“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5 ESV)
In this parable, Jesus calls himself the vine because the vine gives life to its branches. Without the vine the branches cannot live. When the branches are alive and healthy, they naturally produce fruit.
A healthy and fruitful life can only occur by abiding in Jesus. When we try to work on our own, without Jesus as the vine, we cut ourselves off and become useless branches. But when we place and keep our focus on Jesus, we are able to shine His gentleness and kindness, and attract others to Him.
"By a matchless parable our Lord there taught us that all believers are branches of the Living Vine, and that, apart from Him we are nothing and can do nothing because we have in us no life."
- A. T. Pierson