One time on the farm I was sitting on my porch admiring the rose bushes that were in bloom. A couple of weeks prior they had appeared to be dead. They hadn’t been pruned in over two years since my mom passed away. Each bush was a huge mass of dead branches. My wife asked me about them, and I told her that if she would cut off all the branches that appeared to be dead [which was about all of them] that they would begin flourishing again. So, she went to work pruning them with the clippers; and sure enough, they came back and appear to be flourishing.
Those rose bushes relate to what I’m going to share with you this evening. John chapter 15 speaks of “bearing fruit,” which many times we interpret as winning lost souls to Christ. However, winning people to Christ is only one meaning of the word fruit. For example, another biblical reference to fruit can be the “fruit of the Spirit.” We gain yet another understanding of fruit through the eyes of the disciples. As people who lived in an agricultural society, they would have understood that fruit symbolized the best result or sweetest prize in life (Bruce Wilkinson, Secrets of the Vine, p. 20).(1)
In John chapter 15, Jesus isn’t trying to scold His disciples for not winning people to Christ, but He desires to instill within them four keys that will lead to confident godly living and abundance in life. Let’s read John 15:1-6, and see if we can discover what Jesus is trying to tell His disciples; both His disciples then and today.
A Message on Fruit Bearing (John 15:1-6)
1I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Before we expound on the meaning of this passage we need to look at the context of Jesus’ words. Back in John chapter 14, Jesus had been talking with His disciples in the upper room preparing them for His departure. He said things such as, “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you’,” and “I am going to the Father” (v. 28). Jesus knew that His disciples were heartbroken when they learned that He was to die on the cross, and this is the reason why He told them in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
After Jesus had finished speaking with His disciples, He said, “Arise, let us go from here” (John 14:31), and they departed the upper room and headed toward the Garden of Gethsemane. You can just picture their journey: “Along the terraces that follow the curve of the valley, they pass through ancient vineyards. They walk in single file between rows of neatly tended grapes, plants that have been bearing fruit for generations . . . Here Jesus stops. Hemmed in by rows of vines, the disciples gather around. Lamps and torches sputter in the night air and flicker in their eyes . . . Jesus reaches for a grape branch. Showing signs of new spring growth, its woody stem lies across His hand in the golden light. Now He begins. ‘I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser’ (15:1)” (p. 13).
In Jesus’ discourse He speaks of a vine that represents Jesus, a vinedresser that represent God the Father, and branches that represent you and I (pp. 18-19). He also speaks of fruit bearing, and of four different types of grape branches. One branch “bears no fruit,” another “bears fruit,” one “bears more fruit,” and yet another “bears much fruit” (pp. 24-25).
The disciples may have been sorrowful, but by the time Jesus had finished speaking with them He had shared some news that would have distracted them from their sorrow and given them hope for the life-journey they were to face ahead. These same words, once understood in their proper context, will also help us in what we may be facing and lead us into a life of significance and bearing fruit.
No Fruit: A Step toward Discipline (v. 2a)
Look at verse 2a. Jesus said, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away” (John 15:2a). The first branch of which Jesus spoke “does not bear fruit.” Here we find the first step toward bearing fruit; the step of discipline.
“Some Bible teachers have interpreted this verse to mean that if you bear no fruit, you can’t be a Christian. Others have said [the phrase] ‘takes away’ means [that] if you persist in life without showing evidence of your salvation, you lose it. But don’t you think the phrase ‘every branch in Me’ should prove the main point here? The New Testament repeatedly describes the believer as [being] ‘in Christ.’ Therefore, I believe we can safely conclude that it’s possible to be ‘in Christ,’ yet be like that branch that produces no fruit for a time” (p. 32).
“A clearer translation of the Greek word airo, rendered in John 15 as ‘take away,’ would be ‘take up’ or ‘lift up’ . . . In both the Bible and Greek literature, airo never means ‘cut off.’ Therefore, when some Bibles render the word as ‘takes away’ or ‘cut off’ in John 15, it is an unfortunate interpretation rather than a clear translation” (p. 33).
