Make Yourself at Home (Jesus, Joy, & John 15)

You'll find an AI audio overview at this link.

In our next post on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns his disciples about false prophets who will masquerade in sheep's clothing and he tells his disciples that we will recognize them by their "fruit" (Matthew 7:15-20).

I'll be posting that study soon, but in the meantime, while researching that passage I naturally began thinking about my own fruit and our fruit together as the Church today. Are we a fruitful orchard or a tumbleweed in a spaghetti western?

Most importantly, I want to know: how can we cultivate healthy and helpful fruit in our lives?

Thankfully, Jesus has an extended passage about this very topic. For starters, here is a paraphrase of the passage, also called a targum (a paraphrase with explanatory thoughts baked right into it). Reading this should be helpful, and I would also recommend reading the same passage in your own Bible. Here we go...

I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 He lifts up to help every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch in me that bears fruit he prunes and purifies to help it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide/Remain/Stay/Dwell/Make yourself at home in me as I abide/remain/stay/dwell/make myself at home in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it stays connected to the vine, neither can you unless you make yourself at home in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who make themselves at home in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not make themselves at home in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you make yourself at home in me and my words are at home in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; stay and rest in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will be living in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and live in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Remember that new commandment I gave you: love one another just as I have loved you. (John 15:1-11)

Our first reading already provides immediate answers, then raises more questions.

It answers the question: "How can we cultivate good fruit?" The answer, repeated more than once: Abide/Remain/Stay/Dwell/Make yourself at home in Jesus. Now, like most journeys of discovery, finding one answer satisfies briefly, and then raises more questions. Like, what does it mean to "abide" in Jesus? (And why is the word journeys not spelled journies?)

Some other questions that come up for me:

• Who do the three kinds of branches refer to? (That is, those in the vine who do not bear fruit, those in the vine who do bear fruit, and those who are not in the vine.)

• What does God's "pruning" look like in our lives?

• And, what is the fire that the last group of people - the dead and dry branches - are thrown into?

So let's move forward and look for answers, raise more questions, look for more answers, repeat. (Discipleship never ends. If our destination is Christ-likeness, we are both already there and we never fully arrive in this life.)

The first thing I want to remind myself of is what Jesus says in verse 11 - Jesus says that he is telling us this whole fruit and vine and branches business, not to saddle us with duty-driven drudgery, but to lead us into pure joy. Amazingly, Jesus gives us our hermeneutical key, our decoding ring if you will, for this passage: JOY. So this is our interpretive rule of thumb: if this teaching is not leading us toward complete joy, we are reading it wrong. The word for "complete" here (Greek, plēróō) means to fill up to capacity. It is used in Matthew 5:17 when Jesus says he came to "fulfill" (that is, fill-full) the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus fills the Bible with its true meaning. And through this teaching Jesus wants to fill us up to our full capacity with pure joy.

Joy is the juice of the vine.

Now, let's look at seven questions (because every Christian numbered list needs to number seven):

1. Who are the three groups of people/branches?

2. How does God hold and help fruitless branches?

3. How does God prune and purify fruitful branches?

4. What is the fire that the dead and dry branches are thrown into?

5. How can we "remain" or "abide" or "make ourselves at home" in Christ?

6. What kind of "fruit" can we anticipate?

7. Why should this teaching lead to our joy?

FIRST: Who are the three groups of people/branches?

Jesus says he is the vine and we are the branches. Note: the branches of a vine are not a separate thing to the vine, but are actually part of the vine. This is similar to the imagery of Jesus being the head of the body, the Church, and each of us being distinct parts of that body. The idea of a vine and branches is an intimate image.

More than this, Jesus doesn't just say he is "a" vine, but "the" vine, and even the "true" vine. This would have been shockingly irreligious within his first-century Jewish context. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Israel is the vine or vineyard of God (e.g., Psalm 80:8-16, Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15:2; 17:5-10; Hosea 10:1). The historian Josephus records that in the Jerusalem temple a golden grapevine was part of the architecture of the sanctuary, representing Israel deriving their life from God.

Zoom in on this replica of the Jerusalem temple to see the golden grapevine representing Israel.

