Corrie Ten Boom once said of Jesus, “Connected with Him in his love, I am more than a conqueror; without Him, I am nothing. Like railway tickets in America, I am not good or valid if detached.
We live in a very independent society, in which we are often too proud to admit when we need help. We like to be able to say that we did something ourselves, and take pride in what we have built with our own two hands. Needing help or asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness. It is why there are so many self help books out there. Why ask a professional, when you can buy a book and figure it out for ourselves? It’s why guys don’t like to ask for directions, or to read the instructions when building something. We want to do it on our own, so that we can take all the credit.
However, this view of life hits a brick wall when it comes to being a Christian. Our entire faith is built on the idea that we are not good enough, and that the only way that we CAN be good enough, is by accepting help. It is very counter cultural to reveal that sort of weakness about yourself, to accept that you AREN’T good enough, that you CAN’T do it, and that you NEED help to get there.
We have been studying the I Am statements of Jesus all summer, and this is our final week. These statements were the way in which Jesus revealed himself and his mission to the world, and to his disciples. This final statement is very unique, because it is very specifically directed towards his relationship with his disciples, and his future church.
We understand that we need to be in Jesus, and that we are wholly dependent on him, but we aren’t always the best at living it out. We always want to plan everything out. I know I mentioned that the world loves self help books, but we Christians do as well, on things like how to make disciples , how to turn your church around in 3 easy steps, or how to revolutionize your faith in 4 weeks. And there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with books like that, as long as it isn’t an attempt for us to take control and fix things and build them on our own.
The truth of Christianity is that we can’t do it on our own. We can only do anything because we are in Jesus. We can’t enter into God’s presence unless we are in Jesus. And to build his church, to love each other like Jesus loved us, and for prayer to be answered, we must remain in Jesus, and put our faith in him to enable us to do his work. There is no other way. Every Christian must remain in Jesus, because apart from him we are powerless.
So last week, you may remember that the scene of the sermon was the last supper, and while they were at the table, Jesus begins to teach them and speak to them. Between last weeks statement, I am the way the truth and the life, and now, Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit, and how he was going to send them the spirit as a counselor to teach them all things, and to remind them of everything he’s told them.
We don’t know exactly where they are now, because the verse right before our passage says, “Come now; let us leave.”, and then immediately goes into this section of scripture where Jesus continues teaching. So we don’t know where they are, maybe still in the same place, maybe somewhere else.
So I’ll read this, we are in John 15, verses 1-12:
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John 15:1–12 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Verses 1-3
So this is a pretty scary passage at the beginning, let me read those first two verses again:
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John 15:1–3 NIV
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
So this is kind of interesting, because it is the first time that God the Father is included in an I Am statement of Jesus as well. But its SCARY because it says that God the Father, as the gardener, cuts branches off of Jesus that are not producing fruit.
God the father is identified as being the one who distinguishes between who is productive and unproductive, and dealing with them appropriately. But while the unproductive branches are cut off and removed, notice that the productive branches are cleaned and pruned, so that they will become more productive.
Verses 4-5
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John 15:4–5 NIV
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
This here is a wake up call for followers of Jesus: He is the vine, and we are the branches of the vine. We can bear fruit as Christians as long as we are remaining in him, but if we are not, we are powerless to do anything.
So first of all, what does it mean to remain in Jesus here? Personally, I think it is a metaphor for continuing to pursue him, and loyalty to him, in our every day life. Especially that pursuing part, because Jesus says here that the disciple are clean because he of the words he has spoken to them. Which means that for us, we need to be listening to, reading, and applying the words he has spoken to us as well.
Second, what does it mean for Jesus to remain in them? I think that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit, as he had just talked to them about sending the Spirit to them right before this. He is with us because he lives IN us.
So I think these together is a combination of the disciples remaining in fellowship with Jesus by obeying his word, and Jesus remaining in them through the Holy Spirit he is sending.
So third here, what is the fruit he is talking about? And I think that is the biggest question. Through my study, I found two differing interpretations: first, some think the fruit he is talking about is righteous living, or a transformed life. Second, others think that it is new disciples, or making disciples.
I think that the important thing is to not narrow the focus too much, as he probably is speaking about both of these things, and much more. I think the best way to view the fruit here is the entire life and ministry of those who follow Jesus’ teaching, and who experience his presence in their lives through the Holy spirit, and all that comes as a result of that, INCLUDING righteous living, and including making disciples.
What he is really talking about is the substance of faith. Faith is not just belief, faith produces action and works. It is not what saves you, but it is the fruit or result of a soul that is saved, and we are going to be talking about that idea more this fall. But the point, is that if you have faith, there should be a result of your faith, it should be producing something. Not of yourself, but through the Spirit in you.
Verses 6-8
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John 15:6–8 NIV
If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
This is interesting, because the passage began by saying that God the Father is the one who prunes or cuts off branches, but here it points out that we have a part to play as well in whether or not we are bearing fruit.
