John 15: A trinity of a different sort

Trinity. If you can figure out the two words that were brought together to make the bigger word, you can figure out its definition. Upon careful observation, you can notice the word “trinity” is a combination of tri-, a prefix meaning three, and unity, which means to bring together as one. In the most broad and basic sense, a trinity is when three of something are united as one. When Christians think of trinity, they usually think of Trinity with a capital T, which is the unity of the three-person Godhead as one God. Although Trinity can be seen throughout the Bible, the word “Trinity” itself is never used at all in the Bible. This has caused some controversy inside and outside the Christian community, even causing a few “denominations” (Evangelical Christians would claim these groups are more cult than denomination) to deny the doctrine of Trinity all together. This post is not a post defending Trinity, although I strongly believe in the Trinity. This post is going to look at a trinity, with a lowercase t. Lowercase t trinity means any 3 things closely related, in common unity with one another. While Christians like talking about Trinity, with a capital T, between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I see a trinity in John 15:1-17 of a different sort. This trinity has the God the Father and God the Son, but instead of God the Holy Spirit, it has Christians. John 15:1-17 shows the relationship between Yahweh, Jesus, and the people, and Jesus will use his last “I AM” statement of the Gospel of John to do so.

Before we dive into the material, we have to take a small step back, into the last verse of John 14. In John 14:31, Jesus says to his disciples, “Come now; let us leave.” But then, in John 18:1, John records that when Jesus finishes his discourse and finishes praying, Jesus leaves with his disciples and crosses the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. These verses seem to be contradicting themselves, which has led to debate. Some people say Jesus said John 15-17 in the Upper Room, others say that Jesus speaks John 15-17 on the Mount of Olives, and yet others have tried to compromise, claiming that Jesus gave the John 15-17 discourse while walking from the Upper Room to the Mount of Olives. The proponents of the Mount of Olives setting claims that the Mount of Olives setting would be the perfect setting, for Jesus could use his surroundings as a visual aid to his preaching. Furthermore, the Mount of Olives is where the Garden of Gethsemane was at, which would be the perfect setting for Christ’s prayer in John 17. Yet the wording of John 18:1 sounds too clear and too plain to say that Jesus just got to the Mount of Olives at John 18, and Jesus wasn’t there before. So this reverts back to that Jesus said this en route to the Mount of Olives. He might have even stopped part way outside to teach one last teaching at pray. These people would say that John 14:31 is departing the Upper Room, while John 18:1 is departing the city. The opponents of this view claim it makes no sense for Jesus to be teaching, and especially for Jesus to be praying, while walking. Once again, they will point to the clearness of John 18:1. That would leave the view that John 15-17 took place in the Upper Room. This would fit, as it goes along with the teaching in the Upper Room, and it make sense for Jesus to pray during the Passover Feast. The only hole that these people leave uncovered is that they will totally ignore the John 14:31. Well, that’s all the possibilities, right? Well, there are a few people who have suggested that the chapters should be rearranged in John. Some would put chapter 14 between chapters 17 and 18, while others say the order should be John 13, 15, 14, 16, John 18:1, 17, and then 18:2-40. And of course, you also have to have a couple people who try to give an allegorical meaning to John 14:31. They would say something like, “What Christ meant was that His disciples and His teachings would not stay in Jerusalem after He died, but they would spread around the world.” All I have to say about this is a helpful reminder that John’s Gospel is a supplementary Gospel, and thus a topical Gospel. After Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday, John stopped caring so much about the setting, like the place and the time. So all views and possible, and yet at the same time, all views could be wrong. I would focus less on the setting and more on what is being preached. As Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures would say, “Setting not important!”

Alright, let’s talk about the trinity (lowercase t) between God, Jesus and Christians. Jesus will explain this using the analogy of a vine. Let’s start out by pair the persons to the pieces of the analogy. God the Father is the gardener. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the vine, and the Christians are the branches of the vine. It won’t be until later on the chapter that the connection between Christians and the branches are made, but the connections for God and Jesus are right there in the first verse of chapter 15. It’s also our last “I AM” statement in the book of John.

