LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Rod of the Vine
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit; because apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
The words of Jesus in John 15:5 would be enough to understand that in the things of God we only need to believe and abide in him; but almost always it is necessary that the longsuffering of God give us more arguments. We have a tremendous predisposition for activism, but very little for faith, hope, and rest. It is still difficult for us to understand that in the things of God we cannot receive anything if it is not given to us from heaven (John 3:27).
So that we understand a little more about this, the Lord gives us the example of the vine. The Lord has a very great relationship with the vine. Isaiah 5:1-2, in relation to the nation of Israel, tells us that he planted a vineyard of choice vines in very fertile soil. He built a wine press in the middle of it, so that wine (representing joy) could be made from the fruit, but she gave wild grapes.
What God did not achieve in Israel, he now obtains in Christ. The Father continues to be the vinedresser, we are the branches, the rods; but the vine that will now give its precious fruit is Jesus Christ. Now, the vine is no longer a stiff-necked people, but Christ. The Father is the one who cares for the vine, who operates everything in everyone; therefore, every rod in him bears fruit, and that which bears fruit, he cleans it so that it bears still more fruit.
But the rod cannot bear fruit by itself. The fruit comes from the vine. From the vine comes the sap that runs through all the rods. It is the vine that goes to look for water and nutrients so that the branches bear fruit. Nothing depends on the rod, everything comes from the vine. Neither will the vine have difficulties finding water, nor the necessary nutrients to produce much fruit, because the Father is the vinedresser and he will lack nothing.
If these arguments are not enough for us to see that the rod can do nothing by itself, the Lord still gives us in Ezekiel 15:2 some more for us to consider: "Shall they take wood from it to do any work? Will they take a stake from it to hang something on it?". The Spirit tells us that we, as rods, are not good for anything else, but to bear fruit. There is nothing we can do by ourselves.
The vine is Christ and the fruit is also Christ's. We, the branches, are merely the means by which the Lord produces His fruit: "So you also, my brethren, have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who rose from the dead, that we may bear fruit to God" (Rom. 7:4).
The Lord teaches us, through the vine, that apart from him we can do nothing. We can only bear fruit if we remain in it, otherwise we will only serve to be thrown into the fire. If we remain in him, we will bear much fruit, and the Father will obtain in his winepress, in the Lord's church, what he longs for: wine, joy. "Therefore, as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in him; rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Col. 2:6-7).