Jesus, the Vine: Jesus told his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” This was the perfect analogy for the Christian life. Staying connected to Jesus means staying connected to the very life and love of God. This life consists of joyful obedience, fruitful work, and friendship with Jesus. What could be better than that? Recorded on Feb 25, 2024, on John 15:1-17 by Pastor David Parks.
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Finding Life in Jesus’ Name is a sermon series on the gospel according to John in the Bible. Have you ever felt unsatisfied with your life? Or, even when things were going well, something was still missing? Many people sense there must be something more. But what?? John, one of the closest friends of Jesus, believed that Jesus came into the world so that we may have life and have it to the full. Jesus turned John’s life upside down, and John claims this new life — marked by God’s power, presence, and purpose — is available for all who believe.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re working through The Gospel According to John in a series called Finding Life in Jesus’ Name. Today, as we start John chapter 15, we’ll consider the seventh and final “I AM” statement of Jesus in John’s gospel. Jesus says, “I am the true vine.” This teaching has huge implications for the Christian life. Maybe there’s someone here who is wondering what it would mean for them to become a Christian. What would that be like? What would have to change? Or maybe there’s someone who’s been a Christian for some time and is wondering, is this it? Should I be doing something more? Well, if you want to know what it looks like to do life with Jesus — if you want to know how it would transform you, or what would be required of you, then you need to understand what it means that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to John 15:1. We’ll read through this and unpack it as we go.
John 15:1–4 (NIV), “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. 4 Remain in me, as I also 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.” Ok, let’s pause here. So, again, this is the night before the cross of Christ. And Jesus is telling the Twelve, minus Judas, some very important things to help them not only get through the next few traumatic days, but to equip them for the whole of the Christian life. And there are few other passages as important for us today in understanding what life looks like with Jesus. Now, Jesus is a brilliant teacher. And he uses the analogy of the vine and the branches to teach us something about himself, about us, and about the work that God is doing in our lives when we are connected to him. As I said, this is the seventh “I AM” statement of Jesus in John’s gospel. There are seven signs and seven statements that point to Jesus being God. “I AM” refers to the divine name of God in the OT. But also, these “I AM” statements reveal something about Jesus’ mission/purpose. Here, he says, “I am the true vine,” which means that he is the source of life for the branches. If there’s a branch that fails to produce fruit, it’s cut off. But every branch that does bear fruit is pruned by God the Father so that it will be even more fruitful. Jesus says, “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” What does all this mean? And what kind of fruit is Jesus talking about? Let’s keep going and see if it becomes more clear. (v. 5)
John 15:5-8 (NIV), “5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are 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 done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Let’s pause once more. So, Jesus gets a little clearer with the vine analogy. He’s the vine, and we (his disciples) are the branches. We are the ones who must remain/abide in or stay connected to the life and nourishment of Jesus (the vine). But if we do, then we will bear much fruit! Our lives will be productive. The life-giving power of Jesus will produce certain things in and through us. But apart from the vine, Jesus says, we can do nothing. The shocking thing is that it’s not that you will be less effective. It’s not that you would be wise to stay connected to Jesus. Apart from him, you can do nothing! Why? Because branches that are not connected to the vine are dead. For plants, as soon as the connection to the source of life is severed, it might not look too bad at first. Cut flowers still look alive for a few days. But they’re really dead. And Jesus says that dead branches get picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. This is likely a reference to the Day of Judgment at the end of this age. Because the OT is full of vine imagery for ancient Israel, especially in the prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea. Commentator Don Carson writes, “Most remarkable is the fact that whenever historic Israel is referred to under this figure it is the vine’s failure to produce good fruit that is emphasized, along with the corresponding threat of God’s judgment on the nation.” (PNTC, p. 513). This is the fire. One of the most interesting examples of vine imagery in the OT is from Psalm 80. In Psalm 80, the psalmist repeatedly calls for God to restore the vine that he had planted, again, the people of Israel. But the vine had been cut down and burned in judgment, as the prophets warned. However, the psalmist mentions a son that God would raise up for himself, a Son of Man (that’s interesting language) who would have the favor of God and a position of authority at his right hand. Well, who would this Son of Man be? And when would God raise him up to restore his people? So it is here, against the backdrop of Israel and all the vine imagery of the OT, that Jesus reveals that he is the true vine, his Father is the gardener, and his disciples are the branches. This is huge. This means that Psalm 80 finds its fulfillment; in fact, the whole purpose of Israel finds its fulfillment in none other than Jesus Christ. Israel failed to be the vine on its own, generation after generation. While Jesus is the true vine. He is the son of man who, in just a few short days, God would raise up in the resurrection, and eventually, he would be raised up to the highest place to be seated at his right hand in glory. But the key for us, the key for our ability to stay connected to the vine, to be pruned, and to bear much fruit revolves around the word. In the first eight verses, Jesus refers to his word or his words twice. In v. 3, Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” This is a play on words with what Jesus said about his Father pruning the disciples in v. 2. The root words for prune and clean are the same in Greek. But then, in v. 7, he says that if his disciples remain/abide in the vine by letting his words remain in them, they will bear much fruit. One example he gives here is in prayer. If you have my word within you, then ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Of course, when we’re filled with the word of God, our desires will conform to God’s will/way, so we will be able to pray better prayers, prayers more in alignment with God’s word, prayers that will be answered. In these two brief verses, we see that we are both saved and sanctified by the word. We’re connected to the vine when we hear and believe the word. