The Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-6)

Jesus is now speaking to his disciples as they walk together on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. The last verse of chapter 14 indicates that they had left the upper room in which they had been meeting. It may be that they were now passing a vine, and Jesus used it to illustrate his teaching.

Jesus here makes one of his well-known ‘I am’ sayings. The illustration had Old Testament roots because in several of its books the people of Israel are likened to a vine (Ps. 80:8-16; Isa. 5:1-7); when Jesus says that he is the true vine he means that he is different from the nation of Israel, which was an unfaithful vine.

The illustration depicts one of the central doctrines of the Bible, that of union with Christ. This great doctrine is so comprehensive that it must be divided in order for us to grasp it. Therefore, for example, there is eternal union (united to Christ in the eternal covenant), positional union (united to Jesus by faith at conversion), practical union (outworking the effects of this union throughout our Christian lives), and heavenly union (dimensions of the union that will be experienced in heaven). The picture of believers as branches in Jesus the Vine concerns the practical aspect of union with Christ.

We have also to remember that Jesus is continuing with his teaching begun in the upper room. Already we have noticed how he has been teaching his disciples about the ways in which the Father and the Holy Spirit, as well as himself, will be involved in their lives. This parable continues these emphases: Jesus is the vine, the Father is the gardener, and the Spirit (although not mentioned by name) is the means of the disciples receiving life from Christ.

The danger of false discipleship

It is important to recall that Jesus is using a parable to illustrate important points. Sometimes, these points may be obvious, at other times they are not so clear. This is true of this parable, and is a reminder that parables are not merely simple stories. One perplexing aspect of this passage concerns Jesus’ words about branches being removed from the vine. They have given rise to a disagreement as to whether or not a true believer can lose his salvation.

Arminians take the words of Jesus in verses 2 and 6 as evidence that a real Christian can eventually be lost if he ceases to produce fruit. Such a view fails to take seriously the many verses in the Bible that make clear that a true believer is secure as far as final salvation is concerned.

Calvinists have given several alternative interpretations to these verses. One is that Jesus is describing a hypothetical case that cannot really happen; the problem with this view is that it turns the words of Jesus from being a warning into merely a speculation.

A second view is that Jesus is describing backsliders who fail to abide in him; this interpretation takes verse 2 as depicting the Vinedresser lifting up an unfruitful branch from lying on the ground into the light of the sun (the Father positioning a backslider to once again focus on Christ); the interpretation also takes verse 6 as describing the way the world can make life miserable for a backslider. The problem for this interpretation is that the unfruitful branch never bore fruit, whereas a backslider once did.

This leaves a third possible interpretation, which is that the unfruitful branches depict professors who were never converted. How can they be said to be ‘in Christ’? Several answers could be given. As far as the original group of disciples is concerned, the example of Judas would be proof of how close a false professor can be to Jesus. A modern example of unconverted professors concerns those who attend the visible church; membership of the visible church by baptism can be described in a sense as being ‘in Christ’. Many receive great privileges, but do not use them aright. If they persist in this failure, they will be removed by the Father, ultimately when they die, although often the removal occurs in this life.

The parable depicts the close relationship that exists between Jesus and each of his disciples. These disciples possess the life of the Vine because they are attached to the Vine. This life is the Holy Spirit, which Jesus gives from himself to each of his people.

The strategy of the Father

Jesus says that the Father is the vinedresser. The vinedresser was usually the owner of the vine and would have planted it in a suitable location for water and other necessities needed for growth. The heavenly vinedresser has provided a perfect Vine, namely, his eternal Son. As vinedresser he will do two things. The first is that he will take away unfruitful branches and the second is that he will prune fruitful branches. We have already mentioned the first activity. Notice a few points concerning his second area of action.

First, he prunes the branches that are already bearing fruit. This means that a believer never gets to the stage where he has sufficient fruit. There will always be scope for more.