“‘Lifts up’ suggests an image of a vinedresser leaning over to lift up a branch. But why? . . . New branches have a tendency to trail down and grow along the ground, but they don’t bear fruit down there. When branches grow along the ground, the leaves get coated in dust. When it rains, they get muddy and mildewed. The branch becomes sick and useless . . . The branch is too valuable [to be cut off. So the vinedresser] goes through the vineyard with a bucket of water looking for those branches. [He lifts] them up and washes them off . . . then wraps them around the trellis or ties them up. And pretty soon they’re thriving” (pp. 34-35).
“When the branches fall into the dirt, God doesn’t throw them away or abandon them. He lifts them up, cleans them off, and helps them flourish again . . . For the Christian; sin is like dirt covering the grape leaves. Air and light can’t get in. The branch languishes, and no fruit develops . . . [God’s] purpose is to cleanse you and free you of sin so that you can live a more abundant life for His glory. The Bible calls this process disciplining or chastening” (pp. 35-36).
Discipline or chastening is what God uses to remove certain sins from our life that we sometimes cling to and are unwilling to let go of. You may be familiar with the biblical imagery of the refiner’s fire, where metal is melted down under intense heat and all the impurities that float to the top are scraped off in order to produce a pure metal. Sometimes we undergo chastening and certain trials to build character and to remove sins in order to make us purer Christians. Once we are purified this will lead to bearing fruit. We read in Hebrews 12:11, “No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”
Fruit: A Step toward Pruning (v. 2b)
Look at verse 2b. “After Jesus told His disciples how the Vinedresser cares for the barren branch, He reached for a branch that showed rampant growth but produced only a few clusters of grapes” (p. 57). Then Jesus said, “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (15 2b). The second branch of which Jesus spoke “bears fruit.” Here we find the second step toward bearing fruit; the step of pruning.
Are you praying for God to use you? Are you pleading that He will make you more like His Son? If your answer is yes, then you are asking for the shears. Pruning is how God answers your prayers that your life will please Him more and have a greater impact for eternity” (p. 60).
“Jesus’ plan is to prune, which means to thin, to reduce, to cut off. As unthinkable as it sounds – as contradictory as it is – the Vinedresser’s secret for more is . . . less” (pp. 57-58). “To get more from a grapevine, you have to go against the plant’s natural tendency . . . Because of the grape’s tendency to grow so vigorously, a lot of wood must be cut away each year. Grapevines can become so dense that the sun cannot reach into the area where fruit should form . . .” (pp. 59-60).
I remember when I was a grounds keeper at Center College and my supervisor taught me how to prune trees and shrubs. He explained that you must be willing to cut away whatever it takes to open up the center of the plant to light and air. I became the “master pruner,” so to speak, to where the supervisor would send me to do all the pruning on the campus.
One time I was sent to prune a berry bush that the other workers ate from. I pruned it according to my training, but one of the workers became very angry with me and wouldn’t let me live it down – that is, until the spring, when the bush bore more fruit than it ever had as a result of pruning.
Sometimes God has to prune people – and even churches – to get them to grow, and wherever He is pruning it hurts. Just remember that pruning is necessary for health, growth and productivity.
“Did you know that growers prune their vineyards more intensively as the vines age? A horticultural bulletin . . . explained why: The vine’s ability to produce growth increases each year, but without intensive pruning the plant weakens and its crop diminishes. Mature branches must be pruned hard to achieve maximum yields” (p. 71). “In mature pruning, the pruning will intensify as God’s shears cut closer to the core of who you are. God isn’t trying to take away; He’s faithfully at work to make room to add strength, productivity, and spiritual power in your life. His goal is to bring you closer to the perfect and complete image of Christ” (p. 73).
“If disciplining is about sin, pruning is about self. In pruning, God asks you to let go of things that keep you from His kingdom purposes and your ultimate good” (p. 62). “It is helpful to think of mature pruning in terms of the Bible phrase, ‘the testing of your faith’.” (p. 72). “Tests of faith are various trials and hardships that invite you to surrender something of great value to God” (p. 73). Psalm 66:10 and 12 reveal that the testing of our faith leads to abundance, for these verse say, “For you, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver . . . but you brought us to a place of abundance.”
