The Gospel of John - Outline Part 37 - Partners in the Family Business

TITLE

John 15:1-17 – Partners in the Family Business

EXPLANATION

After having left the upper room in the previous passage, Jesus continued His sermon on the move, as it were.  We do not know exactly where He was when He delivered the following lessons.  He may have been surrounded by the flora of the land.  If so, it would fit perfectly with His opening illustration of vines and branches.

The Lord described Himself as the true vine, God the Father as the vine dresser, and people as the branches that are attached to the vine.  The idea was that people must be attached to Christ in order to live.  Being separated from the nutrients that flow through the root system of the vine leads to withering and death.  Significantly, any branch that is currently connected to the vine that does not bear fruit is cut off and thrown away by the vine dresser, God.  The branches that do bear fruit the vine dresser prunes, by cutting and trimming them, so as to produce even more fruit through them.

The branches, or Christians, that do stay connected to the vine, are pruned by the vine dresser, bear fruit, and are so in tune with the vine, Christ, that they may ask Him whatever they wish.  Because they are in union with Him He will grant any request to them because their requests are in line with His purpose and will.

Astonishingly, for those people who fit this description, Jesus promised to confer an incredible privilege and honor upon them.  Namely, they would no longer be considered servants of their Master.  Rather, Christ would call them friends, and they would be privy to the work that God is doing.  They would become partners in the family business, so to speak.  This partnership would be characterized by love.  Not only love for the Father and His Son, but also love for one another.

APPLICATION

God is in the business of vine dressing.  He expects us to bear the fruit of good works that honor and glorify Him.  When we fulfill this expectation, He comes along and cuts away the dead portions of our character, tied to our sinful flesh, that hold us back and keep us from our maximum potential.  This implies pain.  It hurts to be trimmed and pruned in this way.  Yet, it is absolutely necessary for proper growth.

Furthermore, consider what Christ has promised in this passage.  By submitting to this process of vine dressing, we will be afforded the unimaginable privilege of being made partners in God’s company, that Scripture calls the Kingdom of Heaven.  We can look forward to being made into joint heirs with Christ of all that the Father owns, which is everything that exists.  If we truly stop to consider the ramifications of what Jesus taught here, it should take our breath away.