March 7, 2025

Some time ago, I asked God to fill in the gaps in my understanding, and of course, He has been faithful in answering me. One such thing is about the vine and the branches; he is the vine, and we are the branches. 

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:5-6

It seems simple enough to comprehend, but He added another layer showing its depth. In saying this, Jesus knew the people following him would get the comparison because Ezekiel mentions it in his prophecy to Judah. Ezekiel may have been thinking about how beautiful Jerusalem was when God gave him a word about its destruction and compared it to a useless vine being set on fire. We’ve all experienced a noxious weed with a vine stretching beyond our reach, and Judah and Jerusalem were unfruitful weeds that had turned their back on God. However, Jesus calls us the branches of his vine, and because we belong to him and continue to produce fruit, we can avoid being trimmed off and thrown into the fire. The added layer of understanding: Our fruitful branch will twine around the enemy and choke out his temptations, continue to grow, produce fruit, and expand, making other branches that also produce fruit. The fire will not consume us because we are attached to Jesus. It’s a simple concept with added layers showing how thoughtful our Father is.

God’s word to Jerusalem:

Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 15:5-6