Apart from Jesus, we don’t have the strength to live fruitful lives. Trying to live a God-honouring life without Christ is like a branch trying to bear fruit without being attached to the vine. It is impossible. If you are a member of God’s vine in Christ, rejoice at His kindness and goodness toward you. Abide in His love, recognising that He is the source of your fruitfulness. When you are tempted to obey in your own strength, be reminded that it is Christ who gives us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
I have a confession to make: prayer is something I have always struggled with. My natural response to fear, worry, stress, and life’s challenges is not to pray, but to buckle down and face the giants myself. Why do we do this? And why do we find it so hard to pray?
While there are certainly many reasons we may struggle to pray, one is that we think we can live fruitful lives without the power God provides. Our default setting is ‘independent’ rather than ‘dependent’ upon God. It requires humility to cry out to God for help, because it’s only when we are helpless and needy that we acknowledge He is the only source of strength we have. Whether we want to admit it or not, this describes our condition every single day.
One of the most liberating truths in Scripture comes in John 15:5. Here Jesus states the obvious: apart from Him, we cannot bear fruit for God’s glory. That is to say, Jesus is the source of sustenance, power, wisdom, and strength in the Christian life. Whether we acknowledge it or not, He is the one who empowers us by His Spirit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Jesus illustrates this reality by using the image of a vine.
Understanding the Context
This is the final of Jesus’ seven ‘I Am’ statements in the Gospel of John. In John 15:1, Jesus declared: ‘I am the true vine.’
Throughout the Old Testament, God commonly refers to His people as branches, God Himself being the vine (Psalm 80; Ezekiel 15). Just as a vine bears fruit, so the lives of God’s people bear fruit if they abide in God.
This metaphor constantly reminded Israel that they were entirely and utterly dependent upon God for all that they had, and all that they did. The moment they thought they could live independently from God was the moment they began to fall away from God. Apart from God, they could do nothing.
Coming to the New Testament, Jesus identifies Himself as the vine.