In Relationship

John 14:^10-11 “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…”

How is your study of John chapters 12, 13, and 14 going? Remember to form discussion groups and share. As we obey, God will open the Book of remembrance for us in Jesus Name. Over the next few days, we will be diving into John 15:1-27 [please read]. This chapter is super loaded.

John chapters 15, 16, and 17 contain Jesus’ final intimate words to His disciples as they made their way to the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus always spoke from His heart, however, when a man knows He is going to die, how He speaks is very different from when He still has time. So, these words were straight from Jesus’ heart to His disciples.

John 15:¹ “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.” This verse sort of captures everything about the walk with God; who Jesus is, who the Father is, and the relationship. The grapevine is the plant that produces the grapefruit. In Jesus’ time and even today in different parts of the world, the grapefruit is very crucial to the economy, in the production of wine, commerce, and exports. Why did Jesus use the grapevine as an example? The grapevine is a plant that is heavily dependent on the Gardner, on the vinedresser. With certain plants, all you need to do after planting is watering, removal of weeds, and anything that can attack the plant. Such plants are survivors; they grow and produce. The grapevine is not like that; the grapevine is heavily dependent on the vinedresser, on the gardener.

Jesus is saying that in this same way the grapevine is dependent on the gardener, He is totally dependent on The Father. The grapevine is dependent on the vinedresser for three main things. Firstly, for propping, because the grapevine is not sturdy enough to stand on its own. So, if you leave the grapevine by itself, it falls on the ground. The branches grow out, but the fruits are cluttered, and it will not produce a maximum yield. The trunk of the grapevine is not like the trunk of the Iroko tree, for instance, that can stand by itself. It needs the gardener for propping. So, the gardener puts up sticks with ropes connected and then ties the grapevine to the ropes so that it can stand. From the graphic included, can you see the sticks used for propping at intervals and the ropes? Jesus was saying, ‘I cannot stand by Myself. I need The Father’s support, His propping. I need all the infrastructure of heaven to support Me.’ Jesus is also saying to us, ‘Likewise you cannot stand without Me. I am showing you that I am dependent on The Father and you are dependent on Me!’

Prayer [song]: You are the pillar that holds my life (2x). Master Jesus, You are the pillar that holds my life. Root of Jesse, You are the pillar that holds my life. Amen!