Abide in Me
by Rev. Paul Howden
October 14, 2007
Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
John 15:1-11

The Napa Valley is a familiar wine region in Northern California. The clergy of the West used to gather in a monastery in the Napa Valley for retreats. During free time we took tours of the nearby vineyards. We were told that many factors go into the making of a good wine grape. The winter cold is necessary for the vines to rest from the hard work of fall. Sometimes an Indian summer will trick the vines into prematurely sending up their sap, sprouting buds. Then a winter frost will follow, freezing the buds. Weeds are important too. Vinedressers will purposely allow weeds to grow between the vineyard rows. The weeds help to make the vine work harder, pushing their roots down deeper into the ground in search of water and the better minerals there. Rainfall is crucial. Too much rain creates a high-volume, low-concentration harvest. This means you get a lot of grapes but they are not as tasty. The best wine comes from moderate to low rainfall that produces less grapes, but the grapes it does give are more flavorful. Pruning is an art. It starts after the first frost and must be finished by late March. In modern times most grape growers prune their vines in a T-shape. There is a central trunk that goes up and then the main branches run along horizontal wires. In ancient times the vines were bowl-shaped. Vinedressers left four of five gnarled branches that curled up to form a bowl.

In the last week of His life Jesus proclaimed, “I am the vine… You are the branches” (John 15). What did this vine - branches allegory mean? We want to explore the different meanings of this passage on this 19th Sunday after Trinity. Reading John 15:1-5.

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. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Twice Jesus states, “I am the vine.” Some commentators speculate that Jesus made this statement standing in the Temple with His disciples. Why would a vine be there? King Herod had laid in front of and over the door a massive grapevine of gold. This vine represented Israel planted in the Promise Land, enjoying the prosperity of God’s blessing. This symbolism reflected the words of the prophets. The Old Testament prophets pictured Israel as a vine. Isaiah explained, “The vineyard is Israel.” Jeremiah spoke for God when he announced, “I planted you a choice vine…” The temple vine instilled hope. It was a glimpse of the New Heavens and the New Earth. The people saw themselves as a luxuriant vine rooted in the Promised Land. Citizens could add gold tendrils, golden grapes, and gold leaves to what Herod had put there. The Historian Josephus claimed that some of the grape clusters were “the height of a man.”

Pausing at the temple door Christ declared, “I am the true vine.” That statement certainly would have raised eyebrows. Jesus was changing the vine figure. Heretofore, the grapevine had been a symbol of Israel. Everybody knew that. But the Old Testament Church would change. Jesus announced to the Jews, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43). Hereafter, in the New Testament Church, Jesus would be the true vine. Believers must attach themselves to Him, not Israel. God Almighty would be the Gardener, and the vineyard would extend beyond Judea to the whole world. That is one layer of the allegory. Let’s peal back another layer.

John 15:2 says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away…and verse six continues, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Who are the branches that get thrown into the fire? Were these branches true believers who lost their salvation? How should we understand apostasy? An apostate is a believer who has abandoned his religious faith. How do we understand the branches lopped off for burning? First, we should admit that these branches were attached to the vine. Baptism begins one’s covenant attachment to the Lord, and the Lord’s Supper sustains that relationship. Baptism makes people members of the Church. They enjoy the life of Christ because they are attached to Him.

I’ve seen the wind blow palm branches that have dropped down and lodged in the branches of a pepper tree or some other tree. That palm branch can be taken down from the pepper tree and burned in a fire, but it was never attached to the pepper tree. Or if a tumble weed gets blown up and sticks in a vine the same thing is true. It is obvious that the tumble weed never was organically connected to the vine. But this is not the case of the branches in the vine of our passage. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.” The branches are in Jesus. So the branches that the Gardener cuts off and throws in the fire are not palm branches that have fallen into another tree, nor tumble weeds that blew onto a grape vine, but they truly were grafted into the vine and enjoyed the blessings of Christ, and his Bride, the Church. [I am indebted to Doug Wilson for this illustration.]

On the other hand Jesus taught in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. On that day I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” So in one sense, some people profess faith in Jesus as Lord yet are not true believers, they are fake; they are not the elect. If they become apostate, that is, if they leave the church and abandon their faith, they have not lost their salvation. Why? They never had it in the first place. Jesus said, “Depart from Me. I never knew you.” Reformed people have usually been quick to understand this. Yet, we must balance that doctrine with the teaching from this vine parable. The people Jesus is talking about are branches in Him. They are attached to Christ the vine in a covenantal sense, partaking of His life. But since they are branches that bear no fruit, the Gardener cuts them off, and He throws them into the fire. They may not have lost their salvation, but they lost their covenantal standing with Christ Jesus. Judas is an example of this kind of apostasy. Believers who abide in Christ and bear fruit have no reason to despair of their salvation. The purpose of this allegory is not to create doubt, but to teach the importance of daily connectedness with Christ.

Jesus also speaks of pruning. The Gardener uses His pruning shears to cut off unfruitful branches, and prune good ones. “Every branch that does bear fruit [the Vinedresser] prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (v. 2) Pruning is a task of the Divine Gardener. He prunes us with trials, trimming away our independence and immaturity. Specialists tell us that branches of a vine left un-pruned will channel their power into making more leaves, rather than making better grapes. If the Gardener lets the vine alone, the fruit will turn out small, stunted, and insipid. By careful pruning, more of the sap flows to the fruit, thereby creating something sweeter and yummier. Pruned correctly, vines can yield up to eighty pounds of grapes in a single season. That is what God wants to do in you. How does God prune you? Trials and suffering! Through trials He weans you from the world, and draws you to Christ. This is the process the Vinedresser employs to make His branches more fruitful. Isn’t this the story of all the great saints? Yes. They were pruned by trials as they were connected to Christ. By abiding in Christ they recognized that He was with them in the midst of their afflictions. Keep this in mind as you suffer the pruning process of the Gardener.