John 15:1-
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

As seen with some of the other “I AM” statements, the analogy is nothing new for the original Jewish audience. The Old Testament Jews knew themselves to be like a vine. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, even a Psalmist in Psalms called Israel a vine. But notice Jesus calls himself “the true vine.” I think there’s significance in that. If you ever get the chance, read through Isaiah. It’s a long one, so you’ll need a couple long sittings to do it. If you know a little bit about the book of Isaiah, you’ll know that there’s a debate between Jews and Christians about it. Jews will say that the Suffering Servant in Isaiah is Israel, while the Christians will say that the Suffering Servant in Isaiah is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Well, I’m here to tell them both that they are both right. Isaiah starts out by saying that Israel is the Suffering Servant, but while they were good at the suffering part, they failed at the servant part because they sinned. So God would send the Messiah, who Christians know to be Jesus Christ, to succeed at the Servant part, just as much as the suffering (although I’m sure the suffering part wasn’t welcomed). Why do I mention this? I see the same explanation of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah to work for the vine in John 15. Israel was the vine, but it failed at being a vine, so God went to the true vine, Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus fulfilled the Suffering Servant for Israel, so Jesus also fulfills the Vine for Israel.

In John 15:2, the reader can see Jesus starts talking about fruit. By the end of the chapter, Jesus will say “fruit” eight times. Just as a vine and its branches are expected to produce fruit, so Jesus and His disciples are expected to produce fruit. Anyone can see Jesus produced fruit, but do His followers, the Christians, produce fruit? Well, what exactly is that fruit? If you are anything like me, you thought of Galatians 5:22,23, which is the Fruit of the Spirit. I think this would work because this passage is squished between two passages about the Holy Spirit. God the Father looks for Christians to produce those Fruit of the Spirit. If they do not, they are cut off from God. After all, they are not producing the proof that they are part of the vine. Therefore, they have no part in the vine, and are cut off. The branches that do produce fruit are then pruned. Pruning branches are important to any plant, whether it be a tree, bush or vine. In pruning, branches are cut back or completely cut off to allow the old branches, or new branches, to grow bigger, stronger and produce more fruit. Isn’t it interesting that some cutting back or cutting off is needed for true growth to happen? The Greeks didn’t really having a term for pruning, they just called it “cleaning,” as in “cleaning the vine.” This makes a perfect wordplay for verse. But the point I’m trying to get across is sometimes a little pruning, or cleaning, is necessary for our faith. Sometimes it might hurt, and sometimes it might seem damaging, but in the end, God will see us through and He’ll make us stronger through it.

In John 15:4, it may seem like Jesus is stating the obvious, but it has an important lesson. Plant branches apart from the plant, whether it be a tree, bush or vine, cannot produce fruit. The same is true for the Christian. The Christian cannot produce the Fruit of the Spirit that God the Father desires apart from Christ. So what should the Christian do? The Greek word John uses here is meno, which can be translated stay, remain, abide, or dwell. The Greek word appears 40 times in the Gospel, and 11 times in this chapter alone. What does it mean to “remain” in the terms of “remain in Christ?” There’s been a little debate. First, it can mean to believe in Jesus, as in accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Second, it can mean to continue believing in Jesus, like an on-going process. Third, it can mean practicing what you believe. As postmodern as it sounds, I like all these answers to be right, for when you put all these answers together, it really points back to the purpose of Gospel of John. First, John writes his Gospel to get the non-believers to believe in Jesus as Christ and God. Second, John writes his book to the get the believers to continue their faith in Jesus as Christ and God. Third, John writes John to get the believers to practice their beliefs by obeying God’s commands and Christ’s teachings. I hope by now you too have come to faith, have continued believing what you were taught, and now are getting disciplined to commandments of Jesus.