We have already learned in John's Gospel that Jesus is God's Word, God's truth, God's bread from heaven to nourish us, the light of the world, the gate we walk through to enter the kingdom, the good shepherd who takes care of his sheep, the resurrection and the life, and the only way to the Father. Now Jesus casts himself in the role of Israel, bringing their story to completion. Jesus is the reality of which the Old Covenant is a mere shadow (Colossians 2:17). Jesus essentially gathers up all the Old Covenant Israel imagery and says: "That's the trailer. I'm the main feature." And he is inviting us all to enter into this new and better story.

Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ~ JESUS (Matthew 5:17)

And in this story of fulfillment, Jesus says there are three kinds of branches:

a. Those who are in the vine who do not bear fruit. (They are lifted up.)

b. Those who are in the vine who do bear fruit. (They are cleaned up.)

c. Those who are detached, dry, dead, and fit for the fire. (They are burned up.)

(Note: Some theologians believe there are really just two groups, and the first and third group are the same people. I don't find that idea convincing.)

SECOND: How does God hold and help and heal fruitless branches?

"Hold and help" is my targum (a paraphrase with embedded commentary) of the Greek verb airó, which literally means to raise up, to lift up, to take up.

This word could mean to "lift up" something in order to throw it away (like when Jesus' enemies "picked up" stones to throw at him in John 8:59 or when Paul says God has "taken up" our sin to remove it in Colossians 2:14). Most English translations go this route in John 15. But this same word can also mean to "lift up" something to keep with you, to hold onto (like when Jesus tells a man to "take up" your mat and walk in Matthew 9:6, or when Jesus says that we must "take up" our cross and follow him in Matthew 16:24). We need the context to help us figure out the best meaning.

So Jesus could be saying that God will "lift up" fruitless branches to remove them - that is possible. But the context suggests that God will "lift up" these weaker branches to prop them up, giving them a better chance to produce fruit.

In ancient times, a fruit farmer would walk through the vineyard and lift any branches that had drooped to the ground, cleaning the mud off so they could get sun and air and become fruitful again.

This interpretation fits best with what we know about Jesus from other passages. Jesus abounds in caring patience, especially for those who are struggling. He will not break an already bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick (Matthew 12:12).

This understanding would be encouraging to Peter, whose fruit would become suspect through his betrayal of Jesus. Imagine Peter hearing this shortly after Jesus has told him to his face that he will deny him three times (John 13:38). We know Peter responded with bravado and protest, but probably also with secret fear. So, with that chilling prediction still hanging in the air, Jesus plants a seed of grace before the failure, a lifeline thrown to him before he even starts to drown.

Then, picture Peter after the rooster crows, crushed by his failure. The memory of this teaching - about a farmer who doesn't immediately discard but lifts up the struggling branch - would have been the very promise he needed to cling to life and hope of restoration. For Peter, this teaching functions as a preemptive grace, ready for him when he needed it most.

We all have times when our fruit fails, rots, or goes sour, and in those times we need to know that God will lift us up to give us a second chance and a fresh start. For people like Peter (and me!), this isn't just good theology, it's life support.

And yes, perhaps God will eventually do both - first helping us grow when we fail, giving us second chances and fresh starts, but if we refuse or ignore his help, he may eventually remove us from the vine. In the words of Jesus:

A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ~ JESUS (Luke 13:6-9)

THIRD: How does God prune and purify fruitful branches?

Behind the words for pruning, purifying, and cleansing lies the same Greek word (katharos). This is the word for the "pure" in heart (Matthew 5:8) and for Jesus telling his disciples that they are already "clean" (John 13:11; 15:3). In the context of gardening, to clean or purify a branch means to prune it.

Jesus says that his teaching, his words, will cleanse us. But even pure in heart people will need a foot washing every so often. That explains why, in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the pure in heart" is right next to "Blessed are the merciful" - because even the pure ones will need mercy sometimes.

Again, this teaching may have been at work within Peter to remind him of his cleansing and calling after he repeatedly denied Jesus and was confronted by his own failure. He needed the equivalent of a new foot washing for his sullied soul, but he didn't need to be saved all over again.

How does God prune/purify/cleanse us today? Sometimes it takes a rooster crowing to snap us out of our reflexive and habitual patterns. Sometimes the rooster that crows for us may come through a compassionate confrontation from those who know and love us, a la Matthew 18. At other times, God's gardening sheers might look more like a difficult diagnosis, relational pain, financial strife, persecution and mockery, or seasons of spiritual poverty, darkness, and doubt.

