Tag Archives: I am the vine

JOHN’S GOSPEL…THE POWER OF THE SEED – 18

Bible Study, ,

“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭20‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What was it the triggered this insightful declaration of Jesus? What was He saying? A seed has only one purpose…to die and be buried in the ground. Unless it dies, a seed will never fulfil its purpose. 

Of course, this is logical, but what does it imply if we follow the logic of Jesus’ statement to its conclusion? Jesus did not just make a random observation out of the blue about a law of nature. He made a serious, but veiled declaration about His own role in a new order that was about to come into being. 

Any new life has to be born of a seed. Some Greeks, known as “God-fearers” because they worshiped the God of Israel, in the crowd at that moment, purposely asked to see Jesus. This was the clue that something new was about to happen. The Gentiles who, up to this point in history, were “outsiders”, despised, hated, and ostracised by the Jews, and outside of God’s realm, were on the threshold of a new identity. Through the “seed” that would die and be buried in the ground, a new dispensation of unity between Jew and Gentile and a new species as God’s family would grow and bloom, reproducing seeds of this new identity.   

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Isaiah’s prophecy, written centuries before this event, was on the verge of fulfilment, 

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s purpose, a mystery up to this point, was about to change the entire direction of history. 

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Everything that flowed from the fulfilment of this declaration depended on one thing…the death of the seed. What if the “seed” chose not to die? What if Jesus, confronted by the reality, the horror of what was about to happen to Him, chose His will over the Father’s will?

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

That voice again! Seldom did the Father speak to His Son in an audible voice. Only at those times when Jesus made crucial decisions that directed the course of His life, did the Father affirm His choices, not to tell Him what to do but to assure Him that He was on track. 

So, the die was cast, the choice was confirmed…the seed would die, as planned from before the universe came into existence. 

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭50‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jerusalem would be the place of His execution. 

“In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭13‬:‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 So…

“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭51‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now, in this situation, already in Jerusalem, according to the Father’s timetable, Jesus touched base with heaven. He ensured that His every move, guided by the Father through earthly events, was in harmony with the Father’s will. 

So, He could say, with assurance, despite the emotions accompanying His resolution, despite His revulsion at the thought of impending suffering, real as it was, that He was ready to face the next step in this unfolding plan of redemption. 

To be continued…

JOHN’S GOSPEL… THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES – 26

Bible Study,

John 15:1 NIV
[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”

What graphic imagery! Jesus loved to teach in picture language. The imagery of the vine was not new to His disciples. In the Old Covenant, God and the vine were often used to illustrate God’s relationship to His people.

Psalms 80:8-9 NIV
[8] “You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. [9] You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.”

The prophets told the sad story of Israel’s failure to live up to God’s desire. He did everything He could for them but they turned away and became a rebellious vine bearing corrupted fruit.

Isaiah 5:1-2 NIV
[1] “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. [2] He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.”

Jeremiah 2:21 NIV
[21] “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?”

Hosea 10:1 NIV
[1] Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.”

Imagine, then, how the disciples would have reacted to Jesus’ announcement, “I am the vine.” He, Himself, He declared, was taking over the role God intended Israel to play in their relationship to the Father. He was taking responsibility for the nation who had failed dismally to produce the fruit of that relationship.

In the following verses, Jesus went even further. He amplified the connection between vine and branches, a union so close and intimate that everything the vine is in its entirety, the branches become through their union with the vine.

This thought must have shocked His disciples. How could it be that they, mere humans, and Jesus, whom they were convinced was the Son of God, would be so closely bound together that His life and theirs would become one?

This was a truth that would only become real to them when the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus said was His “other self”, would come to live in them on the Day of Pentecost. At that moment, the Spirit was “with them”, but He would be “in them” to replace the person of Jesus as His personal representative.

John 15:4-5, 7-8 NIV
[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. [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…
[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.”