Second, the Father prunes the branch and not the fruit. I think this points to the fact that our entire personality affects the fruit we produce. We can look at the fruit in our lives and conclude that we need to improve. Our love may not be as abundant as it should, or our peace may ebb away at times. Therefore, we pray to God to help us in these areas. We are surprised sometimes at the way the Father works to deal with those defective areas.

In passing, I recall a story I heard of a man who visited a friend and confessed his need of patience and asked his friend to pray for him. He was very surprised when his friend began to ask God to send trouble. The man interrupted his friend, telling him that was not what he had asked him to pray about. In reply, his friend cited Romans 5:3-4, that tribulation produces patience.

Yet the point is that defects of growth in the branch affect the amount of fruit and the quality of the fruit. Just as a vinedresser would look at a branch and observe places where unhelpful growths had to be cut off, so the Father scans us and observes things that may be stopping the fruit from increasing.

In what ways does the Father do this? One obvious way is chastisement for our sins; we see an example of this in Psalm 32 where the psalmist experienced divine correction for his sin, and it was not a pleasant experience. But not all the Father’s dealings with his children are responses to sin; sometimes he takes preventative measures as he did with Paul when he sent him the thorn in the flesh to prevent him from becoming proud. The point I would stress is that the Father is constantly tending every branch of the vine in order for it to produce plenty fruit. It is a similar illustration to that of God as the potter or God as the metalworker (Mal. 3:3).

What happens when a branch has a lot of fruit? Does it grow upwards or downwards? I suspect the weight of fruit will cause it to hang downwards. No matter how high up the vine it is, no matter how long it is as a branch (its length would indicate how long it had been there), a healthy branch will hang downwards; in other words, a fruitful Christian is marked by humility.

The secret of abiding in Christ

As well as describing the work of the Father, Jesus also teaches his disciples what they have to do – they have to abide in him. Before we think about the abiding, we can notice two details that help to understand how we can abide in Christ.

The first is mentioned in verse 3 and is the aspect of sanctification that they had experienced when they were converted: ‘Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.’ Each believer experiences this cleansing at the first time he or she trusts in Jesus. This cleansing enables them to be regarded as saints, those who are washed from their sins. It enables them to be suitable for abiding in Jesus, the sinless Saviour. Of course, in addition there has to be ongoing cleansing from the defiling effects of sin.   

The second detail comes from the illustration of the vine and branches: it depicts the wonderful fact that believers possess life from Christ. This life is shared by all, is sufficient for all, is suitable for all, and is conveyed to each believer by the Spirit.

Jesus also mentions two crucial features of this abiding in him. The first is that it is essential in order for fruit to appear. He says that without him we can do nothing. The second is that this abiding is effective: all who abide in him will bear much fruit.

These details all point to the fact that abiding in Christ is very important. So what does abiding mean. The word picture indicates that the true home of believers is Jesus.

We know that we visit different places during a day: where we work, where we engage in social interaction, where we enjoy various pleasures. But we don’t have our homes there. Life in our homes equips us for visiting those other places, and our homes should be places of rest from the activities we do elsewhere. We also know that if there is tension at home we don’t enjoy or benefit from these other activities. Our home is crucial.

It is the same with regard to abiding in Christ. As believers we have to visit other places. Yet if there is spiritual tension in our home life with Jesus, we will discover that other activities don’t give any satisfaction to our spiritual desires or advantage to our spiritual growth.

What would be the cause of spiritual tension that would disrupt our abiding in Jesus? The answer is straightforward: sin. We cannot feel at home with Jesus if we are tolerating sin or refusing to confess sin. This is why confession of sin is so important for a Christian.

We are told that a crucial feature of a happy home is conversation. It is the same with regard to abiding in Christ. In addition to confession of sin, there will be communion with him about everything that concerns us (just as in a home the family members share their aims and anxieties); there will also be consecration to him as we go out to serve (just as members of a healthy family determine always to promote the family’s good).

Abiding in Jesus means to be at home with Jesus. It involves confession to Jesus, communion with Jesus, and consecration to Jesus.