What is Jesus called here? What is His Father?
What gets taken away? What gets pruned? Why?
Why are His disciples already clean?
Where does Jesus want us to abide? Where will He abide?
Where does a branch have to be to bear fruit?
If Jesus is the vine, what are we?
What will happen to those who abide in Him?
What can we do without Him?
What will happen with those who do not abide in Him? Why?
What else can abide in us if we abide in Him?
Then, what will happen if we ask for what we desire? Why?
How does Jesus love us?
How will we abide in Jesus’ love?
Why has Jesus spoken these things to us?
What is Jesus’ commandment?
What is the ultimate love?
How do we become Jesus’ friends?
What does Jesus call us? Why?
What is the difference between a servant and a friend?
Who chose who? What did Jesus appoint us to do?
What does Jesus command us to do?
What do we know if the world hates us?
What would make the world love us? Why does the world hate us?
What are some other things that if they did to Jesus that the would also do to us? Why do they do these things?
Why do they have no excuse for their sin?
When someone hates Jesus, who else do they also hate?
What would have happened if Jesus had not done these unusual works? But what is the case now?
Why did these things happen this way?
How does Jesus describe the Helper? What will He do when He arrives?
What will the disciples do? Why?

Thought Questions

What do you think it means for God to prune someone? Do you feel like you have been pruned? How? Is that a good thing? What happens when God prunes you? (see verse 2 for your answer)
How does Jesus’ word make us clean?
How does a person abide in Jesus? Does verse 3, 7 or 10 help you to answer that question? What does abiding in Jesus mean in your personal life, in a practical way?
What are some practical results in your life of abiding in Jesus (fruit bearing)?
What are some of the things you desire? Has God given them to you? Why or why not?
Read verse 7-8 again. Is pruning the only way that we can bear more fruit? How else (from those verses) can we bear much fruit and glorify God? What does this teach us about our relationship with Him, and His relationship with us?
Does Jesus love us? How? What are some examples of ways the Father showed His love to Jesus? How does that translate to how Jesus shows His love to us?
Does verse 10 and 14 sound legalistic to you? Does it fit in with how you generally think of Jesus and our relationship with Him? How can you apply this truth? What does it tell you about how important His commandments are to our relationship with Him?
What are Jesus’ commandments? Are they the same as God’s commandments (in the Old Testament)? Why are they that important?
According to verse 11, what are the results of keeping God’s commandments? Do you believe this? Have you experienced this?
Read John 14:15, 21, and John 15:10, 14. Is there any question that we should keep God’s commandments?
How would you feel if a friend told you what Jesus said in verse 10? But why is Jesus different from your other friends? Might we be stuck in a joyless view of God’s commands?
In verse 14, Jesus tells us to do what He commands, then in verse 15 He tells us we are not servants. Is this a contradiction? How does this shape your view of God’s commandments, and His friendship?
Does verse 16 mean that we don’t have a choice, or that we do have a choice but didn’t choose Him? On this earth, what’s keeping us from truly choosing Christ?
What does Jesus’ commandment to “love one another” entail? Does it mean that the rest of God’s commandments aren’t important? How do they link together? By keeping the Ten Commandments, can we fulfill Jesus’ commandment to love one another, or are they separate?
Does the world hate you? Why or why not? Do you feel like it should, or not? For example, is there something you are afraid to do or proclaim because you are afraid that the world will hate you if you do?
Read verse 22 again. What do you think will happen to people in remote areas of the world who have never heard Jesus’ words? How do you think God will judge them?
How have you observed the Holy Spirit testifying of Christ?
How can you also testify of Him?

My prayer is:
that I would allow Jesus to prune me so that I may bear fruit;
that I would understand that following God’s commandments and loving others deepens my relationship with Him;
and that I would be prepared to be hated by the world, just as it hated Christ, if I am truly on His side.