Some people see an allusion to the Eucharist in this allegory. That could be. Jesus delivered this saying on the night He instituted the Supper. Besides that, from a vine one gets grapes, from grapes one makes wine, and from wine the Church celebrates the Holy Communion. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper reinforces a life-giving, dependent attachment to Jesus. Just as the sap that flows from the stem nourishes the leaves, blossoms, and fruit of the vine, so the bread and wine of the communion, when received in faith, become the Body and blood of Christ, providing the spiritual nutrition we need for body and soul.

We should give attention to the word “abide.” In a way this is the heart of the passage. Some translations use the word “remain” or “dwell” instead of “abide.” Jesus uses the word ten times in our text: “Abide in Me, and I in you…” “Abide in the vine,” “Remain in me,” “[Let my] words abide in you,” “Abide in my love…” What does that word “abide” mean? How are we to understand these expressions about abiding in Christ, abiding in His Word, and abiding in love? Let’s take them one at a time.

“Abiding in Christ” is an ongoing reality; it is not merely a once for all commitment. In the Greek language this is clearer. It means perseverance, constancy, and stick-to-it-iveness. To abide in Christ means to make a constant, moment-by-moment decision to follow Christ, keeping up the habit of close union with Him. Our abiding is absorbing Christ, dwelling in His words, recognizing that He is with us, and enjoying the pleasure of His company.

We can rehearse “The tortoise and the hare” to illustrate:

A hare once made fun of a tortoise. “What a slow way you have!” He said. “How you creep along!”
“Do I?” said the tortoise. “Try a race with me and I’ll beat you.”
“What a boaster you are,” said the hare. “But come! I will race with you. Whom shall we ask to mark off the finish line and see that the race is fair?”
“Let us ask the fox,” said the tortoise.
The fox was very wise and fair. He showed them where they were to start, and how far they were to run.
The tortoise lost no time. He started out at once and jogged straight on.
The hare leaped along swiftly for a few minutes till he had left the tortoise far behind. He knew he could reach the mark very quickly, so he lay down by the road under a shady tree and took a nap.
By the by he awoke and remembered the race. He sprang up and ran as fast as he could. But when he reached the mark the tortoise was already there!
“Slow and steady wins the race,” said the fox.

Perseverance makes up for the disappointments and disadvantages we face in life.

It is a mystery the people who follow Christ for a while, and then abandon their faith. The very guy who led me back to the Lord, then fell away and became an unbeliever. He was like the hare in high school and college. By the time he was twenty years old he was preaching in churches. Then he married an unsaved young lady. He stopped attending church, got a divorce, and apostatized. To this day everybody who knew this young man shakes his head in disbelief. How could such a spectacular Christian apostatize and abandon the faith? He didn’t persevere in Christ. He didn’t abide. Of course the Christian life is difficult. Hang in there. Remain in Christ!

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, buy you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! If you must – but never quit.

Question: Do we persevere? Or does God persevere us? God does it. “Without me you can do nothing.” And You do it. Abide in Me, and I in you.” It is a command that we must obey.

What about “abiding in love”? Jesus commands, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” Love is the most important fruit we must bear. How do we abide in love? Jesus tells us, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” We can abide in Jesus’ love by keeping His commands. And of course, separated from Christ, obedience is impossible. It is only by drinking the juice of the vine that we can obey the commands of Jesus and overcome our sin nature. And let’s not think that abiding in love is a private matter. If we’re connected to the vine; we’re connected to each other. If we’re not connected to the branches; we’re not connected to the vine. It is in the Church that the Holy Spirit gradually shapes the love of Jesus in us. Kind, generous, sacrificial acts of love will mark our character. We will be known for our acts of love for one another. Eventually, that reputation will catch up with us as we abide in the love of Jesus.

There is one more command. We are to abide in Christ, abide in His love, and lastly, we are to "abide in His Word." How do we abide in God’s Word? Knowledge. We gain knowledge of the Lord by studying His words and teaching. Bible reading and meditation are in view. What we study we must put into practice. “We allow those words and actions to affect the way we live… We learn from Jesus’ actions what to do. We learn from His responses how we should respond. We learn from His compassion how we should love others. We learn from His obedience how we should submit to the Father. We learn from His self-control how to stay pure and strong. To abide in the Word of Jesus is to be people of the Book, people who read their Bibles and apply that reading to their lives. Please stick with your daily devotional times. This is how you gain knowledge of Christ and abide in His word.

Now for the last verse John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” What a wonderful way the Lord wraps up the parable! He wants us to be people of joy! The God we worship is happy. Therefore, as His children created in his image, [As Dennis Prager says,] “We have a moral responsibility to be happy.” Unhappy people make others miserable, and happy people do the opposite, they make others cheerful. Joy is one element in the fruit of the Spirit. Each and every Christian should attempt to learn it. Jesus does not call us to a dreary existence. He grants us His joy. The joy Jesus offers is something deeper than fun, adrenalin, or pleasure. It is also more permanent. When things go well, we feel elated. When hardships come, we sink into depression. But true joy rises above these circumstances. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ. There is the key: perseverance, abiding, remaining. By abiding in Christ as the branch abides in the vine we can remain level-headed and joyful through all the highs and lows of life. Abide in Jesus, the true vine.

Let us pray.