Vines and Branches

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Southeast Christian Church

Aug 31, 2020

As Jesus carefully chooses his final words for his disciples before going to the cross, he does what he always does to help them understand lofty, spiritual truths: He uses metaphors. Jesus didn’t use obscure metaphors that added further confusion to his point; he used pictures of things that the disciples knew well. As Jesus uses the metaphor of the vine and branches, he uses the grapevines that he and his disciples often passed on their way to pray. As Jesus called himself the vine and his disciples the branches, he could point to the grapevines to help them understand.

Jesus knows that he is about to die and that, as a result, his disciples will scatter in fear and confusion. He tells his disciples “apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5b, NIV), but then he proceeds to willingly go to the cross to be crucified. Imagine the disciples’ despair as they recalled Jesus’s words that they can do nothing apart from him, and now he is lying in a grave.

What the disciples would soon find out is that Jesus’s spoke with his resurrection and Great Commission in mind. The Great Commission would be a tall order for anyone, but this is why Jesus spent so much time reminding his disciples of their relationship to Himself: “apart from me you can do nothing.” Before Jesus died, he knews he would be leaving his disciples with the most important job that will ever exist: make disciples of all nations. He knew that they would fail miserably if they tried to do this on their own, but that they would see the kingdom of God grow exponentially if they remained connected to the one true vine.

Reflection/Discussion Question: Do you believe that you can do nothing apart from Jesus?

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