The True Vine
I AM Statements of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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INTRO:
We are in the seventh and final week of our series, entitled “I AM statements of Jesus”, that are found in the gospel of John.
We started with “I Am the Bread of Life,” then we looked at “I am the Light of the World,” the third week we looked at “I Am the Door for the Sheep, the forth week, I Am the Good Shepherd the fifth week, “I am the Resurrection and the Life” and last week, which was the sixth week of our series called, “I am the Way, Truth and Life.”
Today we are going be in John 15:1-8 looking at the seventh and final I am statement of Jesus called “I am the True Vine”.
The “I am” declarations of Jesus recorded only in John’s Gospel are statements or proclamations Jesus made that pointed to His unique divine identity and purpose. So if you would lets take a closer look at what Jesus meant when He said, I AM the True Vine.
1 “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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 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.
5 “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.
6 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.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
There are three part relationships in this metaphor that Jesus is sharing with us.
1. The True Vine - God the Son
2. The Vine Dresser - God the Father
3. The Branches - Non bearers vs. Bearers
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
I am the true Vine (cf. v. 5). This is the last of the seven great “I am” statements in John. Israel was God’s choice vine on which he lavished care and attention (Ps. 80:8; Isa. 5:1–7; Jer. 2:2; 6:9; Ezek. 15; 17:5–10; 19:10–14; Hosea 10:1; 14:8).
He (God the Father) longed for fruit, but the vine (Israel) became degenerate and produced rotten fruit. Therefore Jesus, as “the true Vine,” fulfills what God had intended for Israel. The Father is the Gardener who cultivates and protects the Vine.
The Gardener/Vine Dresser Prunes the Branches. v2
2 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.
He (i.e., the Gardener, the Father) desires fruit, which is mentioned eight times in this chapter.
A progression is seen: fruit (v. 2), more fruitful (v. 2), and “much fruit” (vv. 5, 8).
5 “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.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
The fruit which God desired from Israel was loving obedience, righteousness, and justice (Isa. 5:1–7).
Back to vs. 2, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off.”
The phrase “in Me” does not mean the same thing as Paul’s words “in Christ.” Here it is part of the metaphor of the Vine and which seems to mean, “every person who professes to be My disciple (a ‘branch’) is not necessarily a true follower.”
All true branches bear fruit. Just as we know a healthy, living tree by the good fruit it produces, so do we recognize fruitless branches as having no connection to the True Vine. This is why Jesus tells us, “By their fruit you will know them” (Matthew 7:16–20).
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Those who do not produce good fruit are cut away and burned.
The reference here is to apostates, those who profess to know Christ but whose relationship to Him is insincere. Eventually, the fruitless branches are identified as not belonging to the Vine and are removed for the sake of truth and the benefit of the other branches.
A branch that bears no fruit is obviously dead. Therefore, like Judas, it is cut off. (See comments on John 15:6.)
6 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.
Every year in Palestine gardeners prune their vines. They cut off the dead wood which has no life in it and trim the living branches so that their yield will be greater.
So this is the analogy Jesus is giving us to help explain the nature of our identity in Him.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 15
Jesus is the center of the Christian faith—He is the source of life and the way to eternal life (14:6)
In fact you can say this “I AM” Statement is key to understanding what True Christianity looks like.
So what then is the role of the vine?
The True Vine Provides Living Energy
The True Vine Provides Living Energy
His living energy—His spiritual reality—would continue to nourish and sustain them (Disciples) just as the roots and trunk of a grape vine produce the energy that nourishes and sustains its branches while they develop their fruit.
Jesus wanted us to know that, even though we cannot see Him, we are as closely connected to Him as the branches of a vine are connected to its stem. Our desire to know and love Him and the energy to serve Him will keep flowing into and through us as long as we “abide” in Him.
Jesus went on to remove any misunderstanding about what He meant (John 15:4).
4 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.
He said that no branch can even live, let alone produce leaves and fruit, by itself. Cut off from the trunk, a branch is dead.
Just as a vine’s branches rely on being connected to the trunk from which they receive their energy to bear fruit, Jesus’ disciples depend on being connected to Him for their spiritual life and the ability to serve Him effectively.
The fruit we produce is that of the Holy Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Our source of life and spiritual fruit is not in ourselves; it is in Christ Jesus.
Remember what Paul said in Gal. 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
We can live, live rightly, and serve Him effectively only if we are rightly connected to Him in a faith/love relationship.
Without the True Vine you can not Bear Fruit
Without the True Vine you can not Bear Fruit
Then Jesus underscored His point even more strongly by saying, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
5 “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.
No believer can achieve anything of spiritual value independently of Christ Jesus.
So, we depend on Jesus for everything, starting with our very life—“For in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)
28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
and including our reconciliation with God through Him (Romans 5:10).
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
No one can serve God effectively until he is connected with Jesus Christ by faith. Jesus is our only connection with the God who gave life and who produces in us a fruitful life of righteousness and service.