Jesus, The True Vine

John 15:1-17
Key verse 5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Read verses 1-3. Why does Jesus declare himself as the true vine? (1a) Who is the gardener? (1b) Describe the two kinds of branches (2). What does he do to make them more fruitful? (2) How can we be clean (3)?

Read verses 4-8. How many times is the word “remain” repeated? Why is it essential to remain in the vine? (4b-6, Col 2:6,7) How can we remain in Jesus, the vine? (Jn 6:56) What does Jesus promise? (7) What is the purpose of bearing fruit? (8)

Read verses 9-11. How much has Jesus loved us? (9, Ro 5:8) How ought we, therefore, to remain in Jesus’ love? (9,10a) What is Jesus’ example (10b)? What is the consequence of remaining in Jesus’ love and obeying his commands? (11)

Read verses 12-17. What is Jesus’ command (12, 17)? How ought we to love each other(13)? What is the result of obeying of this command? (14, 15)? Why is it important to know that Jesus chose us? (16,17) What fruit does Jesus want us to bear?

Jesus, The True Vine

John 15:1-17
Key verse 5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

(Introduction)
Jesus wants to teach his disciples and he emphasizes “remain in me”. He teaches us that he is our true vine, and we have been chosen to be his fruitful branches.

May the Lord help us to have insight to see through the precious relationship between Jesus, our true vine and us and to pick up desire to be more fruitful.



1. Read verses 1-3. Why does Jesus declare himself as the true vine? (1a) Who is the gardener? (1b) Describe the two kinds of branches (2). What does he do to make them more fruitful?(2) How can we be clean (3)?

*Read verses 1-3.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

*Why does Jesus declare himself as the true vine? (1a)
Answer)
In the Old Testament (Isa 5:1-2), Israel is portrayed as the vineyard of God.

"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit."

God planted his chosen people as choice vines that would overflow with good fruit. The good fruit God sought was obedient holy people by maintaining righteous relationship with God.

However they did not produce such good fruit. But God did not give up. God sent his son Jesus Christ as the true vine and help us to bear good fruit again.

Why did the author of this passage, Jesus choose a vine tree rather than california orange tree or apple tree?

I want to give the credit to this tree in that the first fruit bearing time is exactly the third year just as Jesus endeavored himself to bring up his 12 disciples so far to bring them up as qualified branches to bear fruit for God’s glory. Time is imminent for them to hear fruit despite sorrow and anxiety behind the scene!!

Jesus compares himself to the trunk and the root of a vine by saying, “I am”. Basically Jesus is the creator and be with God from the beginning based on Genesis and John.

John 1:3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. he was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

As the true vine, Jesus is the source of each person’s life. It is very important to know where our life comes from. People are always seeking to know what the root of our life lies.

Jesus Christ is the true root and vine of all people. We are all branches of the true vine, Jesus.

*Who is the gardener? (1b)
answer) the heavenly Father  
It would be Jesus Christ himself because he was the creator and the direct stakeholder with His Father.

*Describe the two kinds of branches(2).
answer)the branch that does not bear fruit, the other that does bear fruit



*What does he do to make them more fruitful?(2)
answer) Cutting and pruning(clean)
“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

The Father is working to carry out his sovereign will of producing good fruit from our lives.

God the Father does his work in two aspects, cutting and pruning (or cleaning).

First, cutting. Anyone who comes into a relationship with Jesus Christ receives God’s one-sided grace continually. He is a new creation (2 Co 5:17). What a blessing!

We can’t imagine that God would ever cut off such a person, and God’s word promises that he won’t. It is God’s one-sided grace that works continually, even invisibly to human eyes.

But there is also the truth of cutting. One who does not bear the fruit of God’s grace really doesn’t belong in Jesus, the vine. It’s really strange for someone in Christ Jesus to not be affected by his relationship with Jesus.

Pruning is very similar to cutting – in fact, it is cutting. But pruning is different a bit. Someone in Jesus who is pruned becomes fruitful. The footnote says that it  means “cleans”.

Everyone is a sinner who can not bear fruit. But thank God who begins to work. God works to clean us to the point to almost be stripped bare.(People who know gardening can testify that pruning looks severe. Or we can to visit Temelula to observe it.)

Yet the pruning of a wise gardener is always beneficial. It is God’s divine wisdom.

In reality there are things in our lives we are quite attached to. It’s not easy to give them up. But  when we belong to Jesus, we are at the same time blessed to have a most wise and loving gardener.

