SECRETS OF THE VINE
One of the perks of my work is that I get to research all kinds of interesting things. I discovered this week that there is a 240-year-old vine still growing in Hampton Court near London, England. It is the oldest and largest living vine in the world with a root two feet in diameter. Planted in 1768 by Lancelot Brown, the fruit of this vine was intended for royalty.
Despite its age the vine produces 500 to 700 bunches of grapes a year that weigh 220 to 320 kg (507 to 705 lb). The largest recorded crops of grapes from the Vine were 1,800 bunches in 1798 and 2,245 bunches in 1807. Even though some of the smaller branches are 200 feet from the main stem, they still bear the sweet and delicious fruit because they are connected to the vine. Life flows from that single root and through out the vine bringing nourishment and strength to each of the branches.
Jesus used several analogies to describe himself. He said, “I am the bread of life,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the light of the world.” Each was a reference to his deity but now he is quite direct when he says, “I am da vine.” Okay, what he actually said was, “I am the true vine.”
This conversation took place on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. At the end of chapter 14, Jesus said to his disciples “Come now, let us leave,” and they left the Upper Room. On the way to the garden they may have passed a vineyard and Jesus would have undoubtedly picked up a branch and said to his disciples, “I am the true vine.” Then he taught them this lesson on the vine and the branches.
Just as the branches on that 240-year-old vine need to be connected to continue to be fruitful, Jesus said we must remain in him. But what does it mean to “remain” in Christ? What kind of fruit are we expected to bear? What are the consequences of being a fruitless branch? In short, what was Jesus saying when he declared, “I am the true vine”?
Let’s study the secrets of the vine together…
1. The Purpose of the Vine
a) Jesus the True Vine – Jesus doesn’t simply say “I am the vine,” he says “I am the true vine.” To what was he comparing himself? Was there a false vine? I believe we must understand Jesus’ words to mean not a copy or symbol; I am the real thing.
The vine and the vineyard were symbols of Israel in the OT. If we turn to Isaiah 5 we will find a song about God’s vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7). Three things emerge from this song: God prepares the land and plants a vineyard giving it every possible requirement to be fruitful; when he finds it bears no fruit, God tears it down completely destroying it; and then he explains his anger. We find that the vineyard represents Israel and that the fruit he sought was justice and righteousness, but all God found was bloodshed and distress.
150 years later Ezekiel makes the same charge against Israel in 15:1-8. He asks what the wood of a vine is good for and concludes that you can’t make furniture of out it and you can’t make a peg to hang clothes from it. The purpose of a vine is to bear fruit and only to bear fruit. Israel was failing to fulfill her purpose in bearing fruit that pleased God.
A new vine has emerged now that is guaranteed to bear fruit and that vine is Jesus. What makes Jesus the true vine is his obedience to the Father, in contrast to Israel’s failure.
b) The Vine explained – What is Jesus trying to say? What are we to learn from this analogy? We have already determined that God’s expectation of the vine is (1) to bear fruit. We will come back to this in a moment. Secondly, we find that (2) the branches are the instrument of this fruitfulness. While Jesus produced fruit when we was with us on the earth, he now produces fruit through those who believe in him. We are the branches. Thirdly, (3) branches can only bear fruit in union with the vine. The branches obtain life through the vine; they are sustained by the vine; they produce fruit through the vine. Think back on the Great Vine of Hampton Court: Some of the branches were 200 feet from the root but were still connected. We are 2000 years removed from the physical presence of Jesus and yet we are connected to him and continue to bear fruit through that union. Fourthly, (4) the Father is the gardener. God is into viticulture (he cares for the vine). The branches need to be regularly pruned or cleaned. A vine produces sucker shoots which grow where the branch joins the stem. If allowed to continue to grow, they would suck the life of the vine so many branches would produce little or no fruit. A branch might look leafy and green but to a vinedresser it is a sign to prune. Pruning can be painful in our lives. We can easily lose focus on what is important spiritually and need a painful reminder of how far we have come. If we recall that Jesus’ greatest moment of fruitfulness was on the cross we will understand that this life is not meant to be a comfortable existence. Finally, we see that (5) the Word is the tool God uses to prune us. The Word is a sharp tool; it either cleanses us or cuts us off the vine altogether. If we submit to the hand of the Gardener this painful process is for our improvement and fruitfulness.
