The Vine, the Vinedresser, and the Branches

The Vine and the Branches John 15:1-8

Introduction: At the end of John 14 Jesus interrupts His teaching with the statement, “Arise, let us go from here!”, and then, in 15:1, the teaching continues. As the Rabbi walked with His disciples the teaching continued. Jesus was the Master Teacher. He has used several images from everyday life to teach His disciples about himself. I AM the Bread of life, I AM the Door to the sheepfold, I AM the Good Shepherd, I AM the Light of the World. He used simple images from everyday life to convey profound spiritual truth. It seems to me that in this image in John 15 He is shifting a bit from revelation of His person, to teaching about the Christian life, the relationship we wants us to experience with Him. How can we live in the world as His disciples? In first century Palestine vines were something people knew and could relate to. He may have walked with the disciples past some vines and pointed to them as He spoke. The metaphor of a vine, its branches, and the gardener expresses our dependence upon the Lord and the assurance that He is building the church and equipping us to carry out His mission. I am not a very good gardener. I really don’t have any experience with grape vines, but I’ve learned a few facts. To Jews in an agrarian society the imagery would have been quite clear: the branches needed the vine, they were dependent upon it and would quickly wither and die if cut off from it. They also need to be tended to, to be pruned, in order to experience their optimum fruitfulness. John MacArthur said the main point is that it is absolutely necessary that we abide in Christ. Only to the degree that the redeemed abide in Christ can we bear spiritual fruit. The Big Idea as I see it in this text is that We are dependent on God for life and can only be effective as He works on us, in us, and through us.

I. We are dependent on God for life and fruitful ministry (15:1).

This is the final time, until his arrest in the garden, that Jesus uses the term I AM – Jesus has used this phrase throughout the Gospel of John as He reveals himself to His disciples. He is affirming His deity, He is God, the Son, who was made flesh and dwelt for a while among us. Much of the Gospel until now has focused on this very idea: in order to really believe in Jesus we have to rightly understand who He is: The Eternal Son of God, The Great I AM, the Word who was made flesh. Here He say “I AM… the Vine” – He reveals a little more about His person and our relationship to Him. He is the source of life and nourishment. Grape vines were a part of life in first century Palestine. Vines were planted, cared for, pruned when needed, and as they matured and their roots were deep and strong, they would bear fruit—fruitful vines were one of the signs of the presence and blessing of God, it was one of the things the spies found when they looked at the land God was offering them (“Numbers 13:23 “Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men…”). That’s the kind of blessing God wanted for His people, but they didn’t trust Him! Israel is described as a “vine” in several passages in the Old Testament (see Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5 for example). Jesus says “I AM the True Vine” – The imagery of a vine was not new to Jewish listeners in the First Century. So Jesus is very specific here. He is not one, optional, vine, among many. He is the TRUE VINE. The One and Only—In the OT the Jewish nation was described as a Vine, now it is Jesus that is the One, True, Vine. Isa 5:1,2 “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: 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…” When Jesus called himself the “true Vine” his point is that Israel has proven unfaithful, most importantly they had rejected Him, so He has replaced Israel as the place of blessing and the source of salvation. Just as the Temple would now be obsolete, as He, God incarnate, dwelt among them, so He, and He alone, is the True Vine. *** We are dependent on Him for life and can only be effective as He works on us, in us, and through us.

II. God is molding the church and molding us into what He wants us to be. “…my Father is the vinedresser…” (15:1b-2).

The gardener plants the vines where He wants them. He doesn’t look for plants that have randomly sprung up, he is intentional and has a plan. Certain plants, like grapes, thrive in direct sunlight. I’ve had a problem growing tomatoes in the little patch behind the old parsonage, and I wonder if that might be part of the problem. There is a tree that is growing bigger each year and over shadowing the little garden area. He “takes away” the fruitless branches – they take up space, drain resources, block the light, inhibit the fruitfulness of other vines. One commentator suggests that this word here is referring to “lifting up” the branches that were down in the dirt where they couldn’t get light and would be dusty and dirt covered, and tying them to a stake or trellis so that they can be fruitful, not necessarily “removing” them from the vine. I like that image. God won’t allow us to wallow in the dust, unfruitful, useless, a drain on resources. He will pick us up so that the Son can shine on us and through us. He prunes the fruitful branches so that they can be more fruitful. Pruning was … an essential part of first-century tending of vines as it is today. The plants can’t be left to just run wild, they needed to be tended to and watched over. This involved cutting back the plant to that what was left could produce more and better-quality fruit; and the removal of some stray shoots that went out from the trunk and main branches so that the strength of the vine was not tapped by them. He has to work on us, to make useful, fruitful branches. We are being prepared for fruitfulness: living a life that reflects Jesus, and being prepared for our part in His mission. Jesus hinted at this idea back in John 13:20