He knows exactly what we need, and what we don’t need in our lives. God is willing to do the hard work of pruning away the things we really don’t need. On our part we can meditate on His living words one by one.
Through them, we are going through conviction and pick up desire to repent. At first we mourn and take  our loss. Then something begins to happen.

We long for God, and deeply sense our need for his grace. Lo and behold! at last a pruned branch begins to draw more nourishing sap from the tree efficiently.

When we bear the painful pruning of useless things in our lives, we realize how much we need Jesus instead of these things, and rely on our true vine more than ever for our life.

Sometimes our difficult times or suffering are chances to come near to Jesus, and his word in the Bible became their life source.

In short the times of pruning are times of God’s spiritual love and best blessing.

*How can we be clean(3)?
Answer) the word of Jesus
In verse 3. “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

It is the word of God, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes us clean, not our own righteous way or brilliant way.

This is why Studying the Bible as our primary(first and foremost) duty regardless of any ministry. May we share or teach Jesus’ word to many young disciple candidates in this generation, that they may be clean and bear fruit for God.


2. Read verses 4-8. How many times is the word “remain” repeated? Why is it essential to remain in the vine? (4b-6, Col 2:6,7) How can we remain in Jesus, the vine? (Jn 6:56) What does Jesus promise? (7) What is the purpose of bearing fruit? (8)


*Read verses 4-8.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

*How many times is the word “remain” repeated?
11 times
remain in me - five times

*Why is it essential to remain in the vine? (4b-6, Col 2:6,7)
answer)
It is because there is no other way in order to produce fruit.
After we accepted Jesus as the Lord(King, Master, or Messiah), it is not merely one time transaction but continue to live in him and rooted, and built up in him according Col. 2:6,7.

After 3 years of intensive personal love and care from Jesus, they were about to be physically separated by Jesus’ suffering and death. It was shocking to them. They would feel lost. They would find themselves drawn back into the world of just surviving each day. So Jesus tells them in advance what they must do.

What exactly does Jesus mean by “remain”?

Are we to simply cling to our identity as Christians in a dying world? If we look at other versions, it meant “abide in me” or “live in me”.

In other words, we aren’t merely attached to Jesus – we are inseparably a living part of him. It’s our vital relationship with Jesus.

Jesus appeals to each of us by saying, “Can a branch live on its own?”

No, it must remain in the vine. We must remain in the grace of Jesus. We must remain in the love of Jesus. Most importantly we must remain in the word(gospel) of Jesus Christ.

There is one prerequisite to being his branches. We must remain living and growing in him. This also implies that he remains living in us.

*How can we remain in Jesus, the vine?(Jn 6:56)
Answer)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” The subject is Jesus, “I am”.

So the way to be a fruitful life is not found in this world, but in Jesus. So the best way to make a difference is to deeply know Jesus in person .

John 6:56, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”
- this verse shows that we are able to remain in Jesus by eating his flesh and his drink.
It is not based on out ceremonial ritual but intimate fellowship an relationship.

Verse 6 also talks about the same, even though we may do our best on our own in our lifetime, Without knowing Jesus, we can only wither and die.

Ex)Paul worked very hard to know Jesus more and more. He did this to the point of being chained in a Roman prison.

He wrote in Philippians 3:10-11: “I want to know  Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

This is how Paul was changed from a persecutor of the church into a fruitful man.


*What does Jesus promise?(7)

In verses 7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”

A vital relationship with Jesus the vine comes when we struggle to live according to Jesus’ teachings in the Bible through prayer. We must rely on Jesus our vine for all our needs, trusting him 100 percent.

Also whenever we cry out for his grace again in prayer, he always answers. Jesus urges us to ask him whatever we wish. Anyone who wants to live a fruitful life should ask God to
help him obey one word of God. We must ask God’s help without ceasing.

*What is the purpose of bearing fruit? (8)
answer)
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” For the glory of God, not our own selfish end!


3. Read verses 9-11. How much has Jesus loved us? (9, Ro 5:8) How ought we, therefore, to remain in Jesus’ love? (9,10a) What is Jesus’ example (10b)? What is the consequence of remaining in Jesus’ love and obeying his commands? (11)

*Read verses 9-11.
   9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

*How much has Jesus loved us? (9, Ro 5:8)
answer)
In verse 9. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” This deeply poetic picture was given so that we may see our relationship of love with God through Jesus. Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this; while we are still sinners, Christ died for us.”

