Jesus the true vine John 15:1-16

1 Now I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill. 2 He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter. 3 Now, you people of Jerusalem and Judah, you judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard that I have not already done? When I expected sweet grapes, why did my vineyard give me bitter grapes? 5 Now let me tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will tear down its hedges and let it be destroyed. I will break down its walls and let the animals trample it. 6 I will make it a wild place where the vines are not pruned and the ground is not hoed, a place overgrown with briers and thorns. I will command the clouds to drop no rain on it. 7 The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence. 8 What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land. 9 But I have heard the Lord of Heaven’s Armies swear a solemn oath: “Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty. 10 Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain.”

Isaiah 5:1–10 ESV

1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! 8 Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land. 9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant. 10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.”

From the Upper Room to the Garden- Location of the discourse

The last words of are “Rise, let us go from here”, so between departure from the table in the upper room, to the crossing of the Brook Kidron into the garden (about 45 min walk), we are not told where or in what setting Jesus spoke .

Acknowledging that the setting cannot be known with certainty, I think that as the evidence is considered, I think it is possible to determine what possibility is plausible and which are doubtful, and that it is very helpful to understanding the scene.

One theory is that this discourse took place as they travelled through the network of tunnels beneath Jerusalem on their way to Olivet, and while it is possible, it is hard to imagine that such an intense, intimate, and important discourse and prayer took place as they journeyed through the tunnels or the narrow winding streets, likely populated by other pilgrims.

My opinion is that Jesus lead the disciples through the city, and into the courts of the temple complex, which would have been open because of the feast and preparation of sacrifices. This would have provided an ideal setting for such discourse and prayer

There would be privacy, since the nighttime would have left the courts mostly emptied under the dark sky, and the could have stayed a while at the benches, columns, and colonnades

The walls and golden features of the temple would have glowed in the light of the moon, stars, and lamps in the temple courts

One of the most famous features of the temple would have been clearly visible in the light the burning torches, the massive entrance into the temple, covered with a golden vine on all sides. Here we find a very fitting context for Jesus’ words

“That gate which was at this end of the first part of the house was, as we have already observed, all over covered with gold, as was its whole wall about it; it had also golden vines above it, from which clusters of grapes hung as tall as a man’s height”

that gate which was at this end of the first part of the house was, as we have already observed, all over covered with gold, as was its whole wall about it; it had also golden vines above it, from which clusters of grapes hung as tall as a man’s height

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 707.

Why was there a massive vine in the temple? because Israel is referred to as a vine or a vineyard throughout the Hebrew scriptures.

John 15:1 NKJV

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

Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: John, Acts., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 144.

The temple would also seem the most fitting setting for the great High Priestly Prayer of 7.

The Vine and the Branches

John 15:1–8 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.

The vine and vineyard of the Lord

The Old Testament presents Israel as a vineyard many times throughout the prophets and the psalms (; ; ; ; ; ; ; ), and the Vine at the entrance to the sanctuary behind the alter of sacrifice stood as a reminder of Israel’s identity before God.

Psalm 80:8–11 ESV

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.

English Standard Version Psalm 80

Turn again, O God of hosts!

zLook down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15 the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

English Standard Version Psalm 80

Turn again, O God of hosts!

zLook down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15 the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

Psalm 80:14–15 ESV

14 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, 15 the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

Jeremiah 2:21 ESV

21 Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

He is the true vine come into the world, and unless someone bore fruit (cf. the ministry of John the Baptist and the charge to bear the fruit of repentance []) and was joined to Him by faith through this new covenant, they would be cast out and thrown into the fire (cf. and the unquenchable fire of judgment reserved for those who did not bear fruit).

Just two days earlier Jesus told a parable about this vineyard. And this parable was also referencing and and other similar passages on purpose. God came to the vineyard looking for fruit, but found none, then sent his prophets to the vineyard, and they did not listen, then sent His Son, and they killed him. Jesus is coming back to this same image once again.

Luke 20:9–17 ESV

9 And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

Lets look again at our text in

John 15:1–2 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.

Do you see the consistent image (motif)? Vine branches bearing fruit, Vineyards bearing fruit, Fig trees withering because they are not bearing fruit, John the baptist preaching in the wilderness seeking the fruits of repentance warning that being physical descendants of Abraham is insufficient to secure right relation to God, the axe being laid at the root of the tree so that every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire, branches without fruit being cut off and thrown into the fire, the chaff separated from the wheat to be thrown into the fire.

Here Jesus says I am the Vine, every branch that does not bear fruit is taken away or cut off, but every one that does He prunes so that it bears more fruit.

John 15:3–8 ESV

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.

Jesus is the true vine come into the world, looking for fruit of repentance [] warning that those not joined to Him by faith through this new covenant would be cast out and thrown into the fire of judgement.

and was joined to Him by faith through this new covenant, they would be cast out and thrown into the fire (cf. and the unquenchable fire of judgment reserved for those who did not bear fruit).

Luke 3:8–9 ESV

8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Jesus was clarifying that one’s identification with national or ethnic Israel, or even their presence in the Temple, did not assure that they were the planting of the LORD that belonged to the vinedresser. This was because He was the Seed promised to Abraham, and through union to Him alone could one partake of the promises that formed the substance of Israel’s hope.

John 15:3–8 ESV

John 15:3–6 ESV

This does not mean that Israel’s ethnic identity was not important or significant or special and unique. That does not mean that the ethnic identity was not tied to certain blessings and promises and privileges.

John 15:7–8 ESV

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.

Neither is Jesus that Jewishness or that the covenants are no longer made with the Jews. Jesus was Jewish and everyone with Him when he introduced it were all Jewish, two of the gospels take great attention to include genealogies to make his Jewishness clear. Jesus was THE singular seed of Abraham, and unless you are joined to Him, your ethnicity is insufficient to guarantee that you are in the vineyard of the Lord and that you would be spared the judgement of fire

Galatians 3:16–18 NKJV

16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Would the covenant be extended to the gentiles? YES, but Jesus was establishing a New Covenant with the Jewish people with the remnant of Israel that responded rightly to Him, saying that you must be Joined to me now, if you want to bear fruit and be part of the vineyard, and those who don’t will be cast out.

Jeremiah 31:31 ESV

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Application

Does this mean that this passage is not about thinking of Jesus as being the vine to you in devotional quiet time. Kind of, although that is certainly not a bad thing.

In Context Jesus is a Jewish man who also happens be YHWH (the God of Israel) and Messiah, speaking to 11 other Jewish men, probably in the temple in the temple in Israel, 2000 years ago, referencing the language of scripture which calls nation of Israel the vine and planting of the Lord.

It is much more corporate in application than individual, as is the issue of corporate election in Christ (referenced also in this passage).

Thus, the great charge to the disciples was to abide in Him and His word, through which they would find life abundant and joy to its full. Though the world would lash out at them in hatred and the time would come when killing them would be considered service to God, by remaining in Him they would find all they needed and inherit the everlasting life promised to the seed of Abraham.

John 15:9–16 ESV

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.

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