I am the True Vine
Experience the vital connection with Jesus as the True Vine, teaching us about the importance of remaining in Him to bear fruit and flourish in our spiritual journey.
Transcript
In grad school, my source of energy for long nights of homework and papers was a bag of Life Savers Gummies and my choice of caffeinated drinks ranging from sweet coffee drinks with an extra shot of espresso to energy drinks like Red Bull. Some sugar and caffeine could help me plow through the evening and morning or so I thought. It sure tasted good, but little did I know, they would become the source to other things like a caffeine crash, messed up sleeping schedules, and weight gain. You hear about freshman 15, but no one tells you about the phenomenon in grad school. Masters morphing into a mound of mass. Just kidding, it was just something I made up. What I thought could be a source of energy left me feeling even more tired and unproductive. It wasn’t until after graduating that I realized the real source of energy was eating well, getting rest, and pacing myself through these large projects, instead of doing everything on the very last night and depending on a surge of energy. Making sure you tap into the right source to provide you what you need is crucial. And this morning, we’re going to talk about that.
Over the last month and a half, we’ve gone through Jesus’ 6 “I Am” statements.
I am the bread of life.
I am the light of the world.
I am the gate to the sheep.
I am the good shepherd.
I am the resurrection and the life.
I am the way and the truth and the life.
And this morning we wrap up the series with his final “I Am” statement, [4] “I am the true vine” and learn that Jesus is the source.
Understanding The Vine in Old Testament
Now the image of a vine was a common Old Testament referencing the Israelites who were God’s people. Psalm 80 is a perfect example of this, let me read it.
“8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. [7] 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.”
The vine transplanted from Egypt was imagery describing the Exodus story where Moses freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. And while transplanting any living creature, whether it’s plants or people, can be stressful, we’re told that the Israelites transitioned from slavery, rooted themselves in being free people, and flourished. Unfortunately, that didn’t last too long. In the following verses, we’re told what happens to them. Let me read some more.
[9] 12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? 13 Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it. 14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! [10] Watch over this vine, 15 the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. 16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
The Israelites were God’s people, but the disobeyed God causing them to experience God’s punishment. Walls being broken down described God allowing other nations to conquer the Israelites. Boars were unholy animals to the Israelites so the image of Israel being ravaged by them depicts a far separation from God.
In Isaiah 5, another Old Testament passage, references Israel as a vine and dives a bit deeper to tell us why all of this happened. This is what it says,
1 My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.”
With Israel being described as a vine again, we’re told that this vine was expected to bear good fruit, but instead it bears bad fruit. Bad fruit represented disobedience and God does not bless those who are disobedient. Unfortunately, whenever Israel is described as a vine, it often highlighted their disobedience. That’s why in John 15:1, Jesus differentiates himself from Israel when he says, “I am the true vine.” Jesus differentiates that he is the true vine who obeys God unlike Israel who disobeyed God. In other Old Testament passages when Israel is depicted as a vine, it’s often noted that they produce bad fruit, but Jesus reveals to his disciples here that he, being the true vine bears good fruit.
Bearing Fruit
What does it mean to bear fruit? Bearing fruit refers to living a life that reflects the source that gives you life. It’s like how an apple tree is the source of life to apples and apples carry the nature to become an apple tree. Similarly, Jesus is our source of life and when we obey him, we carry the nature to be like Jesus. The concept of bearing fruit is very important in John 15 because it’s repeated 7 times in 17 verses. If you and I are the branches that are connected to Jesus who is the vine, we are supposed to bear fruit. Bearing fruit means we are looking more and more like Jesus. His attitude and perspective, his nature and desire become more and more of ours. It’s not a matter of if we’ll be like Jesus, but more of a matter of when we’ll be like Jesus. We can’t do this by ourselves, but it comes from being transformed through our obedience in Jesus. Obedience is a major part of bearing fruit because when we obey Jesus we remain in his ways. On the flip side, if we are disobedient, we bear bad fruit. Bad fruit simply means that our desires and actions do not resemble who God is. The difference between bearing good fruit or bad fruit lies in this: remaining in Jesus.
Remain in me
We’re told to “remain in Jesus” 8 times and it conveys this idea of being in a dependent, mutual, and committed relationship with Jesus. If you’ve gardened or taken care of any kind of plant before, you know that when a leaf or a branch or any part of the plant is taken away from the vine or the root, it withers and die. Any part of the plant that is doesn’t remain in its source of life dies. It is evident in Jesus’ “I Am” statement that if anyone who is a branch attached to Jesus, who is the vine, doesn’t remain ends up being tossed in a fire and burned.
To remain in Jesus also conveys this unique idea of living with each other. I’ve lived with many people in my life and still do and it involves adapting to each other’s preferences and values. We’ve had to establish basic guidelines to allow us to live each other and enjoy one another. Biblically, to remain in Jesus conveys this image of dwelling with. Dwelling is a biblical theme throughout the Bible. John 1:14, we’re told that Jesus made his dwelling among us. In the Old Testament God promised to dwell with those who were obedient to him. Leviticus 26 shows us God’s promise to dwell with his people if they are obedient to him. Notice the promises that God makes. Let me read parts of it.
3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4 I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land… 9 “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”
Not only will God’s people be blessed abundantly, but more importantly, God will dwell with them and make them his people. But if God’s people do not obey Him, it leads to severe consequence. Right after God says this, he also informs the people consequence for disobedience. This is what it says in verse 14 on,
14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it… 19 I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. 20 Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.
Just notice the agricultural references and how important it is to remain in God. The consequence of disobeying results in Him, who is the source of life, separating from us. The difference from being connected or disconnected from the source is our decision to remain in Jesus or not. Listen to John 15:5,
“Apart from me you can do nothing.”
We are completely dependent in Jesus for everything. Without him, we can’t do anything, but if we remain in him, this is his promise.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
Our commitment to be in a relationship with Jesus means we will be more and more like Christ. Our desires are more and more like Christ so when it says that we ask whatever we wish and it will be done for us, it’s not our own desires, but God’s desire. Being in a dependent, mutual, and committed relationship with Christ helps align our desires with God’s desire and when they are aligned it helps us produce more and more fruit. Imagine what it’d be like if we were more and more like Jesus in our thoughts, words and deeds.
APPLICATION
This passage is reassuring for me because for me, it can sometimes feel overwhelming being a follower of Jesus. It feels like there’s so much at stake. You have to watch what you say, what you do, what you associate yourself with, but what’s comforting about this passage is the promise that if we faithfully depend on Jesus, we will naturally reflect Jesus to those around us. Jesus is the source of our Christlikeness. It isn’t dependent on us, but on our source. Our primary responsibility is to remain in Jesus, to be obedient to Jesus. One thing that Jesus does tells us is that God is the gardener who prunes us.
I don’t know much about gardening, but supposedly pruning, when done, correctly isn’t supposed to hurt the plant. Rather, it’s supposed to help the plant, but it does involve cutting away certain parts that harmful to its growth and development. Similarly, I believe God prunes us so that we can grow and develop into people who can reflect Christ more and more. I think it’s worth us considering what kind of fruit we are bearing and what God is pruning away so that we can be more like Jesus. Do the things you say and do reflect Jesus or do they reflect someone or something else? If they don’t reflect Jesus, are you being invited to prune those people and/or things away? Sometimes it can feel difficult to allow God to prune away the people and things that influence us, but we trust that it’s for our good. We trust that he does so we can be more like him. We can experience the fullness of life by reflecting him and loving others. Jesus is the source of life for all of us. Let him prune away what he needs to in order for us to live like him. Let’s pray.