**How ought we, therefore, to remain in Jesus’ love? (9,10a)
answer)
Love is inseparably intertwined with obedience. In verse 10. “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

*What is Jesus’ example(10b)?
answer)
God sent Jesus on a mission in this world. When you think of the nature of the command of God from the beginning, it was not beneficial or merited to Jesus himself at all due to hard suffering and self denial.

Jesus had to give up his position as the prince of heavenly kingdom. He had to be born in manger. He had to suffer endlessly with sinful human beings. God commanded His son to be outcast, showing only love to his enemies, and being constantly misunderstood, pouring out his life to serve those who could never repay him.

Then God asked his Son to lay down his life, to be arrested, tried, convicted and crucified, for those people who misunderstood him.

But above all Jesus himself knew personally this as his Father’s deep down love. Jesus maintained his love relationship with God by obeying his Father. Jesus remained in the Father’s love to the very end, nailed on the cross.

As the Father loved his Son Jesus, so Jesus loved his disciples and us. To remain in Jesus’ love, we need to obey him. Clearly, remaining in Jesus’ love is to yield my will to Jesus’ will, just as Jesus to his Father’s.

*What is the consequence of remaining in Jesus’ love and obeying his commands? (11)
answer)
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Jesus will give us his complete joy.

Complete joy is not joy that our emotions Jesus will give us his complete joy. Complete joy is not joy that our emotions give. It is joy that Jesus gives.

4. Read verses 12-17. What is Jesus’ command (12, 17)? How ought we to love each other (13)? What is the result of obeying of this command? (14, 15)? Why is it important to know that Jesus chose us? (16,17) What fruit does Jesus want us to bear?

*Read verses 12-17.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.


* What is Jesus’ command(12, 17)?
answer)
In verse 12. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Jesus taught it over and over during his precious last moments with the disciples. It is because literally it was the summary of all Jesus’ commands.

*How ought we to love each other(13)?
answer)
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Perhaps nothing is more beautiful than this. We are moved by his self- sacrificial love.

But it was from the divine love of God for sinners

*What is the result of obeying of this command?(14, 15)?
answer)
Jesus has made us his friends, though we have not even been worthy to be servants.

In verses 14-15, “You are my friends, if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

Friendship with Jesus is a profound privilege that comes with responsibility. We have become stakeholders in God’s work of saving mankind from sin into his kingdom.


*Why is it important to know that Jesus chose us? (16,17)
answer)
In verse 16. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”

Jesus called us to his purpose. During our lives we will go out into this world and establish relationships with those Jesus longs to reach. As we go out, we will bear Christ to them.

Jesus’ purpose for us(His calling) has eternal significance. In other words, our mission is far greater than our own lives. It is quite different view point to our temporary lives.  

*What fruit does Jesus want us to bear?
answer)
It’s fruit lasts into eternal life. May all my short-sighted, small vision be pruned away. Jesus chose me not to struggle to figure out what my mission is, but so that I may go and bear fruit for him.

Fruit is that which God desires and wills to produce in each one of us. As we go out in our
lives, we must obey Jesus. What is the fruit God wants you to bear? God knows. I personally think that it is to obey Jesus and His desire rather than mine.

(In conclusion)
Jesus knows that there are undeniable deep down desires of our hearts to bear much fruit and the best(everlasting) fruit. This is a God-given authentic desire according to Genesis 1:28. A fruitless life makes us miserable.

But many make the mistake of trying to bear fruit in their life apart from Jesus.Jesus is the true vine and the true source of making it truly. May the Lord help us to remain in his living words and his love to bear the fruit that last for good.
One word: I am the true vine!

Jesus, The True Vine

 John 15:1-17

Key Verse 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

In today’s passage Jesus says, “I am the true vine.”  In the book of John Jesus made 7 “I AM” statements: 1) I AM the bread of life. (Jn. 6:35); 2) I AM the light of the world. (Jn. 8:12); 3) I AM the gate for the sheep. (Jn. 10:7); 4) I AM the Good Shepherd. (Jn. 10:11); 5) I AM the Resurrection and the Life. (Jn. 14:6); 6) I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Jn. 14:6); and finally today’s passage: 7) I AM the True Vine. (Jn. 15:5)  The previous six I AM statements focused on Jesus as the life-giver and included an invitation to come to Him and to believe in Him (6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 11:25-26; 14:6).  Now, however, Jesus is speaking to those who have already come to Him, and so His charge is that they remain in Him.  The earlier theme of life is now developed in terms of intimate union with Jesus, a sharing in His own life.  We learn that our very life is dependent upon our union with Him and also it is only in this union with Jesus that our lives can truly be fruitful as God called man to be, “Be fruitful and multiply.”  May God open our hearts to accept Jesus’ Words and remain in Him.

