Abide In the Vine

5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Usually when we say that we've heard something through the grapevine we imply that the origin is questionable. But in John 15, when Jesus says that he is the vine, our origin, as the branches, is unquestionable - the branches do not even exist without the vine. If you look at a grapevine it can be nearly impossible to tell the branches apart. The vine and branches are so interwoven that parsing through them would require a great deal of effort. But why work so hard to separate them when what's really important is the grapes?

With Jesus as the vine, and we as the branches, we can only produce fruit when we are connected to the vine. We will necessarily be tangled up with each other, as well. Such close proximity could cause confusion and chaos, or we could take the opportunity to admire the fruit of those around us. We do not need to vie for attention. We can trust that our connectedness to the vine will make our fruit as full and sweet as the Vinegrower intends.

8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (John 15:8)