“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. 2 He removes every branch in Me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples” John 15:1-8.
Jesus’ remarks about the vine and the branches and are obviously a metaphor that express the intimate love between Jesus and His followers. This is a beautiful, rare, and rewarding example of a parable. In the Old Testament, Israel is portrayed as God’s choice vine or vineyard, one that He has nurtured with consummate care, only to receive bitter fruit time and time again. Hosea 10 speaks of this: “1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. 2 But their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars, and destroy their pillars” Hosea 10:1-2. The Prophet Isaiah also spoke of Israel as the vineyard: “1 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down” Isaiah 5:1-7.
And Psalm 80 speaks sadly about the great vineyard that has been destroyed: “9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; 11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it”Psalm 80:9-13.
And now Jesus comes down from heaven and replaces Jewish institutions and feasts, and shows Himself as the vine of the new Israel. In union with Jesus Christ, Christians of the New Israel will bear fruit that is pleasing to the vine-dresser — God. In Jesus is the promise that this vineyard will not fail, and only its fallen branches will be taken away and burned. These beautiful verses speak of the new vineyard: “4 Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” John 15:4-8.
We remember, don’t we, that at the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus, the vine, was reluctant to produce an abundance of wine until His hour would come, while now He is giving Life to the branches because the hour of His glory is here. The Didache, an anonymous 1st century Christian treatise written in Greek references the earliest account of the Eucharist outside of the New Testament with these words of blessing over the chalice of communion:
“We thank You, our Father, for the holy vine of David, your servant, that You have revealed through Jesus Christ, your servant.”
“9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another” John 15: 9-17.
The verses below, John 15: 7-10, speak of the great theme of indwelling, asking in Jesus’ name, keeping God’s commandments, and abiding love.
“7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” God is glorified, as is Jesus, in bearing the fruit of a faithful life by becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. We hear the new commandment of Jesus, the love commandment, which is defined in no uncertain specific terms: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (verses 12-13). Jesus laying down His life for the world is what makes Christian so unique.
The Hebrew word, “to abide in”, literally means “to pitch your tent in” — a vivid metaphor for the kind of love and relationship Jesus is calling us to live out in our lives. For if you pitch the tent of your heart and life in Jesus, and you allow the Words of Jesus to pitch their tent in you, “the Father will give you whatever you ask him in Jesus’ name” (verse 16). And if you love others as Jesus does, you will pitch the tent of your life in Jesus' love, just as Jesus has loved as His Father loves and pitches the tent of His love in His Father’s love” (verse 10).
So dear friends, let us pray that we can love Jesus as Jesus and His Father love. Take time today to reflect on the ways Jesus constantly calls us to love, praying that we will love as He loves. May we all pitch the tent of our lives in His life.
Oh dear Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner. I love You, help my lack of love. May I forever love others as You do, and may my love show up every day, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
From the Bible:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” John 13:34.
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love” John 15:10.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” 1 John 4:16.
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matthew 5:44.
“Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” Revelation 14:12.
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” Hebrews 13:5.
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