Abide Case

Abide: John 15:1-6

Passage

John 15: 1-6

“1I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Introduction

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving the upper room where they partook in their last Passover meal together, they were walking on their way to the garden of Gethsemane. The mood was somber and then Jesus stopped by a grapevine and began to speak to His disciples. He spoke to them about bearing spiritual fruit and abiding in Him. As He was speaking, Jesus touched the grapes and showed the fruit of the vine to His disciples as he spoke. He was using the grapes and the grapevine as an object lesson for His followers. Did the disciples understand Him? Where they asking questions such as: What is He telling us? Why is He speaking in Parables? This account from the gospel of John portrays Jesus as the teacher who took every opportunity to teach His followers about Himself and His Father’s Kingdom. Jesus’ object lesson of the vine showed the disciples that Jesus cared for them with compassion and that His desire was for them to continue to bear spiritual fruit; Jesus was encouraging His disciples to continue what He had taught them throughout their ministry together leading up to the time of His death.

Socio-Historic Background

When examining a passage of scripture, one of the most important things to consider is the socio-historic context of that passage. First, the author must be identified. As with all the other gospels, the Gospel of John comes to its audience as an anonymous book. This simply means that the author did not address himself as the author of the book as Paul did in his epistles. So the question of this gospel’s authorship can be determined by looking at specific clues within the gospel itself, as well as by examining the tradition of the early church. In examining these two areas, three major positions have been held by scholars as to who the author of the fourth gospel is. The first and most widely accepted view is that the author is John the son of Zebedee, also known as “the beloved disciple.” The next view is that the fourth gospel is attributed to a pious believer