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

The disciples would go out in the name of Jesus, bringing the Gospel to the world. That mission continues in us. Sometimes we have opportunities like Wednesday night’s Trunk or Treat outreach in which we were able to have a couple of hundred people pass through our parking lot, all receiving gospel tracts, many Bible portions or Bibles. About 40 kids went through the CEF booth and heard the Gospel along with their parents. The Word went out… all of that is good. But that is the exception. It is not our mission to bring the world to church so they can hear, its out mission to bring the Good News to the world. As we live as Christ followers where He has planted us, people can see a difference (or they should!) if we abide in the Vine. Like the branches receive life from the vine, we are dependent on God for life and can only be effective as He works on us, in us, and through us.

III. The Word of God is one means that God uses to cleanse us and prune us so that we can serve Him more effectively (15:3).

“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” The Word of God is a sharp knife in the hands of the Gardener! The word “cleansed” here is the same word that describes the “pruning” work of the vinedresser. We read in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The Word of God “prunes” us as it convicts us of sin. More precisely the Spirit convicts us of sin through the Word. In the next chapter we’ll read in John 16:8 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment…” The Spirit takes the living Word and applies to our hearts, like a light exposing our sin and leading us to repentence. He prunes as to help us grow, to make us stronger, more fruitful. Paul likewise said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate…” We are cleansed by the Vinedresser as He applies the sharp two edged sword of the Word to our lives, for our good and for His glory. After all, we are dependent on Him for life and can only be effective as He works on us, in us, and through us.

IV. As our thinking is aligned more and more with His, our prayers are increasingly according to His will. Prayer is for our benefit, teaching us that we need to rely on Him for everything

(read 15:4-7)...

John 15:4-7 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Six times in these four verses Jesus uses the word “abide.” We’ll spend another week in this series talking about this subject in more detail as we move ahead to 15:9-17 in the next message. But I like what Thomas Merton said about this idea of “abiding in Christ”: “Abiding is a consciousness of our union with God, of our complete dependence on Him, for all our vital acts in the spiritual life, and of His constant, loving presence in the depths of our souls…” Brother Lawrence spoke of abiding as a constant and conscious choice: “I do nothing else but abide in His holy presence, and I do this by simple attentiveness and an habitual, loving, turning of my eyes on Him. This I call… a wordless and secret conversation between the soul and God which never ends…” That kind of intimate communion is what God wants for us! We should want it too; it’s what we were made for. After all we are dependent on God for life and can only be effective as He works on us, in us, and through us.

V. The Purpose: God, the source of life and blessing, receives the glory (15.8). “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit…”

I used to think immediately of fruit as referring to people won to Christ, evangelism. That is true, but I think God is just as interested in what he is doing in us. Think of the “Fruit of the Spirit” as it is described by Paul: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self control…” That transformation brings glory to God. As we show the love of Christ to the world, it points people to Him. “Fruitfulness” is not only referring to our part in God’s mission, that surely is a part of it, but also to our conformity to Christ. Are we filled with the Spirit, allowing the Word of Christ to dwell richly within us? Are we “abiding in Him,” attentive to his Holy presence as we go about our lives? If so the fruit of the Spirit will be increasingly manifest in our lives. That is something people will notice. You will bear much fruit, “…and so prove to be my disciples…” Our changed lives are a testimony to Him – and bring glory to God!

What is God saying to me in this passage?

We are dependent on God for life & can only be effective as He works-on us-in us-and through us.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

God hasn’t called me to be a fruit inspector, except in my own life that is. How is the pruning going in your life? Are there things that sap your time and strength, things that block the Light of the Son, and so inhibit your fruitfulness for the Lord? The Vinedresser may be at work in you, pruning, cleaning areas of your life. Will you allow the Word of Christ to dwell richly within you? Will you trust the Vinedresser as He reveals areas that you must release to Him? Trust Him, He is working for your good, and for His glory. Amen.