John 15 - NIV Woman's Study Bible

15:1–5 Vines grow all over the Holy Land. Every year, gardeners prune the branches in order to produce high-quality fruit. The branch is considered useless unless it produces fruit. Fruitless vines are drastically cut back. The pruned limbs are good for nothing and are destroyed. The OT pictured Israel as the vineyard of God. The vine became a symbol for the nation of Israel. Jesus called himself the “true” vine, using the vine and branches as an analogy to show how a believer must abide (live or remain) in him (v. 1). His followers who believed in him were the branches on God’s vine. The branches had no source of life within themselves but received life from the vine. Without the vine, the branches could produce no fruit and were good for nothing.

15:15 While the disciples must be servants to others, as Jesus demonstrated when he washed their feet (Jn 13:4–5), Jesus considered them his friends. Only to his friends would Jesus give such a revelation of God and his purposes on the earth. The disciples did not choose Jesus; rather Jesus chose them. Jesus no longer called them “servants” (Gk., doulos, lit. “slave”). He offered them something far better than this, a personal and intimate relationship with God, the sort of rare relationship that exists between confidants or close friends.