The True Vine 1

Review:

John 6:35 “35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

John 8:12 “12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

John 10:7 “7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”

John 10:11 “11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

John 11:25 “25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

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

John 15:1 “1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”

What is Jesus Thinking?

Setting the Scene

He is in the upper room.

He has washed the disciples feet and issued the New Command that they love one another.

He has told them He is going away.

He is the way.

He is making a place for them.

He is going to send the comforter.

John 14:16–17 “16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

He has done this to strengthen their faith.

John 14:29 “29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.”

With this thought, that He wants them to be strong, to believe, He teaches on the need to abide in Him.

The True Vine

Jesus often uses something important from where He is to draw an illustration.

Luke 22:18 “18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.””

John 4 He used an illustration that He was the living water.... Samaritan Woman

John 4:14 “14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.””

John 6 When the people are looking for another meal, He declares that He is the bread of life.

So maybe looking at the cup of wine that was shared at Passover, He chooses this medifor.

The Most important Word.

The theme that Christ is looking toward is that of “Abiding in Him”. All of our blessing are linked to abiding in Christ.

Yet this might not be the most important word for us to understand the picture. That word might be “True”.

Why the True Vine

We could look at Jesus saying that He is the way, the truth and the life and think that He is repeating that He is true.

This would be wrong.

In John 14:6 the truth is a noun. It is an ultimate foundational truth.

Here it is an adjective, it is used to modify a noun. (It is limiting, by separating the true from the false. It is used to single out Jesus as the correct and only one.)

Every time we have something that is true, we also have something that is false. So the question that must be asked, is what is Jesus referring to.

Israel is the first vine and failed.

Psalm 80:8 “8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.”

Jeremiah 2:21 “21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?”

Isaiah 5:1–7 “1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.”

Jeremiah 12:10–13 “10 “Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart. 12 The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the Lord shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have peace. 13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.””

What was Israel as a Vine?

It was the nation that God chose to use to spread His Word here on the earth.

Romans 9:4–5 “4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”

John 4:22 “22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.”

They were the congregation of the Lord. This is the same word that is used for the church. The called out ones. They were to be a separate people, Holy in behavior and acceptable to God.

But they failed continually, pursuing other gods, until God gave up on them.

Ezekiel 36:16–19 “16 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.”

Hosea 10:1–2 “1 Israel empties his vine; He brings forth fruit for himself. According to the multitude of his fruit He has increased the altars; According to the bounty of his land They have embellished his sacred pillars. 2 Their heart is divided; Now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars.”

There future promise of restoration is also spoken of with them as a vine.

Isaiah 27:2–3 “2 In that day sing to her, “A vineyard of red wine! 3 I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; Lest any hurt it, I keep it night and day.”

Jesus would even have used similar references to Israel.

The Unfaithful tenants

Matthew 21:33–37 “33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’”

Matthew 21:38–43 “38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

The Vineyard

There is only one true vine. Jesus is the only way to the Father.

Christ is leaving. He is going to send the Holy Spirit.

He has prayed for Peter that His faith will not fail.

He is telling them to abide in Him. To stay firm in their belief that He is the Messiah.

They will fall.

Jesus will carry them back and restore them.

Warnings:

Jesus has always taught that their will be false believers and false teachers.

Matthew 7:21–23 “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

He was clear that the evidence that they have been changed inside is in the fruit that they produce.

Matthew 7:15–20 “15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Luke 6:43–45 “43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

He warns them many times that there will be many that join to Him and yet are not saved and will produce no fruit.

Luke 13:6–9 “6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ””

Even here we see the mercy and the goodness of God.

Some come to hear, but don’t follow and God gives mercy for them to continue hearing.

Matthew 13:22 “22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”

Matthew 24:40–44 “40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Application

Do we recognize that all other life claims are empty?

Judaism? Any religion? Any New Age enlightenment?

Pleasures, power Pride?

Do we realize the centrality and foundational truth of Jesus.

There are no programs that will work, no gimmicks, no educational degrees, no wisdom of this world....

1 Corinthians 2:2 “2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

1 Corinthians 2:4 “4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”

1 Corinthians 1:23–24 “23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

There is only a spiritual life that is from Jesus. That is the only thing that will produce fruit in our life.