John 15 with Metaphysical Footnotes (ASV)

^15:1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. ^15:2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit,1 he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. ^15:3Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. ^15:4Abide in me,2 and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. ^15:5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit:3 for apart from me ye can do nothing. ^15:6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;4 and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ^15:7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.5 ^15:8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples. ^15:9Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love. ^15:10If ye keep my commandments,6 ye shall abide in my love;7 even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. ^15:11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

^15:12This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. ^15:13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.^15:14Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you. ^15:15No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends;8 for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you. ^15:16Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.9 ^15:17These things I command you, that ye may love one another.

1. true vine, husbandman, branch, fruit. Metaphysically stated, the Father is the God-Mind; Jesus is the individual incarnation of that Mind, here called the true vine. "Every branch in me" means the faculties of mind, and the "fruit" is the thought.
2. Abide in me. "Abiding in the Word" is a conscious centering of the Mind in the depths of one's being, thus keeping up connection with the Father within.
3. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit. The natural effect of "abiding in the Word" is to liberate the forces of one's Being through which perfection is attained, and to cease from external efforts.
4. and is withered. An unused faculty atrophies and withers away.
5. ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. In order to receive that which we ask, the I Am must be centered in the Realm of Ideas (Divine Mind) within, in faith and understanding.
6. If ye keep my commandments. Commanding, controlling and directing every thought according to the harmonious law of love to one another.
7. ye shall abide in my love. Love dissolves all negative, reactionary tendencies, and makes progress possible for us. Love also brings joy in its wake, and sets the mind and heart free to see and appreciate the good.
8. No longer do I call you servants ... but I have called you friends. Jesus knew definitely that henceforth the apostles were to do the works of Him that sent them. As co-workers with Him, He called them "friends." In all His ministry Jesus taught freedom of the individual. We are not "servants" but agents free to do as we will.
9. whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. The Father does not give things per se. The Father responds to our asking by imparting more of His qualities into us that result in our connection and acceptance of His divine ideas. Then these will take myriad channels or modes of expression to finalize at what we call the right answer, the desired blessing. Another meaning of asking in the name of Jesus Christ would be to align yourself with the givingness part of God's nature. Remember that God is givingness itself, or let us say that givingness itself is one of the divine ideas in God-Mind. It is a beautiful idea, givingness.—Ed Rabel

^15:18If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you. ^15:19If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.^15:20Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. ^15:21But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. ^15:22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. ^15:23He that hateth me hateth my Father also. ^15:24If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. ^15:25But this cometh to pass, that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. ^15:26But when the Comforter is come,1 whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: ^15:27and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

1. But when the Comforter is come. The Comforter or Holy Spirit is the law of God in action and when thought of in this way it appears to have personality. From this truth the Hebrews got their conception of the personal, tribal God. The functions ascribed to the Holy Comforter or Holy Spirit or Spirit of truth imply distinct personal subsistence: He is said to speak, search, select, reveal, reprove, testify, lead, comfort, distribute to every man, know the deep things of God, and He can be known by man only through his spiritual nature.