Title: I Am The Vine

Text: Jn 15:1-15

Introduction:

At the close of Chapter 14 Jesus said to the disciples, "Arise, let us go from here. They left the upper room and the events of chapters 15 through 17, occurred as they were on their way to the Garden of Gethsemene. On the way they likely passed through some of the many vineyards which surrounded Jerusalem.

The imagery of the vine is seen throughout both Old and New Testament. The fruitful vine is a symbol of God's blessing. Jeremiah refers to Israel as a noble vine of the finest seed in 2:21

but the Lord says that they have turned before Him into a degenerate plant. Ezekiel in chapter 15 using the imagery of the vine saying Israel is desolate because of unfaithfulness.

According to the Jewish historian Josephus during the Maccabaean period of Jewish history, that era between the two testaments, the symbol of the vine was on the coins of Israel. It was also seen over the main doors of the synagogues. In describing Herod's Temple in Jesus' day he says, "under the crown––work was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height, the largeness and the workmanship of which were an astonishing sight to the spectators" (Antiquities of the Jews, 5.5.4).

It seems likely Jesus stopped in one of these vineyards, took a vine, and used it to illustrate to the disciples the truth He had been explaining to them in the Upper Room, the most fundamental and basic truth of Christian life. We talked about it last week the truth that was at the heart of his own experience and ministry, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" {cf, John 14:10}, and now the truth of their lives the Spirit when He came, "You in me, and I in you," {John 14:20b RSV}.

I. Christ as the True Vine 1-3

The word "true," is used in the sense of real, or genuine. He really and truly gives what the vine symbolically represented. The vine supplies nourishment to all the branches. Jesus is the source of all real strength and grace for all of His true disciples.

In verse one Jesus also said, “My Father is the vinedresser.” It is yet another way of affirming the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me.” (14:10) The expression means God gave, or purposed the Son to be the source of all blessings to humanity; that all grace descends through him.

II. Disciples are the Branches v 5

In addition God provides for all the branches of the true vine-- that is, all who are by faith united to the Jesus Christ by faith.

Jesus included in the vine not only the branches but the stem and root. The whole plant was the vine. By this he illustrated the spiritual truth that when we are united with Christ we are one with him, we are identified with him. The Apostle Paul used another figure to point out the same truth, saying that every body has a head, and the body and the head are one -- they belong to each other. So the vine includes the branches, and Jesus said in verse 5, "I am the vine; you are the branches."

III. The vine exists to bear fruit

The vine exists for a purpose. That purpose is to bring forth fruit, the vineyard is not planted to be ornamental. So the question is, "What does this fruit stand for in our lives?" Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Jesus said the fruit is borne by the branches but it is produced by the vine. What is the fruit Jesus speaks of here?

Most of us probably automatically assume that what Jesus refers to is others lead to Christ. Many Christians have been discouraged and sometimes disheartened because they have heard or been taught that if a person is not constantly or frequently leading others to faith in Christ they are fruitless Christians. That is not what this parable of the vine teaches at all.

According to George R. Beasley-Murray each time Israel is mentioned in the Old Testament as a vine or vineyard it is in connection with the judgement of God for corruption and especially for its failure to produce good fruit. In Isa 5 we understand what the fruit is: Isaiah wrote God cleared out the rocks in his vineyard and hedged it about. He built a tower; he protected the vineyard and cared for it. He did everything possible to enable it to produce good grapes. But when He came to His vineyard he found it had produced worthless ones instead. Verse 7 says: “Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.” (NAS)

God came looking for justice and righteousness; instead he found oppression, cruelty, exploitation, and indifference to the needs of others. It is evident from Isaiah’s words the fruit God expects of the vine is moral character.

To bear fruit is to show by our lives that we are under the influence of Christ. It is to live so as to be useful to Christ and others. Albert Barnes said, “As a vineyard is worthless unless it bears fruit that may promote the happiness or subsistence of man, so the Christian principle would be worthless unless Christians should live so that others may be made holy and happy by their example and labors, and so that the world may be brought to the cross of the Savior. (from Barnes' Notes)

 The life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians 5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. The fruit, in other words, is Christ-likeness. Jesus revealed that the very purpose of the vine is to produce such fruit.

