The True Identity of Jesus: I Am the True Vine

John 15:1-11

     We come to the end of our series on The True Identity of Jesus with a claim Jesus made about himself that seems to speak directly into what Jesus intends for his followers to be in the midst of a world as divided as our own – whether it comes out through terrorism in Spain or police officers being shot in Florida or the racism in Charlottesville. It’s the seventh and final time he said “I am” and this time what he said was “I am the true vine.” The setting of this final “I am” statement is very important. Jesus was on the eve of his death and he knew it.  He and his disciples had just left their last dinner together and apparently were on the way in Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus spent his last hours of freedom in prayer.  In route, they probably passed the Temple and saw the large ornate vine on the entrance there.   When that happened, Jesus was surely reminded of the Scriptures’ teaching about vines as he talked.

     You see, often Israel was called a vine in the Scriptures -- a vine planted and cared for by God Himself.  In Psalm 80:8, we read, “Lord, you brought a vine out of Egypt.  You planted and nurtured it.”  This kind of statement was said so often that by the time of Jesus, the vine had become a national symbol for Israel like the eagle is for us or the maple leaf is for Canada.  That’s why a vine was engraved on their coins and temple gate.

     With that in mind, think of walking along the street on that solemn evening and hearing Jesus say, “I am the true vine.” Jesus was saying, “Now, to be God’s people, to be in the family of God, you have to be in me.”  The family of God from now on will be determined not by bloodlines going back to Abraham but by “faith-lines” going to me.  When you believe in me, you will have a new identity, i.e., you will be a child of God.”

     After my message is over, a number of our people will be baptized in the name of Jesus.  They’ll be saying that Jesus is their lord and savior.  They’ve come to God by being connected to Jesus.  So, this final “I am” from Jesus is very important for them – and for us too.  So, let’s go to the passage’s end (v.11) as we begin:

The Goal: Why Jesus tells us he is the true vine – I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (15:11).

     If we take v.11 out of its context and say it into our world, we might think Jesus is promising that when we follow him, we will never have any problems and that our lives will be non-stop fun.

     But, let’s look at it within its context.  Jesus speaks of “my joy” being in you.  Jesus says this just after all the political and religious leaders have rejected him.  Just a few hours earlier, one of his close followers, Judas, had left the dinner to betray him.  In a few hours, others would keep falling asleep when he needed them to pray with him and then would deny him out of embarrassment.  And, of course, soon he would die – and he knew it.  Think about it: In the midst of all this, Jesus spoke of giving “my joy”, this kind of joy, to us.  Do you want it?

     Of course, you might think, “That was just his life.  It’s not what I might be called to if I follow him. He would die to take all that kind of painful stuff away from me.”  And, I believe, he sometimes does take difficulty away from us.  But, please note that in the verses immediately following today’s passage, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first (15:18).”  And, “If the world persecutes me, they will persecute you also (15:20).”

     “Augghh!!” you might cry out like Charlie Brown often did.  “What kind of joy is that?”

     What Jesus meant by “joy” is very different from what we usually mean by it – and it is better in every way.  He meant something very similar to what he promised in John 10:10 when he said, “I have come that you may have life to the full.”  That life is a life in which every part of your being is whole: Your relationship to God is genuine and growing.  Your relationships with people are filled with love and integrity.  Your inner emotional being is healthy and free from shame, guilt, anxiety and depression. 

     Jesus alone lived life this way.  His life alone was characterized by perfect shalom.  And, in John 15, this one whose life was marked by joy said that it was his great joy to lay down his life so that you might have joy.  You and I were made to have this kind of joy but we, as Isaiah 53 says, have wandered away from God and gotten into things that separate us from God – and wreck our lives.  On our own, we are not ready to meet a Holy God.  But, it was Jesus’ joy to lay down his life for our forgiveness – to die so that we might truly live. That’s what Jesus means when he says, I want “my joy to be in you and your joy to be complete.”

The Key:  How to be joy-filled, whole and productive -- Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine (15:4).