Going into verse 5, the Father takes a back seat and a passive role in the analogy. Now, the focus will be on the relationship between Jesus and the Christians. John 15:5 restates the “I AM” statement, but now puts it in light to Christians, not the Father.

John 15:5-
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus is the vine, and Christians are the branches. Now there are two types of branches, or rather, two types of Christians. There are those who do remain in Jesus. They believe that Jesus is God, Man, Savior and Lord, they follow the commandments of God and the teachings of Jesus, and they persevere through all times to stay true in their on-going process of sanctification. These branches produce much fruit, as verse 5 tells us. The other branches, the ones that do not remain in the vine, are dead branches that wither away. What kind of people are they? These branches are not as easy to define as the good branches, for it has brought about debate. There are 3 main camps for this debate. First camp would say these are the Christians who have fell away from their faith and lost their salvation. The second camp says these are the Christians that lose their reward, because producing fruit is necessary for the reward, but they do not lose their salvation. The third camp states that these branches are “false branches,” or people who claim they are Christian, but really aren’t. This would include people who say the believe in Christian doctrine, but they do not follow through with the Christian practices. All camps have good proof, and thus all camps are good possibilities. Instead of arguing which one is right, let’s see if we can find commonalities that carry both. In all cases, like a branch apart from the vine is dead, so this Christian is spiritually dead. Just like a dead branch gets thrown into the fire, so the spiritually-dead Christian will face judgment (throughout the Bible, fire is used as a symbol of judgment). The ultimate plan is to produce fruit, which is the Father’s desire and gives the Father glory. Producing fruit is also the sign, or the proof, that we, as Christians, belong to Jesus, the Vine.

So what’s the key to bearing much fruit? What’s the key to remaining in Jesus? The answer is love. Jesus will spend verses 9 to 15 illustrating this love. To remain in Jesus is to remain in His love. What does John 15:9-17 tell us about the love of Jesus? First, the love of Jesus is the exact same love as God has. The Greek word is agape, which is an unconditional love that can only come from God. Jesus has passed on this love from His Father to His followers, and He expects us to pass on the same love. Second, this love seems to be strongly related to the commandments of God and of Jesus. The only way to remain in the love is to obey these commandments. From verses like these, I really believe the Law found in the Old Testament is a Law of Love. The purpose of the 10 commandments, and every law under it, is to show humankind how to love. All 613 Jewish laws can be summed up into The 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments can be summed up into the 2 Greatest Commandments: “Love the Lord your God…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And what are the two words both greatest commandments have in common? Love! To truly love God and others, we must obey the commandments. If we don’t obey the commandments, we cannot love. Once again, in verse 13, Jesus commands the disciples to love each other as Jesus loved them. Jesus becomes the example of love. Jesus loved everyone and kept the commandments, and Christians need to follow that lead. What’s the ultimate sign of love? Verse 13 tells the reader that the greatest love is when someone lays down his life for his friend. This verse has an eerie foreshadowing, as Jesus will demonstrate His love for mankind by laying down his life for his friends (see Romans 5:8). Thus, as seen in verse 14, Jesus reveals to his disciples that they are not only his followers, but his friends. They are now more than just servants, who are unaware of what the master is up to. They are now friends, intimate with their master. The grand conclusion is a line Jesus has been repeating over and over in His last discourses: love one another. If there anything Jesus wants them to get out of all His teachings, Jesus wants them to love. It will be love that will keep them genuine, and keep them from turning legalistic like the Jewish leaders of the day.

I’m going to stop here. I’m not going to move onto the rest of the chapter. Remember that the chapter numbers and verse numbers are not inspired by God, and thus they are not inerrant. While John’s numbering has been good for the most part, here I disagree. I think the chapter should have ended after verse 17, and verse 18 should have begun the new chapter. Verses 18 to 27 fit better with John 16 than John 15. I also like John 15 ending at 17 because that verse is the grand conclusion, as well as the thesis, for John 17. The greatest commandment Jesus gave His disciples is love. Love is what unites the trinity between God the Father, God the Son, and the Christians.