As I drove the tractor across the yard, I got a bit too close to the grapevine and caught the edge of a branch. I knew I had harmed it. For weeks it dangled, held by the other supporting branches, but it was partially separated from the vine. We gave it time, but when harvest came it was clear – this branch was dead. There was no choice but to chop it out and throw it into the fire pit.
What happened in my yard is the same picture that Jesus paints in John 15:1-8. As He speaks these words, Jesus knows that His time is short. The Cross looms. Within hours, Roman soldiers will arrive and lead Him away. In the moments He has left, Jesus wants to drive home a theme He has been living out with His Disciples—no matter what happens, stay close to Me.
Take a moment right now and read John 15:1-8.
Here are a few implied observations about this passage:
In Leviticus 19:23 God told His people, “When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.”
God instructed them to test the fruit of a foreign land by waiting three years to be sure it was not poisonous. Now, consider that for three years, the Disciples had followed Jesus and learned that He could be trusted—that His words were true. They had tested and discovered that He was Truth!
He is saying, “The God of the universe, my Father, planted Me here, for you.” This vital connection between stock and branch determines if you will produce abundant fruit or remain barren. The vine is not lovely. In Isaiah 53:2 we read, “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”
Grace runs through Him, to His people, for their good. He is the TRUE vine. In other words, get ready. There WILL be impostors posing as “the way” to life. There will always be counterfeit alternatives offered, so beware!
In the same way, we are hidden in Christ, branching off into different areas. We fill our own trellis, yet we are unified together by the vine—the source of our support and supply. We are unable to stand alone. Only through the strength of the vine can we uphold the bounty of fruit God wants to produce in us. This passage expresses the spiritual oneness of Christ and His people. He is the source of all of their spiritual life and fruitfulness. The vine dips deep into the rich soil, drawing up water and nutrients. It then distributes it to every branch. In His waning moments with His followers, that is the picture Jesus paints. The message is clear: Abide in me. Remain.
Abiding is a constant exercise of faith and communication. As the sap flows into the branch but cannot be seen, so His life flows into us through His Word, and we exercise our faith by praying to the source of our strength, Jesus.
We are either vitally/spiritually connected to Christ, or we are externally and mechanically attached. If we are outwardly professing, tied only by a thread to our religion, the dryness and unhealthiness of our life in Christ will soon show up. We will be proven to be unfaithful and unfruitful. Without a constant connection with Christ, our gifts will wither, our zeal will dwindle, our devotion, comfort and reputation will sag. Hopelessness will set in. Satan is ready to seize us at that moment. He will pick us off like a bird snatching a dried-up berry on a tree.
Apart means ‘at a little distance’. In the past I misunderstood this concept. I thought “apart” meant the obvious: separating myself from all things godly. But that’s not the case. If we are even ‘at a little distance’ apart from the life-giving source, we wither and die. Going to Church on Sunday without picking up the Bible and ingesting His Word may keep us mechanically attached, but fruitless.
The only other thing it is good for is fuel. (See Ez. 15:1-5) Think about it – can you make anything useful from the wood of a vine? No. And Jesus is clear: we either produce FRUIT or become FUEL. A barren branch is fuel.
Jesus knew He was about to leave His Disciples, so He made sure they understood that His words would remain to nourish and feed them. Even when we do produce a handful of fruit, Jesus promises to keep working on us until we have a bountiful crop! That means God will strip away things that spoil us, things that are offensive, and things that are bad or deficient. Even though it sounds like a painful process, it is necessary and beneficial. Each bunch of grapes must be entirely exposed to the sun… to ensure optimal ripeness.