     Jesus makes the key to living as God made you to live so simple: “Remain in me.”  As those being baptized today will give testimony to, this life on the vine begins by repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus.  Jesus spoke of this in v.3 as “being made clean by the Word”. When you believe in Jesus, you are cleansed from your sins and brought into it a living connection with God – only through Jesus.

     Jesus goes on to tells us that the way to have this “filled-with-joy” is to remain intimately connected to him.  It’s that simple.  In this vine metaphor, Jesus says it is a life of bearing fruit.  Fruit means experiencing healthy growth in every part of your being -- and then bearing fruit through your witness and deeds.  It’s growing as Jesus grew in Luke 2:52, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people.”

     Let me show you a visual portrayal from the research done by Dr. Christine Osgood of Bethel University about how this relationship to Jesus as the center of your life might should affect everything else.

So, what should happen when you place your faith in Jesus is that all that is broken inside you should begin to find healing. All that is anxious within you should begin a path toward peace.  And, all that seems out of control should come under control as you submit all things to God.  Fruit is what happens in and through a life connected to Jesus. It involves moral living, emotionally health, bearing witness to salvation, caring about the needs of others, working for justice, etc.  It’s the way Jesus lived his life.

     The key to this happening is a close and intimate connection to Jesus.  Jesus used the word “remain” or “abide” 11 times in this passage.  He said, “You must be connected to me – every day you live and in every place to which you go.”  Note this please!  Jesus isn’t talking about true followers losing salvation when he says you must remain.  That’s an issue taken up in other places in the Bible.  He’s talking about how to tell the true believers from the fakes. Jesus’ point is this: If you are not growing in your love for God, if you’re not experiencing an ever-greater love for all people, and if you see no evidence of and growing desire for obedience to God, you aren’t connected to him.

     So, if you want to live a joy-filled, fruit-bearing life, every day get on your knees and tell Jesus you need Him.  You need him to guide you in your business, your school; you need Him to remain pure and to have good thoughts rather than bad.  You need Him to help you with your temper.  Nurture your relationship with Him.  The fruit of your life will shrivel the moment that relationship with Jesus becomes distant.

     And, for this sermon, my final point is this:  There is only one vine.  But, there are many branches.

One Huge Implication: When you are in the Vine, you become connected to many branches.  “I am the vine; you are the branches [plural] (15:5).”

     Of the many things I would like to say about this text, I think this one helps us see what Jesus intends for a church like ours to be in a world filled with the kinds of hatred and division as we’ve seen in our country and all around the world.  He calls us all to be branches connected to one another through our connection to the Vine, i.e., to himself.  When we’re connected to him, we become connected to one another.

      Notice that Jesus speaks specifically of branches in the plural.  A part of that is so that you will know that much of the nourishment of Christ comes through his people.  God teaches, blesses you and strengthens you through connection with his people in the church.  And you need that connection.  A baby gets its nourishment in the womb through the umbilical cord.  If it loses connection, it loses the ability to grow.  From the day you’re are conceived to the day you die, you need connection to others.  The main connection you need is to Jesus.  No branch can bear fruit apart from the vine.  But also, no leaf can survive apart from the branch.

     But, from the context of John 13-17, there is clearly something else Jesus is saying here about us being together as branches in the one Vine.  I want you to listen very carefully to me now.  We have been struggling for almost two weeks in our country with the reemergence of overt racism as it erupted in Charlottesville, VA.  Let me tell you that the overt racism was just the public appearance of a racism that people often try to hide.  It seems to run deep in the hearts of fallen people.  I have seen it everywhere I have ever gone.  I saw it when I lived in Japan toward people from Korea and I saw it in Korea toward people from Ghana.  I saw it in Germany toward people from Turkey and I’m sure I’d see it in Turkey toward someone if I lived there long enough.  I saw it as a boy growing up Appalachia and I saw it when I moved to Chicago.  And, it’s here in Southern CA too.  It’s here because what I’m talking about is a Genesis 3 reality.  It’s our human anthropology.  In our fallen state, people made in God’s image do not treat others made in God image in the way the Maker commands us to do so, i.e., to love them as we love ourselves.