Part I – Jesus, the True Vine (1-4)

Look at verse 1.  “¹ I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Gardener.”  In the previous passage Jesus said, “Come now; let us leave.”  It appears that today’s passage does not take place in the Upper Room, but rather on their way to Gethsemane, where Jesus would soon be arrested.  Jesus starts out His conversation by saying, “I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Gardener.”  In this verse Jesus reveals the role and relationship between Jesus and the Father.  Jesus is the True Vine.  A vine is the source of life for a branch and not only that, but also the source of nutrients by which the branch can bear fruit.  God the Father is the Gardener.  This reveals Jesus' dependence on and subordination to the Father.  It is the Gardener that receives the fruit that the vine produces.  The vine’s responsibility is to produce fruit to present to the Gardener.  On the other hand it is the Gardener who prepares the environment in which the Vine can produce fruit.

When Jesus said, “I am the True Vine,” He was using a metaphor that was very familiar with the Israelites.  In the Old Testament Israel was called a vine.  Isaiah 5:1-7 is the Song of the Vineyard.  Verse 7a reads, “The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel…”  Ps. 80:8 says that God had planted Israel in the Promised Land like a Vine planted in good soil.  God did so because He expected Israel to bear good fruit; to be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.  But Israel turned out to be like a fruitless and barren vine.  Israel fell into idol worship.  They failed to be a source of blessing to the world.

This was a very tragic thing.  Isaiah 5:7b says, that God expected justice, but instead He found bloodshed; He sought justice, but He heard cries of distress.  Isaiah was sorry that his nation had not lived up to God’s great calling upon them.  But God gave him a vision of the Messiah.  Isaiah 11:1 reads, “¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from His roots a Branch will bear fruit.”  This shoot is Jesus Christ.  He would be full of the Holy Spirit.  He would bring about true justice and righteousness on the earth.  When Jesus calls himself the “True Vine” He means that He came to fulfill God’s will and purpose, which Israel failed to do.  Jesus opened the way for man to be restored back to God as His children.  Jesus did what the nation of Israel could not do.

Look at verse 2. “² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  In verse 1 we are told that the Father is the Gardener.  He is the One who prepares the environment that the Vine can bear abundant fruit.  The way the Gardener does this is in two ways: cutting off and pruning.  The Gardener cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit.  We need to have cut off all of our unfruitful habits and ways.  Everything in us that does not help us to bear fruit needs to be removed. 

The other way the Gardener does this is by pruning branches that bear fruit, so that these branches in the future will bear even more fruit.  In the past our UBF ministry was very fruitful, but God wants to make us even more fruitful.  We cannot keep doing the things we did in the past; we must find new ways to continue to preach the Gospel and help young college students to meet Christ personally and learn obedience and to take up His calling on their lives to become a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

I remember when smart phones first came out.  I was against them completely.  I thought they were just a gimmick by a rich high tech guy named Steve Jobs in order to become even richer and to sell to the public things that really were not needed.  For the longest time I stubbornly and proudly refused to get such a phone.  I remember going to the phone store and telling them that I wanted a simple phone even without a camera.  But then my Bible students started texting me all the time and I had to learn to text and texting with my simple phone was such a pain to do.  And then someone showed me that I could text and I wouldn’t even have to type, I could speak and it would turn it into text.  I loved it.  So I got a smart phone and then I found out how helpful a smartphone is.  I could use it to schedule my Bible studies and text and send attachments with Bible notes to my students without having to lug my laptop around.  I could even have a Bible with me in my pocket at all times.  Msn. Isaac started a blog.  He is like a branch that has been pruned in order that he can even be more fruitful.  May God help us not to resist His pruning so that we may be even more fruitful in the future.

The reason God does these things in our lives is because He is not just looking for us to be fruitful; but because He desires us to be exceedingly fruitful.

