I AM the True Vine
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Overview
Overview
Continuing with our study of John and Jesus’ preparations
As Jesus and the disciples are leaving the upper room to go to the garden of Gethsemane, I like to think that He spied a grape vine on the way and used this as a teaching moment for His disciples. And using a very familiar agricultural item in Israel, Christ provides insight into our relationship with Him.
We will find in our study tonight Jesus’ seventh and last “I Am” statements in John’s Gospel.
In this parable, if you will, Christ will present two images of believers - branches and friends, and while doing so, we will see that He also reveals both our privileges and responsibilities of both. As branches, we have the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding / remaining. As friends, we have the privilege of knowing His will, and the responsibility of obeying.
The Cast
The Cast
John 15:1–11 (CSB)
THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
CHRISTLIKE LOVE
9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
Vine
Vine
Who is the vine that Jesus is speaking of here?
There are actually three different vines mentioned in Scripture:
The past - Read Is. 5:1-7
1 I will sing about the one I love,
a song about my loved one’s vineyard:
The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones,
and planted it with the finest vines.
He built a tower in the middle of it
and even dug out a winepress there.
He expected it to yield good grapes,
but it yielded worthless grapes.
3 So now, residents of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
please judge between me
and my vineyard.
4 What more could I have done for my vineyard
than I did?
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?
5 Now I will tell you
what I am about to do to my vineyard:
I will remove its hedge,
and it will be consumed;
I will tear down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I will make it a wasteland.
It will not be pruned or weeded;
thorns and briers will grow up.
I will also give orders to the clouds
that rain should not fall on it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah,
the plant he delighted in.
He expected justice
but saw injustice;
he expected righteousness
but heard cries of despair.
How does Scripture describe the fruit from this vine?
Instead of practicing justice, it practiced oppression
Instead of producing righteousness, it produced unrighteousness
God had to deal with Israel, but when such chastening efforts did not produce longlasting results, God sent His Son. And what did they to the vineyard owner’s son? (See Matt. 21:33-46)
The future - this future vine, depicted in Revelation 14:14-20, is the vine on the earth. This vine is mentioned as a time for God’s judgment. Believers are branches in the “true vine” while unbelievers are branches in the “vine on the earth.” They get their sustenance and satisfaction from the world. They will be judged when Christ returns.
The present - The present vine, or true vine, is Jesus. In this present vine, we have a living relationship to Christ and belong to Him. We find our sustenance and satisfaction in Him alone. And through remaining in Him, we produce fruit.
Branches
Branches
Who are the branches described here?
What are branches good for? In Ezek. 15, we are reminded that branches are good for either bearing or burning, but branches are not good for building.
10 times in the first 11 verses of John 15, Jesus tells His disciples to “remain” in the vine or in Him. Remain here means to stay (as in lodging) or abide; to stay at home; to be lasting; and to persist. Similarly, John 1:14 tells us The Word became flesh and dwelt (to take up residence; pitch tents; indeed “Tabernacle”) among us. The One who tells us to abide in Him has indeed become our abode.
Christ desires for us as branches to bear, to produce fruit. There is a progression of fruit production mentioned here as well. He wants us to bear fruit, more fruit and much fruit. What are the sources for our fruit production?
What are the evidences of abiding or remaining in Christ? How can we know if we are remaining in Him or not?
Evidences of one who remains in the vine (an abiding life): 1) sense of the Savior’s love (v.9); 2) obedience to His word (v.10); 3) answered prayer (v. 7); and fulfillment / full joy (v. 11).
The “abiding life” takes work and it must be cultivated. It demands all of us - Remaining in Christ demands worship, meditation on God’s Word, prayer, sacrifice and service.
Gardener
Gardener
Who is the gardener or vinedresser?
What are the gardener’s responsibilities?
How does pruning affect the crop? Pruning cuts away the dead wood which can breed disease and insects. The gardener may, at times, cut away living tissue so that the live of the vine will not be negatively impacted and the crop jeopardized.
What is the ultimate goal of the gardener? He seems to be interested in both the quality of the fruit bearing agents as well as the quantity of the fruit itself. He desire both quality and quantity.
Fruit
Fruit
What, afterall, is the fruit the gardener is after?
New converts - Rom. 1:13
13 Now I don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as I have had among the rest of the Gentiles.
35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”
Growth in holiness and obedience - Rom. 6:22
22 But now, since you have been set free from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the outcome is eternal life!
Christian giving is considered fruit by Paul
The fruit of the Spirit - Gal. 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
Good works - Col. 1:10
10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God,
Praise from our hearts and lips - Heb. 13:15
15 Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.
None of this fruit is possible without a branch remaining or abiding in the vine. Warren Wiersbe reminds us, “We must remember that the branches do not eat the fruit: others do. We should be the kind of people who ‘feed’ others by our words and our works.”
Command of the Savior
Command of the Savior
Read John 15:12-17
12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
17 “This is what I command you: Love one another.
Through Christ our status has been changed - we are no longer servants and slaves but we are “friends.”
What is the difference between a friend and an acquaintance? Which of these do we typically have more of?
How does an acquaintance change into being a friend?
The word “friend” here means a dear friend, someone who is beloved. One commentary says, “we must not interpret this word friend in a limited way, because the Greek word means a ‘friend at court.’ It describes that ‘inner circle’ around a king or emperor - or a best man at a wedding that Jesus refers to in John 3:29.”
We have another example in Scripture where God declared someone His friend. James 2:23
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.
What made Abraham God’s friend? What can we learn from Abraham which ties into Christ’s teaching in John 15.
He believed God
He obeyed God
He interceded on the behalf of others when God exposed His plans for Sodom to Abraham
Abraham was close to God. He was God’s friend and he knew what God was up to. One of the greatest privileges we have as God’s friend is that of learning to know God better and “getting in on” God’s secrets. For us to be His friends, we ought to be near the throne, consuming His Word, enjoying His intimacy and obeying His commands.
Remain
Ask
Love - We are to love as Christ loved us.
He chose us...and we are quite honestly incapable of choosing Him in our lost and sinful condition. But with His choice, He appointed, i.e., He planted and established us for the sole purpose of producing fruit.