John 15:1-8

       It is no mere coincidence that, having detailed His rich provision for His followers, Christ now moves them out of the comfort, privacy and protection of the upper room (14:31).  Perhaps that simple change serves to impress upon them that change really is coming, that He really is leaving them, and they will be living and serving in a hostile environment without His physical presence.

            Believers today need to keep this straight.  We need the upper room experience daily through our personal time with Christ.  We need it regularly in a local church where God’s word is taught and we can be provoked to love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25).  But we must remember that the living and serving occurs outside the upper room.

            What Jesus does in the next chapter and a half (15:1-16:15) bears this out.  He teaches His disciples about three relationships:  their relationship with Him (15:1-8), with each other (15:9-17), and with the world (15:18-16:15).

            In explaining the kind of relationship they must have with Him Jesus uses a figure that is both familiar and exact.  I am the vine, you are the branches, v5).  The vineyard was often used to depict God’s people in the Old Testament (Psalm 80; Isa 5:1-7; Ezek. 17, etc.).  God’s people are intended to be His fruitful people as the branches bear fruit in the vineyard.

            The intricacies of the vineyard explain why Christ did not refer to them as His orchard or field.  Consider the following about the branches that relate so well to discipleship.

·        The long time (3-4 years) from planting until fruit-bearing.  Likewise the new believer will be more fruitful as he becomes rooted and grounded in Christ.

·        The great variety of fruit (3 species, over 10,000 varieties).  In the Christian life there is great variety to the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of righteousness.

·        The roots affect the fruit (if poor conditions, such as flooding, intense cold followed by heat, etc., too little cytokine is produced; the vine grows but not clusters. Again, the believer without root will wither in the heart of testing. 

·        The vine does not do well in extreme weather, especially the cold.  Likewise faith requires the warm environment of the Word and fellowship.

·        Cordons must be trained to grow in the right direction during the first year.  The young believer also must be “renewed” in His mind that he might be most effective in bearing fruit.

·        The vine must be checked (frequently) for pests, disease.  Self examination for believers is essential to rid the life of things that hinder fruitfulness.

·        Without systematic pruning the vine becomes an unmanageable thicket of little use for fruit production.  So the believer is to be pruned of those good things that hinder the best service for the Master.

            In the end vines exist for one purpose.  They don’t make much of a fire, nor can they be used to build houses.  They exist to bear fruit.  And so it is for disciples:  they exist to bear fruit for their Lord (15:16).