WEDNESDAY
Continuing our theme of our need for God today we come to Jesus’ words in his last conversation with his disciples before he would go to the cross.
John 15:1–5 1 “I 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 does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
A few brief words on this passage before we apply it:
First, taking into account John’s themes of God’s election of his people and their perseverance, verse 2 is likely not referring to former Christians who have lost their faith. Instead, Jesus is likely referring to those who claimed faith in Christ but that faith was never really, truly genuine because it didn’t ever bear fruit. Judas is a good biblical example of this. He had a degree of connectivity to Jesus, but he was never truly in Christ. We must be careful not to make this metaphor do more than Jesus intended it to.
Second, Jesus is the true vine. Old Testament passages point to Israel being God’s vine (Ps. 80:9-16; Is. 5:1-7; Je. 2:21). Jesus, here, is saying that he is the true vine to whom Israel was always pointing.
Third, fruit likely refers to everything in the Christian life. In the context it seems to refer to obedience to the commands of Jesus, inner character formation like joy and love, answers to prayer, ministry effectiveness, etc. Instead of reducing the fruit to one aspect of the Christian life it seems as if Jesus is referring to all of it.
Therefore, the main point is that production of fruit in the Christian life is dependent on our connectivity to Christ.
“The Christian or Christian organization that expands by external accretion, that merely apes Christian conduct and witness, but is not impelled by life within, brings forth dead crystals, not fruit.”
D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 516.
Like a branch needs to be connected to the trunk of the tree to produce fruit, so the Christian needs to be connected to Jesus to do anything of value in the Christian life. This is an image readily available to our imaginations. I have lots of dead sticks in my yard that I have to pick up every time I mow. I’ve yet to find one that begins to grow new fruit after it has come detached from the trunk of the tree.
So this must be the direction of our lives:
If you want to grow in love, look to Jesus as the definition of love.
If you want to experience peace, go to Jesus.
If you want to know God, know Jesus.
If you want to have joy, commune with Jesus.
If you want to expand the Kingdom of God, listen for the leading of Jesus.
Ultimately, however, I think Jesus’ meaning is more existential and less pragmatic. Those who are saved by God, as we saw yesterday, are grafted into the vine that is Christ. We no longer live but Christ lives within us. We are new creations in Christ. His life now flows through us in the Holy Spirit to accomplish character formation, obedience to the will of God, faithfulness to the mission and call of God, etc. This is similar to the fruit of a tree that receives it’s nourishment from the soil, which travels through the trunk of the tree before getting to the branches.
Again, Jesus’ point is a rather simple one. It is, stated in the negative, “…apart from me you can do nothing.”
George MacDonald sums up this point well when he says, “In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably—or succeed more miserably.”
Reflection
Reflect on your desperate need to be connected to Jesus for any fruit in the Christian life. Repent of anything you have attempted to accomplish apart from him. Then, surrender to his will, commit yourself to knowing him through regular Bible reading, prayer and gathering with fellow believers in Christ, and following his leading in all of your life.