c) What is this fruit? – Many who read this passage assume that the fruit that God seeks is people won to Christ. So if you have never led someone to the Lord you may be feeling awkward right now. But there is nothing in this passage to suggest such a conclusion. Fruit is that which matches the outflow of the vine. We need only to turn back to Isaiah 5:7 to see how this plays out. God came looking for righteousness and justice; he found cruelty, exploitation and selfishness instead. So it is clear from scripture that the fruit that God expects is moral character. We may also refer ourselves to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The fruit that God seeks in us is one thing: Christ-likeness. To be in Jesus is to be like Jesus. That is what God seeks in every Christian sitting here today. And if you have the privilege of leading someone to Jesus that is a wonderful bonus.
2. Reasons to “Remain” in the Vine
a) What it means to ‘remain’ – To be a fruitful Christian Jesus exhorts us to remain in him. He said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine” (15:4).
Jesus uses the word “remain” 11 times in this teaching. What does this word mean? It can mean a lot of things: abide, remain, dwell, continue, endure, and tarry. What helps us is to know how John used it in his gospel. When some people asked Jesus where he was staying in John 1:38-39 they used this word. So the idea that John is intending here is that we make Jesus our dwelling; make Jesus your home. Jesus is telling us to make our home in him as he makes his home in us.
Think of it this way: home is where the heart is; home is that comfortable place you long for when you have been gone on a long holiday; home is where you can really be yourself; home is a place of safety and security; home is where you bring your friends to enjoy fellowship; home is where you eat and sleep; home is where the people we love most are found.
Isn’t this what Jesus should be for us? Shouldn’t we find our safety in Jesus? Shouldn’t we be able to be ourselves with Jesus? Shouldn’t we make Jesus our home? “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Prov 18:10). To remain in him is to live in him.
b) “Apart from me you can do nothing” – This is a very basic principle: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (15:5). When he says “nothing” he means of course spiritual fruit. There is a sense in which we can do nothing apart from Christ: we cannot eat, breathe or live apart from Christ. As Paul said to the Athenians, “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). But in another sense, in the context of the Vine, we cannot bear spiritual fruit apart from him. This means that we can do nothing to please God or earn his favor or gain salvation apart from being connected intimately to Jesus.
Positive thinking or “Yes you can” speakers try to convince us that we have a great unlocked potential inside of ourselves. Motivational speakers tell us that we have a great power within us and that by digging deep we can unleash our ability to do great things. That is the opposite of what Jesus says here. He tells us that apart from a vital union with him in which we draw from his strength, his truth and his life, we can do nothing.
A key part of this ongoing union is prayer. Jesus says here “…ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (15:7). This is easily misunderstood and for many has been a source of frustration. We pray and find that answers do not come, leaving us with a feeling that either Jesus didn’t tell the truth or he meant something else. The thing is, prayer is not a way of getting God to do what you want him to do, rather it is asking him to do what he has promised to do. As we remain in him, live in him and get to know him, we will discover more of his heart and begin to pray according to that heart.
c) Consequences of not remaining – We know now what the fruit is and we know what it means to remain in him. What about the branches that get cut off? Who are they and why are they cut off?
I read one commentary on this passage that suggested that the branches that get cut off are simply Christians who are not fruitful. They are useless and so are cut off. But throwing them in the fire is simply a symbol of that uselessness. Frankly, that waters down what Jesus is saying.
This is the picture of the vine: everyone is on the vine; we are all branches, believers and unbelievers. Some receive the life-giving sap and are fruitful. Others receive the life Jesus gives, whether they are aware or not, and do nothing with it. They will be cut off and thrown into the fire and burned (v. 6). In other words, those people will be burned in the fires of hell due to their unbelief.
