Dr. Dan Hayden •

A branch of something is NOT the main thing. For instance, the branch of a tree isn’t the main trunk and a branch office isn’t the main office. A branch is merely an extension of the main thing.

Jesus told His disciples that they were branches. HE was the main thing, and they were merely extensions of who He was.

In John 15 Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” (vv. 1,2). Jesus said, “Every branch in Me.” Now, that’s an interesting analogy. As branches of a vine are anchored into the main vine, so the disciples of Jesus were anchored into Him.

The word “branch” is a word that refers to “a limb or shoot.” Actually, this Greek word klema comes from the root verb klao, which means “to break” — specifically, to break off a piece of bread. In other words, a branch is a piece of the main thing, like a piece of bread was once a part of the main loaf.

Jesus is using the idea of a branch in a spiritual sense. Really, He is saying to His disciples, “You are a piece of Me. It’s as if someone broke off a part of Me and that part became you.”

Cloning is big these days, and the idea of cloning is that a small piece of DNA can be taken from an individual to make an identical replica of that person. Now, that’s the idea here. Spiritually, we’re a part of Jesus (a chip off the old block, as it were) — a spiritual clone of our Savior so that people can see Jesus in us.

He is the vine, and we are the branches.

Say – Can people see Christ in You? They can if you’re a real branch. ■