Daily Bread John 15
John 15
The Vine and the Branches
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain 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. 6If 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. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Observation:
This passage provides the foundation for understanding the Christian life and our purpose as believers. The passage provides many truths for understanding how we grow spiritually.
First, our growth cannot happen apart from our connection to God through Jesus. Jesus says He is the Vine, and God the Father is the gardener and we are the branches. The purpose of the Branch is to bear fruit but it cannot do so apart from being connected to the Vine. As we abide, or remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit. It doesn’t say we have to work at it, or need create it, we merely need to abide in Jesus and we will bear fruit. What a freeing concept. In fact unless we do this it says in famous verse 5, “we can do nothing”. This is a humbling yet, empowering verse.
Secondly, it says that as we bear fruit that the Father will prune us even more so that we can bear more fruit. Just like the overgrown bush needs pruning so new growth can happen, so it is with a Christian. As we are pruned, we are able to produce even more fruit then before. Pruning is not often a fun process. I am sure the branches don’t say “yeah the pruning shears are back”. Often pruning can be painful in the short run, but in the end it is crucial for continual fruitfulness.
Finally, there is also an ominous warning. Verse 2 says “Branches that do not bear fruit are cut off”, and branches that fail to remain in him will eventually wither and are thrown away to be burned. Basically branches that don’t bear fruit aren’t of much worth because they are not doing what they were intended to do. They are useless.
Verse 8 sums up the whole of the teaching. As we bear much fruit (not just a little) we give glory to our Father showing ourselves to be His disciples.
Application:
The key to being a fruit-bearing disciple is to remain in Christ. How do we remain in Christ? Jesus says a little later that as we obey his commands we will remain in Him and have His joy in us. What does it mean to obey His commands? Does this mean a long list of do’s and don’ts? Nope.
Jesus summarizes what it means to obey His commands in a simple statement. Love each other as I have loved you. That seems simple enough until he further explains as, “laying down our lives for our friends”. So would it be possible to say that the whole key to the Christian life is abiding in Jesus. And the way to abide in Jesus is to obey His commands, principally by laying our life down for our friends. The result of this kind of life is joy. The same joy Jesus had and kept his whole life no matter what the circumstances were.
Can you imagine what the church might look like if this was our singular focus? I think often lot of our focus in the church today is providing religious good and services to make people feel good about themselves. But this passage would say the church should be a place filled with radical and sacrificial love for God and each other. This is what distinguishes us from the world and other religions. This is the fruit of abiding in the God who has this same radical love for us as demonstrated by what Jesus did for us on Good Friday.
Prayer:
Jesus help us to abide in You. We know that apart from our connection from you we can do nothing. May our love for you and each other bear much fruit showing us to be your true disciples and giving you the glory you deserve. Amen.
The Vine and the Branches
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain 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. 6If 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. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Observation:
This passage provides the foundation for understanding the Christian life and our purpose as believers. The passage provides many truths for understanding how we grow spiritually.
First, our growth cannot happen apart from our connection to God through Jesus. Jesus says He is the Vine, and God the Father is the gardener and we are the branches. The purpose of the Branch is to bear fruit but it cannot do so apart from being connected to the Vine. As we abide, or remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit. It doesn’t say we have to work at it, or need create it, we merely need to abide in Jesus and we will bear fruit. What a freeing concept. In fact unless we do this it says in famous verse 5, “we can do nothing”. This is a humbling yet, empowering verse.
Secondly, it says that as we bear fruit that the Father will prune us even more so that we can bear more fruit. Just like the overgrown bush needs pruning so new growth can happen, so it is with a Christian. As we are pruned, we are able to produce even more fruit then before. Pruning is not often a fun process. I am sure the branches don’t say “yeah the pruning shears are back”. Often pruning can be painful in the short run, but in the end it is crucial for continual fruitfulness.
Finally, there is also an ominous warning. Verse 2 says “Branches that do not bear fruit are cut off”, and branches that fail to remain in him will eventually wither and are thrown away to be burned. Basically branches that don’t bear fruit aren’t of much worth because they are not doing what they were intended to do. They are useless.
Verse 8 sums up the whole of the teaching. As we bear much fruit (not just a little) we give glory to our Father showing ourselves to be His disciples.
Application:
The key to being a fruit-bearing disciple is to remain in Christ. How do we remain in Christ? Jesus says a little later that as we obey his commands we will remain in Him and have His joy in us. What does it mean to obey His commands? Does this mean a long list of do’s and don’ts? Nope.
Jesus summarizes what it means to obey His commands in a simple statement. Love each other as I have loved you. That seems simple enough until he further explains as, “laying down our lives for our friends”. So would it be possible to say that the whole key to the Christian life is abiding in Jesus. And the way to abide in Jesus is to obey His commands, principally by laying our life down for our friends. The result of this kind of life is joy. The same joy Jesus had and kept his whole life no matter what the circumstances were.
Can you imagine what the church might look like if this was our singular focus? I think often lot of our focus in the church today is providing religious good and services to make people feel good about themselves. But this passage would say the church should be a place filled with radical and sacrificial love for God and each other. This is what distinguishes us from the world and other religions. This is the fruit of abiding in the God who has this same radical love for us as demonstrated by what Jesus did for us on Good Friday.
Prayer:
Jesus help us to abide in You. We know that apart from our connection from you we can do nothing. May our love for you and each other bear much fruit showing us to be your true disciples and giving you the glory you deserve. Amen.
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