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Author: Stephen Weller
581 words, 3 minutes read time

The True Vine

Scripture: John 15:1-2

With the previous lesson we covered a short section in which it was predicted that Peter and the others would fall away from Jesus in the face of persecution. With this lesson we begin a new section, the first of a series of sections covering John 15 -17.

^{Jn 15:1} [Jesus said,] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Seven times now, Jesus has used “I am” to make a claim about himself in the gospel of John.

The symbol of a vineyard or the vine is frequently used in the Old Testament to represent Israel, who are God’s covenant people. This is seen in Isaiah 5:1 – 7. The purpose of the vine and its branches is to produce fruit but Israel’s failure to produce fruit resulted in divine judgment. In contrast, Jesus is the true vine and his followers abide in him as the branches and they produce fruit.

Referring to Israel as the vine that failed to produce fruit and Jesus as the vine that did produce fruit, suggest that Jesus is the true vine; the true Israel. It was God in the Old Testament that failed to find fruit being produced by Israel. When Jesus visited the temple on Palm Sunday following his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he looked for evidence of fruit and since he found no sign of fruit, he cursed a fig tree outside of Jerusalem (Matthew 21:18 – 22). (See “No Evidence of Fruit” Lesson H563.)

The branches that abide in the true vine are inspected by the Father, referred to as the vinedresser, and appropriately pruned to encourage the production of more fruit. Those branches he finds not bearing fruit, he takes away, and those branches that bear fruit he prunes to encourage more and better fruit. Since those branches are to represent believers, evidence that they are is validated by their fruit. If no fruit is being produced then the Father removes the branch from the vine to be burned. Those who believe they are believers but are not are seen described in Matthew 7:21 – 23. To those Jesus said, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23 ESV). To “depart from” is the Father removing the branch from the vine.

I worked closely with a person for several years who claimed to be a Christian. He and his family even went to the mission field to serve for several years. His wife was quite effective on the field, but he was not. A situation developed while on the field that caused them to return home. Soon after he denounced his faith and claimed that he was a woman resulting in the loss of his marriage and a good teaching job. As I continue to follow him through his blog posts, I see a branch that failed to bear fruit that was removed by the Father causing my heart to grieve over the direction his life has taken.

Conclusion

With this lesson we looked at the context of the last of seven claims Jesus make about himself in the gospel of John. In the next lesson we will look at the details of the first few verses of chapter 15.