Jesus In His Own Words
The Vine
John 15:1-11
 
On these Sunday evenings, we've been looking at the seven places in the Gospel of John where Jesus described himself beginning with the phrase "I am." Tonight we come to the final one where Jesus said, "I am the vine." It's found in John 15.
 
verses 1-11
 
Just two things I want to point out to you from this text. First, let's think about
 
1. The Promise of the Vine
 
Obviously this whole teaching is based on a metaphor of a vineyard. Jesus talks about vines and branches and fruit, and since we're talking about vines, the most obvious fruit would be grapes.
 
All through the passage, Jesus is saying, "If your relationship with me is working right, your life will produce fruit." You will bear much fruit. That's the promise Jesus makes. So what does that mean? What does it mean for you and me to "bear fruit?" Most of the time, we limit that picture to evangelism, with the fruit being salvations.
 
But is that what Jesus is picturing in this text? Is leading people to the Lord the only way we can bear fruit?
 
 
 
Imagine a man in his house on a Tuesday night. He's married with a few young kids; he just got home from work. And suddenly the sky turns black, and a nasty storm rolls in. The power in the house cuts off. So he goes and sets up his gas-powered generator and starts it up. In a little while, he's got extension cords running to the refrigerator and lamps and essential appliances.
 
In the meantime, it's raining cats and dogs, the weather is growing more and more worse, and he's soaking wet. The house is getting dark, and the news people on the radio says the power probably won't come back on until the next day.
 
And the whole time, everyone in the house is avoiding dad. Why? Because he always gets irritable when things like this happen. He always yells at his kids and gets impatient with his wife. He curses his worn-out underpowered generator and envies the neighbor with the new, up-to-date one. So everyone knows just to keep their distance from dad.
 
But on this night, something is different. He's cracking jokes. He offers to make dinner for the family. He helps his son hook up his Xbox to the generator. And at one point his wife looks at him and says, "What have you done with my husband?"
 
Or, imagine this: a college student comes into her apartment, and she walks past her roommate's bedroom, and she notices that the bed is made and the room is clean, which is very unusual. And then she sees her roommate getting ready in the bathroom. And she says, "Hey, where are you going?"
 
 
The roommate says, "I'm meeting a friend for lunch, and then I have class, and then I actually have a job interview at the campus bookstore right after that." And that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's so out of character for this particular girl because for months she's been depressed. She's complained about having no energy or motivation. She's been missing a lot of classes. She's been sleeping way too much.
 
So her roommate says, "Wow! I'm really happy for you. Why the change?" And she says, "You know, I'm kind of re-connecting with my faith, and things just feel different."
 
So here are two regular people, one, a married guy with a short temper and the other, a college girl who struggles with depression, and something is changing in them. And the people who know them are starting to wonder: How is it that this person, who's always been like that, is now becoming like this?" In place of anger, there's patience. In place of despair, there's hope.
 
What's going on? That's what Jesus is talking about when he talks about "fruit." I would submit to you the fruit that is produced from abiding in Christ has nothing to do with reaching people for Jesus and everything to do with Jesus being at work in your life as His child.
 
There's a well-known passage in the New Testament that really details what I'm talking about. It's
 
Galatians 5:22-23
 
 
 
And in my estimation, when Jesus says, "You will bear much fruit," that list of Christ-like characteristics is what he's talking about. It's the character qualities of Christ that flow from our lives and affect everything and everybody in our life.
 
Having these things in our character, or not having them, affects our relationships and our job and school and the way we deal with difficult people and the way we use food and avoid alcohol, how we respond to tragedies and illnesses, and everything else in our life.
 
And if you are like me, there are areas of your life where not much fruit is growing. There are areas that are not like Christ. And because of that, there are problems and irritations and disappointments.
 
Take a minute and look at that description, and I would suggest you take a moment to praise God for the areas where you are doing pretty well, and also identify those where you need some improvement.
 
Which one of these things is a blessing to the people around you and makes their lives better and which ones cause people to dread you coming around them?
 
And by the way, Jesus once said of His followers that they would be known by their fruit. In other words, if you pay attention, you can tell the reality of what's happening in a person's inner life by what you see on the outside, what kind of fruit they are bearing.
 
And in this passage, Jesus is describing a way of relating to him that produces fruit. You might not actually believe this kind of fruit is possible. But it is. That's the promise Jesus makes.
 
So the question is, "How do I become a fruit bearer?"
 
That's where point number two comes in. Let's call it
 
2. The Secret of the Vine
 
The metaphor Jesus uses of a grapevine is very significant biblically because in the Old Testament, the image of a vine is often used to describe the nation of Israel.
 
