Planted to bear fruit

Albert Bogle April 14, 2020 0 0

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John 15: 1-11 (NRSVA)

1 ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just 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. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

John chapter 15 is an intriguing passage of scripture. In this passage Jesus does something different; he identifies himself with the vine, the core of the plant. He speaks to his disciples reminding them that they are the branches, the fruit bearers. Using this metaphor Jesus identifies himself with our humanity and he highlights the role of God our Father as the Gardener. 

In this scenario Jesus is not some etherial mystical historical being from the past — instead he is one of us. The resurrection reminds us that by his Spirit he is our core, our branch bearer, our life.
It is his life running into the branches that produces the fruit.

To acknowledge and believe the life of the Vine flows through us changes everything. We are part of God’s amazing garden and we have been planted to bear fruit, his fruit.

Locked into the Vine 

Father Gardener,
Keep my branch securely fixed in the vine
Lock me in
So that the life of Jesus can flow through the branches of my life
Sustaining my work
My family
My friends
My neighbours
And when my time comes
Give me the strength to bear the pain of pruning
And the faith to believe 
Green shoots will appear again on the branches of my life