The Covenant of the Vine

// RECAP

Setting

Passover meal with Jesus & his disciples.

He’s sharing his most intimate teachings, encouragements, and foretelling just hours before he is going to the cross.

He knows these are the final moments with his disciples and he knows the stress they are about to endure.

Week 1

Jesus opens the night with dinner as usual but rises, strips himself of his identity, and takes the place of the lowest servant of the house.

He goes one by one and washes his disciples feet, giving instruction that they too are to do as he has done.

We ended that study with an understanding that as we lay our situations before the Lord and carry on with his work (serving & loving others), he will take care of our needs.

Week 2

Jesus gets personal with two of his disciples:

one will betray

one will deny

We were left at a crossroads of how we interact with those that have betrayed or denied us, and also a call to repent and reconcile with those that we may have betrayed or denied.

We saw Jesus release the betrayer from his life.

We see Jesus restore the denier back into relationship.

Week 3

Jesus now knowing that he has delivered some pretty discouraging news, tells his disciples, “do not let your hearts be troubled.”

When you are troubled - Jesus is the way through

When you are troubled - Jesus is the truth that you need

When you are troubled - Jesus is the life that sustains

We ended with Jesus calling us to believe in him, not the trouble.

As we believe in Him, greater works will we do, and those works will bring glory to the Father.

Week 4

Jesus makes a promise that another helper is coming when he leaves.

This is huge on two fronts:

Jesus is leaving.

Another helper is coming, one that is even more intimate, and staying forever.

We saw that John 14 (as we know it) uses a literary devise called a Chiasm (inverted parallelism) and the main point of John 14 was Jesus saying, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come back for you.”

John 14 closed out with Jesus leaving us His peace.

He also clarifies that what’s about to happen to him (the cross) is not a mistake or an accident - that it is the command of the Father and that Jesus is willing to obey His Father’s commands.

Pick up in John 15.

Pray

backup one verse, really quick…

John 14:31 ESV

31 …Rise, let us go from here.

As we step into John 15, we are on the move from the Upper Room.

Mark 14:26 give us another perspective of this transition… “26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

Traditionally at the end of a passover meal, they would sing some hymns and psalms to round out the evening.

Jesus then transitions to one of his common prayer sites in Jerusalem - The Mount of Olives, specifically the Garden of Gethsemene, which resides at the foot of the mountain.

I believe it is as they are walking to the mountain that Jesus begins this discourse, most likely pointing to the real vines that are surrounding them .

THE TRUE VINE

John 15:1 ESV

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

The Last “I Am” Statement

I am the Bread of Life - John 6 - Food

I am the Light of the World - John 8 - Light

I am the Door - John 10 - Access

I am the Good Shepherd - John 10 - Protector, Leader, Healer, Lays Down His Life

I am the Resurrection & the Life - John 11 - Power over Death

I am the Way, the Truth, the Life - John 14 - The Exclusive Way to the Father

I am the True Vine - John 15 - The Source of life & fruitfulness

The TRUE Vine

The simplicity of this statement tells me that there is a FALSE vine.

What is the Vine?

The vine is our source.

John 15:2–5 ESV

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.

Roles:

Jesus = Vine

Father = Gardener

Us = Branches connected to the vine

Pruning

The process of gardening is not a simple one.

I am no amazing gardener, but the few times that I have focused in on a garden, it requires diligence, patience, investigation, knowledge & understanding.

One thing I did learn early on was to not consume the first fruits of anything. Prune the first and let the plant grow healthier before taking the fruit.

Natural Facts of Pruning

Increases Fruitfulness

Cutting back healthy branches may seem counterintuitive, but it redirects energy from excess growth to better, stronger, more abundant fruit.

Improves Airflow & Sunlight

Pruning opens up the vine to more light and air; reducing the risk of disease.

Strengthens the Structure

Regular consistent pruning helps grow the vine in the right direction, support its weight and preventing it from becoming tangled or chaotic.

Removes the Unnecessary

Healthy branches that aren’t producing fruit are removed to allow more resources to flow to the best branches, thus allowing them to thrive.

Spiritual Insights of Pruning

Refines Your Purpose

God prunes fruitful followers to purify motives and focus our callings.

Deepens Your Dependence

Pruning seasons (discipline, hardship, stretching, pressing) often lead us to rely deeper on the Lord.

Removes Good to Allow for the Best

Sometimes God will remove something okay to allow for the best. It’s about aligning with his greater plan.

Preparation for the Future

Pruning will almost always feel like a loss, but it’s often a setup for exponential fruitfulness.

