First Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"The Gospel Of John"

Insights to Lesson 11
The Spirit ‘Replaces’ Jesus
March 6-12, 2004

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

According to our lesson author, in John chapter thirteen to John chapter sixteen we have Jesus’ farewell counsel to His disciples. Almost at the exact center of that counsel we find Jesus’ revelation of the relationship between the “vine and branches.” Understanding this counsel is central to understanding our relationship to the Spirit, Christ’s representative in our world today.

We have often discussed the need for Christians to “abide in the vine.” And we have carefully observed the fact that we cannot bring forth fruit unless we “abide in the vine.” This is all well and good. However this is not Jesus’ first lesson taken from the symbol of the vine and the branches. If we are to fully appreciate this second lesson on the vine and the branches we must first come to grips with the first lesson. Then we will begin to appreciate more fully the necessity of our abiding in the vine.

Jesus first lesson on the vine and the branches is found in the first verse of John chapter fifteen. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser” (John 15:1). We have been so fixated on Christ’s second lesson concerning our role as good “branches,” that we rush right past His first lesson concerning Himself as the vine. He first said “I am the true vine.” Here Christ emphasized something which is brought out more fully in the book of John than in any of the other three gospels.

Throughout the book of John, Jesus is presented in a position of subordination, weakness, and dependence. He is the “vine,” His Father is the vinedresser. Therefore He says over and over He did not simply come to earth, the Father “sent” Him. (See John 3:17, 3:34, 4:34, 5:23, 5:24, 5:30, 5:36, 5:37, 5:38, 6:29, 6:38, 6:39, 6:40, 6:44, 6:57, 7:16, 7:28, 7:29, 7:33, 8:16, 8:18, 8:26, 8:29, 8:42, 9:4, 10:36, 11:42, 12:44, 12:45, 12:49, 13:20, 14:24, 15:21, 16:5, 17:3, 17:18, 17:21, 17:23, 17:25, 20:21.) As the foregoing list shows, John records this lesson more fully than any of the gospels by far. And it makes sense in light of the fact that a vine does not go where it pleases. It is trained by the Vinedresser to grow in the direction in which He “sends” it. Here we see Christ as a model of subordination.

Jesus is also presented in the book of John in a position of weakness. It is John who records that Jesus said “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). And “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself” (John 8:28). And “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). All of these verses make clear that the works which Christ did were done by faith in a power outside of Himself. And so it must be with us.

Christ is also presented in the book of John as the dependent One. He depended upon the Father for everything. He was dependent upon the Father to drawn the people to Him (John 6:44). He was dependent upon the Father for life (John 6:57). He was dependent upon the Father for His doctrine (John 7:16). He was dependent upon the Father for His judgment (John 8:16). He depended upon the Father for companionship (John 8:29). His Father told Him what to say (John 12:49). He depended on the Father for His words (John 14:24). As the vine is dependent and helpless Christ was dependent and helpless. Until we understand why Christ referred to Himself as the “vine” we cannot fully appreciate our position as “branches.”

“I am the true Vine,” He says. Instead of choosing the graceful palm, the lofty cedar, or the strong oak, Jesus takes the vine with its clinging tendrils to represent Himself. The palm tree, the cedar, and the oak stand alone. They require no support. But the vine entwines about the trellis, and thus climbs heavenward. So Christ in His humanity was dependent upon divine power. “I can of Mine own self do nothing,” He declared (John 5:30). The Desire of Ages, p. 674.

If Jesus needed support and He could not stand up on His own. Surely we, the branches, need the support which comes only by abiding in the vine. Be sure you get Christ’s second lesson drawn from the analogy of the “vine and the branches.” But be careful not to miss the first lesson. He is the vine. The omnipotent One became powerless. The self-sufficient One became dependent. The Commander of the universe became obedient unto death, “even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Read the study notes for Lesson 12