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:17 (NIV), “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” So, we’re saved by the word, but we’re also sanctified by the word. As Paul writes in Ephesians 5:26 (NIV), Christ works “to make her [the church] holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,” Or, using the vine imagery, as branches, we’re pruned by continuing to hear and believe the word in deeper and richer ways. I love to garden and have two big garden boxes in my backyard. And as a gardener, I know that pruning is almost never adding something to a branch but stripping something away from a branch. This isn’t done to hurt the branch but to help the branch become more healthy/fruitful. This is the perfect analogy for the work of sanctification. Sanctification is the work that God the Father is doing in the lives of his children, transforming us more and more into the image of Christ. Salvation can happen in an instant. But sanctification is a process that happens slowly over time as we let God’s word shape us by the power of the Spirit. Usually, having something stripped out of your heart or life is painful. But we must remember that we have a good Father who loves us and does this pruning work in our lives for our good. Nothing that God removes from our lives is without a purpose. Even tragedies can be used for good. In v. 8, Jesus says the purpose of this pruning work is three-fold. First, we are pruned so that we would bear even more fruit. This is the normal reason for pruning in a garden. But in the Christian life, this work is done to remove things from our lives that prevent us from growing to be more like Jesus. Second, we are pruned so that others would know that we are disciples of Jesus. Both the fruit of our lives and our ability to grow in fruitfulness over time serve as a testimony to others that we are indeed connected to the vine. Third, and most importantly, we are pruned so that our lives would glorify God. As we often say, God loves us exactly as we are today, but he loves us too much to leave us as we are, wallowing in our sins and struggles. As he does his pruning work, and as we are able to bear even more fruit as a result, our lives become more and more aligned with and directed towards the glory of God. But still, I’m not sure we have a clear picture yet of what kind of fruit Jesus is saying our lives will produce if we remain connected to him. And this is vital to understand because this, Jesus says, is the very work that God is doing in our lives. Let’s finish this passage starting with v. 9 and see if there are any clues.
John 15:9-17 (NIV), “9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept 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. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s 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. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.” This is God’s word. Ok! There are lots of clues as to what kind of fruit Jesus wants to bear in our lives. He uses the same language of remaining/abiding, but this time, he refers to his love. If you remain in me, if my words remain in you, then remain in my love. Surely, this is the fruit that Jesus is talking about. But what does this kind of love look like? Jesus says that it looks like obedience. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love. Now, this doesn’t mean that God’s love is conditional on our obedience. That’s Santa Claus; that’s karma, that’s not the gospel. God’s love is unconditional. It isn’t dependent on us. If it were up to me to earn God’s love, I’d lose it immediately, I’m sure. Rather, Jesus is saying that love and obedience go hand in hand because this is how the dynamic relationship between the Father and the Son works. Now, if this sounds boring or dull, to focus on obedience to God’s word, you’re missing the joy at the heart of the relationship between the Father and the Son. Jesus doesn’t obey the Father begrudgingly while muttering complaints under his breath. The Son loves to obey the Father, just as the Father loves the Son. Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” So being connected to the vine is a life of love and obedience, sure, but it’s a life of pure joy as well! A joy that is sustained no matter what is happening around us. This is the joy we have access to in Jesus. It’s just one part of the very life of God, the life of the Father, Son, and Spirit, we’re invited into when we’re connected to the vine. It’s a life of mutual giving, serving, and love for one another governed by God’s word. It’s a life of joy. It’s a life that bears fruit. And what kind of fruit? Joyful works of love. We see this in v. 12 where Jesus repeats the command he gave back in chapter 13: “Love each other as I have loved you.” In case we think Jesus is talking about a sentimental, Hallmark Channel type of love, he gives us the definition of what kind of love he means here. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus spoke these words, knowing that not even 24 hours later, he would face the pain and the shame of the cross. He would pay the ransom price for the sins of the world and die so that we might have life through faith in him. But Jesus is saying that this costly, sacrificial action is the kind of love that he commands. This is a tough kind of love, in the sense of needing courage, action, and being willing to pay the price. But if we open ourselves up to the life/nourishment of being connected to Jesus the Vine, and if we love one another as Jesus has loved us, with this courageous and cross-shaped kind of love, then Jesus says we have a new status, a new identity, that is, as a friend of Jesus. Now, if Jesus is the King of all creation, then he could command us, and we’d have to obey him whether we wanted to or not. Jesus is the King of all creation (he proved this through his resurrection from the dead), but he considers us, his disciples, his followers, to be his friends and not just his servants. This, too, is huge! A servant doesn’t know his master’s business. But everything Jesus learned (lit. heard) from his Father he revealed to us, his disciples. And this revelation raises our status all the way up into the throne room of heaven. When we are connected to the vine, when we remain in the word and the love of God, and when we joyfully obey his commands by doing the works of love that he modeled for us, we become friends with Jesus. In fact, these elements all characterize what friendship with Jesus looks like. But in case we are tempted to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, Jesus reminds us, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”
So, what does this mean for us today? Well, the offer to be connected to Jesus the Vine, to become a friend of Jesus, is still available to us today. Anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus is spiritually connected to the source of all life/love/joy that is found in friendship with Christ. Anyone connected to Jesus in this way will bear fruit, and they will be pruned by the Father to be even more fruitful in obedience to Christ. This can be seen in our prayers and our works of love for one another. And this is what the Christian life is all about. This is what it looks like to follow Jesus. And this is what our mission and vision as a church are all about. We are sharing good news as our mission because we believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ will transform the people of the city in every way. We believe that we are saved and sanctified by his word. We believe that this is what God is doing in the world. He is multiplying his life/love/joy out to the ends of the earth because Jesus is the true vine, and we are the branches. Apart from him, we can do nothing. Let us pray.