Sometimes a thorough pruning might entail God exposing our sin so we have an opportunity to repent and receive forgiveness. (Not that I would know anything about that.)

A freshly pruned tree might look fruitless, but it has been cut back for a season so it will produce more fruit in the future. A good reminder not to judge others.

A fruitful branch in Christ will produce even more fruit with God's help when they go through challenging times.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. ~ James the brother of Jesus (James 1:2-4)

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ~ The apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:10)

FOURTH: What is the fire that the dead and dry branches are thrown into?

It is possible that this fire is the fire of final judgement, that is, hell. Then we must ask what vision of hell is most biblical: eternal conscious torment, the destruction of the soul, or a refining fire that fits us for heaven? That discussion takes us beyond our study here (but ask me another time to remind you of the "rock-paper-scissors" theories).

This is also a good time to remind ourselves that regarding hell, we are on a "need to know" basis, and we don't need to know. If we are focusing on abiding in the vine, we don't need to fixate on the destiny of those who don't. It's just none of our business.

Another possibility is that these fires are God's judgement in this life. When we fail to make ourselves at home in Jesus and to welcome him into every aspect of our lives, we are orchestrating our own spiritual decline. Eventually, the life we have will become deadened and dried out. At this point, God's discipline is the form his love takes.

The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. (Hebrews 12:6; see 7-12)

Whether in this life or after death, this fire of divine judgement may be designed to burn away what is dead in order to save a soul, not condemn it. The apostle Paul writes about a refining fire:

If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)

One last thought on verse 6 and being gathered together and thrown into the fire. God is not mentioned. When it comes to God's intimate involvement in pruning or lifting up those branches that need it, God the gardener is declared to be actively involved. For this judgement verse, the wording avoids mentioning God, even by pronoun. This is an agentless plural (they are gathered, they are thrown) or what's called a "divine passive". It is deliberate distancing. Jesus (through John) is using language to remove any image of God as a mere punisher rather than primarily a loving parent or caring gardener.

Sometimes we learn mostly from what Jesus says. And sometimes we can learn just as much from what Jesus doesn't say.

FIFTH: How can we "remain" or "abide" or "make ourselves at home" in Christ?

Now we arrive at the practical application of this passage. And we are asking the right question. Notice: Jesus never tells his disciples to bear fruit; he tells us to remain in the vine.

The Greek word used here for abiding is menó, which means to stay or remain in one place, usually as a response to someone's hospitality. In English, we might tell someone to "put your feet up" or "make yourself at home". This idea is central to the chapter and the word occurs 11 times in our passage alone. Jesus doesn't want us to drop by for an occasional visit; he wants us to move in.

Jesus' point for his followers and friends is that we have one job: make ourselves at home in him. This image implies a constant, moment-by-moment, life-drawing dependence. But he doesn't go the next step and give us what we Westerners want - a "how to" list. Ten Steps to a Better You; Three Ways to Abide in Christ; Five Easy Steps to Blooming Where You're Planted; etc.

We moderns love lists. Ancient Jews, not so much. And I have to believe, if Jesus doesn't give us specific directions on how to do this, then he trusts us to figure that bit out. God isn't going to do all the thinking for us. After all, we are made in his image and likeness, and we should be able to contribute to our own learning.

Having said that, there are some clues in this passage and other places in the Bible that can help us answer this question.

A. MAKE A CHOICE TO FOCUS ON AND FOLLOW JESUS.

Jesus makes himself the vine, the one we want to make ourselves at home in; not God in general or the Holy Spirit as an esoteric and ephemeral supernatural mist. Jesus says we are to abide in him specifically.

One way we abide in Christ is to make abiding in Christ, and only Christ, our singular spiritual goal. Jesus has already said that he is the only Way to God, Truth of God, and Life in God (John 14:6). And in this passage he continues to make himself the centre of his message - the word "I" (Greek, egó) is used 44 times in this one chapter.

Jesus is not a generalist, saying we should abide in "truth" wherever we find it or love however it manifests. Yes, we should appreciate truth wherever we find it, but our goal is to make ourselves at home in one home only, and that home is Jesus.

We cannot "abide" in Christ, that is, make Christ our home, if we are simultaneously staying in other houses. Saying "I follow Jesus, but I also follow Buddha" is kinda the opposite of making our home in Christ. Christians can and should always learn from other religions and philosophies, yes, but we do so not from some place of uncommitted, untethered, interreligious neutrality that attempts to hover above any and all singular commitment to any one way.

