Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

At the end of Chapter 14 Jesus says to His disciples “ Rise let us go from Here.

Jesus and His disciples have just left the upper room and they are headed towards the garden of Gethsemane.

And as they are walking Jesus continues His final discourse to these 11 men.

Many expositors of scripture believe that Jesus spoke the words of John 15 as they were walking past the temple in Jerusalem.

We know that on this night it was a full moon because it was the Passover -which always happened on the full moon.

The gates of the temple would have been open all night for the Sabath, and they would have been shining in the light of the moon.

These were special gates, in fact they were a tourist attraction because of their beauty.

These beautiful bronze Gates had been forged in Greece, then carried the 1700 miles to Jerusalem and placed at the entrance to Herod’s Temple.

And what made these gates so special was the Golden grape vine that was wrought into them.

This vine symbolized the nation of Israel’s relationship with God

And I believe that as Jesus passed this golden vine a shining in the full moons light He spoke the words of John 15. to this disciples.

Jesus is about to make his 7th and Final I am Statement in the Book of John.

Look with me at our text this morning

John 15:1-11““I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

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.

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

This wonderful picture that Jesus paints is about our relationship with Him as His followers,

This morning I want us to look at the four elements Of Jesus’s Story and see how they are intertwined together.

Transition: the first thing we must consider is the vine.

The Vine

Jesus says in verse one and then again in verse 5,

John 15:1 “ I AM THE TRUE VINE”

Think about what Jesus has just told these men.

All of their lives the vine has been a symbol of their Jewish religion- A symbol that reminds them the way to find God is through their religion.

A symbol that identifies them as part of the Jewish Faith.

And Jesus looks up at the temple - and points to the picture of the grape vine representing Israel and He says “ I AM the TRUE vine...”

Jesus is telling these men that Israel is not the true vine.

Israel is no longer your identity but I am,

i believe that Jesus is speaking here of the words in Isaiah 5

it tells a story about a vineyard planted with love and tended with care by the gardener.

But Instead of producing good grapes, the vineyard grew wild, and out of control and the grapes were inedible…

and at the end of the story the vineyard is identified as the nation of Israel.

Isreal was no longer walking with God they were not producing the fruit of God.

So now When Jesus calls himself the true vine, he’s making a contrast with the nation of Israel and Himself.

He is saying that Israel is not a true vine,

A true vine give the branches the nutrients they need to produce good fruit,

And Isreal does not give people the nutrients needed to grow and produce spiritual fruit.

In fact Israel as a religious nation has turned away from God and His righteousness.

Here’s the point Jesus is making to these disciples

: The path to God doesn’t go through the nation of Israel; it goes through Jesus.

In order for a non jew to become part of God’s family in the O.T.

He had to go through Israel, he had to become a Jew, and participate in the Jewish religious rituals.

But now Jesus tells these men - Isreal is no longer the vine that gives people spiritual life You don’t need to become a citizen of Israel to be right with God.

Jesus is saying “I am the ONLY true vine- I AM the Only the source of life, the Only giver of spiritual nutrients, and the Only one who will sustain the branches of my disciples and keep them for all eternity.

Transition: The second element we see in our text this morning is the Gardener.

The Gardener

John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:6-8 “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

When I was growing up our family rented a little plot of land so that we could plant our own 1/2 acre garden.

Every spring we would go out and work the land.

We would till up the dirt, and then we would plant one seed at a time , row after row until the entire garden was planted.

We would then run a hose from the creek ad begin to water the plants.

for the first couple of weeks, every day we would go back to the garden and give it a little more water and pull any weeds that might have crept up in the field.

After about a month the small plants started to emerge in beautiful rows running the length of the garden.

As the plants grew bigger and bigger ,We continued to water the plants and pull the weeds, But also had to prune some of the dead and dying limbs from the plants so that the stronger ones could grow and produce even better fruit.

and as the time came we would take each tomato plant and carefully begin to wrap its vines in and through a wire cage so that it could grow bigger and stronger so that it would be ready to produce good fruit.

Over the course of the summer we cared and nurtured those plants, which meant that we had to prune some of them, We needed to cut off the dead and dying limbs from the plants so that the stronger ones could grow and produce even better fruit.

and in the fall as the fruit and vegetables ripened we had the joy of harvesting the fruit that we had labored over all summer.

Who receives the glory and the pleasure from the fruit of that Garden?

It’s the gardener.

The gardener is the one who lovingly labored and He is the one who receives the glory and the praise for the fruit His garden produces.

In the story Jesus is sharing with the disciples God the Father is the Garden,

he is the one who plants the seed of Salvation into the hearts of the lost

He is the one who sent the True Vine “Jesus” into the decaying world so that He could bring life to the World, He is the one Who prunes, and nurtures the branches so that they will bear much fruit.

and so He alone is the one who receives the glory through the fruit that is produced.

Transition: the third element in the story is the Branches

The Branches

Look with me at what our text says about the branches

John 15: 2 “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:5-6 “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.

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Illustration: Show a branch of a pepper plant that is still attached to a plant, and also just a branch that is taken off,

Ask the crowd which one of these branches is a pepper plant?

Compare the two - they look the same they smell the same, they even taste the same,

The difference is that one is attached to the life source and the other is not

ANSWER “They both are”

Then ask “which one of these two branches will produce fruit?

Only the one that is attached to the vine.

Why will “this one” produce and not the other ?

because it is attached to the life source that is required to produce fruit.

Compare the two - they look the same they smell the same, they even taste the same,

The difference is that one is attached to the life source and the other is not

In Jesus’s illustration the branches are disciples who are following Jesus.

To the world around them they are known as Christ followers.