Jesus, the True Vine
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[Intro]
We are going to be looking at the Gospel of John today. The writer is the Apostle John, who also wrote 1, 2, and 3 John and Revelation. He was one of the first chosen to be a disciple by Jesus, along with his brother James. They were sons of Zebedee. Fun fact about the two brothers, Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”. Only account of this is in Mark 3:17, no real connection to our message today, but it was new to me and I thought it was interesting. Gives us maybe a little insight into their behavior, at least when they first met Jesus. Our main focus will be chapter 15 verses 1-8. But for context we’re going to start in John chapter 13.
[Body]
In this scripture, we are in the week of the crucifixion of Jesus. So what is now Passion Week or Holy Week. It is Thursday night and Jesus is with his 12 Disciples having the Last Supper in the upper room. There was not given an exact location in scripture, just that they were in a guest room upstairs. Here at the Last Supper Jesus predicts his betrayal.
Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”
The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom he could mean. The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?” So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.” None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant.
So now Judas is out of the scene, Jesus is with the other 11 Disciples and through the rest of chapter 13 and chapter 14 Jesus gives his final farewell to his disciples, talks about the way to the Father which is through Him:
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
He promises them the Holy Spirit to live within them and then at the end of Chapter 14, it’s time to go, time to leave the upper room and they head to the garden of Gethsemane. Now chapter 15:1-8
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
So here we have a metaphore:
Jesus is the vine, Father God is the gardener, we are the branches. In the Old Testament the vine is commonly used to represent Israel, God’s people. Now this is a separation from that where Jesus is the vine and the only way to the Father is for us to “attach” ourselves to Jesus; to have a relationship with Him. Just as was said in John 14:6 earlier “No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Let’s look closer at verse 2
He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
We bear fruit or we do not. We are attached to the vine bearing fruit or we are cut off. Some like to use this verse as support to say we can lose our salvation. Which if it was our only verse to look at, I can see why one would think that, but we can look at other scriptures to help interpret this metaphor for clarity that you cannot lose your salvation. Jesus says in John 10:27-29
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.
An example of a branch cutoff is Judas Iscariot. Which can be very confusing, because he was one of the twelve disciples. You would think he must have believed in Jesus as the Son of God, he must have been producing good fruit. When Jesus said at the Last Supper one of them would betray Him, the disciples were confused. It’s not like everyone was thinking “Clearly Judas, he’s barely even a student, he has never seemed to care.” The others did not know. The question is did he ever truly believe? After all, there were many times the other disciples had struggles. In John chapter 12 you can tell Judas had an issue with money.
Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.
Judas was recognized as a thief, not really caring for the poor. He was a pretender. A phony.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
In the end Judas betrayed Jesus for money. That was his master.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces.
Also, the pharisees, they more-so loved to look righteous, to hold seats of honor in the synagogues, and really enjoyed their money.
We can look close to God without actually be close to Him or having a relationship with Him at all. That is what cuts us off, having no real relationship in the first place.
It is not stumbling that cuts us off from the vine, again look at the disciples. Simon Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times! And this was right after Jesus was arrested, being betrayed by Judas. But Peter repented and ended up doing many great things for the work of Christ as an apostle. He truly believed.
We must truly believe in the saving blood of Jesus Christ. Works cannot save us. Believe in Him and good fruit will follow naturally
The rest of verse and 2 and through 3 talks about the pruning process. God the Father prunes the fruitful branches so they can bear even more fruit. This can be thought of as Discipline. Just as we are disciplined by earthly fathers, our Godly father disciplines us as well.
For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.
For the Lord corrects those he loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.
God disciplines us out of love so that we can bear more fruit.
Let’s read John 15:4, again
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
This type of language was mentioned earlier by Jesus in chapter 14 when Jesus talks about sending an Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
We remain or in some translations, abide, in Christ and he will live in us. The Greek word for abide or remain describes a profound relationship with God. It is a relationship that will endure through hardship. This is a strong commitment. And we know God will always hold up His end of the deal. We must remain strong in the faith. When we abide in Him their is a mutual indwelling. When we are in Him and He is in us, our goals will align more with the will of the Father.
Let’s re-read John 15:5-8. It mostly re-iterates the previous scriptures.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
We can enjoy the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control when we abide in Christ. Without Him, we can do nothing. We are useless. Stay connected to the vine. The source of all good things. As believers, Christ lives in us, and when we produce good fruit, we bring glory to God the Father.