The True Vine

John 15:1-2

            “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Analogy is best described as a comparison between two things that are similar in some respects, and often used to help explain something or make it easier to understand.  Jesus the Creator is referring to Himself as the “true vine” and God the Father as the vinedresser, it is an analogy to help us understand some very deep truths, and at the same time a very basic truth. 

In this analogy God the Father is the one who cultivates and prunes the vines, and Jesus is the “true vine” which implies that there are also false vines.  So what would a false vine look like?  God knew we would need to know that, so He has given us many examples in both the New and Old Testaments of the bad, or false vine.  It seems to this writer that the vine is blessed by God and is planted in good soil, but at some stage of its growth, its branches begin to believe in self and not in the vine.  The people chosen by God are often the example, such as Psalm 80:8-13.  The “You” is referring to God; “You brought a vine out of Egypt; “you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.”  If you need a little more information look at what the prophet Hosea has to say: “Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. For now they will say: “We have no king, for we do not fear the LORD; and a king—what could he do for us?” (Hosea 10:1-3 ESV)

It is important to understand the vine, or in this case Israel, became full of self, and chose to live independent of God, and churches and leaders of churches can do the same thing.  Never forget that the “Vine” Jesus Christ is calling His church to abide in the “Vine” and when we the branches do so, we bear fruit that will last.

If you have been blessed to live in the United States or any country with the freedom to go and come, to do whatever is within the law of the land, and the ability to worship, God has blessed you.  But has Hosea 10:1-3, also told our story as a nation, have we not become more like Sodom and Gomorra and are we like the Israel of Hosea’s time, with no fear of the Lord?  The question must be ask, has the Vinedresser began to break off the branches, and if you see evidence that He has, what are you doing about it?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice