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""I am the vine, ye are the branches: Of all the teachings of Jesus, this is certainly one of the most profound. Jesus says His father is the vine grower. Jesus Himself is the vine and we are the branches and that we must abide in Him. Why a vine? Surely there are more magnificent plants than a grapevine. The Book of Psalms is full of references to the cedars of Lebanon which is an image of might and power. Why a vine and not an ancient oak tree or a cedar of Lebanon? Vineyards have often been used symbolically in the scriptures. In the book of John, the Savior used the grapevine as a metaphor to explain the nature of His relationship with those who would be His disciples. In this allegory are two important principles: 1) We must be grounded in Christ. If we are not, we will not be fruitful. If our lives are not in harmony with the teachings of the Savior, it is no more likely that we will bear good fruit than that a branch cut off from a vine will bear fruit. 2) Even when we are living righteously, we still need the husbandman, who knows us so completely and see beyond what we see, so that He can purge, or prune and purify, us . While at times this pruning may seem hard to bear, it is only through this process that we will become more fruitful. Visualize a grapevine. The branches twist and turn and are intertwined with themselves so that you cannot tell one leaf from another. The main trunk of the vine, when full of leaves, is invisible and even the vine itself hard to see. The entwined branches receive their sustenance from the main vine and the root gives of itself to the vine. Pruning Symbolism of the Vineyard and the Vine Our pruning comes in a variety of ways. We may develop an illness or physical limitation. We may find that our expectations are not fulfilled . We may find sorrow in relationships or experience personal loss. Yet what initially might seem to be a sad event can help us grow if it causes us to rely more on the Lord and to rethink our priorities. Such difficult experiences can make us more fruitful, or more like the Savior— our true vine. Firmly Rooted In Christ We can expect that we will be pruned throughout our lives. How wonderful it is to know that an all-wise Holy Father is watching over our development and that He is nurturing us through His careful husbandry. If we seek to achieve our full potential, let us daily think of Christ and emulate His example until we become firmly rooted to Him, the True Vine. The word "united" (other versions) and ("planted" in the King James) in Romans 6:5 draws our attention the the word "united" (translated in some version) "planted" (in the King James) because the word is elsewhere translated "grafted" or "engrafted." Grapes are an important part of early Hebrew culture, and the tablelands and hills in the Holy Land provided an ideal place for grapevine cultivation. The land was groomed, the vines were planted along the hillsides. The vines were cultivated and pruned so that they would yield as much fruit as possible. Pruning is probably the most important part of growing grapes. Branches not producing fruit are cut off. When a vine’s main branch reaches a certain size, it is cut back by taking off the tip to force the development of side shoots. Such pruning and shaping halt the growth at the tip of the branch and send nourishment into the new branches. Then, as these side branches develop, each produces as much fruit as the single vine had produced. The sturdy center stalk of the vine, rotted deep in the soil, provides the nourishment to all of these long, fruit-bearing spurs. In John 15, Christ describes Himself as a vine, and we are its branches. In Romans 9, Paul compares converted Israelites to natural branches and Gentiles as unnatural branches grafted into the same vine. Union (planted, grafted or engrafted) is achieved with all sharing a part. All are receiving of the same source, and all are striving to produce the same fruit. When a new graft is placed in a vine and it abides there, there is a twofold process that takes place. The first is in the wood. The graft shoots its little roots and fibers down into the stem, and the stem grows up into the graft, and what has been called the structural union is effected. The graft abides and becomes one with the vine, and even though the vine were to die, would still be one wood with it. Then there is the second process, in which the sap of the vine enters the new structure, and uses it as a passage through which sap can flow up to show itself in young shoots and leaves and fruit. Here is the vital union. Into the graft which abides in the stock, the stock enters with sap to abide in it. When our Lord says: "Abide in me, and I in you," He points to something analogous to this. "Abide in me": that refers more to that which we have to do. We have to trust and obey, to detach ourselves from all else, to reach out after Him and cling to Him, to sink ourselves into Him. As we do this, through the grace He gives, a character is formed, and a heart prepared for the fuller experience: "I in you," God strengthens us with might by the Spirit in the inner man, and Christ dwells in the heart by faith. Abide in Me, and I in You - John 15:4 Jesus uses this powerful metaphor just before He gives us the commandment to love one another to show that we are not only dependent upon Him, but upon one another. There is another aspect of the grapevine metaphor that is important to note. As your visualization of a grapevine might suggest, there is not one branch that is more prominent or important than another. No branch seems to have pride of place. No branch has precedence or privilege over the others. This suggests a radical model of the church that is not hierarchical, but rather is flat and democratic. The only quality that gives a branch any importance is whether or not it bears fruit. If it does not, it is cut away and burned. But all the healthy, fruit-bearing vines are without status or rank. All are the same before God. Finally, there is the quality of anonymity in the grapevine metaphor.
