The Vine

[Jesus said,] “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

JESUS USED THIS illustration to help us understand our relationship with him. The vine in his picture was the part of the plant rooted in the soil, rising up into the air, and supporting all the outer parts and branches. The branches, on the other hand, are the parts people notice and enjoy, because they produce the fruit. But cut off a branch from the vine and it soon withers and dies, never bearing a single grape.

Similarly, Jesus shows us that by abiding in him and depending on him, we will stay connected and produce an abundance of fruit. That fruit can be any of the many spiritual realities the Bible speaks of—the Spirit’s fruit: love, joy, peace, and so on; good works to others; and sharing the faith so that others come to believe in him. God wants us to produce all those kinds of fruit in abundance.

But there is one thing we need to remember in the midst of this: without Jesus, without being connected to the source of nourishment, we can “do nothing.” Jesus is the key to everything. We can’t go it alone. His promise, though, is that when we live in him, we will go out there and bear luscious, beautiful, and abundant fruit.