The True Vine
SERIES: GOD ALIVE: IN LIVING DISCOURSES
SUBJECT: The True Vine
READING: John 15:1-8, 16
TEXT: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman” (John 15:1).
Introduction
This fifteenth chapter is a part of the Upper Room Discourse, although our Lord probably did not speak it in the Upper Room. At least the assumption is that He did not, because the last statement in chapter 14 is, “Arise, let us go hence.” Somewhere between the Upper Room and the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord spoke the words found in chapters 15 and 16, then prayed the prayer, recorded in chapter 17, as He entered the garden.
Authorities are disagreed as to what may have prompted our Lord’s use of the metaphor of the vine. Some say it was the celebration of the communion feast. Others suggest that when Jesus left the supper table and went down to the brook Kedron, He had to pass the temple, and on the gate of that glorious building was sculptured the golden vine. He might have stopped there and given this wonderful discourse. But it is more likely that as our Lord walked down the slopes of the hill of Zion to the Garden of Gethsemane, He would have noticed the surrounding vineyards. Just about that time those vines would have been pruned, and the dead wood would be burning all over the valley. Looking out upon those vines, and the dead or barren branches that were being burned, Jesus uttered these words, “I am the true vine” (v. 1).
In verse 1, Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the vine. In fact He calls Himself the “true vine.” The word for true here is alēthinos (al-ay-thee-nos'), which has a double meaning. “It means truth as distinguished from falsehood, and it means that which is real and genuine as opposed to that which is unreal and counterfeit.” The latter is the way it is used here. So here Jesus is saying, “I am the real and genuine vine.”
These disciples had Jewish concepts and their thought patterns were governed by Old Testament theology, in which the vine symbolizes the nation of Israel. The following verses make it apparent, that the vine symbolizes the nation of Israel: Psalm 80:8-9 states, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.” Is. 5:1, 7 says, “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill…For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel…” Jeremiah 2:21 reads, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? And in Hosea 10:1, we read, “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself…”
But, Jesus is telling them here that the nation of Israel is not the genuine vine. “I am the genuine vine.” Their identification with the Jewish nation and the Jewish religion is not the essential thing. The important thing now is for them to be related to Him.
And for you and me, we must understand that it is not our identification with a religion or a ceremony or an organization that is essential. We are to be identified with Christ! All other vines are imitations.
Also in verse 1, Jesus identifies the Father as “the husbandman” God is the owner of the vineyard. Here He is the keeper, the farmer, the One who takes care of the vineyard. He works with the branches, doing all the cultivating, spading, and pruning (v. 2).
And even though branches are mentioned in verses 2-4, it’s not until verse 5 that Jesus identifies them as believers.
The analogy of the vine and the branches signifies fellowship with Christ, not organic connection with Him. It tells us that when a believer is in fellowship with Christ but is not bearing fruit due to immaturity or injury, our Lord lovingly lifts him up so that he can bear fruit. The believer who is in fellowship with Christ and who is bearing fruit is pruned so that he can bear more fruit. The believer who does not remain in fellowship through disobedience is cast out in judgment, withers spiritually, and faces severe divine discipline in time and loss of reward at the judgment seat of Christ. There is nothing in this passage which demands that he lose his salvation. Neither is there anything here that suggests that believers will always bear fruit. It is only the believer that remains in fellowship who will bear fruit.
1) The Barren Branch
“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away” (John 15:2). The barren branch speaks of the carnal man. There are too many carnal Christians who are not prepared for the knife, for the suffering which brings the glory. But notice the solemn words, “He taketh away” (John 15:2). This is not a reference to eternal damnation, for these words are spoken of the Christian, but rather a warning concerning a possible cutting off of the physical life. The term translated …“taketh away” is best rendered “lifts up” as it is ten times in John’s gospel. It was a common practice to lift fallen vines with meticulous care and allow them to heal.
2) The Fruitful Branch
“Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2). The function of the branch is to bear fruit, and so it needs to be pruned to become more and more fruitful.
How often men and women have come to me and said, “I am interested in being a Christian, but there is one problem that haunts me. Why is it that Christian people seem to suffer so much? If they are God’s own people, why does He not protect them from suffering?” God has his heavenly logic and purpose in our suffering. Says George McDonald: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered, not that we might be saved from suffering, but that our suffering might be like His.” If the world is going to know a redemption, it must be through the work of the cross, and that means death—an unpopular but necessary doctrine for Christian people. There must be a Calvary before there can be a Pentecost. There must be a cutting back of the self-life, so that the Christ-life may burst forth.
3) The Withered Branch
“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). The consequences of the failure of a true Christian to abide in Christ are now explicity set forth: The Lord is saying that if a true Christian does not remain in fellowship with Him, he will be thrown away. The reference is to the severance of a branch from the vine. The casting out, is not from salvation but from fellowship. The result is that these carnal Christians are cast into the fire.
Fire is a common symbol in the Bible for the judgment of God’s people in time. Only rarely is it associated with fires of hell. They are therefore cast out of fellowship with Christ anto divine judgment in time. It is likely that John has an additional thought in mind, that all God’s buildings (i.e., believers, I Cor. 3:9) will be submitted to fire at the judgment seat of Christ (I Cor. 3:15
Conclusion
We conclude as we started, with the thought of Christ the perfect Vine. Just as He could reveal the Father perfectly in His incarnation, so we are called upon to reveal our Savior through our mortal bodies. The only way in which this can be accomplished is by abiding in Him, so that His life and fruit may be seen in us. God save us from being barren, or withered, branches! God make us fruitful branches, beating not only “fruit,” “more fruit,” but “much fruit” (John 15:2, 8).
