The point of Jesus’ allegory of the vine in John 15:1–17 is that Jesus will produce the fruit of love in his people. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that his people will experience love from all sides. While those in the household of God must seek to love one another, the reaction of the world to Christians will not be one of love. Quite the opposite, for the world will hate Christians precisely because Christians resemble Jesus.

Jesus, though, will not leave his disciples to fend for themselves. In John 15:18–16:4a, Jesus prepares his disciples for the hatred that they will face so that they will not be surprised by the violent reaction of the world—and so that they will not give up when the hatred of the world rages at its strongest. Beyond simply telling his disciples about what dangers they face, Jesus also tells more about the help that he will give them after his departure. Here we learn that Jesus sends his Spirit to keep us from falling away.