Vine and vineyard imagery is found in the Old Testament before Jesus calls Himself the True Vine. Within the Old Testament, Israel is likened to a vine, or a vineyard. Jeremiah 2:21 says, "Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?" And Isaiah 5:1-7 says that Israel was cultivated by God to be His vineyard, a beautiful and pure vineyard. God says He did everything for this vineyard, and yet it bore wild grapes.
Jesus, however, calls Himself the True Vine in John 15:1-11. Here we find that God, in Jesus is the True Vine, and God the Father is the Vinedresser. Every branch that remains in the True Vine bears fruit, and the branches that do not bear fruit are thrown away by the Father. Unlike Israel, the branches in Jesus are fruitful and continue to bear more and more fruit.
The Father, as the Vinedresser, has two duties in His vineyard: 1. To take away and burn the branches that are unfruitful, and 2. To prune those that are fruitful.
So, who are the unfaithful branches? These are the people that may claim to know Jesus but who do not actually bear fruit. This passage makes it clear that a sign of being in the Vine is that the believer would bear fruit. The believer would keep God's commandments and would continue to multiply in fruit. Those who do not bear fruit are not within the Vine and are ultimately destroyed in eternal judgment.
Those who are fruitful, however, those who do bear fruit, are pruned so that they may bear even more fruit. Pruning is a painful process in which the vinedresser cuts away unnecessary growth and leaves during dormant seasons, cutting the branch back so that the fruit abounds more so. According to "The Modern Farmer", grape vines produce fruit on one-year-old wood, while older wood will produce only leaves and branches, but no fruit. Pruning maximizes the one-year-old wood while also ensuring that all the energy and nutrients are focused on the grapes, so they have enough energy to fully ripen. The Modern Farmer goes on to say, "Left to its own devices, a grapevine grows to a dense mass of mostly older wood with relatively little 'fruiting wood' each year. The dense growth leads to poor air circulation, which encourages fungal diseases. Expect to remove 70 to 90 percent of the previous year's growth each winter." While pruning is painful, a retired greenhouse owner once told me, "In God's kindness and grace, the pruning process happens in winter, when the plant is less likely to be hurt by the pruning." We can know when we're going through dry times, times of pain and pruning - when God takes from us and cuts us back, that it is a dormant time - expectant of bearing more and more fruit in its due season! How kind it is that the Vinedresser would continue to prune in order that we bear more and more fruit.
We find also in this passage the great relationship between "I" and "you." Jesus, talking with His disciples here, is coming to the end of His Farewell Discourse, where He is giving His last words to His disciples before His death and resurrection. Jesus says He is the Vine and the disciples are the Branches. He says the disciples must remain in Him, and He must remain in them in order for them to bear fruit. In fact, He says that apart from Him, the disciples can do nothing. So remaining or abiding in Him is a two-way relationship. We abide in Him, in His Word (v 7) and in His love (v 9), and He, in turn, abides in us. This reminds me of Suzanne Kilner's post from June 11th, entitled "Leaders Need a Consistent Devotional Life." How are we doing in abiding through daily prayer, Scripture intake, and communion with God? I know for myself it has ebbed and flowed this summer, but a study of this passage shows that it is vitally necessary for our lives. When we spend more time with Him, and acknowledge Him through His Word, through prayer, through communing with others, we become more like Him. And when that happens, it shapes us and our prayers are answered (v 7). We can ask what we wish when we abide in Him, and it will more likely be in tune with what our Vine wants.
And what is the point of remaining in Him and bearing fruit? It is twofold. First, verse 8 says, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples." Our fruit brings God glory. And second, verse 11 says, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full." John Piper's summary of Christian Hedonism formulates this well - that "God is more glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." We abide in Him and in His love and we keep His commandments, just like Jesus abides in the Father and kept the Father's commandments. We abide in Him who has gone before us as the Perfect Vine and has sacrificed Himself so that we can be with Him. He is a living Vine and produces living fruit through us. We must only remain in Him.
By Sarah Smith
Small Group Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment