Truth be told, I find John’s Gospel the most beautiful of the four gospels as he shares so much about Jesus’ farewell discourses which I find so rich in content. I appreciate how John is the only gospel writer that shares about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples despite not sharing other specific details about the Last Supper.
Lately, I have read and heard much from John’s Gospel which has helped me reflect more and want to share some meaningful passages that have touched me.
A few thoughts struck me about the story of “The Vine and the Branches” in John 15:1-8. (Next week we’ll look at the rest of the story.) I invite you to go grab your Bible and read that section or click here.
First a little background information:
In the Old Testament Scriptures, Israel was often referred to as a vine or vineyard. Often times Israel is portrayed as lacking in faithfulness to God.
The best vines are the ones that produce the most abundant fruit which in turn make the finest wine.
Some vines in the winter with the “Son’s” Radiance
Let’s delve a little deeper into a few specific verses from the passage from the NIV version to see what encouragement they can provide for us:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” –John 15:1
*In the New Testament with the arrival of Jesus on this earth, Jesus is now the true vine.
*Jesus, the true vine, is genuine, the true One, the Savior of the world.
*God is the one who is the master Gardener in charge who cares deeply for His vineyard (includes you and me!)
*Jesus always points directly to God, His Father and our Father.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” –John 15:4
*What a wonderful promise Jesus shares with us; what love He has for us.
*Jesus is forever with and in us each moment of each day, if we choose to have constant contact with Him.
*Those times when we FEEL alone, that Jesus is not with us, are the times we need to say to Jesus, “Jesus, I know you are with me. Come along with me as I go for a walk in nature” (or whatever task you are going to do.)
Even saying “Jesus, help me not worry about something that might happen. I know you are with me through it all” helps us refocus that contact with Jesus. This is something I need to constantly remind myself of.
Photo courtesy of Jill Clardy under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.” –John 15:5
*As branches we are off shoots from the vine, the source of eternal life.
*If we stay connected to that vine, there is abundant life available to sustain us daily.
*Did you catch how Jesus says the “remain in me” statement in two consecutive verses? He wants us to focus on the importance of that promise!
*Fruit is produced by staying in union and fellowship with Jesus.
*Our lives will bear much fruit because we are growing from the true vine.
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” –John 15:8
*The Father, God, the Gardner, is truly glorified when our lives bear His fruit just as Jesus did with His life especially with dying on the cross!
*The bearing of fruit in our lives proves that we are true disciples of Jesus.
Photo courtesy of Bible Verse Photo under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
What is the fruit our lives bear?
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. –Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
In thinking about the vine and the wine symbolism I thought these parallels were interesting and insightful…..
Do you recall Jesus’ first miracle in John’s gospel? It can be found in John 2:1-11. Mary says to Jesus “They have no more wine.” (v.3) Think about the symbolism of that statement. Jesus ends up turning the water into wine for the wedding feast at Cana as well as He is the true vine as He prepares for His death!
With Jesus being the true vine, think about how Jesus, when He shared that Last Supper with His disciples, took bread and wine, saying “This is my body given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Yes, His life, just like in the making of wine, was plucked away, pressed down to the point of death like a wine press. Yes, indeed, Jesus is the true vine sent by the Father!
How perfect this crucifix is–the grape vines representative of Jesus as the true Vine!
This week as we continue to celebrate Pentecost, the filling of our lives with the Holy Spirit, be encouraged to share the fruit of the Spirit in your life! The Holy Spirit is always with you~~
Practice the Presence of the Spirit if you are feeling that Jesus is not with you. Speak to Jesus inviting Him along with you every step, every activity you are participating in. His promise to you is that He remains with you!
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us–eternal life. –1 John 2:25-25 (NIV)
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. –Matthew 7:17-20 (ESV)
Christine, I enjoy all that you share and your words are helpful to me in my daily life. I never have to go very far to understand that I am not alone in my struggles and that I know no matter how bad things might be for me, others out there are much worse off. I also know that God’s love for me is ineffable (I love that word) and that I will never be alone, even when I think I want to be.
Jeff: How wonderful to hear my simple thoughts are helpful to you! Thank you so much for sharing your words of wisdom which indeed are great truth! Your perspective on life is inspiring to me. I really love that statement about “God’s love for me is ineffable!” That is so perfect!! (Yes, I looked up the word! 🙂 ) Your encouragement blessed me~~I appreciate you reading as I share the God in me through the written word. Blessings to you and your family…May you stay safe and healthy!
Not sure this exactly applies to above topic, but it may somewhat…
I guess I feel that God is ultimately in control if I allow him to be – but sometimes the endless thoughts in my mind, depressing world events, living in the past, or fear of future events, not to mention my Ego also, fight against the fact that God is ultimately in control. I realize that His “Will” for me will make me happy, not my own will.
As the saying goes, Let go, Let God. (Guess I have been pruned many times in the past, but new branches slowly grow back giving me comfort to face another day, empowering me and calming me down, making me stronger than before).
