Question:
What is Jesus like?

Answer: The Vine

A man once shared that outwardly he looked fine. He looked like he had his life together was happy and complete. But inside, this man was suffering. He was in turmoil over his life and wrestled with many hurts that had accumulated over the years. Every heart knows its own sorrow and grief. Every heart knows its own questions and longings. Where do you find the strength and the peace and the power to meet those needs? Jesus says that life and power can be found in him. He describes himself in the Holy Injil, John 15 verses 1 to 6.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."

If you have ever worked in a garden, you know what Jesus is talking about. A branch that is cut off from the vine and the root system will not produce fruit. Instead it dies and because it is dead and dry it burns easily. However, a branch connected to the vine will be healthy and produce wonderful grapes. The gardener of course tends the branches, he cuts off the dead ones and prunes the living ones so that they produce even more.

Jesus says that you and I are branches. Now what kind of branches we are is the real question. If we are connected to him, we are living branches and if we are not, then we are dead branches. Of course Jesus is teaching us about spiritual life and reality. Our spiritual lives depend on being connected to him. Our very life comes through him. Spiritual life in the Bible is having a relationship with God because God washes away the evil in our lives. He forgives the evil we have thought or spoken or done. Jesus tells his students that they are clean because of the word he spoke to them. They believed that word and trusted in Jesus and were now in him, alive and clean. Jesus even tells them that without him they couldn’t do anything that God would find good, in fact they would be dead spiritually.

For me personally, being connected to Jesus means that I am clean before God. I don’t worry about the day of Judgment because God has forgiven me all my sins in Jesus. It means that in my life I try to do good because I love God and want to thank him for life and spiritual life. It also means that I have life and power to face the problems, pains and doubts of the heart. Being connected to Jesus means that I’m not only okay on the outside but I’m also okay on the inside. My prayer for you who are reading this is that you too may experience the life and power of Jesus.