I Am the True Vine John 15:1-8

John 15 begins a new phase of Jesus’ farewell teaching, signaled by Jesus’ departure from the upper room with the disciples. In John 14, Jesus sought to comfort the disciples’ fears in light of his imminent departure. Now Jesus gives the corresponding teaching regarding the disciples’ duty and obligation during his absence. Jesus did this by means of the seventh and last “I am” statement in the Gospel of John: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).

Phillips, R. D. (2014). John. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (1st ed., Vol. 2, p. 281). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.

The vine was the symbol of Israel, which is why the temple was adorned with this image.

Psalm 80 is one of many Old Testament passages employing this symbol: “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land” (Ps. 80:8–9). The idea of the vineyard expresses God’s labour and care in planting his people in the Promised Land. The vine was the Lord’s people, from which he desired a rich harvest of fruit.

Before coming here, I spent some time preparing my garden which involved pruning my roses.

They had grown into a state, as I had missed cutting them back in the last pruning period.

A rose bush left to its self will get straggly and tangled and runners from below the graft will appear and grow up through the bush taking the light, and nutrients from the plant. It becomes diseased; black spot appears on the leaves and affects the productivity of beautiful blooms.

So to stop it wasting its energy and being unproductive, pruning is essential to encourage new shoots which grow towards the light. And roses only flower on new shoots, so if they are not pruned, there is less new growth and less flowers. The harsher you prune roses the more blooms it produces! So pruning is a good thing!

In other words, you prune a rose bush, to help it to be its true self.

Grape vines are similar, however, young vines are left for 3 years to develop and mature before they are pruned. Left in the hands of an experienced gardener who knows what he’s doing, because he knows what the vine is capable of. The pruning knife in his hands means he can prune a grape vine to produce the exact amount of fruit he desires in the next crop. Careful pruning therefore not only brings forth fruit, but can produce a bumper crop!

Without such pruning, and nurturing, it entangles itself, withers and dies.

The disciples have already been ‘pruned’ although, I’m sure there is more of it to come. Jesus called them to take up their cross and follow him. They have had to submit to the pruner’s knife, cutting away other goals and ambitions. They have already borne fruit; they must now expect more pruning, so that they can bear more fruit.

In Jewish tradition, the vine was a picture of Israel and God brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it in the promised land. It has been ravaged and needed protecting and re-establishing.

Jesus is now saying that He is the ‘true vine’. This is through the one whom God’s purposes are now resting. Those who accept the Son are God’s people.

Here we connect with the picture of the ‘vine’ and the illustration.

The branch cannot bear fruit unless it gains all of its minerals, nutrients and support from the Vine. Too many of us take our relationship with Jesus for granted and fail to appropriate the rich reservoir of resources that are available to those who gain a deeper spiritual overflow of His Life into ours.

If we remain in the vine, seek nourishment from an intimate relationship with Christ, read His Word, allow it to filtrate throughout our lives, (to cultivate), we can produce the fruit God desires through us.

A vine-branch is lifeless and useless unless it remains attached to the vine. The living sap from the wood stock, main trunk, flowing into it enables it to produce grapes, otherwise it is fruitless.

If we ‘go it alone’, try living without the life of the vine, we become sick, we lose the light, which is life giving, wither and become as good as dead.

So, with Jesus’ disciples, remaining in him, in union with Him, is where their life comes from, to produce fruit.

The urgent questions, then is this. How do we ‘remain’ in the Him?

What does it look life in practice?

We must remain in the community that knows and loves Him and celebrates Him as Lord. There is no such thing as a solitary Christian; we cannot can’t ‘go it alone’.

We must make sure to be in touch with, in tune, with Jesus.

Knowing Him and being known by Him.

Building up the body of Christ, encouraging each other,

Holding each other to account, in love.

Deepening our understanding of God’s Word,

reading God’s word,

Allowing Him to prune us,

...although it always hurts

It is through allowing the pruners knife to lovingly prune, that we experience fresh life, blossoms, extraordinary ‘true life’ that good quality fruit and lots of it.

For that to happen there will be extra growth that needs cutting away.

Ever increasing the yield, and long-term health and productivity through the gardeners hand.

The Teacher’s Commentary 114: John 13:1–15:17—Jesus’ Last Words

Where does the fruit grow? ....On a living vine, of course.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier ~ Lack of proper nourishment

Explanation ~ Poor supply of water or nutrients will destroy the vine.

Implication ~ If Christ’s life and love do not flow in us, we will be spiritually unproductive.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier ~ Disease

Explanation ~

Insects and disease move from dead wood into healthy plants.

