The True Vine

Jim Elliot is an American born missionary who along with his wife and four friends (and their wives) decided to travel to the Haorani Indians, an indigenous tribe in the middle of the jungle in South America. This tribe was known for being extremely hostile towards outsiders and even killing former missionaries who attempted to evangelize to them. Elliot and his four friends (Ed McCully, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian) began to reach out to the people simply by giving small gifts. It was their hope that the gifts they gave would show the tribe that they were not a threat and wanted to begin a relationship with them. As their giving became more frequent the men decided to take the dangerous step in their attempt to show love to them—going to live among them. They were met, at first, by a warm welcoming party and they even gave a plane ride to a man who seemed very interested in connecting with them. It was a great day for the men! What they did not know, however, was that this man they called George had gone back and lied to the village about the intentions of these strangers. When these men made the journey back they were not greeted to hot food and a warm welcoming party but by anger, resentment, and spears. On January 8, 1956 Jim Elliot and his four friends were killed by the Haorani tribe, the very people they were trying to reach.

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed youso that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

(John 15:12-17, NIV)

Jesus just finished a discourse talking about Himself as the true vine, and us (His followers) as the branches. In this discourse Christ tells us that if we remain in His love, connected to his vine, then we will be able to produce fruit. But how do we produce this fruit? Jesus gives us the answer in one simple phrase: love one another! As we begin to lay the foundation for this verse it is important to look at the imagery behind these verses. I fear that we often forget about the rich connections between the Old Testament and Jewish traditions and Jesus’ ministry. In this particular metaphor the vine and the vineyard are historically rich metaphors for Israel. A topographical study of the country of Israel reveals that it is covered in vineyards. Israel, even today, is one of the largest exporters of wine in the world exporting $26.7 million each year.

So, it is no surprise that Jesus would return to this familiar image of a vine in His message to His followers. However, what Jesus is communicating here is radically different from the traditional understanding of this metaphor. In the Old Testament text the vineyard was used primarily as chastisement against the land of Israel (the vine) for not bearing the fruit God expects. However, Jesus flips this metaphor completely on its head saying He is the vine and we are branches growing from this vine, which never fails to produce fruit.

Putting aside the metaphor for a moment we need to dig deeper into what that means. What does it mean to be connected to the vine, which is Christ? Well, it means to share in the life that Christ lived and in the love that Christ loved. What kind of love is this? It is sacrificial love, laying down ones life for another. In order to produce fruit for the Kingdom we must love one another sacrificially, laying aside our own desires for the benefit of others.

But Jesus isn’t talking about the kind of love that prompts you to give someone a Valentines Day card, or flowers, or chocolate. It is something much deeper than that. This is life-giving love both for you personally and for the person receiving this love. This is not an isolated love. This is not a movie theater date kind of love. This is hard, nitty-gritty, Christ-like love. This is the type of love that led five men to the middle of a South American jungle so that others, who have never heard, can experience this type of love for themselves. This is the type of love that led Christ to the cross saying, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” True love requires true sacrifice. I would venture to say that in the midst of the turbulence that we have experienced in our world the past few weeks this is the kind of love we need to show as followers of Christ.

Fulfilling the call of Christ does not always require a physical death but it does require a life full of sacrificial love and of radical obedience to Christ’s call. This response of obedience and the resulting kinship that arises from it is also paralleled in the Old Testament. Both Abraham and Moses are called friends of God only after they chose to follow him wherever He called them to go. This obedience not only spurs the friendship on but it fuels the friendship as well. The friendship speaks to the closeness that God desires in our relationship with him.

One simple fact noted in verse 16 that we often miss is that we did not choose this friendship but Christ chose us. This should give us an incredible feeling of trust and security. We know that since Jesus chose us His affection and love will not disappear. This is why God desires that we be radical in living for His calling. Our callings should be steeped in love because we serve a God who first loved us. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for us so we must live in radical obedience to His calling trusting that He is not a cosmic taskmaster who simply desires a service from us but a friend who desires the best for us. Living a life of love full of sacrifice for one another is the thing that keeps us connected to the true vine and He will never let us fall away. Jim Elliot lived a life so full of love and was so radically obedient to the call of Christ on his life that He was willing to give it all away to make God’s name known. May God give us the courage and the boldness to do the same!