You Are Clean Branches / Abide in Me

John 15:3-4 – “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you: The work of pruning and cleansing had already begun in the eleven disciples to whom Jesus spoke. They had heard and received much of His teaching and were in some sense already clean because of the word.

In saying “you are already clean,” Jesus repeated an idea from earlier in the Gospel of John: that there is an initial cleansing for believers, and then a continuing cleansing (John 13:10).

The word of God is a cleansing agent. It condemns sin, it inspires holiness, it promotes growth, and it reveals power for victory. Jesus continues to wash His people through the word (Ephesians 5:26).

Abide in Me, and I in You: Jesus emphasized a mutual relationship. It isn’t only that the disciple abides in the Master; the Master also abides in the disciple. Something of this close relationship is described in Song of Solomon 6:3: “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”

Jesus used this picture to assure His disciples of continued connection and relationship, even though He was about to depart from them. Yet He spoke this in a way that also indicated an aspect of choice on their part. Abiding was something they must choose.

James Montgomery Boice writes, “When our Lord says, 'Abide in Me,' He is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to Him and keep ourselves in contact with Him. This is what it means to abide in Him.”

The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine: It is impossible for the branch to bear grapes if it isn’t connected to the vine. The disciple can’t do true good for God and His kingdom without consciously connecting with and abiding in Jesus.

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.