In John 15 we see that Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God is the true vine. In John 15:1 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.” Christ the Son as the true vine with the believers as its branches is the organism of the Triune God in God’s economy, the divine dispensing, to grow with His riches and express the divine life. As the organism of the Triune God, this vine is corporate and universal.
John 15 reveals not only Christ the Son as the vine but also the Father as the husbandman, the Body of Christ as the branches of the vine, and God the Spirit as the Spirit of reality. As the vine, Christ the Son is the center. The whole universe is pictured as a vineyard, and centered in this vineyard is the vine, who is the Son. God the Son is the center. Everything is centralized in Him. He, as the vine, is the center of the vineyard. God the Father is the source and founder, and Christ the Son is the center. Everything that God the Father is and has is for the center, is embodied in the center, and is expressed through the center. God the Father is expressed, manifested, and glorified through the vine. Therefore, God the Father is the source and God the Son is the center.
In the last two verses of this chapter the Spirit is revealed. Here God the Spirit is called the Spirit of reality. This means that the Spirit is the reality. Whatever God the Father is in the Son and whatever He has centralized in Christ the Son will be realized by the Spirit. All that God the Father is in the Son is a reality in God the Spirit. Everything centralized in the Son is revealed, testified, witnessed, and realized by the Spirit of reality. Therefore, God the Father is the source, the founder; Christ the Son is the center, the embodiment, and the manifestation; and God the Spirit is the realization, the reality. This is exceedingly profound and deep.
Moreover, in this revelation there is not only the Triune God but also the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ is the church. In this revelation the church is likened to the branches of a vine. The branches of a vine are simply the body of the vine. If the branches are taken away from the vine, the vine will have no body. Without the branches, the vine has nothing remaining except the root and the stem. Hence, the branches are the body of the vine.
As the many branches of the vine, the believers of Christ are members of the Christ of God to form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. In John 15:5 the Lord Jesus declared, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Such a statement implies that Christ and His believers are one tree. Christ and the believers, the vine with the branches, form the organism of the Triune God in the divine dispensing. The vine in John 15, therefore, is a universal vine comprising Christ and His believers as the branches. In this vine, this organism, the Triune God lives, expresses Himself, and dispenses Himself to the uttermost.
Christ, the infinite God, is the vine, and we are His branches. We are actually branches of the infinite God, organically one with Him. This means that we have been organically joined to the Triune God. Now we are part of God, even as the members of our bodies are parts of us. If we are in the light, we shall see that we are members of Christ, that we are part of Him.
We have become branches of the vine, members of the Christ of God, by the branching out of the vine. By our natural life we are not branches of the vine. On the contrary, by our fallen nature we are branches of Adam and even branches of the devil. Just as a branch is the branching out of a tree, so when we were born, we were just the branching out of Adam. As branches of Adam, we were also branches of Satan. The wonderful thing is that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, He branched out into us. This branching out has made us branches of this wonderful Christ. Therefore, Christ’s branching out has made us branches of Christ as the vine. Now as branches we are filled with Christ as life, for to be a branch in the vine means that Christ has become our life. We should not say that we do not feel that we are filled with Christ. When the Lord says, “I am the vine; you are the branches,” we have to say a strong amen. Just keep saying, “Hallelujah, I am a branch!” We as branches of the vine will be filled with Christ.
No plant other than the vine can illustrate adequately the living relationship between the believers and Christ. A vine differs from a tree in that it has virtually no trunk. If you cut off the branches of a vine, there is practically nothing left, only the root. It is very significant, therefore, that the Lord Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The vine is everything to the branches. Whatever is in the vine is also in the branches. This indicates that as the vine Christ is a great enjoyment for us, the branches. From the vine and through the vine, we receive everything we need to live as branches.
As believers, we are branches of the vine and are good for nothing except to express the vine. All that the vine is and has is expressed through the branches. Individually, the branches are the regenerated ones. Corporately, they are the church, the Body of Christ. The branches, the believers in Christ the Son, are for the expression of the Son with the Father through fruit-bearing.
As branches of the vine, we need to abide in the vine, the Christ of God. The Lord Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 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 you can do nothing” (vv. 4-5). Only when the branches abide in the vine can the vine be everything to them. This is the reason the Lord said concerning Himself as the vine and us as the branches, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Our life and enjoyment are to abide in the vine. Our destiny as branches is to remain in the vine.
Apart from the vine, we, the branches, can do nothing. A branch of a vine cannot live by itself, for it will wither and die apart from the vine. The relationship between the branches and the vine portrays the relationship between us and the Lord Jesus. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing apart from Him. What we are, what we have, and what we do must be in the Lord and by the Lord in us. Therefore, it is crucial for us to abide in the Lord and for the Lord to abide in us. We should not do anything in ourselves; we should do everything by abiding in the vine. Christ as the vine is an all-inclusive portion for our daily enjoyment. Because we are branches to the Lord and the Lord is the vine to us, we must abide in Him and let Him abide in us. Then in our experience Christ will be everything to us for our enjoyment.
Abiding in the Christ of God is a crucial matter. Fruit-bearing depends on abiding. Our abiding depends on a clear vision that we are branches in the vine. If we are to abide in the vine, we must see the fact that we are branches in the vine. If we see that we are already in Christ, we shall be able to abide in Him. Therefore, we need to pray, “Lord Jesus, show me clearly that I am a branch in the vine.”
Once we see the fact that we are branches in the vine, we need to maintain the fellowship between us and Christ as the vine. Any insulation will separate us from the rich supply of the vine. A little disobedience, a sin, or even a sinful thought can be the insulation that separates us from the riches of the vine. First, we must see that we are branches. Then we need to maintain the fellowship between us and the Lord. Nothing should be between Him and us. From experience we know that even a small thing can separate us from the rich supply of the vine. Hence, we need to pray, “Lord Jesus, let there be nothing between You and me separating me from Your rich supply.”
As long as we abide in Christ, He will abide in us. His abiding in us depends on our abiding in Him. Our abiding is the condition of His abiding, but His abiding in us is not a condition of our abiding in Him. With us, however, because we are so fluctuating, there is the need of a condition. If we do not abide in Christ, there is no way for Him to abide in us. Although He does not change, we have many changes. We may abide in Him today and stay away from Him tomorrow. Therefore, His abiding in us depends on our abiding in Him. Our abiding in Him is the condition of His abiding in us. Thus, the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you.” If we do not abide in Him, we fail to meet the condition of His abiding in us. His abiding depends on our abiding. This mutual abiding will bring forth fruit.
How good, how miraculous, how wonderful, and how excellent it is that we all are a part of this organism! Christ is this organism, and we are included in this organism. He is the tree, and we are the branches. As far as we, the branches, are concerned, Christ, the tree, lives to be our support, our supply, and our everything. Christ as the tree also does everything through His believers as the branches. Just as the tree needs the branches and cannot do anything apart from the branches, so today Christ as the very embodiment of the Triune God can do nothing without us. In the carrying out of God’s economy—that is, growing a vine tree—without us Christ is unable to act, work, or to have any kind of activity. Without Him we can do nothing, and without us He can do nothing. We surely need Him for the purpose of our enjoying the wonderful, excellent, and marvelous divine life, and He surely needs us for the purpose of fruit-bearing, the multiplication and the enlargement of this divine tree.