The Vine and The Branches, John 15:1-8

John 15:1-8 New International Version (NIV)

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing"

I am the vine you are the branches!

These words are thought to have been uttered by Jesus after the last supper, when he and his disciples were on the way to the garden of Gethsemane. And perhaps, as they walked by a vineyard he used this image to teach them…Here are a few things for our meditation

1.      Jesus speaks of himself- 

I am the true vine- this is the last of similar statements by Jesus, where he appropriates to himself designations previously used of God-  God speaks to Moses in a burning shrub in one of the earliest theophanies in Scripture and there when asked for his name …he answers I am who I am ,or I am who I will be…!

Here are the words of Jesus in the gospel of John

1.  Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” (6:35). “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

2. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

3.  Jesus says, “I am the door” (10:9). “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).

4. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd” “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

5. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”.. “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

6. Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

7. Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (15:1). “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15: 1, 5).

These are words, that are impossible to accept from any human teacher, from another mere mortal…but from the lips of Jesus they reminds of his oneness with the father, his dwelling with the father in eternity past, his voice bringing creation into existence and the reality that in Christ..God is with us!

I find it interesting that he speaks of himself as the true vine… considering that throughout the Hebrew tradition the imagery of a grapevine is used to describe Israel in its relationship to God.

Psalm 80 in your morning prayers. "You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land."

Or the words of Hosea who said that "Israel was a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit" (10:1). Hosea

Isaiah: " . . . my beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill . . . He expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes" (5:1-2).

"I planted you as a choice vine, from the purest stock. How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?" (Jeremiah 2:21)

A people planted by God, a nation belonging to God and cared for by him…Jesus makes it about himself…belonging to God’s people, being part of  the special treasure that belongs to God is not associated with belonging to a particular nation, or group, but being part of , united to , connected to Christ…

  2.      Jesus speaks to us about God…

My father is the vine grower!  Imagine that God is a gardener, a farmer in this lesson!

Turning to Genesis 2, the story of the Garden of Eden, we find an astonishing image of God: the depiction of God as a gardener. 

Norman Wirzba

 “,,,At the very start of our introduction to God, we see God the gardener of the world. God is the first, the best, the essential and the eternal gardener. The day God ceases to garden is also the day we all perish. I have never heard a preacher say that, but it is true…”So, hear it again: God the Gardener...."

We all love flowers….fake flowers…not the same! We love fresh herbs and vegetables…! All here know that it takes time and effort, that we can not just throw the seeds and casually water…WE MUST BE INVOLVED IN THE CARE OF THE PLANT…!!!!  Jesus speaks of the Father in just that way…A GOD who gets his hands dirty who cleans and prunes the vine...his church, our lives, the world.

He lifts up or cuts the unfruitful branches, He prunes and cleans the branches.

This idea fills me with joy! I am not alone in the building up of  my spiritual life,, or the church or the world, the Father is at work at cleaning , pruning and making sure there is vitality in our lives and the Church.  God is intimately involved in our lives, he cares for us, makes sure we have what it takes to thrive…but it also means that he prunes, which fills me with a bit of fear!! He cuts off things that grow in my life and yours that can drown out the fruit, things that do not belong, that grow too much or the wrong way!  Sometimes things I like or would rather keep!

We get a similar idea of being corrected or instructed, pruned in these other verses of Scripture:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16).

And this beauty from the book of Hebrews speaking about our parenting...

"..They disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it..." (Hebrews 12:10–11 ESV) 

God uses his word, he convicts us by his Holy Spirit,  he uses circumstances and even people, to help us grow in a healthy manner, to prune or correct what would hinder us , what we do not need! 

3.    Jesus speaks to us about ourselves…

A.    We are the branches

1. We have been cleaned by the word he has spoken that is good news!!!!  

2. We abide in Christ  we stay connected to Christ- He gives us the promise he will abide in us…he will stay connected to us, as we to him! We are on our own, the source of life, nourishment and growth abides in us giving what we need for a healthy spiritual life. Here are just two simple suggestions from the gospel of John, that help us in that abiding, in remaining always connected to Christ.

John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love! 

John 6:56 "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them:

3.      We bear much fruit!

Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She wrote,  “Now how does a branch bear fruit? Not by incessant effort for sunshine and air; not by vain struggles for those life-giving influences which give beauty to the blossom, and greenness to the leaf;—it simply abides in the vine, in silent and undisturbed union; and the fruit and blossoms appear as of spontaneous growth. “How, then, shall a Christian bear fruit? By efforts and struggles to obtain that which is freely given; No, there must be a full concentration of the thoughts and affections on Christ; a complete surrender of the whole being to him; a constant looking to him for grace.”

May it be so in us

Blessings

Seraph