John 15:1-5

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

 Are you making fruit?

Are you growing some nice juicy grapes on your branch?

Did you know that you’re a branch?

That’s what Jesus said. You’re a branch. He’s the vine, and you’re a branch.

And what you’re supposed to be doing is making fruit, bearing fruit, growing fruit on your branch.

Now, we know that the Lord is using a metaphor to teach us a lesson here. I don’t think any of you are going to wake up one morning and see a cluster of grapes hanging from your arm.

Fruit is good works. The Lord wants us to do good works, more good works, much good works.

This lesson the Lord is teaching us about fruit comes just after the Lord’s supper. Jesus had desired with desire to eat the Passover with his 12 disciples before he suffered on the cross. Then immediately after, he instituted a new supper and taught us to eat the bread and drink the wine which are symbols of his body broken for us and his blood shed for us.

Then in John 13 he did something really radical. He kneeled before his disciples and washed their feet. They were shocked and probably horrified that their Lord and master would do this. It just wasn’t done in their culture for a master to kneel and wash his servant’s dirty feet.

He was showing them how different His kingdom was going to be. To serve in Jesus’s kingdom, you had to be a servant of all. You had to love others as He had loved you. With a sacrificial love, which by the way, is your reasonable service.

Peter and the others couldn’t believe it. Gone, vanished, were their visions of conquering the Romans and sitting in places of authority in this new earthly kingdom Jesus would usher in and rule.

But, Peter, impetuous Peter, recovered quickly. At first, he protested – Lord, you won’t wash my feet! But when Jesus told Peter he wouldn’t have any part with him in his kingdom if he didn’t wash his feet, Peter said, well then Lord, wash me all over!

Peter was all in and would find out in the coming years that being all in would mean persecution, prison, and as tradition has it, crucifixion upside down, because he said he was not worthy to die upright like his Lord.

Another lesson follows the feet washing. Jesus gives them a new commandment. Love others as I have loved you. This is the golden rule on steroids. Jesus had earlier taught them to love God and love others as they love themselves. Now, Jesus is teaching them to love others, not as they love themselves, but as Jesus loves them! What great love is this!

Then Jesus told them he was going away and in John 14, he comforts them. Yes, he’s going away, but he’s going to prepare a place for them to be with him in his Father’s house. And, there are many mansions or dwelling places there.

At the end of John 14, Jesus says, let’s go. Let’s take a little walk.

Jesus is headed to the Garden of Gethsemane, where he will pray in agony to God to let this cup pass him by, if that is possible. But, if not, God’s will be done. And then Judas betrays him and he’s arrested.

But before that, Jesus has one final lesson to teach his disciples. They lean in close, because they know he is about to go away, and they want to hear these last words from their Lord.

He has set the stage nicely. First, he gave them a great example by showing them that the greatest in His kingdom would be the servant of all. Second, he teaches them to love each other as he had loved them.

Now, he’s going to teach them to make fruit and a lot of it.

Jesus wants us to do good works. Bear fruit.

He’s about to die for us. Die for our sins. Then He’s going to give us the greatest hope in this life by rising from the dead, and telling us he’s coming back for us one day.

In the meantime, he wants us to make some fruit. Do some good works.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

What is this fruit? What are these good works?

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Good works is exhibiting these traits in service and love to others.

We are created in Christ Jesus. He is the vine, and we are the branches. And God is the keeper of the vineyard.

When we sin, and we do and will sin, God picks our branch up out of the dirt and dusts us off. That’s one meaning of “taketh away.” He takes us away and lifts us up — out of the dirt, washes our sin away and ties us to the trellis, so we can make some fruit. This is how the husbandman disciplines the branch.

It may take a while, it may be the next growing season, but if we submit to God’s discipline, we will bear some fruit.

After things are going better, we may produce a cluster or two of grapes, but we may also be producing a lot a leaves and foliage, too. The keeper of the vines doesn’t want that. Yes, the leaves look pretty and green, but they’re taking nutrients away from the grapes. So, the husbandman will prune our branch, so we can produce more grapes, more fruit.

Those leaves are pretty, and they’re like all of the good things in life we can be doing that take us away from God’s service. Or take us away from making fruit. And they may indeed be good things in and of themselves.

So, God prunes our branch, cuts away the foliage, so we can produce those beautiful grapes.

Many people will spend their lives stuck between the dust and the foliage. In a cycle of sin and activities, searching for a fulfilling life, producing some fruit occasionally, but never getting to the last step of making much fruit.

What we want is to break that cycle and abide in Jesus, so that we can produce many clusters of delicious grapes. Continue to grow spiritually –

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Perfection is our goal. Maturity in Christ, as we abide in the vine, as we increase our knowledge of Jesus, as we increase the time we spend with Him. As our relationship with Him grows, our branch’s connection to the vine grows, becomes thick and strong, until we’ve become one of those old, mature branches that continues from season to season producing the best fruit. Then we are truly abiding in Him.

May God bless you to grow into a branch that truly abides in the vine and produces much fruit.

Reference: Wilkinson, Bruce (2001). Secrets of the Vine. Multnomah Books.