Day 23: Jesus Is the True Vine

Day 23: I AM the True Vine

Prayer:

Father, teach us the full meaning of abiding in Christ. Show us our helplessness and hopelessness apart from Christ. Fill us and make us fruitful for Your glory. Amen.

Primary Scripture:

John 15: 1, 5, 8: I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser…I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing…By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Jesus and His disciples have just finished a very sobering Passover supper. Now they are going outside the city walls of Jerusalem and heading down through the Kidron Valley on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Along the way I can imagine that they pass a grape arbor, for Jesus was always using objects at hand to teach about Himself and the Kingdom of Heaven. Looking at the rows of vines, He makes the last of His "I AM" statements: I AM the True Vine.

Why didn't He just say, "I am the vine"? Why "the true vine"? He was making a reference to the Old Testament. Psalm 80:8 says, "You brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations and planted it." But that vine had turned bad, gone wild, rebelling against God who had nurtured it and caused it to flourish (Jeremiah 2:21). So God allowed the protective walls around it to be broken down (Psalm 80:12). Its fruit was plundered and the vine was uprooted. The psalmist beseeches God to visit His vine and to restore them (Psalm 80:14). He prays for a Messianic deliverance: "Let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, upon the Son of Man whom You made strong for Yourself" (Psalm 80:17). If only the Messiah would come, then they would not turn away from God anymore. They would be revived and restored. If God would cause His face to shine upon them once again, they would be saved (Psalm 80:19).

The prayer of Psalm 80 was answered in the coming of Christ. At the birth of John the Baptist, Zacharias makes this poetic prophecy about Christ: "Through the tender mercy of our God, the Dayspring from on high has visited us." The nation of Israel was the vine God had planted. But that vine had not fulfilled His purposes to be a fruitful blessing to the world. So God sent another Vine, the True Vine, in whom there would be no fault or treacherous disobedience. He would completely fulfill the Father's will. This Vine would bear much fruit and so bring glory to God the Father.

This I AM word picture, more clearly than any of the others, demonstrates our relationship with Christ. It is the only I AM metaphor that includes us and is not complete without us. Jesus is going to the cross the following day and after His resurrection He will be ascending back into heaven. He wants His disciples—and us—to know that the connection between them and Him will not be severed. In fact, it will be closer than ever. To describe and explain that connection He uses this very tangible metaphor of a vine and its branches.

The branch is an extension of the vine. The branch would not and could not even exist apart from the vine, for it buds forth from the vine and cannot live if severed from the vine. The branch can bear no fruit on its own, but only as it draws its life and nutrients up from the vine. The fruit produced by the branches is always consistent with the life that flows through the vine. A grapevine will not produce any other kind of fruit on its branches but grapes. In the same way, our connection with Christ can and will only bear the character of Christ. As His character flows through us by the Holy Spirit He has sent to dwell within us, we will to greater and greater degrees display His character.

But the vine of itself does not bear fruit apart from the branches, for the life of the vine flows into the branches to produce its fruit. The branch abides in the vine and the vine abides in the branch. They are one plant, together serving one purpose: bearing fruit that blesses the world and brings glory to God the Father.

There are three kinds of fruit in the Bible that we bear through our connection with Christ:

1.     The character and virtues of Christ (Galatians 5:22-23)

2.     The good works that glorify the Father (Matthew 5:16).

3.     The sharing of the Gospel that leads others into the Kingdom of Christ         (Matthew 28:18-20, 21:43; Colossians 1:6).

The first two kinds of fruit lead to the third kind of fruit. Fruit is produced for others to enjoy and partake of. The branches don’t consume the fruit; others do. As they see and are the recipients of the fruit of Christ's character and loving kindnesses through us, they are drawn to Christ themselves. By this, the Kingdom of Christ expands and the Father is glorified. All selfless acts, all displays of godly character are direct evidences of Christ's work within us, daily miracles of His Presence—the result of abiding in the Vine. Whenever we are convicted of sin by the Spirit of Christ and turn from it, it is by the power of His life in us. Whenever we are tempted to sin of any kind and we choose God’s way instead, it is evidence of the life of Christ flowing through us. Choosing grace and forgiveness over bitterness and anger, choosing to bless when we’ve been hurt, choosing thoughtfulness of others and serving them rather than self-centeredness are all miracles of Christ’s life in us. Let us never miss the wonder of these daily miracles, nor ever begin to think that they are generated from ourselves.

But how is this fruit borne in us? How do we abide in Christ and let His life abide in us? Jesus gives us some clues as He continues to explain the metaphor. First He says, "Abide in Me and I in you," and then He says "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you . . ." Christ abiding in us and His words abiding is us are interchangeable. As we've seen before, God and His Word cannot be separated; they are one, so much so that Christ is called the Word of God. As we let the Word of Christ dwell richly in us (Colossians 3:16), meditating on it, seeking to understand it and learn from it, we will become filled with Christ Himself, the One who is the Word and whose own Spirit spoke the Word.

