Again the setting is the last hours before Jesus is arrested and separated from the disciples so every moment counted, and although the disciples didn't realize it, Jesus’ every word and every action had immense significance for how they would continue His ministry on earth. John chapter 14 ends abruptly with Jesus announcing, “Come now, let us leave.” We assume that Jesus was seeking to change his location knowing that the betrayer Judas was on his way. Jesus was “buying time.”
We can now imagine the eleven remaining disciples walking in single file between the rows of neatly tended and generations-old vines toward the Garden of Gethsemane. We know it was a full moon because it was Passover. The group most likely passed by the bronze gates of Herod’s temple, where wrought in gold were grapevines representing the nation of Israel (Psalm 80:8-9, Isaiah 5). The actual vines would have been showing signs of new spring growth and Jesus simply stopped and reached for one to illustrate what He'd been trying to impart through His whole discourse in the Upper Room. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." (John 15:5) Jesus loved to convey the deepest truths with simple, earthly examples, and vines were a very familiar sight in Israel. And what is a vine? It is the portion of a plant that transfers vital nutrients from the roots to the branches of the plant. It’s interesting to note that if the roots are cut, a vine can manufacture new roots. Also if the branches are cut, a vine can produce new branches. The vine is the central most important part of the plant. Just as Jesus is to be the central most important part of our lives.
To convey the same truth using that which would be equally familiar today, Jesus might have said, "I am the power station and you are the electrical appliance.” Admittedly it's not quite as elegant a way of putting it, but the message it conveys is the same. If an electrical appliance, such as a vacuum cleaner, is not connected up to the power source it works about as well as my two-year-old’s Fisher Price vacuum. The purpose of my Hoover is too actually clean the carpet and if it doesn’t produce the results it was designed for, it’s going out on trash day…. Just as do the branches in Jesus’ next thought:
“…he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:6) When branches get dangly and unproductive, a gardener prunes them away so that the productive branches can receive more nutrients for their growth and production. Cutting the dead wood out of our lives might mean ending relationships that are leading us to live in the ways of the world, rather than in the ways of Jesus. It may mean giving up destructive habits. It may mean sitting down long enough to listen to God. Each of us will know what “pruning” is if we tune ourselves to the gardener’s voice: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”(John 15:1)
We can now imagine the eleven remaining disciples walking in single file between the rows of neatly tended and generations-old vines toward the Garden of Gethsemane. We know it was a full moon because it was Passover. The group most likely passed by the bronze gates of Herod’s temple, where wrought in gold were grapevines representing the nation of Israel (Psalm 80:8-9, Isaiah 5). The actual vines would have been showing signs of new spring growth and Jesus simply stopped and reached for one to illustrate what He'd been trying to impart through His whole discourse in the Upper Room. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." (John 15:5) Jesus loved to convey the deepest truths with simple, earthly examples, and vines were a very familiar sight in Israel. And what is a vine? It is the portion of a plant that transfers vital nutrients from the roots to the branches of the plant. It’s interesting to note that if the roots are cut, a vine can manufacture new roots. Also if the branches are cut, a vine can produce new branches. The vine is the central most important part of the plant. Just as Jesus is to be the central most important part of our lives.
To convey the same truth using that which would be equally familiar today, Jesus might have said, "I am the power station and you are the electrical appliance.” Admittedly it's not quite as elegant a way of putting it, but the message it conveys is the same. If an electrical appliance, such as a vacuum cleaner, is not connected up to the power source it works about as well as my two-year-old’s Fisher Price vacuum. The purpose of my Hoover is too actually clean the carpet and if it doesn’t produce the results it was designed for, it’s going out on trash day…. Just as do the branches in Jesus’ next thought:
“…he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:6) When branches get dangly and unproductive, a gardener prunes them away so that the productive branches can receive more nutrients for their growth and production. Cutting the dead wood out of our lives might mean ending relationships that are leading us to live in the ways of the world, rather than in the ways of Jesus. It may mean giving up destructive habits. It may mean sitting down long enough to listen to God. Each of us will know what “pruning” is if we tune ourselves to the gardener’s voice: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”(John 15:1)
- Pastor Mark
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