John 15:1-15

II. The position of the Disciples in the world after the outpouring of the Spirit: 15:1-16:15.

Jesus had just promised to His own, in ch. 14, the twofold reunion, heavenly and earthly, in which the separation should issue, the thought of which was now so greatly troubling them. In ch. 15. He transports Himself in thought to the epoch when the earthly and purely internal reunion shall be consummated through His spiritual return. The glorified Christ has returned and lives in His own. They are united to Him, and, through Him, among themselves. Under His impulse they work all together, like the members of one and the same body, in the Father's work. Such is the new position with a view to which He now gives them the necessary directions, warnings and encouragements. They are like the branches which crown a fruitful vine and offer to the world its savory fruits. But the world, instead of blessing them, will take the axe to destroy this noble plant of heaven. Its hatred, however, will have no other effect than to display the divine force which will sustain them and by means of which they will overcome the world. Thus there are three principal ideas: 1. The new condition of the disciples after the return of Jesus through the Holy Spirit: John 15:1-17; John 2. The hostility of the world to this new society: John 15:18 to John 16:4; John 3. The spiritual victory which the Holy Spirit will gain over the world by their means: John 16:5-15. The three personages of this coming drama: the disciples, the world, the Holy Spirit. Each one of them is successively predominant in one of the three parts of the following discourse.