In John chapter 15, Jesus speaks the words that this ministry is founded upon, saying that He is the True Vine, and that we are the Branches. Then He goes on to make a very important and very controversial statement, that apart from Him we can do nothing, but with Him we bear much fruit. This statement of Jesus is controversial, because while nearly every believer is familiar with it, very few actually believe it!
Do you believe these words of Jesus today? Do you truly believe that without Him you can do nothing, but with Him you will bear much fruit? We as humans, tend to think that we can still do some things without Him – we think that we can still do small things or personal things without Him, and we only need Him for the big and important things. But the truth of Jesus as our source of everything is vital to our success as a believer, and this is what we will be studying today.
Whenever I teach along this line, there is resistance. Resistance comes because many people do not actually believe that Jesus is truly the singular answer to their problems, but I would ask you to consider a few basic facts from scripture. First let’s read John 15:5:
“I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.”
Jesus said these words. And it would benefit us greatly not only to remember that, but to also see the details in what He has said. First that He is the Vine. See the imagery that Jesus is using here… A vine is what supplies nutrients to the branches so that the branches continue to thrive and bear fruit. The branch, no matter how much it wants to, no matter how hard it tries, it cannot bear fruit by itself; the only way is by abiding in the vine. Truly it can be said, that a branch disconnected from its vine is fruitless and dead. So Jesus says to us (as the branches) apart from Him, we can do nothing, but in Him, we bear much fruit.
Notice also that He says you are the branches. You are not trying to become the branches; you are the branches. The same wisdom that Christ has, you have because it flows from Him to you. The same authority that Christ has, you also have. The same peace that Christ has, you also have. And of course the same righteousness and holiness Christ has, you also have. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:21). His strength flows in you. You may not feel it right now, but you have it in Him. The life of a believer in Christ is not a life of feelings, it is a life of faith. Your feelings can deceive you, your feelings can lead you astray (and they often do!). It is the devil that wants to keep you out of the realm of faith in Christ, and in the realm of feelings, because when you are in the realm of feelings, he can defeat you. Your feelings will tell you that you are weak, you are worthless, you are depressed, you are a loser. These are the lies that the enemy uses to try and crush you. The reality however is that you are on the solid foundation of Christ which stands firm and cannot be shaken (Psalms 125:1), so then what is shaking? It’s your emotions, your feelings.
You see many times we become so focused on our day to day life, and the demands and challenges that are right in front of us, and we try to solve all of our problems in our own strength and power. We often live our day-to-day life on autopilot, and we don’t receive from our Vine. We entertain thoughts such as “I have to do this.”, “I need to handle this.”, and it exposes what we really believe.
This is nothing new. Let’s examine another account from scripture, which is a story that I’m sure many of you are familiar with… when Jesus went to visit the house of Mary and Martha, in Luke 10:38-42:
“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
But Martha was encumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
In our natural mind, and with our human thinking, we tend to side with Martha rather than Mary here. Think about it… it’s not really proper in our culture when an honored guest arrives to just sit at their feet and not serve them. Instead when a guest arrives to our home, we become the busy ones, serving and making sure that they have everything that they need. Making sure they have food and drink, and that they are comfortable as guests in our home. But Mary saw something different that Martha did not see. Mary realized that not only was Jesus a guest in her home, but He was also someone worth listening to. Mary realized that the words of Jesus were something that she needed. Instead to trying to serve Jesus and give Him what she thought that He needed, Mary recognized that rather, Jesus was serving her through His words and that He was giving her what she needed. There is no greater honor to Jesus than allowing Him to be God and give to us – only foolish pride tries to give to the One when we ourselves have nothing to give. Jesus makes that clear when He speaks to the woman at the well in John chapter 4. This is the very heart of the issue though. We as prideful humans, do not want to accept the simple truth of how totally bankrupt we are. Morally, spiritually, intellectually and physically, we are absolutely bankrupt apart from Jesus. Our human nature though desperately wants to vindicate ourselves – we want to have a part to play in our own salvation, we want to have a reason to boast and bring honor to ourselves, we want to find some redeeming virtue in our own strength… but the simple truth is that there is nothing good in our flesh, there is no virtue in our human nature.
The Apostle Paul said in Philippians chapter 3, that if anyone had a reason to boast in their flesh, Paul had more. He was circumcised on the eight day; he was from the stock of Israel; he was of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and a Pharisee of the Law. Concerning zeal, Paul persecuted the church because he was that zealous and confident of his position, and of touching the righteousness of the Law, Paul said that he was blameless. Paul had it all – but yet he goes on to say that he counts it all as dung when compared with Christ. See although he appeared to have it all, Paul recognized what so many today fail to recognize. That all of those things that Paul had, are worthless. They are but dung. You either have everything in Christ Jesus, or you have nothing at all! And there are many people today holding on to their dung and failing to recognize the stench of it, thinking that they are pleasing God by doing it.
Look again at our verses in Luke 10, picking up at verse 40, we see that Martha was encumbered with much serving.
And complained to Jesus about it. She accomplishes quite a feat here: with one single question she manages to cast blame on both Jesus and her sister Mary… Martha says “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to serve?” and then she tells the Lord how to handle the problem by instructing Him to tell Mary to help serve. You see, when we wrap up our identity in ourselves and our service we become very foolish and selfish, and we end up doing exactly what Martha did here: we get defensive and prideful.
In verses 41 and 42, we see that Jesus never rebuked her for her service. It is not wrong to serve. However Jesus corrected her because of the wrong spirit and method by which she was serving. We see clearly that Jesus told Martha that she is troubled by many things, but only one thing is needful. And what exactly is this one needful thing? Jesus says that Mary has chosen what was good and not to be taken from her.
Look now at verse 39 to see what it was that Mary was doing… She sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His Word. I love how the Bible is so descriptive. Remember my friends that nothing is in the Bible by accident, there is no insignificant detail. We see that she sat at His feet, which was a gesture of humility, giving Jesus the place of honor and attention – she was looking up to Him instead of looking down at Him – recognizing that He was the important one, He was the center of focus. We also see that she heard His Word. She did not merely sit at His feet for appearances sake. She didn’t sit at His feet because it was the cool thing to do at that time and He was popular so she could be part of the in-crowd. No – she sat at Jesus’ feet because she genuinely wanted to hear His Word. His life-giving, all-powerful divine, saving word. Jesus calls that “the good part which will not be taken from her.” And look at the result of Mary taking the time to humble herself, sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His Word. We read in Mark 14:3-9 (also John 12:2-3) that she had the unique honor of anointing Jesus for burial. An act with singular distinction that Jesus said will never be forgotten. The lesson is this. It could easily be said by many that Mary wasted her time sitting at the feet of Jesus when she could be serving Him instead. A popular derogatory remark is that those who are embraced by the Grace of Christ are merely “resting on their blessed assurance.” But, Jesus Himself calls it good, and Mary’s choice to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His Words of life, resulted in a fruit of her doing more honor for Jesus in the end. Her own morality and works were not the cause of her anointing Him, but it was a result of her being the one which was most connected to Him as the true vine.
So I encourage you today. Stay connected to the one true vine, Jesus Christ. Although the world, the media and other people may try to convince you that many things are needful, the real Biblical truth is that only one thing is needful: stay focused on Jesus Christ and hear His words of life, grace and peace. Then you will be well vitalized and strengthened in Him, and when the time for fruit and ministry comes, you will shine, just as Mary did.