From the Heart

The Vine and the Branches, April 17

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. John 15:1. FH 119.1

In His lessons, Christ did not aspire to high-flown, imaginary things. He came to teach, in the simplest manner, truths that were of vital importance, that even the class whom He called babes might understand them. And yet, in His simplest imagery there was a depth and beauty that the most educated minds could not exhaust.... FH 119.2

The vine had often been used as a symbol of Israel, and the lesson Christ now gave His disciples was drawn from this. He might have used the graceful palm to represent Himself. The lofty cedar that was towering toward the skies, or the strong oak that spreads its branches and lifts them heavenward, He might have used to represent the stability and integrity of those who are followers of Christ. But instead of this, He took the vine, with its clinging tendrils, to represent Himself and His relation to His true followers. FH 119.3

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” FH 119.4

On the hills of Palestine our heavenly Father planted a goodly Vine, and He Himself was the Husbandman. It had no remarkable form that would at first sight give an impression of its value. It appeared to come up as a root out of dry ground, and attracted but little attention. But when attention was called to the plant, it was by some declared to be of heavenly origin. The people of Nazareth stood entranced as they saw its beauty; but when they received the idea that it would stand more gracefully and attract more attention than themselves, they wrestled to uproot the precious plant, and cast it over the wall. The people of Jerusalem took the plant, and bruised it, and trampled it under their unholy feet. Their thought was to destroy it forever. But the heavenly Husbandman never lost sight of His plant. After the people thought that they had killed it, He took it, and replanted it on the other side of the wall. He hid it from earthly view.... FH 119.5

Every branch that bears fruit is a living representative of the vine, for it bears the same fruit as the vine.... Every branch will show whether or not it has life; for where there is life, there is growth. There is a continual communication of the life-giving properties of the vine, and this is demonstrated by the fruit which the branches bear. FH 119.6

As the graft receives life when united to the vine, so the sinner partakes of the divine nature when in connection with Christ. Finite men and women are united with the infinite God.—The Review and Herald, November 2, 1897. FH 119.7