While we may not grow the fruit on our own, we make the decision whether or not to center our entire lives around Jesus and pursue him. So if we are not truly united with him in our faith, and if we are nottruly living with a continual sense of dependance on him, the following will be true of us.
Now, while this piece about being thrown into the fire certainly has a connection to the final judgment, the main point of this passage is that this is what a gardener does with useless branches.
And the important, and scary thing, to remember, is that Jesus isn’t speaking about people who don’t believe in God here. He is talking about branches that were on the vine, which is Jesus, but that weren’t producing.
He is talking about Christians, who confess Jesus with their mouth, but don’t produce any fruit throughout their lives. Whether its making disciples, pursuing Jesus and christlikeness. People who SAY they believe, but don’t allow themselves to be transformed and changed. This is a warning for them.
But then he says that if you DO REMAIN in him, ask for whatever you want and it will be done, because the fruit that is produced by those who remain in him glorify God, and serve as proof that they are truly disciples of Jesus.
This isn’t about being able to use God like a vending machine. In it’s context, every single bible verse about prayer, and asking and receiving, is about being in God’s will for your life. If you pray for the things of God, and you are pursuing the things of God, you will receive. This isn’t about asking God for a new car, or to win the lottery. It’s about praying with confidence for the things that please God, and which glorify him.
Verses 9-12
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John 15:9–12 NIV
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
So here, Jesus starts to explain a bit more of the details surrounding how we actually do this, how we remain in him. This is the method and the secret of abiding in Jesus, and it is all about obedience and love.
Jesus is our example. He came to earth, humbling himself, and submitted himself to God the Fathers commands. In the same way, we need to submit to Jesus, and follow what he has taught us.
Now of course, this isn’t about being perfect. We aren’t earning our salvation, or else we wouldn’t need Jesus. This is about after we have been saved, the secret to producing fruit for the kingdom. He says, follow my commands.
And he says that his command is this: love one another.
Took
Ok, so all of the past I Am statements have been totally about who Jesus is, but this week is different. While it it about who Jesus is, the vine, it is also about who we are as Christians, the branches, and it is also about who God the Father is, as the gardener.
So what should you take away from all of this, what does this mean for us?
1. Believers that are in Jesus produce fruit.
This is really, really important to understand. Believers in Jesus don’t earn their salvation. They are wholly dependant on the cross for their current standing.
Believers in Jesus do not build anything or produce anything on their own. We can’t fix the church, make ourselves better, or save the world without the Holy Spirits leading. We are wholly dependant on him.
Believers in Jesus DO produce fruit. This is not of their own doing, any more than a branch on a vine or tree is responsible for producing fruit. Without the vine or tree, there would be no connection to the ground, to nutrients and water that it needs to grow all those things, it would be dead.
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James 2:14–17 NIV
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
And then in Galatians 5,
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Galatians 5:19–25 NIV
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
To remain in Christ means to pursue him, and pursuing him means that your life will show the results, or the fruit, of that pursuit.
2. Believers that are in Jesus love one another.
Love is the key to everything. Jesus says that remaining in him means to follow him and keep his commands, and then he says that his command is to love one another. By implication, that means that if we are NOT loving one another, we are NOT in him, and that is scary.
In Matthew, a Pharisee asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is, and he give him this answer:
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Matthew 22:37–40 NIV
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
And then right before last weeks I Am statement, Jesus said this:
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John 13:34–35 NIV
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus says that if we love one another, the world will know that we are his disciples. Which means that if we don’t, they won’t. And if they don’t believe we are his disciples, we are going to have a lot of trouble making new disciples, and I think we see that in the world today.
The bottom line is this: Jesus’ command in this passage is to love each other. If we don’t love each other, we aren’t keeping his commands. And if we aren’t keeping his commands, we aren’t remaining or abiding in him. Believers that are in Jesus love one another.
So to conclude this week, and to conclude this series, where do you find yourself today? Are you remaining in him? Are you letting God clean you and prune you, so that you will be more and more fruitful? Are you pursuing him, seeking his will, letting him transform you?
Jesus told us that he is the bread of life, the source of spiritual fulfilment. He told us that he is the light that illuminates our path. He told us that he is the door for the sheep, the path to safety and pasture from the thieves and robbers that want to lead us astray. He has told us that he is the good shepherd, who lays down his own life to save yours.
He told us that he is the Resurrection and life, that if you believe in him, you will receive a resurrection from the dead into eternal life, and that you will receive new life right here and now. He told us that he is The only exclusive way to the Father, the only exclusive truth in a world filled with lies, and the only source of eternal life that you will find.
And so as we conclude, he tells us that he is the true vine, and we are the branches. If we remain in him, if we pursue him, and if we seek him and love one another, following his example, he will be in us, we will receive ALL of these things, and we will be transformed, we will change, and we will produce fruit of our own.
So as we leave this week, and go out this week, lets remain in him, lets continue to allow him to remain in us, and lets love each other as he has loved us.
