INTRODUCTION 
Just after the last supper, Jesus and His disciples left the upper room to go down through the courts of the temple on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Using our imagination, He may have stopped as they were going though the temple and given His last message, which is recorded in John 15. Here Jesus identifies Himself as the True Vine, "I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Vine-dresser" (John 15:1).

The word "true" translated here is the Greek word 'alêthinê', which means 'transparent.' Jesus is saying that He cannot be imitated or duplicated. A cutting from a vine will not grow new roots. The only way to grow a grapevine is straight from seed. He’s one of a kind! In John 14:6, Jesus leaves no doubt to this claim: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus is very exclusive as a provider of salvation. He is the only one who can rescue us.

IT'S ALIVE!
In John 14, Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for the disciples in the Father’s house. This has most often been taken as referring to the Second Coming, or a part of a Christian's reward when he leaves this life. However, perhaps Jesus was suggesting that He was that house! He did say that the Father dwelt in Him, and He in the Father. In John 15, this example of unity shifts from an inorganic building ('mansion') to an organic analogy ('grapevine'), from a dead object to a living organism!

PRUNING
Jesus identifies His Father as the 'vine keeper' (lit. 'earth worker'). The Father cared for Jesus while He was on earth. Any farmer knows that great care is taken to prepare the soil, plow it, fertilize it, sow seed, weed it, and water it. The next act of caring is pruning, and it is the most important part in growing grapes. "Every branch in Me — if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (John 15:2). Branches not producing fruit are cut off.

When a vine’s main branch reaches a certain size, it is cut back by taking off the tip to force the development of side shoots. This halts the growth at the tip and sends nourishment into the new branches. Then, as these side branches develop, each produces as much fruit as the single vine had produced. There is exponential increase!

Our pruning can come in many ways. We may develop an illness or physical limitation. We may find that our expectations are not fulfilled; there is sorrow in relationships or we experience personal loss. Yet, what initially might seem to be a sad event can help us grow if it causes us to rely more on the Lord and to rethink our priorities. Such difficult experiences can make us more fruitful, more like our True Vine! Pruning in our lives is never a pleasant process, but true disciples understand that this has to happen in order to prepare them to fulfill Christ’s call on their lives. We must trust that an all-wise Father ('earth worker') is watching over our development and that He is nurturing us through His careful vine dressing.

A NEW VINE FOR A NEW TIME
As the lion is a national symbol of England, the eagle of the United States, and the bear of Russia, so a national symbol of Israel was the grapevine. God had planted Israel in the world as a farmer plants a vine, in expectation of much fruit. But God's hopes of His people were repeatedly disappointed. Isaiah describes God as a vine dresser who had done everything to produce a pure and fruitful harvest, but there was disappointment. "He looked for it to yield good grapes, but it yielded wild grapes" (Isa. 5:2). This wild vine needed to be pruned, or even replanted, so as to produce again. The vision was fulfilled in Jesus, and His statement in John 15 is His announces it!

When Israel rejected Jesus, He became the new True Vine. He left His legacy in His disciples by leaving His word in them, "Already you are cleansed — through the teaching which I have given you" (John 15:3). He left this world so that the Church could rise up to corporately fulfill the multiplying of much fruit and bring it to harvest!

HARVEST NOW!
The earth is now ripe for harvest! "Harvest earth’s vineyard. The grapes are bursting with ripeness" (Rev. 14:18b). Christianity is growing three times faster than the world's population! However, most of that growth is in Third World nations. Sadly, statistics tell us that only an average of 3% of any American congregation is actively involved in any form of outreach to their community. Other stats declare that 98% of church growth in America is transfer growth. There is only 2% of fresh life coming into the Body of Christ. If your physical body was only receiving 2% fresh blood, air and water, you would become sick and die within a short period.

God intends for His children to bear fruit, not just the Fruit of the Spirit of Galatians 5, but mainly fruit of souls. Just as the tip of a mature vine is pruned back so that side shoots are developed, once we are mature as Christians and able to reproduce spiritually, the Father is looking for the fruit that He expects us to present to Him.

Pursuit of our own spiritual growth at the expense of evangelism brings glory only to us, when much fruit of souls brings glory to the Father, and all our prayers are answered!

"If you continue in Me and My sayings stay in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified — by your bearing a lot of fruit and thus being true disciples of Mine" (John 15:7-8). The only thing we can take with us to the next world is precious souls. #