IV. The key to fruit-bearing

Verses 4 and 5 reveal the key to fruit-bearing in the Christian life. "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. (NAS)

To "abide" means "to remain in union, maintain a living communion, to maintain unbroken fellowship with another. John uses the word "abide" over fifty times in his writings; eleven times in John 15. Our responsibility as Christians is to abide, that is to maintain unbroken fellowship with Christ.

Jesus is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. We must willfully decide to do those things which expose us to Him and keep us in contact with him. We have been placed into Christ by the Holy Spirit. Paul uses the analogy of branches being grafted into the olive tree in Romans. We have been grafted into the vine, now we must choose to maintain that relationship by the decisions we make, i.e., decisions to expose ourselves to His Word in order to learn more about him and what He expects from us, decisions to converse with him through prayer, decisions to relate to other believers in body-life experiences, i.e., bearing one another's burdens, exhortation sharing in fellowship with one another, where we learn about Christ and see Him exemplified in one another. All of these are designed to enable us to relate to and abin in Him.

This is what Bible Study, prayer, church are all about. They’re not mere mechanical practices which Christian’s ought to do in order to make the pastor happy, or to stay "in" with the crowd, or to maintain his "membership card," or to score points" with God. They are the means by which we come to know him more intimately, they are the means for knowing Him experientially, not just intellectually. They are the means of personalizing faith.

If you open your Bible and begin to read it without the conscious expectation that it’s going to reveal something about Him, you will read in vain. If you try to pray as though it were some exercise in which you chalk off fifteen minutes' worth, mechanically going through a list like the turning of a prayer wheel, it is a valueless experience. But if you pray because you are talking with One whom you love and want to experience more of, sharing with him out of the fullness of your heart, then prayer becomes a fulfilling, rewarding experience. If in relating to others you merely get together and have coffee and talk about the weather, you will find it useless. But if you share where you are spiritually, what your struggles are, what you are going through, and if you bear one another's burdens and love each other in the Lord, encouraging and uplifting one another it becomes a growing, strengthening experience. Christ then becomes real to you. That’s abiding in him.

Abide means to stick with your commitment. Jesus repeatedly defines abiding as obedience. We

might also call it fidelity. To abide in Christ is to keep on obeying Him no matter what, that’s what Jesus was saying in John 14 15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” And remember that was active if you continually love me you will continually keep my commandments.

We are responsible for making choices, to keep abiding. But we don't do it alone. Jesus said

"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. (NAS)

What did Jesus mean that apart from Him we can do nothing? Obviously we can do many things without depending on Christ and unfortunately we often do. He doesn’t mean that without Him we just kind of vegetate. You can operate a business without Christ. You can even make it run well. You can raise your family without Christ. You can even pastor a church without Christ. But if you do, you find that there will be no fruit, no Christlikeness, no manifestation of Christ’s character. There will be an imitation of the genuine thing, which will turn people away from Christ rather than towards Christ and which will produce nothing but mechanical stagnant useless religion which is without God.

The good news is although we are responsible to make the decisions and make the choices, we are not responsible for the power to see them through. That’s where we are to depend on Him, to let him abide in us; to rest in His ability to see us through. Making decisions and then trying to do the whole thing ourselves, as though the whole responsibility rested on us, is going to produce a fruitless Christian life -- intense activity, but no results.

We must make choices, we must determine to expose ourselves to Him; seek Him in the Word and in prayer and in fellowship, then trust Him the enabling power which makes us able to love, forgive, rejoice, give thanks, encourage, pray even when everything seems to be going wrong. When we do, we are abiding in him and allowing Him to abide in us and our lives become fruitful because we are developing Christlikeness and Christ like character.

In verse 8 Jesus said, "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and {so} prove to be My disciples.” (NAS)

God is glorified when his people manifest Christlikeness. It is not activity which glorifies God; it is character, it is what we are, and how we react to the situations of life. It’s what’s behind the activity that God looks at what’s in the heart is the love of Christ and the character of Christ responsible for the activity.

Do you want to be known as a disciple of Jesus? Do you want to be recognized as one who follows Jesus? Then, manifest fruit in your life by abiding in Him, and allowing Him to abide in you.