Yes, I believe your sharing relates perfectly, Carm! I believe to remain in the vine we do need to “allow” God to even direct our thoughts. Indeed, Let go, Let God is what we need to continually remind ourselves. I like your pruning sharing too–that is just perfect. Thank you for faithfully reading and for sharing. Blessings~
Wow. Oh WOW!!! THANK YOU JESUS!
It’s always amazingly awesome how God confirms things. I kid you not that I just got finished highlighting this scripture from Matthew 7:17-20 today (July 12th, 2020.) Indeed, each person will be noticeable: BY THEIR FRUIT. Interesting how Jesus says: “a good tree bears ONLY good fruit and a bad (diseased) tree bears ONLY bad fruit.” That’s a paraphrased version of what Jesus said to emphasize that the two trees are very distinguishable and cannot be interchanged with one another.
In the New King James Version of John 15:2, Jesus says this: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Notice that prior to this verse, in verse one of this same chapter, Jesus states: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Basically, God is the one who sorts us out, as He is the One who sees and knows (intimately) the condition of each person’s branch (heart).
In the event that any branch is not bearing fruit, God takes it away. Now, notice here what happens with those branches that DO indeed bear fruit. God prunes those branches. In other words, He cuts them back, and removes anything that ought not to be attached to our branches (hearts). Let’s get real here: the pruning process hurts and most times we actually “feel” this pain that we cannot explain.
We end up getting cut or hurt by life as well, but that doesn’t mean that God isn’t still there, pruning us or working on us to cause us to produce even MORE FRUIT that resembles Him. It hurts to heal. And only God can bring about that healing we truly need. But, let’s not get caught up in how it “feels” in the moment, because feelings ARE NOT facts. While we may not understand certain things, it does not determine that God will not work them out for our good. Let’s just accept that God needs to prune us and also not forget that bearing more fruit that resembles His character in approaching the painful experiences of this life.
Continuing onward into John 15:4 (NKJV) Jesus says this: “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.” This is of key importance here.
To abide means to maintain a LIVING and CONTINUOUS intimate fellowship and relationship with Christ. To abide means to live daily, moment by moment, step by step, in an ongoing and connected communion with Jesus as Lord over our hearts. (The heart consists of the mind, which is our thinking process; the will, which is our desires; and the emotions, which is the way we “feel” in any given moment.) Does this suggest that we stop being human? No. However, it does suggest that we bring ALL of ourselves and everything associated with self to Him, throughout each and every day.
Simply put, we cannot live this life the way it is meant to be lived without His guidance and His Life being poured out into us. The only way to do this is to LIVE IN IN THE VINE. He is our source of breath. He is our source of light. He is our source of Life. HE IS LIFE ITSELF. And without Him, we will not be able to bear fruit, nor will we be able to bear or resemble HIS LIKENESS AND CHARACTER TRAITS (FRUIT) to every person that comes into our lives.
If we look further into John 15:6-8, Jesus warns us of what happens to those who do not remain attached, who do not abide (live) in the True Vine. Jesus also exhorts the importance of His Words living IN US (which are the Words of Life and God’s Word on how we are to live this life).
Without reading God’s Word on a daily basis, how will we be reminded of what God is speaking directly to us? If we aren’t studying and meditating on God’s Word regularly, how are we going to have His Word living IN US?
When we bear much fruit, God is glorified by this. In order to bear much fruit, we must endure the pruning process and not allow our thoughts, desires or feelings to get in the way of what God wants to do within us and then through us.
Staying connected to the True Vine indicates staying consistently connected to His Word, by reading it, feeding on it and digesting it, so in turn, His Living Word can and will be Living IN US. Let us not stray or deviate from the True Vine, Jesus Christ and let us always remember that He’s the only one that can hold us like no other and keep us intimately connected. For Christ is the True Vine that will have us teeming with His Life and bearing more fruit that ultimately gives God ALL OF THE GLORY for the way we resemble Him in our daily lives.
(May the Lord minister to all who read this; to the Glory of God. Many blessings In Him. Shalom.)
Christopher: I can’t help but smile and marvel once again at God’s perfect timing with you reading this and the verse you just highlighted right before that! What an awesome, awesome God we have…His perfect timing to bless us. Thank you so very much for sharing your wisdom and truth–so perfect! Blessings to you~
Indeed, God’s Perfect Timing. A reoccurring theme in both of our lives, and probably other people’s lives as well. 🙂 It truly has to be Him that orchestrates things the way Only He Can with Perfect Precision. Also, it is extremely imperative to note that anything and everything wisdom and truth related ALL COMES FROM HIM. For without Him, none of what He helps us write would be possible without His Perfect Wisdom, Divine Insight and Heart-probing Truth. To Him BE ALL OF THE HONOR, GLORY, THANKS AND PRAISE!!! 🙂