Devotional John 15: The True Vine and the World's Hatred Reflection on John 15: why separated from Jesus we cannot bear fruit, how to glorify God by keeping His commandments, and preparation for persecution. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional John 15: The True Vine and the World’s Hatred

Today’s devotional is found in the book of John, chapter 15, and this is what took place.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Jesus continues talking to His disciples and warns them about the persecution and hatred that will come upon them.

Observations

These were my observations on this chapter:

1. Without Jesus in our lives, we will bear no fruit. Jesus explains the following in this chapter: He is the vine, we are the branches, and God is the vinedresser. Furthermore, He explains that, just like in a vineyard, the gardener monitors which of the branches bear fruit. If a branch does not bear fruit, it is cut off, dried up, and thrown into the fire. If the branch bears fruit, the vinedresser prunes it and cares for the part so that it may bear even more fruit. However, Jesus also warns us that we will only bear fruit if we remain in Him, just as the branch only produces fruit if it remains on the plant or tree.
2. God is glorified by our fruit. Jesus also tells us that if we keep His commandment—to love others as He has loved us—we will be loving Him and, consequently, the One who sent Him. When we do that, God is pleased with us and is willing to give us what we ask for. For God is a God of fullness and abundance who wants to bless us and, at the same time, glorify Himself through our fruit.
3. The servant is not greater than his Master. Jesus finishes by warning His disciples that the world will persecute them because it will hate them. But He also reminds them that before it hated them, the world hated Him first. For the world hates everything that does not belong to it, and all Christians cease to belong to the world; consequently, the world begins to hate us. Therefore, we must be prepared to carry our cross, because the world will persecute us just as it did our Lord. If they persecuted Him, who are we that they would not persecute us? For a servant is not greater than his Master. Furthermore, Jesus also said that this will happen to fulfill the word that said, “They hated Me without a cause.”