Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. We know that Jesus taught using images that the disciples and crowds knew. Vineyards were a familiar concept to His listeners; both as a literal vine and as a metaphor. The Old Testament uses the vine as a metaphor for the people of Israel, in both positive and negative ways.

A vine and its branches can be twisty, intertwined and complex.

God is the Vine Grower, Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. The Vine is the life source of the branches.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is our life source. God, the Vine Grower, tends the branches and will lift up those that produce no fruit. 

Modern translations of this passage use the harsh words “cuts off” those that bear no fruit but the origin text used words that mean to lift up.

A vine grower will lift up those branches that are bearing no fruit so that instead of trailing along the ground, where the branches will grow tiny roots and try and feed themselves from the poor shallow soil, they are away from the ground and getting good nutrients from the actual vine. The shallow soil does not meet the needs of the branches leaving them unable to produce good fruit. The branches need to be nurtured by the vine which provides them with all they need and gives them a chance to produce good sweet fruit.

And the branches? Their job is to remain in the vine and produce fruit. 

Remain …

In this 8 verse passage the word remain appears 8 times. Jesus really wants us to get the message that we need to remain, or abide, in Him. He knows that we cannot “go it alone” even though our stubborn human selves will try. The branch cannot bear fruit when separated from the vine – to bear fruit it must remain part of the vine.

Do not be fooled into thinking that relying on God and abiding in Jesus gets us an easy ride. Quite the opposite. As Jesus reminds us “every branch that bears fruit will be pruned to make it bear more fruit” and branches bearing no fruit will be taken away and lifted up. Branches bearing fruit will be stripped of what they do not need to enable the nutrients to go to the fruit growing and enabling the branches to concentrate on the fruit and not be wasted on anything else.

Abiding in Christ the Vine does mean change! Being pruned – changed to bear much fruit. God preserves and nurtures us so we can produce good fruit and then He cleans us so we can produce more and sweeter fruit.

So let us abide in Christ the Vine, drench ourselves in His word and in prayer, so that we the branches can produce good sweet fruit.