John 15:1-8 Connected

John 15:1-8 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off. And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit.

3“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5“I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples.”

Connected

I.

It was a nice spring evening—no longer so cool as to put a chill in a person as you walk along. A man and his companions left the room where they had eaten a festival meal and walked toward their next destination. The man taught his companions as the group walked along, just as he had done many times before.

Passover was the festival they had just celebrated together. Disturbing things had happened already that evening. One of their companions had left the meal early. With no real explanation of what was going on, he just left—hastily, as if he had some important business to attend to.

Wonderful things had happened at that Passover celebration, too. An ages-old festival celebration had taken on new meaning as their leader had changed their understanding of a very significant part of the meal. He had instituted a new Supper for them to continue and pass on to the next generation of believers and the next—far into the future.

It was the first Holy Thursday evening when these events took place. Judas had rushed out of the hall to satisfy his greed—off to complete the arrangements of betraying their Master. As for that Master, Jesus had changed their understanding of what was taking place in the ritual celebration of the Passover. He showed them that it all had pointed ahead to him and what he would do for all people. With the third cup in the Passover meal Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper.

Now, as the group walked along in the cool of the evening, they couldn’t help but notice the vineyards in the countryside. Spring is a busy time in the vineyard. Perhaps by the time the group was walking past much of the technical work had already been done. Branches and canes lay in heaps, detached from the vines, ready to be disposed of.

Most of the disciples were fishermen, not tenders of vineyards. Even though tending vines was not their trade, they were close enough to the farmers and vintners of the day to understand at least something of what was going on. They had probably seen people going methodically down row after row of grape vines tending and pruning with surgical precision.

As they walked along past a vineyard, the stage was set for Jesus’ illustration. He began: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1, EHV).

II.

You don’t have to drive all that far to the north or to the south of Grand Rapids and you will see the vineyards and the orchards. Some of us like to pay a visit to the orchard or the vineyard from time to time. We tend not to go until it’s time for the harvest, so we miss the real art of preparing the vines and trees to grow the fruit for the year.

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he is going to cut off. And he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit” (John 15:2, EHV). The process hasn’t really changed all that much over 2,000 years. These days in the big, commercial vineyards some of the process has been automated to a great extent. One worker drives a machine down the isle and mechanical arms on each side cut and prune the vines as it goes. Even all these centuries later, if you want the very best results, the pruning has to be done the old-fashioned way—by hand, by someone who knows and understands exactly what to prune and exactly what should be left to grow for this year.

As he calls attention to the pruning process, Jesus’ illustration is revealed. He draws attention to two kinds of branches.

The first branch does not bear fruit at all. In an orchard or a vineyard, there is no place for unproductive branches. Leaves giving shade and looking good without producing fruit are simply not acceptable in the vineyard. If the branch is incapable of bearing fruit, it’s just using the resources of the plant without producing the needed results.

One of the Twelve disciples of Jesus outwardly appeared to be joining Christ, but his heart had lost faith and love. Long before their Passover celebration Judas had been using his affiliation with Jesus for nothing but his own personal gain. As the group’s treasurer, he would put his hand into the till and take out funds for his own personal use. He mocked any expenditure of funds for things he didn’t think were appropriate because he wanted to get his own hands on that money.

Judas’ connection to Jesus had become nothing more than to find ways to enrich himself. He was like a sucker on a plant—he was filled with leaves and beauty and shade, but he was just using the resources of the vine for his own purposes, not to bear fruit.

“If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (John 15:6, EHV). There are those who are like Judas. Though they once may have believed in Jesus, they no longer enjoy the spiritual fellowship of true disciples of their Lord Jesus. In the Christian Church we want to warn people who seem to be on this sort of destructive path so they will remain connected. While we can only guess by the fruit—or lack of it—God knows the heart. He cuts away the unfruitful, unbelieving branch to be thrown into the fire and burned.

III.

God deals with the unfruitful branch by cutting it off from the vine. Branches that have no ability to bear fruit are thrown into the vineyard’s burn pile. Jesus also spoke of a fruitful branch. He said: “He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit. 3“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:2-3, EHV).

As he started talking about pruning Jesus wanted to make it clear that believers are grafted into the Vine—grafted into himself. He put it this way: “You are already clean.” That cleansing is called justification, which means that God declares us righteous and holy. We have this because of the gospel—the Word he has spoken to us, as he puts it here.

Jesus has done all the work. He doesn’t need to be fertilized. He doesn’t need to be strengthened. He doesn’t need to be cut back. He has done everything for our salvation. His death on the cross paid for every sin every human being has committed. The sins of Judas who rejected Jesus were all paid for. The sins of Peter, who in weakness denied Jesus, and the sins of Thomas, who doubted Jesus, have all been paid for. Our sins of weakness and doubt and denial have all been paid for, too. Jesus has purchased and won our salvation—our justification. “You are already clean” because of what he has done for you. “You are already clean” because you have been grafted into the vine.

“Remain in me, and I am going to remain in you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Likewise, you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4, EHV). To remain in Jesus is to believe in Jesus. Faith means that you and I, as Christians, receive nourishment from the Vine—from Jesus. Day by day you grow because you are connected to Jesus in his Word. Week after week you come to hear his Word and receive strength from his Supper.

IV.

By remaining in him, you produce fruit. Jesus says of the Gardener: “He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will bear more fruit” (John 15:2, EHV). You can find YouTube videos of people showing the proper method for pruning a grape vine. It looks brutal—excessive. It looks like they are cutting off way too much as they prune the vine. Then they explain; if you don’t take enough off, the vine will produce lots of grapes, but they will be small and not very sweet. In order to get the biggest, best fruit on the vine, you have to prune the vine down to only two or three buds from the last year’s growth. Any weak canes sticking out, or facing the wrong way, also have to be removed.

I wouldn’t be able to do very well running a vineyard. I would be too timid when it comes to trimming down the vines, so the fruit would be small and lacking flavor.

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, EHV). Without Jesus we are incapable of bearing fruit. Giving up our relationship with Jesus—cutting ourselves off from him and his Word—would be fatal.

Remaining connected to Jesus, our Vine, means that we bear much fruit. When Jesus speaks of fruit, he means good works. A good work is something that is in accordance with God’s will. It is done by a believer out of love for God and thanks for what Jesus has done for you. The Apostle Paul defines fruit in broad terms. He says: “The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, EHV).

Fruits of the spirit show themselves in a Christian life. The Christian lives in the joy of forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation we already have in Jesus. Living connected to Jesus we live according to his will. We want what he wants—for his Kingdom to continue to grow and flourish. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7, EHV). Because we are connected and want what Jesus wants, there is no limit for the Vine. The only limit is our faith, which might not ask, even though faith has the right to ask.

“My Father is glorified by this: that you continue to bear much fruit and prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8, EHV). Doing the good works that are fruits of faith gives glory to God the Father. People will see you living your Christian life and recognize that being a Christian is something they want to learn more about.

What is your fruit that you bear because you are connected? It’s different for everyone. Each of us has different gifts and abilities; each has strengths and weaknesses. Jesus didn’t give specific examples of what those fruits of faith would be or must be. Living in the Vine is different for each one of us. Remain in the Vine. Gather strength for your Christian living from God’s Word and the Sacraments. Whatever you do out of love for Jesus is your version of the “much fruit” you bear as a branch of Jesus. Stay connected. You will bear much fruit. Amen.