The True Vine
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:1
John 15:1–17 is one of the most meaningful passages of the Bible for most Christians. It ranks right alongside Psalm 23, John 10, and the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 for its ministry to our hearts. Over the next few days we will delve into the truths and the applications that Christ taught here.
The Context: Here is a place in Scripture where the context of the passage is greatly valuable to its understanding. Chapter 13 of John records a series of events that reveal the conflict between Christ and the world, and, thereby, between the Christian and the world. It began with a private audience with His twelve disciples. He washed the disciples’ feet in the first part of the chapter. He spoke about true servanthood. From the other gospels we learn that He instituted the Lord’s Supper that evening, even while Judas was still with them (Luke 22:14–23). Christ foretold His betrayal and sent Judas out, knowing he would betray Him. He also foretold of Peter’s coming denial.
But then in chapter 14, as they still reclined at the table, Christ spoke some of the most comforting words that ever came from His mouth. They were delivered directly to the hearts of each of the eleven who remained, and they continue to speak to us today. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). He taught about the coming of the Spirit of God into the lives of His followers.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:26–27
This was not the first time Christ spoke about the Spirit of God, but it was the clearest of His teachings on this subject. Something incredible, unparalleled in salvation history, would happen to His followers — the Spirit of God would come and live within each of them and dwell among all of them. There would be a new divine reality to human life — one unprecedented in its scope — that would shape the Church that Christ was building.
Then, after this teaching, He rose from the table and began a walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, “Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:31). So the teaching of John 15 was given on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, on the way to His betrayal, to His arrest, and eventually to His crucifixion. But He still had time that evening to explain an essential truth to His disciples.
John 15:18 begins a new section of His teaching, one in which He returns again to the reality of the world, its hatred, its animosity toward God. He warns of the coming persecution, and He goes on in chapter 16:5 to teach again of the work of the Spirit of God — how He shall empower their witness and enrich their community.
And in between these two topics — the work of His Spirit and the challenges of living in this fallen world — He delivers this wonderful teaching on Him being the “True Vine.”
A Practical, Devotional Teaching on How to Experience Him in Our Lives: The passage, John 15:1–17, then is a practical guide — even a therapeutic devotional help — to aid His followers in experiencing Him and His Spirit in their lives.
Theology is here, as it always is in the teachings of Christ, but I believe the intent is mainly devotional — How shall we live in Christ. As was His custom He used an illustration from rural, country life. Jesus of Nazareth was a country boy, and His stories and parable almost all were about life in the farming communities of rural Galilee. By contrast, Paul of Tarsus was a city boy, with most of his illustrations coming from the sights and experiences of the city. But here, even though He was in the large city of Jerusalem, we meet the Son of Man in His element.
Amid the urban noise, Jesus withdrew with His disciples. He was and is the Man for all Seasons, but we do no dishonor to His deity if we see in Him a desire to leave the city and go to the Garden. Here the perfect fulfillment of both His deity and His humanity is seen, or at least it seems so to me. It was probable that they passed many grapevines on their way — a number of people then and now in wine-growing regions have their own private vines.
It was the perfect opportunity to explain to them and to us how we can live in the reality of the Spirit.
He began with a profound truth: He is the true vine! Often the nation of Israel was compared to a vine — Isaiah 5:1–7, Psalm 80:8–19, for examples — but here Christ claims to be the “True Vine,” very likely a reference to Jeremiah 2:21: “Yet I had planted you a noble vine.”
His words were a reference to the failure of Israel, that despite God’s planting of that nation, they had failed morally, they had forsaken their God, and were about to execute the Messiah. But He was the true vine!
All life emanates from Him. He is the element of creation and the truth of John 1:1–4 echoes in these words. The Father is like the vinedresser (gardener), and this is another masterful analogy. The vinedresser is unseen and not the focus of attention, other than to care for the vine and their fruit. The Father is always unseen, it is the Son that we see. In John 14:9, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father.” It is not too much to see the logic here — that he who has seen the vine has also seen the vinedresser.
Life is in the Son: Here is where the devotional of this passage begins, with the grasping of the truth that in Christ is all life — physical and spiritual. His claims are staggering to the world, but they draw the believer to His heart. He is the Source of our life today. We experience the Spirit and the life He brings through abiding in Christ.
The application is simple — that we may call out to His name, that we may trust in Him, that we may speak to Him in faith, and that we may know that He is not a mere historical figure that lived and died, but that He is life itself, and He hears those who call upon Him.