The proof of this interpretation is found in the Bible. When John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan some Pharisees and Sadducees came too. He said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…the ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Mt 3:7-10). See also Matthew 7:15-23.
So the consequences of not remaining in Christ are quite severe. The law of viticulture demands that an unfruitful, shriveling branch be cut off so that it does not diminish the fruitfulness of the whole vine. To live in Christ is to attach ourselves to the life of Christ and be so dependent on him that we could not bear to be away from him. Living in him is fruitfulness: “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (15:8).
3. What “Remaining” in the Vine looks like…
In the remaining verses of this teaching, Jesus repeats the truths he has just taught, but now more specifically. This fleshes out even more what it means to remain in him. There are five principles that clearly lay out what Jesus wants from us.
a) Remaining in his love (9) – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Remember, to remain is to live or dwell somewhere. Jesus wants us to dwell in the wonder of his love. That is how we stay connected to him. For some this may mean personal Bible study and prayer. Others don’t bother with discipline but float around waiting for God to speak to them and direct them. The truth of this directive lays somewhere in between. To remain in Christ’s love is know his Word, but information is not enough. We need to dwell in him, living in an expectancy that God is going to work, that he is working. We need a sense of his presence and a willingness to let him do his work in us his way.
b) Keeping his commandments (10) – Remaining in Christ’s love also means listening and obeying him. “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…” Jesus previously told his disciples in the Upper Room that if anyone truly loved him he will obey my teaching (14:23). If we have trouble with remembering all of his teaching we need only think of his summary: Love the Lord your God…and love your neighbor.
c) Possessing great joy (11) – Uncommon joy marks the life of the believer. We have talked extensively of living the life of joy in our series on Philippians and we found that the joy of Christ is possible under any circumstances. Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” This joy is found in his love and in obedience to his teaching and nowhere else. “Joy is the byproduct of obedience” (Source Unknown).
d) Loving other believers (12-13) – This is a principle of remaining in Christ that others will see and stand as a testimony. Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” They had not yet seen how much Jesus would love them. When he hung from the cross they saw the full extent of his love. This is the kind of love he wants us to have for each other, he said “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This principle is well known to all of us but little practiced. Dying to self – everyone knows we are to do this – but I find I am still learning what it means to die to self for the sake of others. That dying is evidence of our love for each other. When people see how we do this for each other, they will know we belong to Jesus.
e) Becoming friends of Jesus (14-15) – Often times when Jesus would teach something the disciples failed to understand. In some cases a master does not need to explain to his servants what he means or what he intends. In Jesus we have a relationship with God that has moved us from servants to friends. Abraham and Moses were called friends of God and part of that relationship was the intimate conversation that would go on between God and themselves. He would tell them his secret plans. As Christians, Jesus has let us in on all of his plans and has given us his teaching for a better life. That is the privilege of being his friends and remaining in him.
To leave you with a final picture of what it means to remain in Christ consider this story: Jesus came to a village one day and found some friends who opened their home to him. Their names were Martha and Mary. So you know this story. You know that Martha busied herself in the kitchen preparing food and polishing the silverware. And you know that Mary sat at Jesus’ feet simply listening to the Lord’s stories and teachings. Martha was exasperated and wanted Jesus to force Mary to help her. Jesus replied, “…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better…” (Luke 10:38-42).
If we go from here believing that being fruitful is achieving something for Jesus, then I must apologize. If we think of Jesus as the giver and not the gift itself, then we need to start all over. Mary chose what was better. What was that? She chose to remain, to dwell in Christ.
We are not commanded to be fruitful. That is the work of Jesus in our lives. We are commanded to remain in him so that he can be fruitful through us. Our job is to find great delight in Jesus. So we must ask ourselves, “Am I abiding in Jesus?” Am I making time to simply enjoy the Lord and all that he is to me? Or am I rushing about trying to seem so very important?
How are we doing at dwelling in Christ? It is time to stop being frantic and to choose what Mary desired – to be with Jesus. He is the true vine and in him we find what is truly life.
AMEN
Special thanks to Bob Deffinbaugh, F. F. Bruce and Bruce Milne for their inspirational commentary on this passage.
