By way of context for this article (and the next several), John 15 is part of a series of chapters that take place the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. Starting back in John 13, Jesus has washed His disciples’ feet at what we call the Last Supper, and He prophesied His betrayal. Judas leaves the meal to get ready for his betrayal of Jesus later that night.
Because of this, it has been pointed out that Judas Iscariot missed hearing Jesus saying many important messages recorded over the chapters following his departure in John 13:30. That is a sobering and sad thought.
In that context, though, do you know anyone who is lost or hopeless because they “left early”? Whether they left the church because of rebellion or a bad experience with “church people”, they aren’t staying away because they don’t need Jesus. Perhaps they just need to hear more of what He said and learn the truth about His love for them. It is not too late for so many people in this situation, and perhaps they just need to hear the rest of the message – the one that they walked out before it was shared in its entirety.
Returning to John 15, Jesus is setting up an illustration. Like much of His teaching and parables, this is one that His audience would recognize.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
John 15:1 NIV
As the Lookout (a study guide cited below) points out, the last verse of chapter 14 suggests that the group’s time in the upper room may have just wrapped up, and perhaps they saw something on the way to Gethsemane that triggered the analogy that followed.
I’m not sure if you know anyone who grows grapes (or anything else that grows on vines). My parents had a few grapevines in the back of their yard, and a good friend of my wife’s who used to live in town grew them, too. Some plants – like corn or wheat – are pretty straightforward: you plant them, they grow, and you gather the harvest from them (at least, that’s how it works when things go well). Then, the plants die off over the winter, so they must be replanted the next season to repeat the process.
Plants like grapes, though, are a little more complicated: the same plants continue to grow and produce fruit year after year. However, those who care for vineyards don’t just let them sprawl out of control. Yes, wild grapes still produce fruit, but when cultivating grapevines, there is a lot of attention paid to producing the best fruit.
One of the key methods to get good fruit from a grapevine (as well as certain other plants and fruit trees) is to help the plant focus its limited energy into making the best fruit. This means that not every offshoot, bud, twig, or stem gets to do their own thing, pulling from the nutrients and energy of the plant. Those that are doing well can remain, but anything that is not producing good results gets pinched, cut, or hacked off of the plant, so that it doesn’t take away from the limited resources that are available through the base.
This means that the person cultivating a grapevine will not only take care of the successful branches (like tying them up where they can get the best sun, for instance), but must also aggressively remove all of the “suckers” who eat away at the plant’s juices that could be making better fruit elsewhere.
So, Jesus is describing Himself as a vine – the base, foundation, and source – while His Father (i.e., God the Father) is the one who is taking care of the vine: the “gardener” (NIV) or “vinedresser” (NASB).
Let’s see what that looks like in the next article, but you’re always welcome to read ahead in this chapter of the Bible.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for January 28, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, January 28, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – John, by Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause. © 1998 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 