Our three-week study in “Making Fruitfulness a Priority” (Nov.21-Dec.5) contains the section of a private teaching that Jesus gave His disciples the evening before His crucifixion. It is commonly called the “Last Supper Discourse.” Starting in 13:1 and ending in 17:26, we see Jesus giving a flurry of last-minute instructions intended to comfort, guide and warn His disciples.

A key to understanding Christ’s teaching is contained in the first 5 words Jesus begins with: “I am the true vine.” Jesus identifies Himself (in opposition to the legitimacy of the leadership of Israel) as the sole sustaining hope for anyone who would want to serve the Father. Do not be misled: Jesus is aiming His teaching at Israel’s disregard for His messianic identity. When Jesus says, “I am the true vine” (could be translated: “The Vine of the genuine”)he is not simply adding His voice to the many in Israel; Christ is actually eliminating any other hope for Israel. Jesus is indicating to the disciples that as they continue on they must never turn back to the Law of Isreal or the teaching of its religious leaders since they have no life in their teaching or lives (see Isaiah 5:1-7, Matt. 13:11-17). This is mind-bending teaching for the people of day. Jesus leaves no room for doubt or compromise, it’s either “connect” with Him or be disconnected from any hope.

Without this fundamental understanding, the concept of remaining or abiding in Christ (v.4,4,4,5,6,7,7,9,10,10) holds no force! Only when a person understands the radical exclusivity within the claims of Christ in opposition to the legalistic nature of the day can we begin to realize how far we have come from passionate Christ-centered living. Jesus does not seek spiritual bean-bag chairs conforming and accommodating a plurality of spiritual beliefs. Jesus is a spiritual wrecking ball that will not be finished until all other claims or sources of spiritual life are exposed and repudiated.

Background Note:
As I promised to report in the teaching, I believe Jesus is in the upper room getting ready to leave when he teaches in this section. I see three reasons for this: First, Jesus says in 14:31, “Come now; let us leave.” The formal dinner was over. The disciples would move from being reclined on each other to preparing to leave. Two, in 18:1 John indicates that Jesus and the disciples left after Jesus finished praying – the event of chapter 17. Therefore, they could not have left the “upper room” yet. Third, the whole temperature of the passage was about intimate instruction is hardly conversation that would occur walking through Jerusalem as over 2 million Jewish travelers meandered through the streets celebrating the Passover Feast.