“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

“You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken in you.

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches.

“Those that abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing.

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

“If you keep my commandments, your will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I have commanded you.

“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.

“You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.

“If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you.

If you belong to the world, the world will love you as its own.

Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world– therefore the world hates you.

“Remember the word that I said unto you,

“Servants are not greater than the master.” If they persecute me, they will persecute you…

“But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, will testify on my behalf.”

–John (15:1-5, 8-20, 26),/blockquote>

I Am the Vine

Jesus here is saying that he is the true vine and his Father is the grower of the vines. While we may not understand the allegory of comparing himself to a vine, the important thing here is that Jesus is sying that he is a servant of the Father, who is God. That is very different from declaring himself to be God, which Jesus never did. And this is not the only place in the Bible where Jesus said, in allegorical terms, that he was not God, but a servant of God.

Jesus then adds that the Apostles that Jesus is talking to, as well as those of all ages who follow the true teachings of Jesus, are the branches of the vine, and that God “prunes” the branches that produce fruit so they may produce even more fruit. This is an allegorical way of saying that those who do God’s work on earth receive greater blessing and more grace from God so that they may grow in their spiritual stature and do even greater works for God.

Keep My Commandments

This is an important statement that many modern Christians ignore. Jesus did not tell his followers to keep the commandments that Moses wrote, but to keep his commandments. And what were his commandments? That we love one another and that we do God’s work on earth, meaning to do what we can to advance God’s Divine Plan to rescue the realm of matter and return it to the Realm of Spirit. The first rule for advancing God’s plan is to love one another. Not love one other, or a select few others, but all others. Universal Love is the Law of God and the commandment of Jesus.

The World Hates You

The World does hate those who practice spiritual development. The world runs on materialism and anything that opposes, or even fails to support that world is looked down on and derided. Just look at the way the word “Woke” has been used in recent years. Mystery schools of the past existed solely to awaken people to their spiritual Self. Most religions practiced helping people awaken their spiritual faculties, and those who became students were looked on with pride by family and friends. Now “Woke” is an insult, at least to some. Nonetheless, chosing to develop our spiritual Self is the smart choice, for only those who do so can become imortal Children of God in Heaven.