John 15:1-4 Now Available feat. Kristina Meyer

John

Apr 11

John 15:1-4 is now available on all streaming platforms!

The Verse

[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Here in John 15, we find some of Jesus’ last words before He was arrested and crucified. It’s part of what’s known as the Farewell Discourse (John 13-17) as He gave His disciples His final thoughts and instructions before He left them. He had spent 3 years investing and pouring into them, but here He was trying to succinctly give them their marching orders. While there are many things to observe and dig into here, we’ll make two simple observations:

In a world of false vines, Jesus stands as the True Vine.

Jesus tells us in verse 1 that He’s the True Vine, and the natural implication of this statement is that there are “false vines.” A false vine is simply a person or thing that promises life or fruit to us that don’t ultimately deliver. Branches looking for life from other branches is always a dead end street. Our hearts are always looking for life, joy, and pleasure, and while we taste and see glimpses of that elsewhere, Christ stands the fulfillment of our deepest longings and desires! He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that life flows to us through Jesus, His work for us on our behalf, and as we learn to abide in Him. Note too in verse 4 His desire for us to abide in Him and Him in us. We must hear this as clearly as we can today: Jesus desires union and relationship with us! He’s not a begrudging Vine, but a joyful One.

In a world of self-sufficiency, branches are Vine-dependent.

By definition, branches are not autonomous but reliant. Detached from the Vine, a branch is just a barren fruitless stick. Imagine the branch of an apple tree suddenly detaching and declaring to the other branches around it that it no longer needs the trunk and root system to survive or produce an apple. It’s ludicrous! It is the same with us: apart from abiding in Jesus, we will never live to our full creative potential! We can’t produce fruit of our own accord, only as empowered and fueled by a source outside of ourselves. Jesus is the true Vine who fills and allows the branches to do the very thing they were created to do: be fruitful. Note here the Trinitarian life of God is at play here in this passage! The gardening Father who lovingly prunes, the sacrificial Son who invites us to come to Him as the Vine, and the empowering Spirit who generously fills and produces His fruit in us.

For each of us today, we must ask ourselves some honest questions:

What false vines have you been abiding in?
In what ways have you declared independence from the True Vine?
What are some simple next steps to re-attach yourself to the True Vine, Jesus Himself?
Are there others in your life you can talk to about this lifelong journey of abiding that we’re called to?

The Artist

This song was written by Kristina Meyer, and we asked her to share a bit about this verse and the writing process:

The origin of this song was as “Verses” as can be: I wrote it to help memorize John 15 for a discipleship group I’m a part of. For me, music is by far the most effective tool to memorize and immerse myself into a passage. A beautiful song can get its hooks into my head and help my heart meditate on it so much more easily.
As a songwriter, it’s actually quite a fun challenge to write verbatim to Scripture, as most verses are not structured in a form where you can easily “see” the song right away. You get to perform a sort of artistic surgery, crafting a beautiful and thoughtful song structure to accompany the passage. My prayer when writing is that when a song is finished, it sounds the way it feels to read, and that each element (melody, layers, instrumentals, intentional repetitions) helps immerse the listener in and draw out what is already present in the passage.
I hope this song helps weave this passage into your mind and helps you abide even more deeply in the word of God.

Kristina Meyer - Vocals
Taylor Armstrong - Guitars, percussion, backing vocals, and everything else you hear

The song was produced and recorded by Taylor Armstrong in San Diego, CA. Kristina’s vocals were recorded by Corban Roberts in Denver, CO. Mixed by Michael Keith Lewis and mastered by Thiago Silva Gomes.