Abiding Fruit
Abiding In Christ
John 5:38
But you are not listening to him, for you refuse
to believe me—the one sent to you with God’s message.
TLB
What is this abiding in Christ? Jesus gave us the example in the picture of the vine and the branches.
Consider how He explains it.
John 15:1
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Jesus is the vine and God the Father is the keeper of the vine. It is important to remember that the vine is the strong bottom stock of the plant, not the many green-leafed shots that float off of the vine around the grape harbor trellis. These shots are the branches of the analogy. Jesus is the root of the plant, its rock.
We are the branches.
God the Father tends the branches to help the root be productive and achieve its purpose.
Two side trips may help you to understand the analogy better.
First, in the Old Testament Israel is likened to the vine and branch. Israel was to be God's light to the Gentile world, that is to all of the world that was not Jewish. The nation failed miserably at this purpose.
Isaiah 5:1-7
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved 1 A song of my
Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very
fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted
it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made
a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good
grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 3 "And now, O inhabitants of
Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in
it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good
grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell
you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it
shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled
down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there
shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they
rain no rain on it." 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is
the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked
for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a
cry for help.
God has now replaced the imperfect vine of Israel with the perfect vine of Jesus.
This points to the second issue, the name or description Jesus applies to Himself. Jesus not only is the true vine, He is the true vine because He is God. Jesus applies the eternal name "I AM" to Himself, telling His Apostles that He can sustain them as the vine because He is God.
