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The Vine
1-14-12
Using the internet to draw people closer to Jesus Christ through a study of the bible.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
In verse 15:1 above we see that Jesus is the true vine and Father God is the gardener. Verse 15:2 then says that the Father cuts off branches that bear no fruit. First of all we must understand that if Jesus is the Vine and people are the branches then this is referring to Christian people who have made a commitment to Jesus as their Savior. Notice that if Christians do not bear fruit in their life (do not do righteous things in their life) the Father breaks them off of the Vine. We could also say that if we do not have spiritual fruit in our life then the Father separates us from himself and Jesus.
Secondly, notice in verse 15:2 that the Father prunes those who do bear fruit so that they can bear even more fruit. The process of pruning a vine seems somewhat harsh and potentially harmful to the plant. However, it ultimately makes the plant produce more fruit. So if we are the branches and the Father prunes us it is possible that this process can be difficult or somewhat painful to us sometimes but in the end we will become more like Jesus and produce more fruit.
4 Remain in me, and I will 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.
5 “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.
Next, notice in verse 15:4-5 that Jesus says remain in him and he will remain in us. That means that, as much as possible, we must act as Jesus acted, think as Jesus thought, resist sin and strive for righteousness as Jesus did. Also note that Jesus says remain in me. This implies that we have a choice to stay with Jesus or to leave Jesus and live like the ungodly people of the world who live a life of unrighteousness.
Also notice Jesus then says, “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine”. So even if we wanted to bear spiritual fruit and yet live a life of sin, disconnected from Jesus, we could not. Because again, it says in verse five, apart from Jesus we can do nothing (bear no fruit or righteousness).
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The next statement in verse 15:6 states that when we are disconnected from Jesus we wither up and then later we are picked up and thrown into the fire and are burned. That implies a concept of something that most of us would rather not think about. Being separated from God and thrown into a fire is something that Jesus talked about several times in the bible. Jesus said it is a place where people weep and gnashed their teeth for eternity. Why would Jesus tell us something so horrible about us being broken off the vine and thrown into a fire? It is very simple. It is because he does not want us to separate ourselves from him. And of course that means we live in eternity suffering instead of living in eternity with Jesus in heaven. And living with Jesus in heaven means we live with all of the blessings that God has prepared for us. Heaven is a wonderful place that Jesus wants us to enjoy.
In verse 15:7 Jesus says that his words must remain in us. What exactly does that mean? For his words to remain in us we must continually read and hear his words. That way they stay fresh in our mind and help us remember what God’s commands are and what we should or should not do in every situation.
It also says in this verse that if his words remain in us then we can ask him for whatever we want and he will give it to us. If his words remain in us it means we get to go to heaven for eternity. There is nothing better than spending eternity with him in heaven. However, Jesus even said that if his words remain in us we can even have what we want in this life, even before we go to heaven. All of the blessings that come from remaining in him are limitless and beyond imagination.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Here in verses 15:9-11 Jesus tells us to remain in his love. Then he explains how we remain in his love. He says that we must obey his commands to remain in his love. Jesus tells us that it is the same way that he remains in his Fathers love. So let’s think about this for a moment. If we obey his commands we will remain in his love. If we do not obey his commands then we do not remain in his love. Obviously, if we are not in his love then our relationship with God is in serious trouble.
The next part of the verses above is really encouraging. Jesus says that if we do remain in his love (obey his commands) we will be filled with his joy. Now stop for just a minute and imagine Jesus’ level and quality of joy. Now imagine that wonderful joy being in you because you obey his commands. We can all agree that living with the joy of Jesus in our heart every day would be much more desirable than living without it.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
In verses -15 Jesus tells us that his primary command to us is to love each other as he has loved us. That of course is no easy task. Because Jesus loves us so much that he died for us. He describes that kind of love by saying that there is no greater love than to die for our friends. Now if Jesus is saying we should be willing to die for our friends then many of us are falling far short. Simply because most of us have difficulty just trying to be nice to our friends, let alone dying for them. So it would probably be a good idea for all of us to evaluate our relationships with our friends and determine if we are truly loving our friends or just using our friends for our own enjoyment.
It is interesting that Jesus then goes on to describe our relationship with him as one of friends not as master and servant. But he precedes the comment by again saying we will be his friends if we obey his commands. Jesus keeps telling us over and over that our relationship with him always involves obeying his commands. But I am afraid that many Christians today believe that we do not have to obey his commands. They believe that we can just live a life of sin like ungodly people and in the end God will just forgive all of us. Then we will all live happily ever after in heaven. However, there is a very real possibility that many people will be very surprised on judgment day.
And lastly he tells us that we are his friends. And it is evident that we are his friends because he tells us everything he has learned from his Father. He is saying that when we live close to him and he helps us bear spiritual fruit, then he teaches us things that God the Father has taught him. So when we obey his commands we get closer to him and we hear him speak to us more clearly. Think about that, if many of us have trouble hearing from God maybe it is related to us not remaining in him or close to him.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
In verses -17 Jesus tells us that we did not choose him as our Vine or our Savior but instead he chose us and let us join his family. He also appointed us to bear fruit and the kind of fruit he wants us to produce is “fruit that lasts”. Now why did Jesus say fruit that lasts? Because many people at some point in their life decide to devote their life to Jesus. Then they start producing fruit and things start going well for them. But then things in this life start drawing them away from Jesus. Next thing you know they are no longer connected to Jesus the Vine. So their fruit slowly disappears and they later get broken off the Vine by our heavenly Father. Therefore Jesus tells us to bear fruit that lasts or tells us to keep on bearing fruit. Jesus wants us to not only bear fruit but he wants us to remain in him for our entire life. So that we will eventually spend eternity with him in heaven. Jesus loves us very much and he describes our relationship with him as a vine and a branch. He wants us to realize that our relationship with him is meant to be very intimate and dependant upon him. So let us not forget that he is doing everything he can to help us succeed in this life and the life to come.