Q4, S02 The Vine

Quarter 4, Session 2: The Vine

WILL YOU REMAIN CONNECTED TO ME?

Passage

John 15:1–17

Concept

This session falls under Jesus’ tenth question: Will you remain? As Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure, he tells them that just as a branch must remain connected to the vine if it is going to remain alive and bear fruit, so they must remain connected to him.

Key Question

Instead of commanding us to go and bear fruit, Jesus commands us to remain connected to him. What does that look like, and why does Jesus prioritize it in this way?

The Plant Tool

Do you see our Plant tool being played out in John 15:1–17? With whom? How so?

The Vine

Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? Do you remember what it’s like? Even if you have never experienced it directly, it’s easy enough to imagine. You don’t get to talk to the other person as much as you want to. You don’t get to see them very often. You can’t shake your certainty that things would be so much better if you could just be together, in person. Communication is difficult, infrequent, and frustrating to arrange. There are also unique fears and insecurities that arise when there is distance between you.

In this passage, Jesus basically prepares his disciples for a long-distance relationship. It is vital that his disciples remain connected to him, even after he leaves to return to the Father. But it’s going to look different. So in this passage, Jesus is explaining what it’s going to look like to stay connected to him when he’s gone. He recognizes that this will be difficult. We can all attest to that. It’s hard to follow Jesus when he’s not physically standing next to us. But Jesus insists that this is going to be the most important thing for us to pursue. We must stay connected to him. Just like a long-distance relationship, it requires hard work, patience, and focus on the time when we will be reunited. But if we truly love him, we will fight to remain connected.

1.     Read John 15:1–17. Right off the bat, what strikes you about this passage? What do you find interesting or challenging or confusing?

The True Vine

When Jesus began teaching in Israel, Israel had been God’s people for thousands of years. God had tasked them with a mission of being a light to the nations. Because of this, the Israelites would have been shocked to hear Jesus say that they were dead, or at least dying. He called them back to new life, but it wasn’t in the way most of them would have expected. Israel had for a long time been referred to as a vine or a vineyard (e.g. Isaiah 5), but the vine was now withering. In John 15, Jesus makes clear that he is the true vine. The sufficient vine. He is the source of life and health and nourishment to his people.

Identifying the true vine ensures that we will look to the right source for life. We sometimes get confused about how the flow works. The life flows through the vine, into the branches, and ultimately reveals itself as fruit. Israel had been looking to their own identity and laws for life. In the church, we can function in the same way. If we’re not careful, we will begin to think that the life comes from the way we gather or the things we do. We often get caught up with programs and services and missions trips. These are all great things, but we can’t be confused about what’s going on. Those things are fruit. They are not the source of life that brings fruit. If we continually go back to these programs trying to find life through these things, then we are looking for life in the wrong source, and we will eventually dry up.

We often act as though “fruit” is the goal. But we have to be clear: we’re not pursuing Bible studies or church services or service projects or kind acts as though they are the goal of what we’re doing. Fruit is the natural byproduct of a healthy vine feeding healthy branches. The fruit of the kingdom only happens because of the presence of Jesus. The goal is not the fruit. It’s not the thing Jesus tells his disciples to pursue here. The goal is the connection to Jesus. That’s his command in this passage: abide, remain, stay connected to me. The fruit is a byproduct.

So as Jesus prepares his followers for his departure, he’s saying that we have to find ways to be nourished by him. Jesus will always be here for us, but we have to make sure we stick with him and stay connected to him. 

2.     Jesus’ instruction here is not to go and bear fruit, but rather to remain connected to him. Why do you think that’s the priority rather than pursuing fruit?

3.     Do you see in yourself a tendency to pursue fruit as its own end? (E.g., trying to be good, working hard to serve more, to be more patient…) If so, why do you think you have this tendency?

4.     Have you experienced a time when the life of Jesus flowed through you into good fruit even though you weren’t trying to produce good fruit? What was that like?

Pruning

Moving forward with the image of the vine, Jesus explains that the Father is the vinedresser. When he finds a branch that’s dead, he cuts it off. When he finds a branch that isn’t producing the way it should, he prunes it. When we consider the fact that we are the branches in this analogy, this concept gets a little scary. But the point is important. If there’s a branch that looks like it’s part of the plant but actually has no life flowing into it, there’s no point in pretending: if there’s no life, it needs to go. But notice that even the healthy branches need to be pruned. Even when a branch has life flowing through it, there are offshoots that need to be cut off so the branch can stay healthy.

This can be a bit scary as well. The implication is that there are good and normal parts of your life that may need to be pruned. There may be things that are “perfectly fine” or that you may even consider to be healthy, and yet some of those things may need to be pruned.

But here is a vital point: notice that it’s not the branch that prunes itself, it’s the vinedresser. In our metaphor, it’s the Father who approaches us as branches and begins to prune things away. We’re not the ones who decide what should stay and what should go. Again, we’re not commanded to prune. We’re only commanded to abide. So we watch in faith as the Father begins to prune away things that we may feel are healthy and important in our lives. And it’s painful. But it’s essential to the health of the vine and branches. It’s vital to the growth of the branch and to the flow of life from the vine into the fruit it produces.

5.     Do you see the Father pruning anything in your life right now? What does this feel like?

6.     What health have you experienced in your life due to the Father’s pruning (either recently or in the past)?

Abide in My Love

Jesus tells us to abide in him, and then in verse 9 he shifts it to says, “Abide in my love.” We can get so eager to go out and do things. To accomplish things. But Jesus tells us that it has to start with abiding. It’s about resting in him. Soaking in his love. He doesn’t want us to obey because we feel like that’s what a disciple should do. He wants us to obey because we’re in love with him. If we are first in love with him, then our obedience will mean abiding in his love. Too often we turn that around, and we’re actually obeying because we’re abiding in fear. Unless we abide in him, we will not find true life.

Even though we’ve been clear that Jesus is commanding connection and abiding rather than pursuing fruit, the passage mentions fruit several times. That’s because the life we find in Jesus inevitably flows out of us. That’s what staying connected to Jesus does. Fruit and obedience stem from abiding in his love, being nourished by him. After telling his disciples to abide in his love (v. 9), he commands them to love others (v. 12). And the order is important. As we soak in his love, we will see it flow out to the people around us. Our love for other people stems from our love for Jesus.

7.     What channels are open in your life right now to help you abide in Jesus’ love? How are you taking advantage of these?

8.     Spend some time in prayer. Thank God for the life he offers. Take some time to simply enjoy being in his presence and to soak in his love and life.

Key Question

Instead of commanding us to go and bear fruit, Jesus commands us to remain connected to him. What does that look like, and why does Jesus prioritize it in this way?