Liar, Lunatic or Lord?
Pt. 3 - Vine
I. Introduction
Lie Detector Test
Have you ever dealt with someone who couldn't or wouldn't tell the truth? It is maddening. They constantly fabricate. White lies. Bold face lies. Outright lies. No truth to be found. Then there are those that are crazy. You know that person . . . the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top. They are off their rocker. They have a screw loose. The cheese slid off of their cracker! Most of us have dealt with folks like this, but have you ever stopped to think that there were days when people thought these things about Jesus? I remind you that not only did Jesus' family, but the religious leaders of His day thought that at times!
Jesus' own family in Mark 3 try to corral Him and they say, "He is out of His mind!"
The religious leaders felt the same way. Remember what we have been reading in
Text: John 8:58-59 (NIV)
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
The religious leaders rise up and try to kill Jesus because they think He has lost His mind. When Jesus uses this phrase, and this isn't the first time, the leaders consider it blasphemy. Jesus is saying in no uncertain terms that He is God Himself. It is these "I am" statements that made the people of His day wrestle with Jesus’ identity. We too need to wrestle with His identity.
CS Lewis said . . .
"You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.”
He claimed to be The Bread of Life, The Light of the world, and last week we looked at His claims that He was the Gate and The Good Shepherd. Today, He makes another claim that we must examine.
TEXT: John 15:1-8 (NIV)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also 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. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
We miss that the way Jesus would have said this in His native tongue which was "The True Vine . . . I am!"
Is He a liar? Is He a Lunatic?
What is Jesus saying? What does He mean?
Jesus' claim here to be The True Vine would have been shocking to His disciples because as good Jews they would immediately recognize the implications of this claim. The Jews were taught from a young age that Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5 that Israel, the nation and the people group, is the vine and God is the vinedresser watching over the vine. Jesus is reinterpreting this passage, hijacks it if you will, to change the playing field. He literally inserts Himself into the role of what connects us to God. So, when Jesus says, “I am the true vine” He is really saying, “I am the true Israel.” He is saying that He is the embodiment of all that Israel should be. “Should be” because, as is well known, Israel did not faithfully execute her mission as God’s representative. So, He is refocusing the disciple’s identity off their national identity to an identity in Him. He is saying your connection to God isn't because of your Jewishness. Your connection to God is through me . . . Jesus!
Jesus is addressing:
Connection vs. Attachment
Connection gives you power, attachment sucks the life out of you.
Jesus is declaring that our connection to God can only be found in and through Him. Literally what flows from God goes to Jesus and then flows to us. He is the delivery system. This truth reveals that some of us are attached to the church, but not connected to Jesus. We wonder why we are attending church, but we are not experiencing the flow of life. We are attached to Christian teachings and lifestyles, but not connected to Jesus. We wonder why we aren't experiencing the flow of power. We must come to an understanding that Jesus is the vine. The church isn't the vine. Christian teachings aren't the vine. Christian friends aren't the vine. We don't experience the flow of power, the flow of strength, the flow of peace, the flow of provision if we are only attached, in close proximity, an associate of Jesus! We must be connected.
One guy studied movements of God and discovered what starts movements of God is when a founder knows Jesus deeply. The movement dies when the followers only know the founder! Attachment doesn't provide life. Are you attached to men or are you connected to Jesus?
If we would get genuinely connected to Jesus, then we soon discover that everything that flows through the vine also flows to the branches. The same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us! Branch to vine. In fact, Paul said in Romans 8:7, "And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory."
All the juices that enter through the root to the vine passes to the branches. What is coming out of you reveals what you are connected to! Jesus is forcing us to check, evaluate, access our connection.
Our identity. Our allegiance. Our life must be connected to Him to the point that nothing and no one can come before that connection. It is still (after almost 15 years) amazing to me to watch how many people who pray for things finally get those things and allow them to disconnect them from the vine or the source of the very thing they prayed to receive. God send me a relationship. He does and they stop all pursuit of God. God send me a good job. He does and they suddenly no longer have time or a need for God. God send me peace. He does and they no longer seek Him because there is no turmoil in their life. That is attachment but TRUE connection is I need Thee every hour. The hour can be good, the hour can be bad, the hour can be perfect, the hour can be hell on earth, but the hour doesn't dictate, determine or diminish my need for Thee. I am connected and you are my source of life!
What sustains you? Car? Friends? House? Food? Drink? What satisfies you? Shopping? Hunting? Clothes? Applause? If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Haven't you discovered that none of those things are lasting. None of those things remain. Those things only cause us to wither. Without connection to Him they die.
Nothing other than Jesus sustains or satisfies. So, we must check our connection! He is forcing us to realign our allegiance. Our reliance. Our identity can only be found in Him! If we are connected to the right vine we will produce!
He alone is the source for the fruit of God in our life. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Fruit of the Spirit comes from Him! You can't produce these things on your own. Peace. Only from Him. Joy. Only from Him. Patience. Only from Him. Self-control? Only from Him. But we were not created to be self-sufficient but connected to Him.
Farmer vs. Vinedresser
In fact, since mere attachment doesn't allow the juices to flow the attachments get cut off because there is no fruit. They don't fall off. The vinedresser removes them! In other words, He works the garden for growth. There is action, involvement, intentionality revealed here. There is a difference between a farmer and a vinedresser. Our frame of reference is farming. We know that a farmer only plants and reaps in certain seasons. However, in Jesus' culture they would know the difference. A vinedresser is working the vine, examining the vine, cutting on the vine, pruning the vine in every season. There isn't an off season. There isn't a wasted season. There isn't a missed season. He is constantly, day after day, year after year - vines don't even bear fruit for 3 to 5 years, working on the branches so they can produce fruit! He is using every situation, every challenge, every moment to work together for the good of the branch so that it will get the nourishment, correction, adjustment it needs so that it will produce the maximum amount of fruit. There is no forgotten season. The Vinedresser is still working on you. He is constantly paying attention to you.
Why does He dress/work the branches? He works the garden for growth. Cuts, prunes. Growth matters. Apathy or stagnation is unacceptable.
He cuts/prunes/removes. We view this as a negative. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. We don't like this idea. But the word here that is translated cut off can also be translated to mean to lift up or to raise. In other words, He removes things for our good! To build us up rather than to hurt us. Too many of us are trying to pray things back, grab things back, work to get things back that God removed because He knew in order for you to be healthy and growing, they needed to be removed! You would have never risen above their level if He hadn’t removed them from your life. They were keeping you grounded. On the ground susceptible to disease and pests. How many of us are susceptible to pests because we won't let Him prune? There are things in our life that are fruitless, joyless, and peaceless. If He doesn't cut them off, then they steal life and steal nutrients that were intended for you! He prunes (word means to clean or cleanse) for our good! (SLIDES 18-19) He cuts us to grow us! He is precise in His cutting. Just enough. Just in the right area. Listen . . . any God authored, God allowed pain or discomfort is part of the process of growth. If we fight it, escape it, numb it, then we miss the good that comes out of it! I know it hurts but stay under the knife. I know it is not what you thought it would be but stay under the knife. On the other side you will experience more, greater life! The cutting forces us to check our connection to Him!