      But, from John 13-17, Jesus calls us to a different way.  In Chapter 13, Jesus said he had to leave to deal with the sin that was keeping people from life with God.  But, he leaves us with one another and commands us to love one another.  He said, “This is how this broken world will know you are my followers –when you have love for one another (13:34-35).”  Then, in chapter 17, Jesus prays for all those he knows will believe in him after his death and resurrection.   He sees people from every tribe, language and nation living in communities like ours all over this fractured world and he prays “that all of them may be one…  May they be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them… (17:21,23).”  If the world doesn’t see our love for all races in the midst of this racially divided world, how can they truly believe that all this is real – that God loves all people?  They must see it in us and how we work through the problems and misunderstandings.

     John 15 stands right in the middle of those two great messages from Jesus.  It’s saying that we must remain connected to Jesus and to his people. When we do, we will grow into unity and we will commit to loving one another no matter what happens in the world.  And, this broken world will see it in us and believe.  That is Jesus’ vision for us.  It is my vision for us.  I believe that this time of emerging overt racism – this time against people of color as well as anti-Semitism -- is a great opportunity for us as a church like this one is to give witness to the truth of Jesus.

     Do not be surprised when you see evil like racism all over the world.  Jesus saw it and came to heal the divisions and to rescue us from it.  When you see it, stand with those who are treated or spoken against unjustly as you have opportunity.  Speak out against it as God gives you wisdom and voice.  But most of all, refuse to disconnect either from Jesus or from the local branch into which he’s situated you.  With the presence of power of God’s Spirit and the humility we all have because we know Jesus had to die for us – a church like ours is the place where we can work through disagreements and misunderstandings because we love Jesus and have heard him commanding us to love one another and to live in unity.  Don’t work out your worldview only from CNN, Fox News or any online website.  Work it out together within your family of God’s people.  Let’s share our perspectives openly – and work through them toward unity – together.  And let’s listen to one another with respect.  When you disagree with what you hear, say so.  Do so truthfully but humbly.  And, listen with “intellectual hospitality” when others disagree with you.  And stay connected.

     In the early church, the Roman Centurion didn’t want to be in a branch with a synagogue leader.  A Pharisee didn’t want to be in a branch with a prostitute. A wealthy business woman would surely have struggled being in a branch with a tax collector.  I could go on and on about the kinds of people Jesus has brought into branches and placed together in relationship to one another and to him.  So, stay connected to Jesus – and to us.

     Jesus said, “I am the true vine.  You are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit (15:5).”

     And now, we will celebrate with some who are making it known publicly that they are joining us in this branch as a part of the Vine.  Make yourself ready now to experience the joy of baptism.

Thoughts on Baptism

    I believe that baptism helps us in another big issue that is dividing many in our nation, i.e., the place of monuments.  There is a big difference between a monument and an artifact, as a man named Allan Bevere has written about.  A monument is erected to celebrate and express ongoing affirmation of what that monument depicts.  Artifacts remind us of the values that many who went before us embraced.  When a community places a monument in public, it is a declaration of what the people who put it there valued is what we still value. An artifact often is found in a museum reminding us of something that we no longer want to be a part of our lives. 

     Several years ago, I visited the Genocide Museum in Cambodia where many statues and articles of the awful genocide have been placed.  At the entrance were these words, “Placed here so that this may never happen again.”

     I’m afraid that the confederate statues in places like Charlottesville are monuments celebrating a past that some people want again.  I do not think they should be destroyed as we see the Taliban and Isis doing to works of art in countries where they are located. I believe they should be placed in a museum with the words, “Never again.”

   Baptism is profound.  It points back to our old way of life and says, “Never again.”  The old is gone.  I have died with Christ.”  And then it points forward to the fact that the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave his life for me.