Whereas Paul in 1 Corinthians talks about the body of Christ with
a head and hands and feet and other faculties, each with its own
individual contribution to the whole, the grapevine metaphor in
John eliminates any celebration of individual gifts. This, too,
challenges our societal views. If we could live truly and completely
into Christ's commandment to love one another as He loves us, then
those things that separate us one from another would dissolve and
disappear and the Christian community's distinctiveness would emanate
only from its relationship to Christ. The primary principle of the Parable of the True Vine is that of ABIDING within the Anointed One, Jesus Christ. Chosen to Bear Fruit This famous passage of scripture is very important to us because it deals with the fundamentals of Christianity: Why are we Christians? Why has God chosen us to be Christians? Why has God given us of His Spirit? Is it just so that we can go to heaven? No, that is important, but there is far more to being a Christian than that. In verse 16, Jesus said that we have not chosen Him, but He has chosen us and has appointed us to go and bear fruit for the Father. The Greek word translated 'appoint' means 'to put, or to place someone in a particular position'. Jesus has chosen us and placed us in our position, as Christians, so that we can bear fruit for the Father. God expects us to bear fruit for Him. The true vine 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman (v1).' The Greek word translated 'true' in that sentence means 'real; actual; not counterfeit, but genuine'. Jesus said: I am the real; the true; the actual; the genuine vine. There are many counterfeit vines in this world that we can attach ourselves to whose teachings many people cling to—but there is only one 'true' vine who will enable us to bear fruit for God, and that vine is Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated 'true' in this passage comes from the same Greek word translated 'truth' in John 14:6. Jesus answered, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through me.' Not only is Jesus the truth, but He is also the true vine; the real vine; the genuine vine; and our Father is the husbandman . God is the "husbandman" Jesus Christ is the true vine and the branches are believers (Christians). The word "husbandman" was used by Jesus Christ as an analogy for God's management of the good, and the evil (see and compare the parable of the Tenants in (Matthew 21:33-43 KJV). James compared awaiting The Return Of Jesus Christ to a husbandman awaiting the development and harvest of his crops:
Fruitless Branches 'Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (v2).' The Greek word translated 'cuts off' in that sentence means 'to take away or to remove'. Jesus said that His Father will take away, or remove, every branch in him that does not bear fruit. Please note that these are branches that are in Christ.
Some! Christians believe that Jesus meant people who merely profess
Christianity and are not true believers, but that was not what
He said. Jesus said, 'every branch in me that bears no fruit'.
These are people who are in Jesus and who know Jesus. Christians
must bear fruit for the Father.
'It came up, grew and produced a crop multiplying [phero] thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.' (Mark 4:8) By using the same Greek word in both parables, the Bible is showing us that producing a crop in Mark 4 and bearing fruit in John 15, are one and the same thing. Jesus said that every branch in him that does bear fruit the Father "purgeth"—Greek: 'to clean off; to cleanse from filth; to make clean; to purge; to remove defilement or imperfections'. So the pruning Jesus spoke about in John 15 has to to do with cleaning us up; purifying us; removing imperfections from our lives and things that defile us. 'What comes out of a man is what makes him "unclean".
