Jesus Is Like a Vine

15   [Jesus said,] "I am the true vine; my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch* of mine that does not make fruit.* And he trims and cleans every branch that makes fruit, so that it will make even more fruit. ³You are already clean because of the teaching I have told you. ⁴Continue in me and I will continue in you. No branch can make fruit alone. It must continue in the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot make fruit alone. You must continue in me. ⁵"I am the vine and you are the branches. If a person continues in me and I continue in that person, then that person will make much fruit. But without me that person can do nothing. ⁶If a person does not continue in me, then he is like a branch that is thrown away. That branch dies. People pick up dead branches, throw them into the fire, and burn them. ⁷"Continue in me and follow my teachings. If you do this, then you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. ⁸You should make much fruit and show that you are my followers. This brings glory to my Father. ⁹I loved you like the Father loved me. Now continue in my love. ¹⁰I have obeyed my Father's commands, and I continue in his love. In the same way, if you obey my commands, you will continue in my love. ¹¹I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. ¹²This is what I command you: Love each other like I have loved you. ¹³The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do the things I tell you to do. ¹⁵I don't call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and make fruit. I want this fruit to continue [in your life]. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus Warns His Followers

¹⁸"If the world hates you, remember that the world hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you like it loves its own people. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don't belong to the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the lesson I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, then they will do wrong to you too. And if people obeyed my teaching, then they will obey yours too. ²¹People will do all this to you because of me. They don't know the One who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to the people of the world, then they would not be guilty of sin. But now I have spoken to them. So they have no excuse for their sin. ²³Any person that hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴I did things among those people that no other person has ever done. If I had not done those things, they would not be guilty of sin. But they have seen those things I did. And still they hate me and my Father. ²⁵But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: 'They hated me for no reason.'* ²⁶"I will send you the Helper* from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth* who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. ²⁷And you will tell people about me too, because you have been with me from the beginning.

branch The "branches" are Jesus' followers. See verse 5. make fruit This means the way Jesus' followers must live to show that they belong to him. See verses 7-10. 'They hated me for no reason' These words could be from Ps. 35:19 or Ps. 69:4. Helper Or, "Comforter," the Holy Spirit. Spirit of truth The Holy Spirit. It was his work to help Jesus' followers understand God's truth. See Jn. 16:13.