John 15:5, “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.”  Jesus

Who does God say that you are? You are the branches of the vine. What does that mean?

Jesus said that He is the true vine in John 15:1 meaning that He is the source of all life. This is the seventh time in the gospel of John that Jesus referred to Himself as “I am”; by doing so He is referring to His divinity. In John 15:1-8, Jesus is referring to how God relates to mankind. The listeners would know that the Old Testament referred to Israel as a vine; “Israel’s purpose in the Old Testament was to bear the fruit of justice and righteousness” (David Jeremiah). God would be the vinedresser (V.1) who would relate to Israel much like one grows, and takes care of their plants. He would prune and remove the branches of the plant that were dead or not producing fruit. It is clear from Jesus that the branches were to grow and be a productive part of the plant (vine).

In this analogy, when Jesus refers to the “branches in me” (v. 2), He is not referring to those who are saved. There are branches in the vine who seem to be connected to the vine but are not – they are not producing fruit and will not bear fruit so they are removed or taken away by the vinedresser. This is done to make more room for those connected to the vine in order to grow and produce more fruit. I believe that this would represent people today who “attach” themselves to the church but are not connected to the real Source of life. God knows and will eventually remove the false branches and discard them.

Those who have said the words of saving grace and meant them (Sunday’s message) are being changed, being cleaned (v.3) to be a productive branch in the vine. Jesus tells us we are not one of the dead branches and not losing our salvation because we are connected to the vine. Being productive is not a prerequisite to be part of the vine; it is the result of being part of the vine. To bear fruit, spiritual fruit, one must be obedient to the Word of God and be walking on the narrow way to eternal life with Him. The fruit of the Spirit is described in Galatians 5:22; He is not talking about wealth, reputation, success or even a life without difficulty.

As Believers, we are to “abide” in Jesus and He will “abide” in us; we are to remain in Jesus Christ. The branch only has life as long as it is connected to the vine and the life of the vine flows through it, so Believers have Christ’s life only as His life flows through them. We remain in Him by keeping His Word continually in our hearts and minds and making it our guide for our actions and words. We make time for communion with Him in order to draw our strength from Him. We allow His love for others to flow through us; we forgive them for what they have done against us and others. We do all we can to resist all sinfulness by being led by the Holy Spirit. We have a joyful heart (v. 11) when life brings us disappointment and sadness. Joy does not mean we feel happy but rather we have peace in all situations knowing God sees all and is in control of all. His perspective of circumstances is different from ours.

Spiritual fruit is the result of being connected to Jesus, the true vine. Without remaining in Him and relying on His power, His strength, His guidance, we can do nothing. So we spend time with Him, stay in His Word, and be obedient to Him as we walk with Him on a narrow way into eternal life with Him. Let me say, it has been quite an adventure!

God wants each of us to know we are a branch in the vine!