In several places, God basically says, "I've planted this nation called Israel. It's my vine."
 
So back then, if you wanted to have a relationship with God, you had to be connected to Israel. It was very much about your national identity. There was even a way by which proselytes could become Jews.
 
But when Jesus came, everything changed. Notice what he says in John 15:1: "I am the true vine." He doesn't just call Himself the Vine, He calls Himself "the true vine". Why? Because Israel wasn't. In other words, "The people of God are no longer defined by a nation. The real way to get connected to God is Me!
 
It's the same message we heard Him say last week when He identified Himself as "the Way." No one gets to God except through Him. Here He says, "No one gets connected to God except through Me."
 
I am the real Vine! And to be a part of God's people means that you're connected to me and it doesn't matter what nationality you are! I'm the vine, and my people are like branches that grow off that vine."
 
 
So this teaching is all about how we, as the branches, relate to Christ, who's the vine. And it tells us three things about this connection.
 
First, we must
 
- depend on his power
 
Look at the last phrase in verse 5: apart from me you can do nothing. Now nothing isn't something and something isn't nothing. And Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." Nothing means nothing!
 
That means, if my attitude toward life is, "I got this", if my approach to hard situations and hard people is to just try harder, and because I'm educated or experienced or street smart, I can be successful, then I am in for major disappointments in life. '
 
 
Or to use the words of Jesus, I will be unfruitful.
 
Because Jesus says, "If that's the way you do life, independent from me and disconnected from me, you can do nothing." Nothing of spiritual or eternal significance.
 
You can do things, but they are things done in the same way the devil does them. They are always motivated by pride and tainted by selfishness. And they will not have lasting, spiritual value. If you want to bear any real fruit in your life, you will not do it apart from me. So that's the negative.
 
Here's the positive
 
verse 4
The key to bearing fruit is for us, as branches, to "abide" in Jesus, the vine. If you're reading a different translation of the Bible, your version might use the word "remain" instead of "abide." It's the same idea. I think maybe the clearest way to say it would be "stay connected."
 
Most of us don't have vineyards in our yards. So I was trying to think of some more relatable examples of this concept. And the first thing I thought of was electricity. When the power goes out, all of a sudden, the connection our homes have to the power source is interrupted.
 
Therefore, the house is no longer remaining or abiding or staying connected to the power source of OG & E. So the flow of electricity to the house is cut off. And if you ask Nathan what that means, he'll tell you, "apart from electricity, I can do nothing."
 
But let's make it even more personal than that. Let's think of what Jesus describes here as an unborn baby who's connected to his mother by an umbilical cord. The only way a baby can abide within his mother is by being connected to her through the umbilical cord.
 
That's why expectant mothers have to be careful about what they eat and drink because everything they consume flows into that baby through the umbilical cord. And apart from the mother, that baby gets nothing. His life depends on his mom.
 
But then I thought, "Okay, but there's nothing physical or visible that connects us with Jesus. It's really an invisible thing, so maybe we should think of this like WiFi.
 
Through the wonders of a wireless internet connection, you can sit at your desk, with your laptop or phone or computer, and through this invisible signal that can't be seen, you can connect with that signal and do what you need to do.
 
Now apart from WiFi, your laptop can do nothing. But if you stay connected to the signal, your computer can bear much fruit. So maybe that's how we should think about it!
 
But maybe the clearest picture of what it means is the one given by Jesus. The source of life, the true power, comes from the vine. So if the branches have any hope of staying alive and bearing fruit, they have to stay connected to that vine. And nothing illustrates that better than a dead branch laying off to the side of the vine.
 
So here's what Jesus is saying: "If you want to do fruitful things that bless the lives of people around you, you have to stay connected to me." it's jsut that simple.
 
So how do we do that? Well, it's an attitude. It's a mindset of real-time dependence on Jesus. And one of the best ways to do that is to live in the awareness that Jesus is alive!
 
He didn't just die for our sins. Don't leave Him in the tomb. He came back from the dead and he's alive and we can actually have a relationship with him. And as we learn to trust Him and depend upon Him and be mindful of Him, His life, and His energy, and His love and His fruit will begin to be evident in us.
 
 
The secret to bearing fruit is learning to view yourself as incapable of producing anything of value, and then offering yourself as a branch through which the power of Christ can flow. First, we must depend on his power.
 
Secondly, we need to
 
- submit to His pruning
 
Look at the second part of
 
verse 2b
 
What does that mean? I'm not an expert on growing grapes,, but I know that the productivity of the branch and the health of the grapes depends on pruning. You have to cut off a lot of the growth in order to maximize the number of grapes and the quality of grapes that you wind up with.
 