A little later Jesus tells us to abide in His love. Abiding in Christ and abiding in His love are also synonymous. Then He tells us how to abide in His love: by obeying His commandments. This is how He abides in His Father's love. The desire to remain in His Father's love is what enabled Him to endure the cross. That abiding connection was more precious than all other gains or comforts. Valuing our connection with Christ empowers us also to stay away from sin. Our most priceless treasure is the love of Christ flowing through our lives. It is the source of true joy—joy to the full.

In this metaphor of the Vine, Jesus also includes the role of God the Father. He is the farmer or the vinedresser. He tends and cares for the vine, knowing just what's needed for the branches to produce maximum fruit. The vinedresser does not work on the vine but on the branches, where the fruit is borne. He prunes the branches for greater fruit. (For an excellent blog on this topic written by a dear friend of mine, check out this link: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160839667485179&set=a.10152398509015179

Pruning of the branches happens through the Word. Jesus said, "You are already clean (same word as pruned) by the word which I have spoken to you." The Word of God reveals the sin in our lives, calling us to repentance and cleansing. It prunes the evil out of our lives and leads to the cultivation of godly character. Abiding in or meditating on God's Word and obedience to Christ go together. We meditate in order to obey. God applies His Word to our specific situations and the needs of our hearts, and we are transformed into the image of Christ.

If a person is not connected to the Vine, he or she is not in Christ; and there can be no godly fruit. An unconnected branch withers and dies. As Ezekiel 15 points out, the wood from a vine is not useful for anything. It can't be carved, and it is too weak to be used as a wooden peg for holding things together. The only thing that can be done with them is to burn them (Ezekiel 15:3-4). In the spiritual realm and in the Kingdom of God, we can do nothing if we are not connected to Christ. He alone provides the spiritual nourishment that produces fruit that glorifies God. We cannot do this on our own; we must be in Christ.

Jesus tells us that we do not choose Him; rather He chooses us. He is the One who has set His love upon us. We do not have to coerce God to love us or hope that someday we will be pleasing enough to Him that He will finally love us. No, He has chosen us and grafted us into Himself. That is why He came and why He died: that we might be grafted into Him, having all of His life available to us and flowing through us. He has chosen us for a supreme purpose: to bear fruit, fruit that will remain. He has linked His life to ours in such vital union that His work cannot be done apart from us. We are the fruit bearers of His life. Could there be a more important reason or purpose for existence? What glorious, blessed communion!

We abide in Christ; Christ abides in us. As His Word abides in us, it leads to cleansing and obedience. In these final words to His disciples the night before He died, the one commandment He presses upon them to obey is to love one another. Obedience to the law of love proves that His love abides in us and rests upon us. His love flowing from us is evidence that God in Christ abides in us, for God is love. The love of Christ abiding in us leads to His joy abiding in us. Abiding, obedience, love: an inseparable, unending cycle of fullness of joy.

Family Worship: 

Cut off a small branch from a tree and talk about what will happen to that branch now that it's cut. Even a Christmas tree is a good example of this: it has been severed from its root source. It may stay green for a while, but it has no more potential for growth or life. All its needles will eventually fall off. Talk about what it means to be in Christ, connected to Him. How do we become connected to Christ? Have you recognized your need for His life in you, and that you can't live the righteousness of God on your own? Have you prayed for God to graft you into the Vine of Christ?

When we are connected to Christ, how can we let His life flow through us? Talk about the 3 kinds of fruit. Discuss why Jesus and His Word and His love are inseparable. How and why does meditating on God’s Word lead to obedience? How we can let His Word abide in us? What will that mean in our daily lives? How and when can we spend time in His Word? How can we show Christ's love to each other in our family and to others? In what ways do you see the life of Christ in each other?

Take time to pray around the family circle asking God to help you spend more time in His Word, to obey it and to be convicted of any sin through it. Ask Christ to flow through your life. Pray for much fruit—all three kinds of fruit—in each of your lives and through your family as a whole.

Here is a fun science visual that helps to illustrate the life of Christ being drawn up into our lives: Put a stalk of celery in a glass of water with food coloring in it (use red or blue so you can see the contrast in color against the green celery). Watch it over the next few days. The celery stalk will draw the colored water up into itself. Discuss how the colored water is like God's Word and how the celery has to sit in the water. The longer it stays in the water, the more color it draws up.

Jesus Christ:  The True Vine from whom we draw all of our spiritual life and sustenance.

Other Related Scriptures: 

Exodus 15:17: You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance. In the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your own dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.

Psalm 44:2a: You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted.

Psalm 80:8-19: You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations and planted it. You prepared room for it and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its boughs. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, and her branches to the River. Why have You broken down her hedges, so that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? The boar out of the woods uproots it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.

Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see and visit this vine and the vineyard which Your right hand has planted and the branch that You made strong for Yourself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. Let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, upon the Son of Man whom You made strong for Yourself. Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!

Isaiah 5:1-7: Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst and also made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes did it bring forth wild grapes? And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it." For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Jeremiah 2:21-22: "Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 15:1-8: Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?" Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness," says the Lord God. (See also Ezekiel 19:10-14.)

Matthew 5:16: Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 21:33-46: "Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And He leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

“But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"

They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. (See also Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19.)

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Colossians 1:3-6: We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.

Colossians 1:9-12: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Hebrews 13:20-21: Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.