These words are the simplest explanation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the entire Bible. He did not come to set up a new religion or even to clean up the old one. He came to clear away the obstacle of sin and to establish a union with Himself so close that the “sap” of His divine life would flow into His followers as freely as the life-giving sap of the vine flows through the entire plant, producing the fruit of that union. The vine and the branches are indistinguishable from one another. They are inextricably connected as one.

This union was established in them through the power of the Holy Spirit in response to faith. Jesus would focus on the role of the Spirit in the lives of His disciples in His final moments with them before the cross. They must understand what He had come to do. They must know and cultivate the awareness of presence of the Spirit in them to maintain and strengthen that union without which they would be pruned from the vine.

A vine can only bear the fruit which identifies its nature as a vine if the branches remain vitally connected to the vine. So, Jesus insists, the only way to live out this life He came to bring, is to cultivate the awareness of this union in the everyday course of life. The best way to explain was to say, in three simple words, “Remain in me.”

The Greek word, “meno”, conveys the meaning of “to stay in a given place, state, or relation”. It is the Holy Spirit who has cemented us in this union with Jesus but it is up to us to maintain the union by our own effort, to stay in that state which the Holy Spirit established. This is a dynamic partnership between Jesus and us. He has done His part. We must do our part. He holds us, but we must hold on to Him by faith and obedience to His teachings.

John 15:5-7 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.”

If we neglect actively to maintain the awareness of our union with Jesus, we will lose that connection and forfeit all its benefits. However, if we faithfully make our choices and decisions in everything we do, in our awareness that we are in union with Jesus, we will be fruitful both in character and in the outcomes of that union. Answered prayer will be the result of our continual working together with Jesus.

So, Jesus said, to be His true follower is not to follow a set if rules or even to do the things that His disciples are supposed to do…”read the Bible, go to church, pay your tithe, and tell others about Jesus”! This is such a terrible corruption of the truth!

When we let go of all this peripheral stuff and do the one thing Jesus told His disciples to do…”Remain in me”, all the blessings and benefits of our salvation will flow like a life-giving fountain, to and through us.

Any other understanding of what it means to be a Christian falls short of what Jesus conveyed in the image of the vine and the branches. Is it any wonder, then that He said that the gate is small and the way is narrow to real life, and few find it.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

Christian Life, ,

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

“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.” John 15:5

In the Old Testament, Israel was called “the vine”. “Israel was a spreading vine” Hosea 10:1. God planted Israel in their own land as a choice vine, but He was disappointed with them because their fruit was bad.

Now Jesus tells His disciples that He is the vine, and they are the branches. Which part of the vine is Jesus? Is He the root, is He the stem or is He the branches? He says that He is the whole vine, and we are the branches. That means that we are part of Him. He wants us to bear fruit for Him, but we can’t bear fruit without being a part of the whole vine. The roots and the stem don’t bear the fruit; the branches do, but they cannot make grapes without the roots to take up the food and water from the soil and the stem to carry it to the branches.

The leaves on the branches are also important because they use the food and water from the soil and the sunlight and air to produce the energy which the vine needs to grow grapes. The leaves on the branches don’t have to work hard to gather sunlight or air. They just sit on the end of the twigs in the sun and air and the cells inside the leaves use the sunlight and carbon dioxide in the air together with the water and food from the soil to produce grapes.

If the branches are separated from the vine, they wither and die. They cannot bear fruit by themselves. They must be part of the vine. Jesus said that we are just like that. If we are to bear fruit for Him, we must live in union with Him. That means that we must submit to Him, trust in Him and obey Him. Our hearts must be filled with His word because it is His word that is the food that helps to produce the fruit.

What is the fruit that He wants us to bear for Him?  The Apostle Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. The first three teach us about our relationship with God. When we stay connected to Jesus, He fills our hearts with His love, joy, and peace because that is who He is. The next three show us how He wants us to treat people, with patience, kindness, and goodness because that is how He treats us. The last three, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control, tell us who we are. When we stay connected to Jesus, we learn to be in control of ourselves.  

Staying in His word and listening to Him is what we need for the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives. In this way, people will see how beautiful Jesus is.