1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
My Comments:
This is on e of my favorite passages in the Bible; I think because it is so dense with spiritual knowledge and insight. The passage speaks of two different groups of "branches". These branches represent people, all peoples in fact. And all people can be separated into two groups: Christians and non-Christians. Using a metaphor of a vine Jesus describes these two groups.
Before talking about the branches He defines the vine and also He who is in charge of the vine, the vinedresser. Jesus describes Himself as the vine and the Father as the vinedresser. The vinedresser is the caretaker for the vine. He is the one that makes sure the branches of the vine are doing what they are suppose to do, make fruit. A fruitful branch brings joy to the vinedresser, and the same way, a fruitless branch displeases the vinedresser. Also, a fruitful branch brings glory to the vinedresser and fruitless branches suggest that the vinedresser is incompetent at his job. To prevent displeasure and disgrace the fruitless branches have to be dealt with and discarded. The vine's job is to produce the branches, to provide what is needed to produce fruit. Without the vine there are no branches.
As I mentioned the branches are divided into two groups. There are two characteristics that is used to separate the groups into two distinct groups: their ability to produce fruit and their location in relation to the vine. One group produces fruit. This group also is attached to the vine ("abides in the vine"). The other group, of course, does not produce fruit and is apart from the vine. So obviously the fruit producing branches refer to true Christians and the fruitless branches are non-Christians.
One of the great things about this passage is that it provides for a true Christian versus false Christian test. The test: fruit or no fruit. If there is fruit, then the branch must be abiding in the vine; so therefore, a true Christian (v4). If there is no fruit, then the branch is not abiding in the vine; therefore, not a Christian. The question then is what is this fruit. The fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
So look at this list. If someone was describing you, would they use these words? This passage also describes the future for the two different branches. The fruitless will be cast into the fire, but the branches that abide in the vine will have joy. And not just any kind of joy, but a joy that is from God and is made full by God.
That brings me to my question for you: which of the two branches are you? How do you know?
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