to

Chapel

Series Theme: 

"Living and Enjoying
the Fruit of the Spirit"

Day 1

"The Vine and the Branches"

Background Reading:  John 15:1-17

Day Verse

"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman.  Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."  John 15: 1,2

Can you close your eyes and picture the Lord Jesus and His disciples as they left the upper room where they had just celebrated the Savior's last Passover supper, and were walking toward the temple?  It was Jesus' last night with His disciples.  Can you imagine the great burden of the Savior as He was seeking to teach His little band the vital lesson of their oneness with Him?  How did He successfully implant in their hearts and minds this lasting truth that they would need to know in days to come?

The Lord Jesus likened Himself to a vine and His disciples to branches.

Why didn't Jesus compare Himself to a tree?  Branches of most trees can be broken off without much difficulty but branches of a vine are more firmly joined with the main stalk.  Did you ever try to break off a branch from the main stalk of a vine?  If you have, you know that the fibers of the branch go deeply into the stalk itself and are difficult if not almost impossible to break off.

How better could the Lord Jesus have brought home the truth of the oneness between Him and His followers!  They well knew that the same vital juice or sap which flows in a vine flows in its branches.

 You can see that from the direction of these arrows on this vine.  The roots of the vine not only anchor the plant in the soil, but also reach out for, and absorb life-giving minerals and moisture from it.  That liquid, called sap, travels from the roots up through the vine to the branches and leaves.  what force cause the sap to rise in the vine?  It is the evaporation of water from the leaves which exerts a strong pull "from above.

Isn't this an interesting comparison?  The Christian, too feels a strong pull "from above."  First of all, she is "born again" which means to be "born from above" (John 3:3).  Also, she is kept by the prayers (intercession) of the Lord Jesus "from above" where our risen Savior is now seated at the right hand of God the Father (Romans 8:34).

Christ was trying to teach His disciples on their last memorable night together, that because He was the Life of their hearts, minds, and wills, He could love through their hearts and will through their wills.  He could make them new creatures whose sin-loving likes and desires would change so that they would set their affections on things "from above" (Col. 3:2).  Then they would enjoy what Christ Himself enjoyed, and shun what was hateful to Him.

In addition to driving home this wonderful fact of oneness with Him, the Lord Jesus also taught His disciples the lesson of their absolute dependence on Him.  "  Apart from Me," He told them, "you can do nothing."  Just as a branch cannot bear fruit if it does not abide in the vine, so neither can you if you do not continue in Me" (John 15:4, 5).  These facts of oneness in Christ and absolute dependence on Him are beautifully and simply expressed in this poem:

"Thou art the VINE,
And I, O Jesus, am a branch of Thine;
And day by day from THEE
New life flows unto me.
Naught have I of my own,
But all my strength is drawn from Thee alone.

As severed from the tree, the branch must die,
So even I
Could never live this life of mine
Apart from Thee, O living VINE,
But Thou dost dwell in me,
And I in Thee!
Yea, Thine own life through me doth flow,
And in Thyself I live and grow."
--E. H. Divall

To continue this "Fruit of the Spirit" series
and the second part of
"The Vine and the Branches", click on NEXT below!

BACK   NEXT