How do we know when God is pruning us and how do we know what He wants to get rid of? “When God is pruning you, you hurt somewhere in particular. The pain comes from the point where His shears are snipping something away. If you are confused about where God is pruning you, ask yourself the question: Where does it hurt?” (p. 76).
More Fruit: A Step toward Abiding (v. 5)
Look at verse 5. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (15:5). The third branch of which Jesus spoke “bears much fruit.” Here we find the third step toward bearing fruit; the step of abiding. “After discipline to remove sin, after pruning to change priorities Jesus says, ‘Abide in Me’.” This point reveals the astounding truth that God doesn’t want us to do more for Him, but that He want us to be more with Him (p. 93).
“Picture the place where the ancient trunk meets [the] branch. Here is the touch point, the place where abiding happens. Here is the connection where life-giving nutrients in the sap flow through to the developing fruit. The only limitation on the amount of sap that goes to the fruit is the circumference of the branch where it meets the vine. That means that the branch with the largest, least obstructed connection with the vine is abiding the most and will have the greatest potential for a huge crop” (p. 95).
“To abide means to remain, to stay closely connected, to settle in for the long term” (p. 96). This picture tells us, “If your life bears a lot of fruit, God will invite you to abide more deeply with Him. [I must once again state that] His purpose is not that you will do more for Him but that you will choose to be more with Him. Only by abiding can you enjoy the most rewarding friendship with God and experience the greatest abundance for His glory” (pp. 95-96).
There’s an excellent example in Luke 10:38-42 of the importance of abiding. We see Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach, and then we see Martha working hard to accommodate her guests. Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her with the chores, but Jesus replies to Martha that Mary “has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her” (10:42). However, the Scripture tells us about Martha that she “was distracted with much serving” (10:39). This passage reveals that Jesus desires to have us abiding in Him and worshipping Him first before serving Him. It is out of our love for Jesus that our service flows, not the other way around.
Much Fruit: A Step toward Abundance (v. 6)
Look at verse 6. Jesus goes on to say, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather and throw them in the fire, and they are burned” (v. 6). The fourth branch of which Jesus speaks might be “thrown in the fire.” Here we will discuss the final step; the step of abundance. Of course being thrown in the fire is not a picture of bearing fruit or abundance; it is just the opposite. Jesus had been showing His disciples the steps that lead to bearing fruit, but right here He cautions what will be the result if we don’t reach the point in which we learn to “abide in Christ.”
What does it mean to be thrown in the fire, as Jesus says? “Jesus isn’t threatening a barren branch with hell. Unlike the olive tree, whose wood has found many uses since ancient times, the grape produces wood that is brittle and small. Ezekiel wrote, ‘Is wood taken from the grapevine to make any object? . . . Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel’ (Ezekiel 15:3-4). Jesus is making a dramatic point. If we’re not abiding, we wither and die and become of no spiritual use (p. 98). In other words, if we don’t abide our lives won’t produce; we won’t experience fruit or abundance.
If we do not learn to abide in Christ, we will be spiritually useless to the Lord, and this is a picture that is just the opposite of abundance. However, if we do learn to abide, we will experience a breakthrough in our life and become as a vine that is overloaded with fruit.
Time of Reflection
We have looked at four types of branches this evening, and I want you to consider where you might be in your relationship with Jesus:
1.) Are you the first branch? The one with “no fruit?” Do you feel distant from God, and are you experiencing pain and hardship? Then God might be chastening you and asking you to repent of certain sins. He might even be inviting you to know Him for the very first time.
2.) Are you the second branch? The one that “bears fruit?” Do you feel close to God, yet you are experiencing trials? Then God might be disciplining you in order to build character.
3.) Are you the third branch? The one that “bears more fruit?” Is the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart to spend time with the Lord? If so, then God is asking you to abide in Christ.
4.) Lastly, are you the fourth branch? The one that “bears much fruit?” Or are you near to being the fourth branch? If you have experienced the stages of the other three braches and you have been abiding in Christ, then God is getting ready to open the floodgates of abundance and fruit in your life.
NOTES
(1) Bruce Wilkinson, Secrets of the Vine (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 2001). Hereafter, all citations are derived from this one source and will be found within the text.
