Jesus says, “I Am the True Vine.” The grapevine and its fruit were very important to the Jews of Jesus’ days on Earth. Grapes have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years and have always been central to Israel’s agriculture and economy. They are so valuable that the Israelites built watchtowers next to their vineyards to guard against thieves and wild animals getting in and stealing the precious fruit.
You have probably heard of Israel being referred to in scripture as the “land of milk and honey”. Well, this statement is not talking about honey from bees. Instead, it is referring to a grape honey made by boiling grapes into a molasses-like jelly, which is very sweet.
Not only was the planting of the grapevine and the harvesting of its fruit important to ancient Israel, but throughout the Old Testament the grapevine is used as a symbol for Israel. It represents the fruitfulness of Israel doing God’s work.
During Jesus’ time on Earth, there was a huge golden grapevine hanging over the Temple entrance, made of twisted gold wire and beads. The grapevine was imprinted on Israeli coins during the time of the Maccabees and still is a part of modern Israel’s national emblem. So, in John 15:1-15, Jesus chooses the grapevine, branches, grapes and the vineyard owner to illustrate again who He is and what our relationship to Him is comparable to.
We see in verse 1 that God is the owner and cultivator of the vineyard. Grapevines require constant and intensive care. Our Heavenly Gardener tends to us who are His branches. He waters and protects us in order for us to produce a high yield at harvest time. He also will “prune” His branches as necessary. Why does He do that? God prunes His branches a couple of major reasons.
First, before a plant is allowed to produce fruit, the new plant is pruned for three to five years in order to “train” it. So it is with new believers in Christ. They too require training and time to become rooted in and grow in their newfound faith. Paul says we are to “feed baby Christians with milk, before we move them on to harder food”. In other words, we are to make sure new Christians have a good understanding of the basics, before we begin to filter in some of the harder to understand things of Christianity.
Second, pruning is absolutely necessary to remove dead branches so that they cannot infect the growing, living branches and destroy the plant before it even begins to produce fruit. Unproductive, always complaining, negative-minded Christians can be, and indeed are in fact, the main reason for decay and destruction of our churches today. We must pray that God breathes new life into them or removes them, all according to His will.
Third, even live branches need to be pruned. This process improves the vine’s potential to produce good fruit. Left untrimmed, vines develop unproductive growth. They end up with long, rambling branches that produce few grapes because the plant’s energy is used up in growing the branches and has little left to produce fruit. Jesus tells us in verse 3 that we who abide in Him are healthy branches. Good, healthy vines can produce as much as 80 pounds of grapes in a single season. With good roots, it can have that kind of production for almost 100 years!
We are reborn in order to reproduce and we are able to do that, provided we stay “rooted” in Jesus Christ! Our fruitfulness is not the result of human endeavor and achievement, but rather is the “fruit” of abiding in Jesus Christ. On our own, apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. We cannot bear fruit on our own. We cannot survive on our own.
Now, how can we know we are “abiding” in Christ? When we are living our life in union with Jesus Christ, when we are spiritual branches connected to the Vine, we will bear fruit. However, when we become severed from the Vine, we will spiritually wither and die.
A true disciple of Christ is a person who is continually going through the process of becoming like Jesus. It is not a one-time act. It is an ongoing process of living a life committed to Jesus Christ.
In the American colonies during the 1700’s, there was an evangelistic revival going on which spawned a period that was called the “Great Awakening”. The Reverend George Whitfield held several outdoor campaigns that saw thousands of people respond to the Gospel call to become disciples of Christ. When asked after one of his sermons how many were converted to Jesus Christ, Rev. Whitfield responded, “We’ll know in five years.” The good Reverend was making the point that only the passage of time would reveal which decisions made that night were superficial and which were genuine, lasting commitments to Jesus Christ.
Jesus says, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” No mere prophet would ever have dared to make that statement. For mere mortals to say such a thing would be ludicrous. In Jesus’ time, anyone saying something like that would be thought to be a lunatic at best, a blasphemer worthy of death at worst. Indeed, it was statement like that that caused the Jewish religious leaders to desire to kill Jesus Himself. Yet God the Son has spoken! “I AM the True Vine!” Again reminiscent of God the Father’s words to Moses, “Tell them I AM sent you.”
Apart from Jesus it is impossible for us to please God the Father. None of our works are acceptable to the Father unless we are connected to the Son. Whatever we do will have everlasting value only if we do it for, and by, Jesus Christ, in His power and authority.
Apart from Jesus it is impossible for us to be holy. But if we remain joined to Him, then because He has overcome the world, the flesh and the devil, we too can claim victory with Him and walk in clean, white garments, unstained with the filth of the world in which we live.
If we do not remain in Jesus, then we are told that they will be cut off from the Vine and thrown into the fire. God removes fruitless branches. These represent those who turn away from Jesus after making a superficial commitment, or those who never made a commitment to Jesus in the first place. Either way, their fate is not a pleasant one.
We remain in Jesus through prayer and reading the Scriptures. He speaks to us through His Word. But we must do more than just believe His words. We must let His words abide in us, in order to cleanse us and keep us connected to Him. He promises that if we will abide in His Word, our prayers will be answered. When we abide in His Word, we will want the right things. We will want what God wants for us. We won’t ask for foolish things. We will want, more than anything else, for God’s will to be accomplished in whatever we ask for in prayer. As we study His Word more, we will understand God’s will better and, therefore, our prayers will become more wise and attuned to His will.
The proof of discipleship is fruit that brings glory to God. Just as Jesus glorified the Father by His life, so Jesus is to be glorified by the lives of His followers. The Westminster Confession, a Christian creed, declares that our “chief end is to glorify God”. Our primary purpose for living is to bring glory to God. How do we do that?
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Love is what unites us to Christ, as branches are united to a vine. This relationship to the True Vine brings about obedience and joy.
Obedience is the cause of our fruitfulness, while joy is the result of our fruitfulness. The more we obey, the greater our joy. The greater our joy, the more we wish to obey. It is a never-ending, awesome and wonderful circle of life in Christ.
One last thing. Notice that Jesus says, “I AM the True Vine.” Make no mistake about what He is telling us here. He is saying that all other so-called vines, whether they had come before Him, as many had claimed to be, or those who have come after Him, they were or are false vines. To be connected to the True Vine is life eternal. To be connected to a false vine, no matter how good it feels right now, is death.
Hear the words of Jesus: “I AM the True Vine. Remain in Me and I will remain in you.” Amen!