Look at verse 3, “³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  In Greek the word for ‘clean’ is the same word for ‘prune’ in the previous verse.  This reveals that the ‘pruning’ that we experience by God comes from God’s Word, when we accept one Word of God in our hearts.  When Abraham accepted God’s Word despite his circumstances, it was credited to him as righteousness.  He could overcome his small petty desire to be a noble father and accept God’s calling to be a father of many nations and to be a source of blessing to all people on earth.  Also, Jesus cleansed His disciples of their selfishness, pride, fear of death and many other things by giving them His Word and helping them to accept it.  Sometimes they felt like they were treated too harshly and His Words stung too much, but it was because of His Words to them that they could be cleansed and receive eternal life and grow to become His powerful witnesses and holy servants.

Look at verse 4. “⁴ Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.”  In this verse Jesus teaches them the obvious truth that a branch cannot bear fruit on its own, it must remain in the Vine.  Many think they can do something on their own.  But this is a fallacy.  If nothing else our lives and experience should have taught us the obvious truth that on our own we cannot bear fruit.  We must remain in the True Vine, Jesus.  But we must ask what does it mean to ‘remain in Jesus’.

Part II – Remain in Jesus and bear much fruit (5-8)

Look at verse 5.  “⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”  Before we talk about what it means to ‘remain in Jesus’ we must first ask the question: ‘What is this fruit?’  Some say this fruit refers to the fruit of witnessing and evangelism; i.e. the number of sheep we serve and help to grow as disciples of Jesus.  Others say this fruit represent the fruit of the Spirit as spelled out in Gal. 5:22-23a, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.”  These are the virtues characteristic of a Christian life.

But as we look more closely at today’s passage we see that bearing fruit refers to our union with Christ.  Jesus says when we bear much fruit we demonstrate that we are His disciples (15:8), and elsewhere He states that love for one another is the evidence that one is a disciple (13:35; 14:21, 23) and is in union with God and with one another.  Therefore we can say being fruitful symbolizes that which is at the heart of both being Christian witnesses and displaying Christian virtues--union with Christ.

Look at verse 6. “⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”  We learn that the consequence of remaining in Jesus is to bear much fruit.  But the consequence of not remaining in Jesus is to be cast out, withered, gathered and burned.  This verse speaks of the consequence of being separated from Christ.  Sin causes separation from our Creator.  Real death is separation from Him.

Look at verse 7. “⁷ If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  This verse speaks to having a wholehearted devotion to the Lord.  When Christ and His Word remain in us, we wholeheartedly follow His leading.  When the Israelites came out of Egypt and came to the Promised Land, only Joshua and Caleb could enter it, because of their wholehearted devotion to the Lord.  They could take possession and lay claim to what was promised, because they held onto God’s Word promised to them despite the impossible and daunting circumstances before them.  When we remain in Jesus and His Word remains in us, we can pray and pray confidently that God will SURELY answer our prayers.  We are praying for each of us to bring 1 new student to our Spring Bible conference; for 100 new students to attend.  This will be a good chance for each of us to see where each of us remain.

Look at verse 8.  “⁸ This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”  Bearing fruit brings glory to God.  God created us to bear fruit.  God created us in His image.  He is fruitful and each of us has been created to be fruitful, abundantly fruitful.  When we bear fruit we bring glory to God; both external as well as internal fruit.

Part III – Remain in Jesus’ love (9-17)

Look at verse 9, “⁹ As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in My love.”   The Father loved Jesus by placing everything in his hands (3:35). The Father trusted Jesus to carry out his world salvation plan. Likewise, Jesus loved his disciples by calling them from meaningless lives to bear God’s mission. Therefore, to remain in Jesus’ love was to remain in God’s great purpose for world salvation. 

To remain in Jesus’ love we must love one another. Verses 12-13 say: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus would lay down his life for us through his death on the cross. Jesus wants his disciples to accept his love and friendship and practice the same toward each other. To remain in Jesus’ love, we must love our family members, coworkers and friends with the same life-giving spirit. 

Though Jesus taught his disciples how to remain in him, he knew that ultimately they could not do this by their own strength. But Jesus believed they would remain in him to the end. It was because he chose them. Look at verse 16. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Jesus chose each of us to be his disciples. Therefore, he will carry us through to the end. 

Today we learned that Jesus is the true vine. When we accept one word of Jesus we can have true life in our souls.  Then we must remain in Jesus and bear much fruit. To remain in Jesus, we must overcome satan’s deceptions, hold on to Jesus’ Word, engage in prayer, and love one another with a life-giving spirit.  Let’s remain in Jesus, the true vine.

One Word: Jesus, the True Vine.

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