Jesus does not say, "When you're couch surfing for a spiritual rest, do make my life and teachings one of your stopovers. Jesus is not "a" vine, he is "the" vine from which we draw our life.

B. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN JESUS' TEACHING.

Jesus says that his words, his teaching, is one of the ways we abide in him. In verse 7, Jesus links abiding in Christ with having his words (Greek, rhéma) abide in us. This coheres with what Jesus says earlier in John's Gospel:

If you make your home (Greek, menó) in my teaching/ideas/words (Greek, logos), you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. ~ JESUS (John 8:31-32)

Our job is to find ways to immerse our minds in the thoughts of Jesus.

Return to the teachings of Jesus regularly (usually through reading or listening), meditate on them often, pray through them daily, and talk about them with others as much as possible.

When God gave the Torah to Israel, he gave them ideas of how to immerse themselves in the Torah. These ideas can help us apply the same strategy to learning and loving the teaching of Jesus:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. ~ Moses (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Let's break this down:

• Teach them: Pass them on to the next generation. And know that nothing helps us learn better than teaching what we're learning to others (it's called the Protégé Effect). If your children are grown, find other opportunities to teach, including grandkids, church children's ministries, or simply other younger believers who want to learn.

• Talk about them: Make understanding and applying the teachings of Jesus a normal part of daily discussion. When facing any dilemma, when seeking or being sought after for advice, make it normal to ask: "Has Jesus anything to say about this?" It should be normal to hear us say things like "That reminds me of a story Jesus told" or "That makes me think of something Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount" etc. To do this we need to abide with other branches that are abiding in the vine. All of the pronouns referring to disciples/branches are plural in this passage - we are meant to do this together.

• Tie them: Find ways to express the centrality of Jesus' teaching through symbol. Art, music, crumpled pieces of paper in our pockets that remind us of a line from Jesus - they all can help our creative brains absorb and respond to Jesus' teaching.

• Write them: Write out the teachings of Jesus. Instead of journaling only our own thoughts, try journaling Jesus' thoughts in your own words. Make it a project to write your way through the Sermon on the Mount in your own targum (a paraphrase with your own understanding and commentary included). This idea of writing out Jesus' words would include having and reading our own Bibles, who have now been written and preserved for us today.

• To this we could add that the whole passage in Deuteronomy begins with the call to love God with all that we've got, and Jesus adjusts this ultimate command to become his "new command": love others the way he loves us (John 13:34-35). He repeats this Platinum Principle a couple of times in our chapter (John 15:12 & 17). So, especially when we focus on loving others the way Jesus has loved us, we will bear good fruit.

C. LIVE OUT WHAT YOU LEARN.

In verse 12, Jesus says if we keep his commandments we will abide in his love. There it is - our job is to choose Jesus, learn from Jesus, and live what we learn. When we do that, we are making ourselves at home in Christ's love.

We will never do this perfectly, but that shouldn't stop us from doing it. We humans don't do anything perfectly - we will always need pruning or propping up - but that shouldn't stop us from doing what we can.

Notice that although Jesus tells us to obey his commandments, plural, in verse 10, he then boils it all down to just one command in verse 12 (and repeated in verse 17): love one another the same way Jesus loves us. That is the Platinum Principle, and for Jesus, that is everything.

These ideas are not exhaustive, but they are a pretty great start.

Do you have some other ideas of what helps you remain close to Jesus? Please share any ideas you have in the comments - how do you "abide" in Christ?

SIXTH: What kind of "fruit" can we anticipate?

Because we will cover this in depth in our next study - "SM #45: Wolves in Wool" - I will simply direct you there for a fuller answer to this question. For now, we should observe that Jesus here is stressing love as the ultimate fruit that he wants to produce in us.

We should also note some things that are NOT the fruit of the Spirit: judgementalism, legalism, anger, outrage, pride, divisiveness, unforgiveness, moral laxity, or moral perfection.

Things that make you say "Hmmmmm..."

SEVENTH: Why should this teaching lead to our joy?

If Jesus is right and we are all made to live in the love of God, to breathe in and out the love of Christ, then the way of living that Jesus holds out for us will give us a sense of really becoming and being our true selves. And when we see the changes over time, when we see ourselves becoming more filled with grace, mercy, and peace, our souls will smile.

So, friends, let's make "Jesus" our home address.