John 15:1-17 (NLT)
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
I love the imagery of the vine that Jesus uses in these verses. I think vines are beautiful, how they grow and spread and bloom. They are a work of art with all the leaves and branches connected and entwined, encircling and supporting each other.
It is a fitting description of who we are in Jesus. He is the vine and we are the branches. He is in us and we are in Him. As the body of Christ, all attached to the vine of Jesus, we are entwined – connected and supporting each other.
Like all living things, the vine must be cared for. A wild vine appears quite chaotic – branches are tangled, rough and dry. The vine can overtake the object it is growing on, the leaves can turn brown and crumple into pieces, while the fruit and blossoms wither away.
The vine needs a gardener to care for it, to prune it, to cut away dead branches and withered leaves. To keep it healthy, the gardener must regularly prune it, water it and nurture it.
God is the gardener of the vine, as Jesus says. He prunes the branches so they can produce more fruit. Jesus tells us that as long as we are connected to the vine, we will produce fruit and God will prune us so we can produce more.
I used to struggle with some of the wording in these verses, particularly when it says that useless branches will be thrown away and burned. I thought these branches represented people who God would ‘throw away’ if they did not live up to His expectations.
Through questions, repeated reading of these verses and prayer, I realized I was seeing it wrong. God is not throwing anyone away – He would never do that. Some branches fall away by their own choosing, which is heartbreaking to the gardener and the vine. Other branches that are falling away and burning do not represent a whole person, but they represent the negative things that we are doing, saying, and thinking as God prunes us to be more like Jesus.
We are all sinners. Once we are connected to the vine, we strive to be more like Jesus, to do better, to love more, to sin less. The branches that are being thrown away are our selfishness, our insecurity, our angry tempers, our lustful thoughts, our sinful actions.
We are never totally ‘thrown away’ because God will never give up on us. When we choose to be connected to the vine, to follow Jesus, God prunes us through scripture, prayer, teaching, service, and each other so that we can produce more fruit for Him.
The heartbreak is for those who choose to remove themselves from the vine, or to never connect to it at all. They will never fulfill the purpose God has for them, the purpose He created them for.
At the end of these verses Jesus gives the commandment He has given many times before. Love one another in the same way He has loved us.
Love those connected to the vine as brothers and sisters in Christ. Encourage them, hold them accountable, support them and lift them up. And do the same with those not yet connected to the vine. Show them the incredible love of Jesus. Let them become fruit of the vine. Show them what it means to be a part of God’s Kingdom. Invite them to join.
Our song for today is Known by Tauren Wells.