I AM the True Vine
John 15:1–8
Key Text:
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:1–8
Introduction
It was the night before the Feast of the Passover that the Lord Jesus Christ knew that His hour had come (John 13:1). It was that moment that the Lord showed the disciples an example of love and humility by washing their feet. It was also that moment that the Lord identified His betrayer — Judas Iscariot. When Satan entered Judas, having received the piece of bread the Lord gave him, he immediately went out and left them. It was after that moment that the Lord began the so-called ‘upper room discourse’ where He taught them essentially His farewell words to them.
Having known that He should suffer at the hands of the wicked, the Lord still taught the disciples during his last moments with them. He spoke to them about the truth that He is the way to be with the Father and to know and see the Father (John 14:6). He promised them the coming of another Helper, the Holy Spirit of truth (John 14:16). He made statements concerning the indwelling of the Father and the Son in a believer (John 14:20). Among many other things that the Lord spoke to them, the Lord still made another statement concerning Himself. A statement so profound that it is about His nature. In the beginning of John 15, the Lord said, “I am the true vine…(John 15:1)”. This is yet another word picture or metaphor concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Great I AM
We know that Jesus is the Great I AM. The One who encountered Moses at the burning bush was Him (Exo. 3). He is the Great I AM, that is to say that He is the eternal God in human flesh. He is the self-existing One, “before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58)”.
While Jesus didn’t directly say, “I am God”, it is evident through the biblical narratives that He is indeed God. He claimed to be the true Bread from heaven, the Light of the world, the Resurrection and the Life, the Gate of His own sheep, the Good Shepherd, and the Way, the Truth, and the Life. All of these claims point to who He really is — He is God.
Oftentimes Jesus was causing the Jews to get angry because of His statements which made Him appear to be like a megalomaniac. For this reason, He was oftentimes being sought to be killed by the Jews. One example is in John 5:18:
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
John 5:18
Jesus called God His own Father and the Jews understood that that is the same as making Himself equal with God. For them, it was an utter blasphemy. They could not accept the reality that Jesus was God in the flesh and for this reason they were in unbelief. It is important for anyone professing that he is a believer of Jesus Christ to truly believe that He is indeed God. Jesus Himself said that “if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins (John 8:24)”.
Now, the Lord said that He is the True Vine. In this analogy, we see about the nature of Christ and about the nature of genuine salvation. There are three key players in this metaphor: the True Vine which is Christ, the Vinedresser which is the Father, and the two kinds of branches.
The True Vine
The Lord Jesus Christ is the True Vine. Many interpretations can be made out of that word picture. Since the branches are attached to the vine, it could mean that the vine is the source from which the branches get their nourishment or sustenance and that cannot be denied in the agricultural sense. Some might also speculate that it emphasizes a sense of belonging, that those who are attached to the vine belong in the family of God. Some might say that Christ as the vine is the only satisfaction for our souls. All of those things are correct and this only shows that this metaphor can be applied to a wide spectrum of applications.
But the Lord explicitly said that He is the True Vine. What does it mean? Well, it simply means that there are false vines. A false vine is anything we depend on that is outside of Christ. It could be religion, philosophical ideas, and good works. In the context of satisfaction, the false vine is the self which we know can never satisfy us. However, taking the context of the narrative, we have to remember that Christ was talking to His Jewish disciples.
Just like the false shepherds in John 10 are the Jewish leaders and Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the false vine here is Israel and Christ is the True Vine. What does it mean? Remember that the analogy is about the vine having abiding branches. Israel is God’s chosen race and in the Old Testament writings, they were referred to as God’s vine. Consider the following texts:
You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
Psalms 80:8Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
Jeremiah 6:9He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
Isaiah 5:2
According to those texts, Israel was God’s vine. But as pointed out in Isaiah 5:2, God expected Israel to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Israel became corrupt or defective and we see that through the pages of the Scriptures. The Jews trust that because they are seeds of Abraham, that because they are of the lineage of Israel, that because they belong to the ethnic nation of Israel which is God’s chosen nation, they belong to God. But not at all. Their trust in their ethnicity won’t get them to God. Although they belong to Israel, it does not necessarily mean that they are saved.
This is where the True Vine comes in. All who desire to be saved must be attached and must abide in the True Vine. Any person who wants to be reconciled to God must abandon all his hope in himself and in others. Every anchor that we have on false religions must be lifted up and be left behind if we desire to be saved. The Jews thought that they were connected to God because they are Israelites. But Jesus said that He is the True Vine and if they want to be connected to God, they must abide in Him.
Whatever is in the vine flows to the branches attached to it. Good grapes can only spring from healthy branches and the healthy branches are those that abide in the vine. Jesus is the True Vine and the God-kind of life that is in Him can and will only flow to the abiding branches. No fruit will sprout from a person if he is not connected to Christ. Jesus said plainly,
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:4
Those who abide in the True Vine are those who are “rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith (Colossians 2:7)” and for this reason, bear much fruit.
