I Am the True Vine

 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.” John 15:1(NLT)

Jesus knows what is to come. He knows that it will not be easy for His disciples. His time is drawing near. He is trying to prepare them…for His betrayal, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His return to the Father. He can’t promise them an easy life. Following Him doesn’t involve easy or comfortable. They will be ridiculed, rejected, and eventually they will be martyred for Him. They will suffer because they have chosen Him to be their Lord. He looks at them, and says “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” (John 15:1-2, NLT)

In ancient Israel, grapes were a source of wealth. Often throughout the Old Testament, God will refer to the nation of Israel as a grapevine. In Psalm 80:8 it says, “You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; and drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land.” (Psalm 80:8-9, NLT) God delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery, and then planted them in the land that He had given them. He gave them the strength and ability to drive out the nations that inhabited the land. Later in verses 10-11, it says, “Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.” (NLT) Grapevines are weak. They must be given a support system to grow on or they will not produce fruit. They will essentially become unproductive. Yet in this Psalm, Asaph, the psalmist, uses vivid imagery to describe how the “grapevine” or the nation of Israel will be as strong as a cedar with branches covering the land. This isn’t literally possible. It is a metaphor for how God took an enslaved nation, and infused them with His power and strength, so that they could drive out the stronger nations in order to occupy the land He had given them. It all happened because of Him. 

Jesus is telling His disciples that the only way to thrive through the difficulties that they would face would be by remaining in Him. If they tried to live in their own strength, their faith would never survive. It would crumble at the first obstacle it faced. However, if the disciples would abide in Him there would be nothing that they couldn’t do. Even in the most difficult circumstances, their faith would stand and they would have joy. 

Abiding in Jesus is the only way we will have the strength to withstand the trials we face with both joy and strength. If we want our faith to stand, then we must keep ourselves connected to the vine. All we have to do is look back at the example of the nation of Israel. When they were obedient to God, and followed His path, they could defeat nations no matter how much stronger they were. But when they didn’t listen to God or sought their own way, they would find themselves accomplishing nothing. Instead, they would wander in the desert or be overtaken by their enemies. If we want to live an abundant life, we have to follow Him. We have to continually make the choice to stay connected to Him by spending time with Him. Otherwise, we will be pulled by the things of this world. We will seek it instead of Him. He is the vine, and our source of joy.

Scripture Reading: John 12:1-18