And in the same way, in order for our lives to produce quality fruit, sometimes God takes out the pruning shears.
 
Now discipline hurts. There is no way around that. The writer of Hebrews talks about the same thing in
 
Hebrews 12:11
 
If you believe that God is in control and you are living to honor Him, then you can be confident that anything painful in your life has a purpose. The pain is evidence of God's pruning. Why? Because He likes to see you suffer? No. Because He is passionate about producing a harvest in your life.
 
That's what Jesus means when he says,
 
verse 8
 
Pruning. Maybe God has recently removed something from your life, and it hurts. Maybe your body's giving you trouble. Or you just got some really bad news. Those are the pivotal times in life that really determine what you believe. Because you have to decide whether you'll resent that thing, or if you'll recognize that God is in it, and allow it to make you more fruitful.
 
Depend on his power. Submit to his pruning.
 
And then, third, we need to
 
- obey His commands
 
verse 10
 
This is so simple, but it keeps this whole thing from being too mystical. If we want to remain in Christ, so that his fruit is produced in our lives, we have to respect Him enough to do what He says! Does that make sense? Isn't that simple? I wonder why so many people have so much trouble just doing what God tells them to do!
 
We can't claim to be abiding in Christ if there are obvious areas of our lives where we're just not willing to obey him.
 
For example, let's start with something easy: Jesus says, "Forgive your enemies!" And I say, I'm not going to do that. That person hurt me, and I don't think it's fair to expect me to forgive. So I hold onto the grudge.
 
And then I wonder why there's not much fruit coming from my life. You know why? Because I'm not remaining in the vine! Because remaining, or abiding, in Christ is not this mystical thing, disconnected from real life. Part of it simply means doing what he says!
 
Or, Jesus says, "Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." And I say, "Well, Jesus didn't try to live on my salary!"
 
So I always hold back when it's time to give; I'm very protective of my money. And I wonder why I don't experience God's power in my life. You know why? Because I'm not abiding in the vine! Because part of what it means to abide in Christ is to do what he says!
 
So here's a simple gut check: ask yourself, "Is there some area of my life where Jesus has made God's will clear, but I'm resisting that?" Maybe it's a forgiveness issue; maybe it's a financial issue; maybe it's a sex issue or a marriage issue or an alcohol issue.
 
And understand, I'm not asking if you've reached perfection in that area, I'm just asking if you have kept that area at arm's length from God. There are some areas where we say, "Hands off this part of my life, God. Don't mess with this part of me."
 
Is there a place where you need to repent and let God's light shine into that dark place? When you do, you just might discover that the lack of obedience was the blockage that was holding back the fruitfulness in your life.
 
Depend on His power. Submit to His pruning. Obey His commands.
Listen to this quote I came across this week in a commentary:
 
"This means that Christianity is not simply about believing the right things (though this is important). Nor is it simply a matter of living a Christ-like life (though this is important too). Christian experience must necessarily have a mystical, spiritual, non- quantifiable dimension. To be a disciple means...having a supernatural, interior experience that is completely unlike anything available in the world. It is a way of believing (doctrine) and a way of living (ethics), but these are nurtured by the life- giving connection with Jesus Christ."
 
I think learning to view and understand Jesus as the Vine is one of the greatest challenges as well as one of the greatest encouragements that is found in the New Testament to help us live as we ought to live.
 
We tend to view Jesus as a great teacher or example or the Savior Who died on the cross, and there is nothing wrong with those views. But learning to see Him as a Vine who flows His life in and through us is more of a challenge.
 
But what an encouragement to know that when you are stressed out and fighting with your gas-powered generator in the rain, or if you battle with depression like that college girl, or when you're struggling with anger or a hundred other challenges to your Christ-likeness, you are connected to the very life of Jesus and He is just waiting to flow through you.
 
That is the invitation Jesus gives. He is inviting you to connect with Him and experience Him and bear fruit like Him.
The very last verse in today's passage says this:
 
verse 11
 
Jesus spoke these words just hours before he was arrested and tortured and executed on a cross. He knew he had hard things in his future; He knew His followers had hard things in their future. He knew God would have to prune them in some painful ways for them to keep growing.
 
So he was not promising some prosperous, healthy, luxurious life. He was offering something better: joy. There's just no better word for it because when we remain in Christ, and we find ourselves doing things we could never do on our own, it's the most complete kind of joy we can have in this life.
 
Let's pray.