The Vinedresser
The Vinedresser or the Farmer is the Father. The Father, in unison with the Son and the Holy Spirit, laid out the plan of salvation which Christ must fulfill. Christ came to do the will of God:
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come —
In the volume of the book it is written of Me —
To do Your will, O God.’ ”
Hebrews 10:7 (cf. Psalm 40:6–8)
The Father as the Vinedresser dresses the True Vine by giving Him branches. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me… (John 6:37)”. Furthermore, He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…(John 6:44)”. It is the Father who gives the elect to the Son to be His bride. The Father not only laid out the means by which the elect can be saved but He also sovereignly chose those who will be saved.
The Branches
We now move to the part about the nature of genuine salvation. In the Lord’s analogy, there are two kinds of branches:
- Fruit-bearing branches;
- Branches that don’t bear fruit.
Before we continue diving into this, we have to keep in mind that the Lord told this analogy to the disciples after Judas had just left. Now, all branches are attached to the vine. But only the fruit-bearing ones are the true disciples and they are pruned to bear more fruit. The branches that don’t bear fruit are false disciples. The false disciples will eventually become dried and will be cut-off and then will be burned by the Vinedresser. An example of an attached branch but had no fruit was Judas Iscariot. He was cut-off and we know the tragic demise that happened to him. Indeed, it would have been good for that man if he had not been born (Matt. 26:24).
There are branches that have an outward appearance of attachment but bear no fruit. In the kingdom of God, there are those who are just professing faith and there are those who truly possess saving faith. The Lord said that every branch in Him that does not bear fruit the Father takes away (John 15:2). The branch that does not abide in Christ are cast out, and is withered, and is thrown into the fire (John 15:6). Some say of these passages that salvation can be lost. But that is not true for those who are Christ’s, He will never cast out (John 6:37, 44). Thus, like Judas Iscariot, the false disciples, the fruitless branches will eventually leave for “they were not of us (1 John 2:19)”.
The branches can only bear fruit if they are abiding in the vine. Jesus said,
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:4
This statement of the Lord implies a strong condition when it comes to fruitfulness. Fruits will only sprout if the branch is not just merely attached to, but totally and dependently abiding in the True Vine.
The Father judges the false branches but He prunes the branches that bear fruit. Now, every Christian bears fruits. While we are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works. We are expected to bear the fruit of righteous living, righteous desires and affections, righteous motives, and righteous deeds. It is not a life of perfection but a dominating direction that always points back to Christ. The branches that truly possess saving faith will continue in the word of Christ. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed (John 8:31)”.
The possessing branches bear fruit and are being pruned by the Father. Pruning involves cutting in order to make something clean and more productive. It is a painful process but it is necessary to stay healthy in our walk with God. A pruning in our life means that God intends for us to bear more fruit. Thus, if we want to be more fruitful, we have to welcome the pruning of the Father. The pruning and fruit-bearing is ultimately for the Father’s glory that is why He Himself is the One pruning us.
We are being pruned when God desires that we should lay aside every weight that slows us down (Hebrews 12:1). These are the things that may look good for us but quite unnecessary in our Christian walk. These are labeled as the ‘excess baggage’ that we don’t need and thus, should be left behind. We also ought to leave the sin that we love. We are to present our members as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13). The discipline of God is indeed painful for it is hard to be finally detached from the things that we used to love. But we are encouraged to embrace God’s discipline for this proves that we are indeed His adopted sons and this yields to the fruit of righteousness.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Hebrews 12:5–8Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
As the Vinedresser, the Father has a knife with which He prunes the branches. What is the knife? The word of God. Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3)”. There is a direct correlation between the word of God and being clean. It is because the word of God has its sanctifying nature and power. The word of God “is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)”.
The word of God is like a two-edged sword and even sharper than that. Being a two-edged sword, it cuts in all directions. The word brings us face to face to our error. It discerns our thoughts and the intents of our heart. It exposes us and then aligns our mind and heart according to what God says in His word. The word of God not only gives us the knowledge of the truth concerning our salvation. It is also God’s means by which He sanctifies His church. Jesus prayed to the Father,
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:17
While God uses afflictions to mold us or to discipline us, He does so by teaching us His word so we could learn how to respond to afflictions and to anything that may happen to us. Charles Spurgeon said,
It is the word that prunes the Christian. It is the truth that purges him. The Scripture made living and powerful by the Holy Spirit eventually and effectively cleanses the Christian.
~Charles Spurgeon
Conclusion
The analogy of the vine teaches us about the nature of Christ and the nature of genuine salvation. Christ is the True Vine. The only way that we can be connected to God is to be connected to Christ. A truly saved person is not only superficially attached to Him, but is abiding in Him and in His word. A false branch will eventually be detached from the vine because it has no fruit. A true branch is a true disciple of Christ who abides in Him and in His word. The pruning of the Father is essential to the Christian’s growth in sanctification. The word of God is the means by which the Father prunes the fruitful branches so that they could bear much more fruit and in this the Father is glorified.
