Remain In Me

Posted on by Japanese Congregational Church

John 15:1-8

Our text today follows from last week, where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet.

In these chapters, John 13-17, Jesus is giving final teachings and instructions to the disciples. He tells them

  • that they are to wash each others’ feet
  • that they are to love each other (as Jesus and the Father love each other)
  • that he will be leaving them, but will come again
  • that the Holy Spirit will be given to them… to remind, teach, and lead
  • He prays for his disciples….and for us, those that would become the church

And remember, these are some of the last words spoken to his disciples before he is arrested later that evening, and eventually killed the following day.

In this example that Jesus gives, God is the vine grower, Jesus represents the main vine (“true vine”), and the disciples (that’s us!) are the many branches that are connected to the vine.

This is an invitation to relationship / connectedness

  • In these short verses, Jesus uses the word “remain” 8 times to represent this connectedness.
  • There is no such thing as a solo Christian
  • No possibility of “Just me and Jesus” / a merely private faith
  • When you are connected to the true vine – Christ – you are connected to all other believers.
  • If you ARE alone…. there’s NO fruit – nothing can be done. (verse 5)
  • None of us are “self-made”. We are all nourished by our connection to Christ.
  • Not independent… or self-dependent – but interdependent.

Cutting and Pruning are necessary….and for our good!

  • In our analogy, God is the vine grower. He cuts and prunes the branches (that’s us!) that are all connected to the main vine (the “true vine”)
  • This relationship involves pruning and cutting… God shaping us…
  • Pruning also may involve pain and change…
  • Why prune? Because it all produces more fruitfulness.

There is no command to “bear fruit!”…. just to “remain in me”

  • The whole point of a vineyard is to bear fruit
  • When we prove our connectedness to Jesus by bearing fruit, the fruit will prove that we are his disciples, and it brings glory to God. (v.8)
  • And yet, there is NO command here to “bear fruit!”  Jesus simply says “remain in me” 
  • We are to focus on the connection, not the fruit. It’s easy for us to get confused….and to try to produce fruit….sometimes even focusing on our lack of  fruit. But Jesus says we need to focus on connection… remaining in Him.

(this outline is a summary of the message shared during our worship on April 6, 2025.)