Bible Materials

VINE AND BRANCH RELATIONSHIP

by   06/01/2008   John 15:1~10

Message


This parable reveals what kind of relationship we have with Jesus. Some people like to say Jesus is my shepherd. This is shepherd and sheep relationship. Others say Jesus is my friend. This is very close friendship. But here a unique relationship Jesus demonstrated. Vine and branch relationship. May Jesus reveal his word through this time. First, Our God is gardener. Let’s read verse 1. I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. God created the universe. Especially he created beautiful world. He made Eden. Eden is the center of the universe. God prepared everything and put the man Adam in the land. God is gardener who created his garden. God is not florist. Florist and gardener sound similar but different. In florist hand, flower is cut and decorated for good looking. Last Mother’s day I went to flower shop. There were so many kinds of beautiful flowers. Red rose, yellow rose, white rose, Red lilly, yellow lilli, white lilly … It was very hard for me to pick one among the flowers. So, several times I pick and returned. It took half hour to buy one. Initially, I intended to buy cheap one but I could not resist temptation of well decorated one. So at last I spend most of what I had for a bunch of rose. Why it happen? This is what florist does. But gardener takes care of tree for bearing fruit rather than good looking. God makes this world beautiful. Our God is surely God of beauty. But he intended his creature to be prosperous. God finished his every creative work with the word of blessing. “Be fruitful and increase in number” He eagerly wants to bless this world. God put his hope in his vineyard, Eden. Our God is gardener. He wanted all the creatures he made to be a holy seed for countless and numerous generations. Second, God planted vine / Jesus is true vine. The climax of God’s creation is man’s appearance who has very close image to him. God put Adam and Eve in the Eden. They were great hope for all the world. God planted his people as vine from the beginning of the world. They were holy and preserved vine in history. Sometimes, there was a period which the man of God were rare. But prospering his people is never ceasing. He blessed Seth. Noah. Abraham. Isaac, Jacob. They bore good fruit God pleased. In our days God planted us in his mission field and blessed to be fruitful. God planted some of Korean young people in Canada, in early 1980. They landed Winnipeg as a sowing operator missionary. Later, God spread them over the city of Canada. So, they moved to Toronto in early 1990. God planted them in the UofT for bearing fruit. God continued to send his people in this campus. M. Peter and Mary, Ezra and Ruth. Sometimes, God moved a language school student and planted her here. One day, she decided to go back home and took a subway. But suddenly she was asked from someone. “Where are you going?” This question made her return to clear sense of mission for God. Let’s read verse 1a again. “I am the true vine” However, the true vine is Jesus. True vine means promised, reliable and guaranteed. From this view, it reminds us of the tree of life God promised to preserve since man’s fall. Even there are many great men of God in the bible they have still weak points and imperfect. They have sinful nature. 1 Corinthian 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” Jesus is the new Adam who truly bear fruits, which sinful man can not do. Third, Pruning the branch Verse 2. “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.” In the vine tree of Jesus, there are many branches. But some branches are bearing fruit but some of them are not. God judged them according to their fruit. Historically, this is evident truth. Cain and Seth, Lot and Abraham. Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob. Saul and David. Here we learn that even some branch in Jesus do not bear fruit. They have same chance to bear good fruit. But they could not. This is like nominal branch. Judah was a part of branch. But he refused to receive Jesus’ love. His life became miserable. The Branch can keep alive when all the nutrients are supplied well. So, it is important to receive what Jesus tries to give. Last week Sam was sick but he strongly refused to swallow medication. So the infection was quickly spread. Jesus gives good medication to the people. Jesus gives us good nutrient in our life. But like Judah if we stubbornly refuse it, situation is getting worse and eventually Satan caught us. On the contrary, there are branches which bear good fruit. They accept Jesus and his word like baby eats milk. Jesus gives them nutrients to keep them healthy and restore them quickly from any problem. We have countless examples. John is called the disciple of love. He liked to receive love from Jesus. He deeply accepts his love. So he always introduced himself in John’ gospel “the disciple whom Jesus love” Jesus’ love changed him to be men of love. Another disciple Peter. He became very powerful servant. He was very much interested in the power of Jesus. One day, he saw Jesus walking on the sea. He asked him “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water” and he experienced to walk on the water. And the other day he said to Jesus “Lord, the fig tree you cursed has withered!” The power of Jesus always stimulated Peter to learn of him. And later he became very powerful man of faith. He challenged impossible situation with faith. When Paul learned of Jesus’ prayer he became powerful prayer servant. He repeatedly emphasized to pray continuously. Furthermore, he wanted to become like Jesus through learning of his death and resurrection. His desire for Jesus was great and endless. In Jesus he was changed from notorious persecutor to meek and sanctified servant of Jesus. So what is the secret of fruitful life? What kind of fruit do you want to have? We may keep right relationship with Jesus. We may receive many spiritual fruit from Jesus With our human nature we never bear good fruit. But God blessed us to be a branch of Jesus. This is great privilege. Thank and praise Jesus who makes us fruitful and abundant. Let’s read verse 2-3 “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. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” If we want big and juicy graph we need to prune branches. Spiritually, this is the cleaning with God’s word. God pruned Abraham’s life through sending Ishmael away for Isaac’ growth. Jesus cleaned his disciples with his word. Their worried too much because of future security. They like his word. But at the same time they worried. So Jesus pruned them with saying “Seek first his kingdom and righteous and all these things will be given to you as well” God disciplines our heart and life to respect and love him through his word. Fourth, remain in me Let’s read it verse 4-8. Jesus repeats the word “remain in me” 8 times Jesus knew that their weakness. He will be caught and die and they will be scattered. They will face critical moment “Live in Jesus or leave Jesus” It happened to Peter who disowned Jesus three times. The event crack the relationship between Jesus and him. But he remained. People may make big mistake and face very regretful situation. But Jesus says “Remain in me” God called Abraham. Abraham found new life direction when he accepted his calling. But in many practical problems he exposed his weakpoints. He saw his precious coworker Lot leaving. He no longer waited for God’s promise and bore Ishmael. His life seemed far from the God’s promise. But every time God gave his word he determined to live by the promise. “Remain in me” This shows Jesus’ unchanging hope for us. Apart from me you can do nothing. Cut flower in a vase is withered in a week. Whether they are in gold vase or silver vase, or they drink high quality water they will wither. In a conclusion, we are branch of Jesus. May God help us to bear good fruit for his glory.



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