is being produced should point other people back to Jesus – this doesn’t mean that a Christian is perfect by virtue of being a Christian, but it does mean that they point people back to Jesus. If someone claims the title of Christian and is regularly doing things that are harmful to others and we are not seeing fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) then it is reasonable to question their salvation.

True Friends

I love social media. I love getting to create content, take photos, interact in groups, and discover events to attend. However, although social media platforms, like Facebook, allows for you to have “friends” don’t mistake the number for being actual friends. Realistically, we probably have more along the lines of Instagram – we have followers. John 15: 9-17 has Jesus walking us through what it means to love others and to love God.

Loving God means that you keep his commandments. Keeping his commandments means that you are loving other people.

But we are still given commands. Loving others sounds easy, but it’s really hard, because frankly I know that I’m not always so lovable. Loving someone means that you meet them where they are at, you walk with them through their valleys, cheer for them on the mountain tops, you show them kindness, and you let them know that caring for them doesn’t mean that you will always agree with them on choices they make. The same can be said for those who are loving you that way. We often hear of “doing life together” in churches. Personally, I know what they mean, but I don’t like that statement. It takes a lot of trust to let people in, to love them enough to let them love you that way. This is something that takes time, and we need to be able to love each other the best we can, while we are learning to trust each other, too.

The way we care for and love each other, and those who are not a part of the Church is what shows the world who we belong to. Because Christ loves us, and has opened our eyes to the wonders of his word, we should also want to share those wonders with others. This doesn’t mean that everyone is going to come to Christ, but it does mean that we have done what we are called to do as Christians – which is to share in the Great Commissions.

He Never Said It Would Be Easy

Having grown up in an area that is more or less the top of the Bible Belt, I would say experience has taught me that many people have this mistaken belief that it is easy to be a follower of Christ. John 15:18-25 would argue against that. In fact, as you read through this passage of scripture, Jesus is actually telling the disciples that persecution will come.

We’ve been insulated in the United States with out freedom of religion, so we tend to forget what suffering for our faith actually looks like. We think of persecution as our friends not talking to us anymore, or someone not agreeing with the Religious Right (if we are discussing politics). Although persecution can take those forms, it is nothing like what fellow Christians face in countries that are closed to the Gospel. And, since we are not promised that life will be easy as a follower of Christ, it is very possible that believers in the USA will eventually lose the privileges we have been able to live under.

But, we have this assurance – the world doesn’t hate me, the world hates Christ. It isn’t personal. Now, I’m fully aware that sounds odd – after all, it is my life that can be taken away.  “If the world hates  you, understand that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18 CSB). This reminder is so that we can remember that the world hates to be confronted by sin. It isn’t the believer that the world hates – we are the messengers, and the proof that God is active and involved in the world – it is God. The world wants to do it’s own thing and believe that it can do what it wants; to make itself into the image of whatever each person wants their god to be (ie. themselves). But God, who is creator, calls his creation to task and reminds them that they are not their own; that he brought us into being, and the world rails against it.

Final Thoughts

Believers are able to be identified by different factors. Some of these as posed in John 15 are that we are producing proof of what we claim. There is good fruit, as opposed to bad fruit, that is pointing people to Jesus. Some of that fruit is how we love each other. This is something the Christian is called to: to love others. We aren’t out to just take care of them, or to be good people. We are called to love. Sometimes that is harder than other, and there are people who are harder to love than others, but that is what we are called to do – and sometimes it does take time to learn to love like Christ. Christians are not promised that life will be easy when we come to salvation. In fact, Jesus says that life gets a whole lot harder, because the world is opposed to Christ, and what he represents – that we are all sinners who can’t earn our way to salvation.

Discussion Questions

• How are you getting what you need from the Vine? Are you actively engaged in a local church? Are you looking for ways to share the Gospel?
• How are you loving others like Christ?
• Are you facing persecution? How can you be in prayer for those who are?