It’s that time of year again when people start thinking about gardening—turning the soil, planting seeds, getting things ready for growth.

Now, I’ll be honest—that’s not my area of expertise. But even I know one basic truth about gardening: if a branch is cut off from the plant, it doesn’t survive. It doesn’t struggle along for a while and then bounce back. It withers. It dies.

That’s the picture Jesus gives us in John 15.

He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (v. 5). It’s a simple image, but it carries a profound truth. Our life—spiritually speaking—is not self-sustaining. It’s entirely dependent on our connection to Christ.

As you read through this passage, two words keep surfacing again and again. The first is “abide.” Jesus repeats it again and again. “Abide in me… abide in my love… whoever abides in me.” The second is “fruit.” “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (v. 5). 

So if we’re going to understand what Jesus is teaching here, everything comes down to two questions:

1. What does it mean to abide in Christ?
2. What does it mean to bear fruit?