Implication ~

Ongoing sin and unresolved past issues will lead to spiritual ineffectiveness.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier ~ Immature branches

Implication ~

New branches require several years of pruning before they can produce.

Explanation ~

We need time to row. Growth may involve suffering.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier - Improper Pruning

Implication ~

A wise gardener knows what to remove in order to bring about fruitfulness.

Explanation ~

Our priorities and the focus of our energies must be guided by Christ and His Word, not our own wisdom and desires.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier ~ No gardener

Implication ~

Vines need constant attention.

Explanation ~

Resistance to God’s guidance and pruning leads to un-fruitfulness.

Barriers to Fruitfulness

Barrier ~ Separated from the Vine.

Implication ~

Branches must be attached to a healthy root stock.

Explanation ~

We must not think for a moment that we are capable of surviving apart from Jesus Christ. He is the giver and sustain-er of life! (Life Application Bible Commentary)

Jesus’ followers, as branches, cannot reproduce his life unless they remain in him, the vine, and He in them (15:5).

The fruit of the Spirit displayed in our lives should attract people to Jesus and thereby make them new members of God’s vine. Jesus’ emphasis is not to dwell on our glaring inadequacies, but to remind us that life comes from our relationship with him.

Power for the New Life:

John 15:1–17

Pruning focuses the growth and energy of the plant.

A lush vine with little fruit has failed its purpose.

This metaphor of the vine, shows that God enables the believer to live in union with Jesus and bear much fruit. Just as God, the owner of the vineyard and planter of the vine, judges Israel by looking for its fruit, he also does in the new community centred on Jesus.

The new community of Jesus asks us to adopt a lifestyle far beyond our capacity. Knowing this, Jesus then explained how a life of fruitfulness is possible for human beings. The fruit Jesus promised here is, of course, the fruit of the Spirit, who will soon settle down into the disciples’ lives. The “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” that Paul lists in (Gal. 5:22–23) are promised in these chapters of John.

Where does the fruit grow? On a living vine.

Branches (and this is how we believers are pictured in Jesus’ illustration) are unable to bear fruit by themselves. They must be connected to the vine.

Roots and trunk support the life of the branch,

and only the branch “remaining in” the vine has the potential for fruitfulness.

MORE THAN WORDS

How do we let Jesus’ words abide in us? The word abide implies intimate knowledge of what a person has said. But it also implies that the words become a vital part of the way a believer lives. So Jesus’ words abide in us when we know what he said and did, and when we allow those words and actions to affect the way we live.

o By reading and reflecting on God’s word, we take in God’s Word.

o By obeying, God’s Word, we indicate that the words abide in us:

As His words take shape and form in our personalities, as we experience for ourselves the goodness of God’s will, we will live in the center of His love.

The word ‘remain’ comes 8 times in our passage today.

It simply reveals the importance of remaining with Jesus.

Without this connection, we become useless.

We may live but we are not really living

In any living vine the function of a branch is to bear fruit. But it cannot fulfill its purpose unless it remains in intimate connection with the vine. Without that intimate “remaining in Me” relationship, it will never accomplish what it was designed for.

How empty will the life of a Christian who fails to remain in Jesus be?

As empty as that of a branch torn from the vine; with no potential for fruit bearing.

The warning is clear. We cannot become what we are intended to be without having a close relationship with Jesus, with our love for Him expressed in obedience to Him.

Outlines on the Parables of Jesus. The True Vine (John 15:1–17)

The new birth, as believers, is not the end.

It is the beginning of new life in Christ, abiding in Him and He in us

How tragic it would be, if you or I, branches now, fail to experience the joy that comes as we fulfill our potential for bearing fruit.

This is not meant to depress us. It’s meant to excite us and to give us joy. Because we are branches, we can draw life from Jesus the Vine!

Which part of the vine are you currently?

Are you actively remaining in the vine?

Or has your vine become strangled in need of pruning?

It is our responsibility to “go” forward in our Christian lives, growing in fruitfulness, yet always dependent upon the one who hears and answers our prayers.

Closing Illustration

"There was a boy that attended His grandfathers death bed, His grandfather gave him a pocket watch and said keep it and when you open it look up and think of me, the boy cherished that pocket watch, one day working at an ice plant He lost the watch out of his pocket, when he realized he lost it he began to turn the place upside down looking for it but with all the saw dust on the floor from the ice it was impossible, he scratched and dug around to no avail, then he had an idea, he shut off all the equipment and let it get so quite in the factory you could hear a pin drop, not only could you hear a pin drop, you could hear a pocket ticking, he found his watch; by not but running around in a panic, but rather by slowing down and listening till he could hear the ticking.

So, quit running around, settle down, read the Bible, spend time in prayer, abide in Christ and listen for the heartbeat of God!