John 15:1-8 Glorifying the Father WC McCarter
Introduction
Have you ever had a moment in your life when you were
completely dependent on someone else or some thing else? In that moment or
season, something outside of you controlled everything. Now, maybe that was a
frightening moment for you. But it illustrates the way that you are to live
every day as a Christian. You are to live everyday trusting someone outside of
you. You are completely dependent on another, what He can do.
I often find myself in the midst of something I know nothing
about. Throughout life I am dependent on others. For example, I have learned
how to do a lot of things, but I know very little about plumbing. Honestly, it
is one of the things that I have not really wanted to learn. If something goes
on with the plumbing at our house in Lenoir or at the parsonage, I am
completely dependent on someone else to come and fix it. Another example would
be car problems. I know a few things about cars. I can do a lot of the minor
things, but I do not have the resources or knowledge to fix major problems. I
do not have the tools. I do not have the shop. I would be completely dependent
on someone else’s know-how and resources.
These are simple illustrations about being dependent upon
others; but in John 15, Jesus gives us one of the greatest pictures to explain
our dependence on Him. The passage we will read is a metaphor given by Jesus to
explain our utter reliance upon Him.
READ Scripture- This
is the Word of God
I Am the True Vine
(1-4)
The Bible uses the metaphor of a vine and vineyard on
several of occasions. Jesus uses this imagery numerous times. In every case,
the metaphor is used to illustrate Israel
This is the last of seven “I AM” statements in the Gospel of
John. Both the Father and the Son play important roles in this metaphor. Jesus
is the Vine and the Father is the Vinedresser. In the Old Testament, Israel Israel Israel
As the Vinedresser, the Father prunes the branches and He
must also remove the bare branches. Notice that the Vinedresser does not prune
the Vine, but the branches. Pruning is done to all of the branches. Even if a
branch is bearing fruit, the Vinedresser prunes it in order to gain more fruit
from that branch. The Vinedresser also cuts off the dead wood. The two are
distinguished from one another, the fruit-bearing branches and the dead
branches.
The disciples were already “clean” in the sense that they
were already connected to Christ by His word spoken to them. What they are
required to do is stay in that word, abide in Him. A branch cannot live without
being joined to the vine. Christians cannot live without being joined to the
Vine. What flows through Him is life, and it must flow through us. How do you
remain in Christ? You remain in Him by hearing His word, believing His word,
and obeying His word. By “word” I do not mean only the red words in your
red-letter Bibles. All of Scripture is God-breathed and uniquely inspired by
the Spirit of Christ. You must hear it all, believe it all, and obey it all. It
is not just Jesus’ words, but all of the words about Jesus. To abide in His word
is to abide in who He is and what He has done as recorded in holy Scripture.
You are the Branches
(5-8)
Verses 5-8 repeat what Jesus has just said with only a few
differences in His explanation of this abiding. Here he says that we are to
abide in Him, and He will abide in us. How does that work? As the nutrient flow
goes in and out of a vine and its branches, the life that is in Christ will
flow in and out of each one of us giving us what we need to live and produce
good fruit.
“Abiding in Christ” speaks of the union between a believer
and Christ. This union was initiated by Him and completed by Him. Jesus taught
on another occasion that, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad
tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree
bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire” (Matt 7) and yet again, “Either make the tree good and
its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is
known by its fruit” (Matt 12). As the Vine, Jesus will produce fruit through
the branches, and He will produce good fruit. This is inevitable. We cannot
point to one thing that Jesus refers to when He talks about fruit. The fruit He
refers to is all of the things that come from a life of obedience to Him.
Therefore, those who abide in Him will bear much fruit, and
branches that do not produce fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire.
Branches that do not produce the desired fruit are good for nothing but to be
cut off. Branches that have been cut off are good for nothing but to be piled
into a heap and burned. Dried out wood is the best for building a fire. Many of
you burn firewood during the winter. “Green” wood is not much good for a fire,
but “seasoned” wood burns easily. Of course, “fire” in the Bible most usually
refers to judgment.
When you are abiding in Christ and His words are abiding in
you, your prayer life will be completely in tune with the will of God. Your
prayer life will be most fruitful. I became convinced years ago that we should
be praying what the Scripture says. We find God’s will in the Bible and when we
pray the prayers and promises of the Bible, He will answer us. This brings
glory to God. When we are in tune with God, we are obedient, we pray for godly
things, and He answers our prayers in blessed and even miraculous ways, He
receives glory.
Conclusion and
Christian Application
(1) The cause of Christ goes forth regardless. God is not
dependent on us. We are dependent on Him.
(2) God is the
potential of prayer. Fruitfulness is tied to prayer.