This statement comes with an invitation as well as a warning. Even though I know how valuable accepting the invitation is, living within its boundaries often eludes me.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser...I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
What do you know about vines? I remember driving through the Finger Lake region of NY as a boy, and seeing field after field of grape vines. The vines themselves were pretty short, and didn't look like much, but the branches spread out over quite a large area. We usually made that trip toward the end of summer, so many clusters of grapes hung from those branches. At first glance, the branches appeared to be the important part, but I also saw those same fields during pruning time when those branches would be cut back significantly, revealing the main stalk of the vine. Another thing I noticed was the many miles of wire which supported and trained the branches.
In this passage, Jesus refers to the pruning process. It fulfills two purposes. First, it gets rid of branches that fail to bear fruit. Secondly, for the branches that bear fruit, it provides opportunity to bear even more. What happens when a branch is pruned? If cut back all the way to the vine, it dies and withers away, but if only part of it is cut away, it reproduces, and more branches grow from it. This latter picture is what God desires for His children. He invites us to abide in Him. As we accept the invitation, we begin to bear fruit. Then the pruning starts, and we have the opportunity to bring others to an understanding of the value of connecting to the vine. Just as a vinedresser trains the branches using the wire that stretches through the vineyard, God trains us. And oh how much we need His training!
The vine provides life for the branches. In the same way, Christ brings life to us. He warns us in this passage about becoming disconnected from Him. We will not bear fruit, in fact, He goes so far as to say apart from Him we can do NOTHING! And yet I often try to accomplish things in my own strength, forgetting that He brings life and strength. I want to be an abiding branch. I want to bear much fruit, bringing glory to God, demonstrating that I am a disciple of Jesus.
