John 15:1& 5 I AM THE TRUE VINE

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser..I am the vine; you are the branches..." 

Who is Jesus?  He spent much of His time on earth teaching, telling stories and parables and performing miracles. For those who listened closely and had spiritual ears to hear the truth, Jesus' identity became very clear.  In this final "I Am", Jesus used the analogy of grape vines and those who tend to them.  There are deep lessons in this passage of Scripture but we have to know something about vineyards to truly understand what Jesus was revealing about Himself.

Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson is a very insightful book on vines and Jesus' teachings.  Gleaning from his research on the subject, we learn of the intimate and integral relationship of the Father and the Son.  Our relationship to Jesus is also intertwined with Him; He is the vine, the source of life and we are branches, extending from Him but totally dependent upon Him. We bear fruit only because we abide, stay close, remain attached to Jesus, the Vine.

Bruce explained this verse: "Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." (v. 3) Jesus was teaching us that we are not being "cleaned" because we have become soiled by sin and need to be saved all over again. We have accepted the Gospel - the message of truth - to be saved. Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." Because grapevines grow primarily in dry climates, dust accumulates on the leaves.  The dust inhibits moisture and sunlight from being absorbed by those leaves and so the vinedresser would clean these leaves by hand.  Such a beautiful picture of God's love and tenderness towards us to enable us to bear fruit.

Caring for the branches of the vine requires pruning - which we can understand as most horticulture involves cutting and trimming to promote maximum growth and yield. One of Jesus' goals for us, His followers, is to bear fruit. It is necessary that the vinedresser - the Father - prunes us, even if we are bearing some fruit, in order for us to bear "more fruit" (v. 2) The pruning process is painful; it appears that when we trim off any stems and leaves that are alive and bearing fruit that we are killing and destroying the plant!  But our Father knows what needs to be stripped away from our lives, our characters, in order for us to have room for His life in us. 

And He doesn't ask us to do anything that He isn't willing to do also.  Jesus submitted fully to His Father and abides with Him. Jesus gave up His glory in heaven for a time in order to be born at Christmas. He subjected Himself to earthly inconveniences, discomforts and even abuse. The ultimate act of discipline under the Vinedresser is that Jesus gave up His life on a cross for us.  He was willing to die in our place so that "My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (v. 11)

The Baby born has a Father and He determined to do His Father's will. Advent is all about the extent the Father went to send His best, His only Son. 

Let's determine to "abide" - to stay closely attached and connected - to the True Vine this Advent season.