Jesus, the True Vine

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. [John 15:1]

The passage and message that I am sharing today is something the Lord has placed on my heart to study and ponder on. As I receive revelation and wisdom from the Word through the Holy Spirit that is what I will be sharing with you from my heart.

NOTE: This post is only an outline, more is shared on the podcast…

The scriptures that I want to talk about today are found in John 15. Most of you are familiar with this passage, as it talks about Jesus being the True Vine. This is another really powerful passage of scripture because it not only shows us how to be a living sacrifice; but it makes it perfectly clear that without Jesus we are dead.

And so, dear [brothers and] sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. [Romans 12:1-3]

The only way that we can be this living sacrifice and renew our minds is if we are connected to the source of power and transformation.

What I love about this parable and many of the parables that Jesus shared, is this message has to do with nature, seed, and growing. As believers, we are to always be in the upward motion of growth and production of fruit.

Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment [1 Peter 2:2]

Let’s walk through this passage verse by verse.

I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. [John 15:1-4]

[1] I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.

In this parable, Jesus is speaking about himself. It’s interesting to see that it starts that He is the TRUE grapevine. Without saying, it must mean there are other vines out there that might be false vines! Let’s just say there are things in the world that we can hold to as our vine such as a spouse, a career, money, or anything else that we think gives us life.

We are all a branch of something, either to the world or to Jesus.  We are either letting God live through us and we are reflecting his life, or we are letting the devil live through us and we are reflecting the world.

The word “true,” here, is used in the sense of real, genuine. Jesus is a true symbol represented by a vine. A vine yields proper juice and nourishment to all the branches, whether these are large or small. All the nourishment of each branch passes through the main stalk, or the vine, that springs from the earth. Jesus is the only TRUE vine where there is strength, power, and life.

Gardner [vinedresser/husbandman], is the one who cares for the vineyard. He is the one who will nurture, trim, and defend the vine and the branches. There is a deep interest in the growth and welfare of this vineyard and all the branches that are connected to the vines.

God our Father is the gardener where we receive the rich soil, water, and nutrients we need to grow.

[2] He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

He is speaking of the Father/Gardner cuts off branches that do not produce fruit. This again shows us that as believers God wants us to be growing and producing fruit. What type of fruit should be produced by a believer?

• It could be the fruit of the Spirit as talked about in [Galatians 5:22-23]
• It could be the fruits of righteousness [Philippians 1:11]
• It could be fruits of other believers [Romans 1:13]
• It could be the fruit of holiness [Romans 6:22]

Jesus most likely was speaking of one or any combination of these fruits. He used the word fruit to symbolize any of the virtues that are spoken about within the Word.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. [Colossians 1:10]

You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. [Matthew 7:16-17]

This cutting off branches and pruning is necessary for a grapevine, for example, to continue producing fruit. Same as with us, the Lord will cut away things that are not producing fruit and purge us of fleshly desires. This purging process has been misinterpreted and I want to clarify that here now.

Purging and pruning can be a painful process. Therefore, there are many teachings and beliefs that the Lord does this through pain, sickness, death, poverty, and other forms of tragedy so that eventually we will bear more fruit. This teaching promotes problems not only as a good thing but also as a necessity if we want to bear more fruit.

But if you think about it, this is inconsistent with the rest of God’s Word and the context of this verse.

I’ve had this discussion with other believers, and I’m not saying that we can’t learn from tragedy and loss. However, that isn’t from God and as we have talked, He has a better way to prune and purge us.  If we mistakenly think or believe that God has brought sickness or tragedy into our lives to make us more fruitful, then we won’t resist what is really from the evil one. We will welcome with open arms – sickness, disease, poverty, and any other form of hardship into our lives because we think it’s from God. We will then suffer far more than what was intended for us.

It’s the Word of God that transforms us, and we are to resist anything that is not from the Lord as James 4:7 indicates.

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [James 4:7]

[3] You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

This passage confirms that we are pruned and purified by the Word of God, not through pain and tragedy.

The Greek word used for purged in this verse is KATHAIRO, and it means to cleanse (Strong’s Concordance). This Greek word translated clean is KATHAROS, which means to be free from an impure mixture (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).

We are pruned and purged by the Word of God.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. [2 Timothy 3:16-17]

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [Hebrews 4:12]

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. [Colossians 3:16]

Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless [Philippians 2:16]

These scriptures make it very clear that the purging Jesus spoke of is done through the Word, not hardship. Remember, anything good comes from God, anything painful, hurtful, or deadly comes from the enemy.

[4] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

This is really powerful – think about what this passage is saying. Remain in me, and I will remain in you… In some translations, it says abide.  Abide means to stay in a given place, state, relationship, or expectancy, to dwell – and as we say STAND FIRM. What this is saying regardless of the translation or whether in Greek or English, there is a form of consistency.

A relationship with Jesus isn’t only for a few hours on a Sunday morning. But remaining in Him means having an ongoing conversation, communion, and relationship with God almighty! Again, I’m going to stress that the Lord is within us, as this scripture says, but we need to ABIDE in Him and be in His Word. We shouldn’t just visit Him on occasion or out of desperation, we should want to desire to be in constant communion with Him [remain in Him].

As we continue in this passage it’s going to tell us why we must stay connected! Think of a branch that has been cut away from a vine. It no longer has the nutrients and support from the vine, and it will wither up and die. Likewise, Jesus made it pretty clear that we will NOT bear fruit, grow, or stay alive unless we REMAIN in Him.

We as believers are to be fruit-bearing and when are non-fruit-bearing, the Holy Spirit through the Word of God will show us which direction to go.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus told him, No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. [Matthew 4:1-4]

5 TAKEAWAY GEMS

1. Jesus is the only source of life.
2. The Father is the one who cares for the vineyard.
3. God does not bring sickness or hardship in our lives to teach us.
4. We pruned and cleansed by the Word of God.
5. To bear fruit or have life we must remain with Jesus.