The True Vine

INTRO

John 14—17 contains the Farewell Discourses, the last words of Jesus to the disciples right before He went to the cross. John was intentional about showing the divinity of Jesus. One of the ways John did this was through the seven “I am” statements in his Gospel. So far, we’ve looked at six of the seven “I am” statements: (1) I am the bread of life; (2) I am the light of the world; (3) I am the door of the sheep; (4) I am the good shepherd; (5) I am the resurrection and the life; and (6) I am the way, the truth, and the life. Today, we look at the final “I am” statement: “I am the true vine

TEACHING

John 15:1: Some translations have the Father as the gardener or the vine dresser. Jesus insisted that He is the true vine. He was trying to say something about who He is. It’s an exclusive claim that makes Him distinct from other vines. In the Old Testament, Israel was referred to as the vine planted by God:

• Israel as the vine: “You uprooted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared a place for it; it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out sprouts toward the Sea and shoots toward the River. Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The boar from the forest tears it and creatures of the field feed on it” (Psalm 80:8–13).
• Israel as a choice vine: “I planted you as a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine?” (Jeremiah 2:21).

In the Old Testament, God planted Israel as His vine, but Israel grew into something God had not intended. Israel strayed from the pure seed. Jesus’ claim was that He was the true outgrowth of the pure seed that God the Father had planted in Israel. Jesus is the fulfillment of the true vine God intended, not the wild vine that strayed. Jesus and Israel both had the same Gardener, the Father. Jesus’ vine is the same vine from the pure seed God planted in Abraham. He is the picture of what God’s plan looked like when it grew in full health.

John 15:2: “Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” In verse 2, “He” is God; God takes away the branches that do not bear fruit. Jesus didn’t sugarcoat this truth. God prunes those who do produce fruit. Jesus addressed everyone with both categories of people who were to be pruned. Those who don’t produce fruit are unbelievers. They are not connected to the vine, so they are unable to produce fruit. They will wither and die because they are not connected to the vine. This picture is made even more clear in verse 6 when Jesus said, “If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” It sounds harsh, but if Jesus is the true source of life and you choose to not be connected to the source of life, you are choosing death. Your choice has cut you off from the only source that can give you life. If a branch is cut off from the source, it will die. Its connection with the vine is what keeps it alive. Without that connection, the branch cannot survive.

The second group Jesus addressed were the people who produced fruit. If branches are connected to the vine, then they produce fruit because they are connected to the source. Fruit is the evidence that the sap from the vine is flowing. But pruning occurs even for those who produce fruit. Being pruned doesn’t sound like fun. But Jesus said that when we are connected to Him, we will bear fruit, and God will prune us so that we can be even more fruitful. If you are connected to Christ, just expect pruning; God wants you to be more fruitful and good gardeners have to prune. Pruning involves cutting away what is dead in order to make room for something new to grow. It is a process of increasing health and shaping to a certain form. This is exactly what God does in our lives. He prunes the stuff in us that is not fully alive to make room for the newness and fullness He has in store for us. Pruning still hurts, but it’s worth it. Pruning isn’t something God does to punish us. God prunes us to enhance us and bless us.

John 15:3–6: There’s an interesting word play in verse 3. The word “pruning” in verse 2 can also be translated “clean” as in verse 3. Jesus referenced how the disciples know true life already. They were connected to the vine because of the truth Jesus taught them.

In verse 4, Jesus introduced the concept of “remaining in Me,” which He used seven times in verses 1–17. The very basic thing Jesus told His disciples was that they needed to remain in Him, if they wanted to bear fruit. Apart from Jesus, they could do nothing. We have the tendency to read the verse as “apart from Me you can do some things.” But Jesus said that apart from Him we could do nothing. So, we have to ask ourselves: “What is the fruit we are supposed to produce?” and “How do we abide in Him to do that?”

John 15:7–17: What is the fruit Jesus talked about? The easiest way to sum it up is to say we are to be like Jesus. Bearing fruit proves who are His disciples. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35), and “As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love” (John 15:9–10). The Father loved Jesus. Jesus obeyed the Father. Jesus loved the disciples, and now they were to obey Jesus by remaining in Him. As they remained in Him, they would know His love that would lead to total obedience to God. Jesus said, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way” (John 5:19). We bear fruit when we do what we see Jesus doing. The fruit that we will bear is a description of Jesus—the fruit is Christlikeness: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23). When the sap of God’s Spirit is flowing into you, you start bearing a resemblance to the life source—Jesus.

Abiding in Jesus leads to loving Jesus. Loving Jesus leads to obedience. Obedience leads to fruit. Fruit is the likeness of Christ. This process is cyclical. It repeats over and over again. It’s the life cycle of following Jesus. Acting like Jesus includes sharing the good news with everyone you meet, just like Jesus did.

How do you stay connected to the vine?

Stay in the Word. This is what you are doing with Revive School. You are staying in the Word because you meet Jesus here.

Pray. How do you stay connected to any friend or family member? You spend time talking to them. Prayer is your connection to God. It’s your time spent talking to Him.

If you remain in Jesus and He remains in you, you ought to expect your prayers to be answered because you will be asking from His heart. Fruit isn’t the end goal. God’s glory is the end goal. Fruit points people to who God really is.

CLOSING

If you love Jesus, you will obey Him. You will start bearing more and more fruit that will point more and more people to the Father who will receive the glory.