For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness,
envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside
and make a man "unclean".' Sin has its origin in the human heart, and we need to have our hearts cleansed if we're going to live godly lives; if we're going to be even more fruitful for the Father. Cleansing through the Word 'Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (v3).' Jesus had already cleansed His disciples by the Word He had spoken
to them. God uses His Word to clean and purify our hearts as the
following scripture shows: As Christians, it is imperative that we read and study the Word of God so that the Lord can do this vital work of cleansing in our lives. Abide (remain) in Jesus 'Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.(v4).' Jesus wouldn't tell us to abide in Him if it was impossible for us not to remain in Him. The wording of that sentence implies a condition: that if we remain in Jesus, He will remain in us. The converse must also be true: that if we do not remain in Jesus, He will not remain in us. The Greek word translated 'remain' there also means 'to abide and to dwell'. Jesus abides with us and dwells in us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit Many believe that God would never take His Spirit from a believer no matter what sort of life they lived, but I question that belief. After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband he prayed: 'Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.' (Psalm 51:11) We are told to abide (remain) in Jesus and then He will abide (remain) and dwell in us. "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing (v5).' . We can do nothing that will bless our Father in heaven, unless Jesus Christ lives His life in us. Discarded branches 'If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.(v6).' Jesus said at the beginning of this passage that He is the true vine and His Father is the husbandman. A vine grower, grows a vine for one purpose only: to gather fruit from it, because the wood of a vine is useless; it is only useful for burning in the fire (Ezekiel 15:1–6). In Jesus' day a fruit grower would not tolerate a barren fruit tree — it would be a waste of space. He would cut it down, burn it, and plant another. This fact was referred to, and given spiritual significance by Jesus in Luke 13:6–9. Then Jesus told this parable: 'A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to
look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man
who took care of the vineyard: "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" ' "Sir," the man replied, "leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig round it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down." ' And by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7–10. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from
the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And
do not think you can say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father. " I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.' If we do not remain in Jesus we will not bear fruit and, like withered branches, will be discarded and burned. A Divine Promise 'If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (v7).' A further condition to us remaining in Jesus, is that His words remain in us. Obedience to God's Word is essential for us to remain in Christ. If we do remain in Him and allow His words to cleanse us and refine us, we can ask for whatever we wish and it will be given us. That is what Jesus said, but why is it true? Primarily because the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16). Jesus' prayers were always answered. And one of the reasons His prayers were answered, was that He always did what was pleasing and according the will of His Father in heaven (John 8:29). And, as Jesus' disciples, and God's children (John 1:12), the blessing of answered prayer can be ours as well. Glorifying the Father 'Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.(v8).' Every disciple of Jesus who remains in Him, and allows His words to remain in them, will bear much fruit and will bring glory to the Father. Our desire is that our Father in heaven be glorified on earth, as we, disciples of Jesus, bear much fruit in our lives, then our Father will be glorified! To glorify someone means to recognize them as being awesome, holy, or reverenced. If we allow Jesus to live His life in us, then our Father in heaven will be revered on earth as being awesome, holy, and reverenced — in other words, He will be glorified in, and through, us. This is how we show the world, and the Father, that we are true disciples of Jesus. Abide in His love 'As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (v9–11).' As the Father loves Jesus, so Jesus loves us. Jesus said that if we obey His commandments we will remain in His love, just as He obeyed His Father's commandmentss and remained in His love. However, that promise is conditional. If we obey Jesus' commandments we will remain in His love. That means that the opposite is also true: that if we do not obey His commandments, we will not remain in His love. Some Christians believe that Jesus loves them no matter how they live or what they do. Jesus, however, said that He remained in His Father's love because He obeyed His Father's commandments. There is therefore, quite clearly, an area of Jesus' love that we cannot access unless we obey His commandments. The words of Jesus in this passage must be studied carefully so that we do not deceive ourselves. Jesus tells us these things so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete. Jesus wants us to have His joy. The Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), and that joy comes from the love of Christ that is poured into our hearts when we walk in obedience to Him and His Word. There can be no substitute for such love and joy in our lives. Amen Fruit That Will Last "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that
your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father
in my name, He may give it you. Jesus has chosen and appointed us to go and bear fruit for the Father — fruit that will remain. The fruit we will bear as Christ's life flows through us will therefore remain, it will endure, it will last, it will be permanent, because it has been produced by God. True fruit And now we come to the final point—the meaning of the word 'fruit' which is used so often in this passage. To understand the biblical meaning of the word 'fruit', we need to look at how it is used elsewhere in Scripture, and by far the most important reference to fruit in the New Testament is found in Galatians 5. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:19–23) When we remember that we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in Jesus, and that Jesus remains (or dwells) in us by His Spirit, then the meaning of the word 'fruit', as used in John 15, becomes clear to us — it is the 'fruit' of the Spirit. Christian Maturity Luke's account of the parable of the sower says that the seed that fell among thorns stands for those who are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures and do not mature (Luke 8:14). The Greek word translated 'mature' in that verse means 'to bring to perfection or ripeness'. That which a mature Christian brings perfection or ripeness are the fruits of the Spirit. is not measured by how many people we bring to Jesus, but rather by the quality of the fruit that we bear in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is the fruit that God
wants us to bear for Him. Such fruit takes time to grow and come
to perfection, and we can only produce such fruit as we allow Jesus
Christ to live His life in us.
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