What Was Jesus’ Point in the Teaching?

1. Select one teaching of Jesus from one of the following Bible verses (underline the passage chosen): Matthew 5:21-24; Matthew 5:43-48; Matthew 6:19-24; Matthew 7:15-23; Luke 15:1-32; John 13:1-17, 34-35; John 15:1-11. Answer the following questions:

a. What was Jesus’ point in the teaching?

In John 15:1-11 Jesus is teaching us what it truly means to have a relationship with Him. We ae connected to him through our branches. He tells us in the first verse, “I am the true vine” (NASB, 1980). What this passage is letting us know is that, He has purpose to fulfill our lives when we abide in him. He gives life to us through like branches on vine that are flourishing. Jesus says in the fifth verse that he is the vine and if we abide in him we will live a life of abundance and we too will have a purpose to share his love. If we chose to stray from him, which creates a barrier that separates us from him, we will not flourish, grow in him and have a life that is of abundance. Jesus removes the branches that are not flourishing and are hindering our growth in Him from our lives and he keeps the branches that allows us to grow freely in Him. Jesus wants us to abide in his love and fruitful, joyous life. In verse seven, he tells us that if we abide in him and his words abide in us, whatever we want or need shall be done for us. As long as we abide in Jesus and keep his commandments we will not want for anything. He is the vine to our branches and helps us flourish and grow. In this passage we see that we/Christ followers go from not being fruitful to bearing much fruit. As we continue to grow and thrive in him we will bear plentiful fruit. That is when we are in accordance to his will in our lives.

b. What sort of relevance does this teaching have for other worldviews?

The relevance of the teaching in this passage is for all worldviews to see that God is life and love to us. He has a purpose in our life, just as we have a purpose in our lives. Jesus wants all humanity to have a personal relationship with him. He shows in this passage the way we are connected to him. Jesus is the vine, we, the believers are the branches. What flows through the trunk of the tree (which represents his body) and through the branches is life. His purpose in our lives is to give us what we need to flourish and thrive. He tells us what we need to do in order to have a fulfilled life. We are to abide in him. This is for all worldviews. He wants us to have a relationship with him and with others and he wants us to flourish and grow with him. Through this passage he is teaching us to love others as he has loved us and the Father loved him (NSAB, vs 9, 1980).

c. What does this teaching reveal about Jesus?

This passage teaches us about the amount of love he has for us and how he gives us purpose in life. Jesus wants us to flourish and have a joyful life. He does not want us to live a life that is not of him, nor living a life that is spiritually dead. Jesus craves a relationship with us. It says in verse 5 in The Message Bible, when we are joined with him and him in us, the relation intimate and organic, our harvest is sure to be in abundance (The Message, 2002). Jesus wants us to thrive, be fruitful and flourish. This