Day 13 – John 15:1-4

Read John ch 15:1-4

V1: The last of the 7 ” I am” sayings of Jesus in this gospel. They declare His deity – ” I am”, the Name of God as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14 – and reveal more of what He is to and for His people. “The True Vine” – in the OT Israel is often referred to as the Lord’s vineyard, but a vineyard that failed to produce the fruit He looked for. ( see Isaiah 5:1-7 ) if they did leave the upper room at the end of ch 14, they would have seen vineyards on the hillsides around them, and the gate of the Temple was adorned with a golden vine. Jesus, in contrast to Israel is the true vine, cared for by His Father, the vinedresser.

V2: God, the Vinedresser, wants the branches to bear fruit, and fruitless ones ( lifeless ones )  are removed. and those which do bear fruit are pruned ( disciplined ) The branches are the disciples, but the fruitless ones are those who profess faith, but have no living relationship with the Lord. However, true believers will know the lord’s chastening discipline to deal with anything that prevents their fruitfulness.( Just as a human gardener will cut back anything that inhibits growth in their plants. 

V3: ‘You are clean’ – literally purged – Jesus tells the disciples, by His word to them. God’s Word is still what makes us clean, by showing us the Saviour and His redeeming death to bear our sins – this is our real cleansing, of course. as we trust in him.

V4: Branches have no independent life of their own, only as they are part of the life of the vine can they bear fruit. So disciples, then or now, can only be fruitful if they are in living union with the lord. To ‘Abide‘  is to have a place where you belong, your abode is your home; we belong to, and in Christ.