I am the true vine

Welcome everybody!

I'm so glad everyone's here that we are able to enjoy each other's company and come together as young adults

Over the past several months, we have gone through a series of that I am statements in John

We have gone through Jesus, being:

The bread of life (John 6:35)

The light of the world (John 8:12)

The door (John 10:9)

The good shepherd (John 10:11)

The resurrection and the life (John 11:21-26)

The way the truth and the life (John 14:6)

Each and every of the I am statements are incredibly vital to understanding who our God

He is a provider

Jesus provides not just spiritual food, but light by which we can see the truth

He also is the door with a gate into a relationship with God, and he is the good shepherd who saves us when we run away from God back to our sin

And the good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep

He not only lays his life down, but he shows that he has authority over death, hell and the grave

Jesus also shows that he not only has authority over death, but he offers a way to Eternal life by understanding the truth of the gospel

And tonight we will be looking at our final i am Statement

I AM the true vine

Go ahead and open up your Bibles to John chapter 15

The book of John was written so that we may believe that Jesus is who he says he is

John provides the record of Jesus is, I am statements so that we may know who he is,

and that that knowledge would change us from the inside out

My hope and prayer for tonight is that John, chapter 15 would bring us to a place of total dependent upon God

A place of reflection, a place of surrender, and a place of understanding who Jesus is.

Before we get into our text lets pray…

Again we will be in John chapter 15. We are reaching the end of Jesus, his earthly ministry

They have left the last supper and are on their way to the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus will be betrayed

This is one of Jesus's last teachings he isn't holding back now, not that he ever really was

But Jesus, knowing that his time is limited, felt that these things needed to be said

So I want you to travel back to thousand years ago you're one of the disciples following Jesus and I want you to have a 21st-century perspective

That Jesus is reaching the end of his earthly ministry. I want you to grasp this text hold it as if it is something precious because it is.

The Bible is a gift so many people around the world don't have access let's Cherish is it

John 15:1–11 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

So within this picture that Jesus is painting, we see three distinct characters

The Vine (jesus)

the vine Dresser or Grower (God)

and the branches (Us)

Let's begin with the vine.

When coming to this, we have to ask ourselves. Why is Jesus using this illustration?

What is the purpose or what is his motivation with it?

Well, two things come to mind

If Jesus and the disciples were on their way to the garden, it was likely that he had walked past, or there was vines and branches around them

But the second aspect is the fact that Israel and the Old Testament was referred to as divine

Psalm 80:8 ESV

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.

The Israelites, or the Jewish people were viewed as the vine.

But Jesus comes and says I am the true vine

Jesus is the fulfillment of the old testament. Jesus is the way that men would be saved.

God promised Abraham, that all the nations of the Earth would be blessed through his offspring, and Jesus is the fulfillment of that blessing that is offered to every person on earth

So we can see Jesus opening with his statement that would catch the Jewish audiences attention.

It even imagine Jesus walking around him, pointing out the vines, the branches, the grapes as he gives this illustration

John 15:1 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

In the Legacy standard Bible translation it translates the vine grower.

God is the one responsible for the cultivation, the growth protection and sustaining of the branches within the vine

God in his sovereignty and majesty is divine dresser of the human life

He is intricately a part of the spiritual growth of his people

And will get into more of that as we go through the text

So we see Jesus as the vine, God as the vinedresser