March 25, 2026 | Be Connected
Jesus Teaches about the Vine and Branches
Scripture: John 15:1-17(NIV)
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also 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.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 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 you so 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.
Devotional
The vine and branches.
A few years ago, I bought a raspberry plant. I had no idea how raspberries grew. I learned that raspberries are not easy. My husband worked on the raspberry plant for years. He built a trellis. He pruned the branches. He watered. After a couple of years, we saw some fruit. But the birds usually found the fruit first! Finally, after 4 years, we had raspberries! Delicious, slightly small, wonderful raspberries.
Jesus gave the analogy of the vine and the branches. Just as my husband cut the branches that did not bear fruit, God cuts the branches in us that do not bear fruit. God cuts away the pieces of us that do not share his good in the world. By doing this the remaining branches are more fruitful. Just as our raspberry vines produced more fruit, our lives with the “bad branches” cut have more ability to share and spread God’s love. But in pruning, the fruitful branches must remain in the vine. Just as the branches need the vine to bear fruit, we need God, the ultimate gardener to bear fruit. He knows our “good branches.”
Jesus continues, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” Being the branch in the vine connects us to Jesus and his love. We must remain in His love. As we are loved by Jesus, we can then love one other. This continues to his greatest command to Love each other.
John 15 solidifies that we must remain in Jesus so that we can review his love and joy and bear his fruit by loving each other. How can we help each other grow in God’s love and prune away our bad branches? How can we depend on him every day, in every way, to take care of us?
