“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
The vine was ever the figure of Israel as the instrument elect for service; its fruit was and is to fill the whole earth. The vine of Yeshua was not a pleasant plant in God’s vineyard on which fruit should grow to be consumed for the maintenance of its own life. It was not even to be a precious vine on which would grow fruit which should give satisfaction to the heart of the one who possessed it. The vine was to be that on which fruit should grow that should fill the whole earth. Its fruit was intended for the world. Yeshua’s vine should grow clusters of fruit that should be for the benefit of the wide world: righteousness and judgment, equity and truth, mercy, love and beneficence; healing for all wounds, rest for weariness, the wine of the Kingdom of God for the gladdening of the heart of humanity.
What are the Vine and Branches?
The vine is not merely the root out of sight. The vine is not merely the main stem up which the life forces pass to the uttermost reaches of the last and most delicate tendril.
The vine is everything. The branches are part of the vine. By these words Yeshua taught the incorporation with himself of all believing souls in vital intimate union. To reiterate the opening verse:
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
That is, you are part of Yeshua, united to Yeshua in a union so close and definite that Yeshua is incomplete apart from you, as you are incomplete apart from Yeshua.
Severed from him you can do nothing, so, with a reverent and almost awful sense of the solemnity of the fact, he said: “for without me you can do nothing.”
Severed from Yeshua you cannot produce the fruit for which the world is waiting.
What are the tendrils?
The growth of the vine involves the accumulation of each and every branch, and the vine receives additional support through the delicate tendrils. These delicate tendrils represent prayer.
Prayer is inspired by passion for the Kingdom (the vineyard) of God.
Prayer is a method by which we abide in such relationship with the vine that we produce something for the world.
Prayer is the branches desiring and demanding the life of the vine in order that they may bear fruit according to the nature and purpose of the vine.
Prayer is the soaring of the soul to the height of perfect compliance with the will of God, the consuming of the soul with the passion for doing the will of God. The first law of fruit bearing is that of prayer which asks for yet more abundant life.
Prayer asks for fulness of life that fruit may be manifest. It asks for that purging of God that shall make life more abundant.
The secret of prayer is to abide in Yeshua. To abide in Yeshua is the secret of fruitfulness.
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