Between the Last Supper and His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus continued to teach and pray for His disciples. Even knowing what the next few hours held for Him, He committed Himself fully to loving and teaching them.
John records Jesus’ thoughts and prayers during this time, and reading chapters 13-17 provide us with a better understanding of what our Lord was thinking as He prepared Himself for the cross. As we commemorate our Savior’s passion during this holy week, let’s take time to dig into His teaching in John 15.
“Abide in Me” — there must have been a sense of urgency in Jesus’ voice as He told the allegory of the vine and the branches. Did His disciples understand what He was saying? Do we today? Take time to read the following passage, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth about what the Lord is saying to His disciples and to you.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.“ (John 15:1-11)
John 15 is an allegory, a description of one thing under the image of another. The allegory of the vine and the branches is really about the life of a disciple. We use that word around NCC a lot, and our “ONE” theme underscores that we are to be disciples, make disciples, for the glory of the One and only God. And as His disciples, we have our root, our being, in Christ Jesus. If we remain and abide in the love of Christ, we should be growing spiritually.
In John 15, God is the vinedresser, and Jesus is the vine. The branches represent Christ’s disciples, and the fruit is indicative of works that accompany faith, the qualities of Jesus Himself, and the proof of spiritual growth. Through pruning, God uses us for His glory.
I think that Jesus uses this allegory because His disciples are about to face a very trying time. Jesus will soon be arrested, tried, and crucified. His public ministry is drawing to a close, and His disciples will be the ones to carry on His work. Jesus knows that they will undergo trials and temptations, so He uses the allegory of the vine (something that would be understood in an agrarian society) to teach them to “abide in Him,” the call and command of every disciple of Christ.
As we dig into this allegory, let’s look at a few interesting facts about vines and vineyards. (Information taken from Precept Ministries’ course on John).
1. A vine must have a vinedresser to plant and to watch over it. It is dependent on the vinedresser for the place that it grows, its protective hedge, its watering, and its pruning.
2. A vine must have branches to bear fruit. A branch is wood brought forth from the vine for the sole purpose of bearing fruit.
3. Fruit is borne by the branch for the owner.
4. No other plant so quickly runs into wild wood and thus most be so stringently pruned.
5. The more vigorous the growth, the greater the need for pruning. The honest, healthy wood of the vine has to be cut away because it would consume too much of the sap to fill all the long shoots of last year’s growth. The sap must be saved up and used by the fruit alone.
6. Two different processes take place when a new graft is placed in a vine and it stays there. First, the graft puts out roots and fibers which go into the stem, which in turn grows up into the graft. This growth constitutes structural union. Second, the sap of the vine enters this new structure and uses it as a passage through which it can flow to the new leaves and fruit. The graft fills with sap and stays or abides in the vine.
What does Jesus teach in John 15:1-11? We learn that Jesus is the true vine, and God is the vinedresser. Branches that do not bear fruit are taken away, but branches that do bear fruit are pruned by God so they can bear more fruit. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine — we cannot bear fruit unless we abide in Him.
The Greek word for abide is meno, which means “to stay, to remain, to continue, to endure.” The word used for fruit (karpos) is the same word used in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Think about it — is it even possible to produce these qualities in our lives apart from Christ? It would be like trying to produce electricity without being plugged in to an outlet.
Jesus promises that if we abide in Him by obeying His commandments, we will bear much fruit (15:5). He stresses that apart from Him, we can do nothing. The benefits of abiding in Him are worth the pruning: whatever we wish shall be done for us (15:7) and our joy will be made full (15:11). The consequences, however, are dire: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned” (15:6; see also Ezekiel 15:1-5).
Abiding is the proof of discipleship. We should be able to identify believers by the fruits they bear in their lives. God is glorified by our abiding and bearing much fruit, and He is there to take us through the process. Pruning, while it may hurt and be difficult at the time, will ensure that we remain spiritually healthy and growing and vibrant.
After employing the allegory of the vine and exhorting His disciples to “abide in Him,” Jesus focuses on the new level of intimacy He was about to have with His disciples. The basis of the intimacy of between Jesus and His disciples is to be reflection of the relationship Jesus shares with the Father, one borne of love: “This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (15:12-13).
Notice that Jesus refers to His disciples as “friends.” He goes on to say that “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (15:14). Friendship with Christ is not without cost, however. While abiding in Christ’s love brings tremendous joy, it also may bring us persecution. Intimacy with Christ drives a wedge between us and the world — in fact, disciples of Christ can and should expect to have others hate and persecute them (15:18-23). There is hope, however — Jesus promises His disciples to send the Holy Spirit as a Helper (15:26-27).
John 15 paints a beautiful portrait of intimacy with Christ. God desires intimacy with all of His children, but as we have seen, it is not a one-way street. Intimacy with Christ requires obedience (keeping His commandments), love, and service. Intimacy is the legacy of a disciple, and God longs for all of us to experience true intimacy with Him.
As you reflect on Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice this week, remember that abiding in Him and being pruned by our caring vinedresser is the only guarantee that “our joy may be made full.” I challenge all of us to spend time this week thinking and praying about the fruit we are bearing and allowing God to prune us. Whatever discomfort we endure now ultimately will result in greater intimacy with our Lord. Jesus’ amazing gift to us is never-ending.
[...] while ago I blogged on John 15, which is an amazing picture of the believer’s relationship with Christ (the true vine). As [...]
The Zone Gathering » Blog Archive » Bible Drill Wednesday: Fruit of the Spirit (Joy)
September 26th, 2007