The Vine

It seems the further we go into John’s Gospel, the meatier the Word becomes. Perhaps that’s because we’ve been walking with Jesus now, since the beginning (John 1:1). We are coming to know Him better as we move along. Chapter 15 is a sumptuous meal! Expertly prepared by our Lord and served up to the inner circle of Jesus’ faithful believers, who preserved it for us through their steadfast faith and determination to continue in His Word. These eleven to whom He spoke these words were disciples indeed (John 8:31-32), destined to become His Church.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. John 15:1

“I AM”….Jesus is the genuine vine. The source of life. We cannot produce anything from ourselves alone.

He is the Vine, planted in the earth by the Father. The eleven, and we, are the branches through whom He, Himself produces fruit. The Father desires fruit, and His dealing with us is regulated by a purpose to increase our fruitbearing. - A. B. Bruce, The Training of The Twelve, paraphrased

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I 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. John 15:2-10

We branches abide in the Vine by our spiritual attachment to, or identification with Him. The Vine abides in the branches by His sap, or spiritual lifeblood, flowing through us to produce fruit. 

“takes away”…non-productive, neutralized branches are cut off. There is no fruit there, and they hinder the production of the other branches. This is God’s discipline of His own. Divine discipline of believers includes being removed from one’s position or removed from this life, because of disobedience, arrogance or self-sufficiency, as in the case of King Saul. 

I Cronicles 10:13-14 Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

Prune: to remove (dead or superfluous twigs, branches, etc) from (a tree, shrub, etc), specifically by cutting off. The only way for a believer to produce divine good is to abide in (remain in close fellowship with, identify with, be occupied with, totally depend on) Christ. The ones who abide in Christ bear much fruit. Those who don’t abide in Him lose their spiritual vitality and have no testimony for the Lord.

The nation Israel had been the degenerate vine; religion masquerading as reality. Fickle. Traitorous. Idolatrous. This was the pronouncement of the prophets. Isaiah 5:2,4,6:

Then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones.
What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

“I will lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”

Jeremiah 2:21“Yet I planted you a choice vine,

A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before ME
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?”

We have the perfect source of life in the dispensation of the Church. It is the Lord of life, Himself. The way to produce good fruit is not to hustle and compete and count points, but to simply remain as close as possible to Him in our daily life. We must saturate our souls with His Word. Then we are functioning from the mind of Christ. When He is in everything we think and do, what we produce will be divine good…good fruit, more fruit, MUCH fruit. Then, when our work is evaluated, our divine production will remain; the human good produced by the neutralized branches will be burned. This principle of human good vs divine good was later taught to the Church in I Corinthians 3:11-13, regarding the Bema, or the Judgment Seat of Christ for resurrected believers. As Jesus was presenting it to the eleven, however, the ongoing, daily relationship to Jesus Christ of the maturing believer was in view. This was foundational truth for the Church which was yet to be born. How do we maintain our spiritual life and divine production? Abide in HIM.

Conclusion: believers who are not bearing fruit will be purged, so as not to hinder the production of the vine. Believers who are producing fruit will be pruned (trimmed, groomed, honed, trained, shaped up) to enable the production of more abundant and even better fruit. Often, when it seems there are problems and irritations in our lives and we whine to God to remove those distractions, He will eventually make it clear that the thing, situation, person who is distracting you is His pruning tool, forcing you to focus more clearly on His Word and depend more completely on His loving care. By pruning we learn obedience, humility and unconditional love. That combination produces good fruit.

Caution, believer: never assume, because you don’t see the fruit of another believer, that there is none, or that his production is bad. Only the vine-dresser can accurately evaluate the quality of our fruit. We have no idea what divine good may be in the production of a low-profile believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit and comprehends the truth of God’s Word. Conversely, those who flourish in the spotlight could be producing polished wax.

Remaining closely identified with the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect Word of Truth guarantees the fulfillment of whatever we ask from Him, as we seek to glorify the Father by our spiritual fruit. Obedience to His commandments = humility = true discipleship = unquestioned love = divine good.

He taught us this so that we could share in His joy, and that the very happiness which belongs to God (+ H) would be complete in us. John 15:11:

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.