Pruning feels like subtraction but it will always lead to multiplication!

Every time that I’ve pruned a plant, it as at a minimum doubled.

The branch is cut and two more sprout from the cut!

The FALSE Vine

“The grass is always greener on the other side.”

This is simply not true.

“The grass is greener where your tend to it!”

The immediate thought that came to mind was Proverbs 5-7 which gives wisdom to a young man about the adulterous woman.

The correlation in John 15 is Jesus saying to abide, remain, stay with him. Do not go searching for love in other places.

Throughout history when Israel turns from God, he often refers to them as a harlot, whore, or adulteress.

While this language can seem harsh - they entered into a covenant.

Genesis 17:7–8 ESV

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Exodus 6:7 ESV

7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Leviticus 26:12 ESV

12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

Jeremiah 7:23 ESV

23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

And there’s many more!

The Lure of the False Vine

Proverbs 5:3–6 ESV

3 For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, 4 but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; 6 she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.

Proverbs 5:15 ESV

15 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.

Proverbs 5:20–21 ESV

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? 21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths.

Proverbs 6:27–28 ESV

27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? 28 Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

Why flirt with what can’t feed you?

Why consume the artificial when you’ve been offered the real fruit?

What are we hoping to find in false vines that we’ve already been given in Christ?

ABIDE & ASK

John 15:5–7 ESV

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.

While studying this verse out, I came to conclude four different lenses of Abiding.

Alignment

Intimacy

Transformation

Fruitfulness

1. Alignment

When we abide in Christ, we deeply connected, rooted, and surrendered to him.

This means we are fully His - we allow him to do with us whatever He wills - because we trust Him!

So as we are abiding in Him, he begins to shape us into his image. This leads to a shift in our thinking, our perspective, our desires, our wants.

As we pray, we are no longer concerned with our fleshly desires: control, comfort, competition.

We are now praying with the helper (John 14) and He is helping us to pray (creatively partner) in Kingdom, compassion, and calling!

So God grants our requests because our hearts are in alignment with His. We are asking what he would ask.

2. Intimacy

Jesus says, “…my words abide in you.”

This means everything about Jesus is taking root in our lives.

His words abide in how you make decisions now.

His words abide in how you treat others.

His words abide in your deepest convictions (values, vision, mission, declarations, identity)

His voice becomes the loudest, our voice takes second position and becomes and echo to the primary voice in our lives!

3. Transformation

Our prayers become creative partnership with the Lord.

Remember that God is looking for covenant partners!

Through our prayers:

we are not just asking - we are agreeing

we are not just receiving - we are releasing

we are not just informing God - we are being formed by God

The power of life and death are on our tongue and we are using our words to transform first ourselves and the world after that.

4. Fruitfulness

Jesus tells us that if we abide in him, we will bear much fruit.

The evidence of what vine we are attached to will be the fruit of our life.

As we abide, we will ask.

As we ask, fruit will bear.

ELEVATED RELATIONSHIP

John 15:8–17 ESV

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. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

There’s a lot here, and I don’t have time to hit it all.

There is one thing I want to point out - John 15.15…

John 15:15 ESV

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Four things and we will take communion…

1. From Servants to Friends

In Jewish Culture, servants had duty without intimacy. They obeyed without the “why.”

However, a friend was brought into confidence, entrusted with secrets, plans, and purpose (the why).

Jesus isn’t asking for obedient workers, he is asking for covenantal co-laborers.

2. Love - Friends - Love

On both sides of this statement, Jesus speaks about love.

John 15:12 “12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

John 15:17 “17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

Friendship and love can not exist apart.

Jesus continued in vs 13 John 15:13 “13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” that true love is sacrificial.

3. Prophecy Fulfilled

Abraham was called a friend of God

Isaiah 41:8 “8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;”

James 2:23 “23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.”

Moses spoke with God face to face, as a man speaks to his friend

Exodus 33:11 “11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.”

In the greater picture, as a Jew, this an incredible statement that Jesus is making. Only the greats of their faith were considered friends of God, and now they are joining the same ranks!

THIS IS MASSIVE!

4. Modern Discipleship

Jesus calling us friends hits me right at the target.

I have struggled with performance-based living.

When I hear Jesus saying to me that I’m his friend, here’s what I’m not hearing…

“Do things for me.”

What I am hearing…

“Walk with me. Understand my heart. Share my hardships. Abide in my love.”

He is asking me to trust his father in the same way that he has.

Trust that as the father removes, prunes, separates, even the “good” things, that it all has purpose and is taking place to bring forth multiplication in my life for the benefit of those around me.

Communion