The Vine of Christ
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One of the most common of all crops grown and harvested in Palestine was that of grapes. Interestingly, the Israelite spies sent into the land of Canaan returned with a cluster of grapes so large that it was carried between two men on a staff. It may have been regarded unthinkable for a region so suitable for vineyards to fail to produce a generous yield. That idea is figuratively applied at the Fifteenth of John’s Gospel. There, the Savior presented Himself as the “Vine” and His Father as the “Husbandman,” or Caretaker thereof. Those who would be faithful followers of Christ must abide in the Vine of Himself, and the words of the Father must abide in them. Such ones bring forth much fruit, while those branches abiding not in the Vine of Christ are withered and discarded. While there may have been no better place than Palestine for vineyards, there is no place at all for the bearing of spiritual fruit but in the Vine of Christ.
Written and voiced by David Hayes Prophater