Yesterday I posted the first two elements of John 15:1-8, remaining (abiding) and obedience. Today I want to finish this series with the final two keys to this passage.
Jesus is certainly interested in fruit bearing. In the text He spoke of fruit, bearing fruit, bearing more fruit, and bearing much fruit. As I see it, fruit bearing is the by product of abiding and obeying. When a believer abides in Christ and obeys Him, that believer will become fruitful.
Ancient viticulture used two processes to ensure the harvest of fruit. The first process involved training the vines. Grapevines would be trained by running them along poles or trellises. The vines were lifted up from the ground to improve their fruit bearing potential.
In addition to training was pruning the vines. The ancients pruned twice a year. In the spring, they would remove the tips of rapidly growing shoots so that the vine would not become an end unto itself and to prevent it from breaking in high wind. Some of the flowers and early clusters would also be thinned to improve the quality of the fruit that was permitted to grow. The vines would be cleaned from the suckers that would grow up from the ground and become attached to the true vine and sap its strength. After the harvest in the fall and the vines were dormant, the gardener would remove unproductive vines and cut back the desired branches.
In our discipleship to Christ we too experience training and pruning. What is our training? I think our training is in our study of Scripture, for the Scripture is the trellis our lives run along. We also experience pruning as we cut away the stuff of life that clutters our discipleship and stunts our growth.
So what is this fruit we are to be producing? Scholars are divided along two generalizations. Some see fruitfulness as reproducing our faith in the lives of others through evangelism and missions. Others see it as the righteous living that is shared in service and ministry to the world. Or even some combination of the two. However you choose to come down on your understanding of fruitfulness, one thing is certain. Fruit is not to be appreciated, it is to be consumed. That’s the purpose of fruit.
A casual examination of the text would lead one to believe that the goal is fruit bearing. While this is important, it isn’t what Jesus is ultimately trying to accomplish. Jesus’ goal is not remaining, obeying, or even bearing fruit. The goal that Jesus has in mind is that we glorify God. Remaining, obeying, and bearing fruit are the ways we glorify God, and make His name greater and His Kingdom larger.
Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seent he Father.” Who do people see when they see you?
