John 15:5-6
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
I have spent so much of my Christian life in a vain attempt at being ‘fruitful’. I would read verses of this nature and run off to prove to God and myself that I was a good and fruitful branch!
I would bring Him my polished pieces of man made fruit and present them as proof of my own worthiness. However, beneath the surface I always knew that my peace was only plastic and my joy artificial. The truth is that Jesus was never asking me to go and through my own human efforts produce fruit. He spoke clearly in this passage that apart from him I can do nothing [verse 5]. My human attempts to produce fruit will only bring a life of pretending. Christ is calling us to a much different life in this story of vines and fruit…I think the timing of this story tells us a great deal about its meaning. This parable comes right in the middle of John 14 through 16. This is a powerful portion of scripture in which Jesus begins unfolding for his disciples what the plan of redemption will truly mean; he is describing for them the profound difference in the way they will live. However, as you read this section of scripture you begin to see that the only thing the disciples were hearing was that Christ was leaving. They were already beginning to grieve the approaching loss of this man who had so changed their lives. I find it ironic that Christ uses this moment, in the middle of their grief to tell them that they must remain in him to be fruitful. I can only imagine how confused the disciples were at this apparent contradiction! Yet, as Jesus continues to speak his excitement seems to be building. Several times Jesus addresses his disciple’s sadness with the exclamation that the counselor is coming. Jesus knew of how the disciple’s lives would be changed by this gift of the Holy Spirit that awaited them! He knew that the intimacy they had felt with him while he walked on earth was only a glimpse of the closeness and friendship the Holy Spirit would bring. It is in this place of intimate communion through the Holy Spirit that Jesus describes this picture of a fruitful vine. He uses this not as a command to go and be fruitful, but rather as a warning to remain in the vine of the flowing Holy Spirit, because apart from this connection into the power of the living God we can do nothing.
The amazing part of these beautiful passages is what they mean for us. Jesus is speaking to us just as much as he was to the disciples. He is opening for us a path to a deeper understanding than our human mind could ever comprehend. He is offering to us access to a new way of living apart from our human strivings. He is telling us of the emptiness our vain attempts to produce fruit brings and asking us to stop pretending. He is calling us to allow the working of the Holy Spirit to replace our man-made fruits with the real and lasting fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is in this place of remaining in the vine of deep communion with God that the powerful sap of the Holy Spirit will produce the fruit that comes from a life lived in the intimate care of God…
Galatians 5:22-23
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
