I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from me ye can do nothing.  

We introduced this study by looking at the vine as a whole plant including the stem, branches and fruit.   Jesus said he was the True Vine and it is out of this True Vine the branches grow to produce fruit.

One of the first things we notice is the word John uses for branches. It is different than the one Paul uses in Romans 11 for the descendants of Israel, or Matthew uses for the triumphal entry, or Matthew, Mark and Luke uses for the fig tree.  This word  denotes a tender new growth such as a sprout on a vine. This helps visualize the nature of these ”branches” relative to the vine. These are not mature branches grafted into the vine. This  is new growth nurtured by the Vine and its root.  These tender new growths depend upon the vine root to supply nutrients to form its character and the quality of its fruit. This Greek word for “branch” clearly gives us the defining nature of our life in Christ. It distinguishes new life flowing from Christ rather than branches grafted in which is Paul’s point regarding the Gentiles being grafted into Jewish stock,  a different point entirely. John’s context is being ”born again” and having life in his name. The Romans passage does however make the point that the root supports the branches whether they are Jew or Gentile branches. This suggests a larger context in which the branches do grow.

As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding with thanksgiving. 

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of your brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed that is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God. 

Faith is critical to our walk in the Lord at every level. We are expanding our faith discussions to look a little deeper into the mechanics of this important subject. In the previous discussion our focus was on the state of our being “in Christ”. It is by faith that we have entered into Christ, into the state of being in Christ. The realities of our life have changed. The temporal resources of the flesh no longer control us. Now, we are able to use temporal resources to serve God’s grace.  Now, in Christ, we have our personal mentor, the Holy Spirit. Now, in Christ, we have unseen eternal resources in the heavenlies.

The person of the Holy Spirit is revealing the mysteries within us of being in Christ. Our eternal resources are being identified by faith in scripture. It is a matter of walking by faith rather than sight, walking by what is unseen rather than what is tangible.  We want to explore these unseen resources and consider how the Holy Spirit creates a grace culture which is a new life style in Christ. Welcome to eternal life walking in faith while still in our mortal flesh.

During Jesus’ three years of ministry with His disciples many more miracles were performed than are recorded, John 20:30, 21:25. Living with Jesus for three years, witnessing daily His ministry among sick and poor, rulers and teachers, the disciples were unable to absorb the truth and come into an understanding of Jesus and his ministry to the people. 

Jesus had just fed the four thousand, got into a boat with the disciples and left for another location. They arrived, met by Pharisees, who came to argue and demand a sign from heaven.  Jesus got back into the boat with the disciples and went to the other side of the lake.

The minds of the disciples were on the one loaf of bread they had in the boat, but Jesus was thinking about the Pharisees whom they had just left. He said to the disciples, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  His comment sparked a discussion among the disciples about what to do about not having enough bread with them in the boat.  There are a few places we see Jesus expressing His righteous human anger, this might be one of them.

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how man baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him “Twelve”. “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets did you pick up?” And they said to him, “Seven”. And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”- Mark 8:17-21.