Living Vine And Fruitful Branches

April 27, 2024 Pastor: Rev. George Fyler

John 15, 5 ~ Living Vine and Fruitful Branches (Congregation’s copy)

Easter 5 "B" /4,28,2024 / Christ Lutheran Church, Cleveland, Ohio

~In Nomine Iesu~

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [John 15:5 ESV]

~In the name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit~

Dear beloved of the LORD:

Alleluia, Christ is risen! … He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

          Jesus is the true vine planted by God the Father. His roots go deep into Israelite soil and God’s covenant promise to David, to Israel, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all the way back to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, the place of our origin.
          Jesus says, the Father is the vinedresser, ^{(vs. 1)} the gardener—the one walking through His vineyard, with dirt under his fingernails and pruner’s clippers on His belt as He performs the post-budding pruning of the branches. Watch the vinedresser in action^{(vs. 2)}—watch how He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit, while every branch that produces fruit, He prunes so that it will bear even more fruit. These are not random, hacking cuts He’s making. These are selective, strategic cuts. He carefully distinguishes green wood from dead wood. He has but one purpose: To make the branch even more fruitful.
          Fruit happens on new growth—on buds that have been spurred into action by careful pruning. That’s the first point of this comparison or analogy—the Father prunes us for fruitfulness.
          Before we can fully understand this image, we need to understand precisely what the “fruit” ⁽¹⁾ is that Jesus speaks of. In the NT “fruit” generally means the same thing, no matter who says it, whether Jesus, John, or Paul. In his letter to the Galatians ^(5:22-23b), Paul says that the “fruit of the Spirit” at work in us through the Word is this: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." It’s a singular fruit that delivers a variety of healthy nutrients flowing from the true vine.

          “Being fruitful” is not about how much work you can do for Jesus or how many disciples you can sign-up for the kingdom. Jesus is not giving His disciples a list of things to do. He’s telling them what flows from a heart that trusts Him and clings to His cross.
          Fruit happens automatically when the branch is healthy and properly pruned. If the vine is alive, and the life of the vine is flowing out to the branches, fruit happens. In verse 3 Jesus tells His disciples: "Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." By ascribing this cleansing to the Word, Jesus takes all the credit and glory to Himself. His cleansing us by the Word through faith ^{(our justification)} does not exclude the cleansing which follows throughout our life in the pruning away of all the defilements of the flesh ^{(our sanctification)}. Dead wood is what the Father’s pruning clippers remove and discard to the burn pile. Paul calls these things the “works of the flesh.” ^{(Galatians 5:19)}
          "Works of the flesh" are the things that Jesus died to take away from us. These are the works we died to in our Baptism. This is what Jesus absorbed into His death and buried in His tomb. These are the dead works of doubt and unbelief. These works need to be cut away and burned. Therefore the Father prunes away the dead wood that gets in the way of Jesus' life flowing through us.
          Pruning can be painful. The branch suffers loss and injury. But that’s how the growth comes that makes for fruit.
          “Why do bad things happen to good people?” we ask, and then say, “Why do bad things happen to me?" The answer from today’s reading comes this way: He prunes away every branch in Jesus that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You’re being pruned, not punished—pruned by the Master Gardner to produce more "fruit."
          This is the experience of many Christians. It isn’t until they experience suffering and loss, until they’ve done some time carrying their own cross, that they discover a depth of love, joy and peace that would have remained hidden. ^{(cf. Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Luke 14.27)} They find that the most difficult and painful times in life are also the most spiritually fruitful for receiving the comfort of God's Word. It is truly a blessing the way God gently and lovingly prunes away what His wisdom knows is choking faith and its growth in us so that the Word He implanted in us grows and blossoms.

How can this be? Such pruning is not what we expect, nor does it seem to take away the pain and heartache. In fact it is a “theology of the cross;” like the disciples, we must learn to expect nothing less from Jesus. At the cross, He joined Himself to the suffering and the consequences of fallen humanity. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus spoke the words of our text to His disciples. In so doing He set in motion the pain that He must feel as the branches are pruned and readied for new growth, new fruit, and new harvest. Jesus suffers with His people, in this "vine-branch-fruit analogy," and not merely for them.

          This becomes the heart of the good news for us. Now   Immanuel, not only dwells with us but suffers with us, fails with us, and dies with us. Such is the extent of the love that the owner has for His vineyard. His life and destiny are joined to the vine. But then, so are we, who are grafted onto this vine—this Christ. Since indeed He suffers, fails, and dies with us, so conversely, we are made whole, conquer sin, and receive new life with Christ. In the process there will be painful pruning, but once grafted into the “vine” we have the life giving sap of that "vine" flowing through us and producing a whole new kind of "fruit."   Whenever Christians acknowledge their sinfulness and their sin they must run to this Gospel of the "vine and its branches" which conveys to them the forgiveness of sins because of what Christ suffered on the cross.
          No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. Apart from the vine, it will wither, dry up, and die. “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me … apart from me, you can do nothing.” ^{(vs. 4)} That’s the second point. This is not about you, but about Christ at work in you and you living in Christ.
          Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. And yet we try. We who ought to know better—we baptized believers in Jesus—yet we try to go it alone. I don’t know whether it’s our rugged individualism or our old Adam. I suspect it’s some of both. We try to produce the Spirit’s fruit by doing it on our own without Jesus. The unbelieving world certainly does. How sinful and foolish are we to seek our own glory? Consider Jesus’s words that correct our foolishness: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” ^{(vss. 7 & 8)}

          To guide us today's Gospel tells us: Good fruit comes from Jesus … out of His perfect, sinless life … out of His innocent suffering and death … out of the open, empty tomb of His resurrection. It comes from the life of Jesus flowing into each of us, joined to Jesus. He is the Vine—remember—we are the branches! We are not each vines unto ourselves. We are branches joined to the Vine, drawing our life from Him, our strength, and our fruitfulness.
          As we abide in Jesus, we hear His Word. We eat and drink His Body and Blood. We hear and cling to His Word of forgiveness. What happens here in the congregation each Sunday is the fruitful celebration of vine and branches. Pay close attention and observe Jesus the Vine, feeding and nourishing and refreshing healthy branches to be fruitful. ^{(cf. vss. 5-7)} God does everything. He grafts us to the true Vine and prunes away the unproductive branches. The Vine is always here, giving us life. Jesus is always faithful, always forgiving, always urging and welcoming. “Come to me. I am the Vine; you are my branches. I will fill you with my life, with my strength, with my forgiveness. Apart from me there is only death and destruction. And the hell of it is … that result is all unnecessary. I died for you. I embraced you in my death. I remained in you, now you remain in me. That’s how you become fruitful and alive—in me. Not in yourselves, but in me.” Jesus is saying that to each of us here this morning. "Remain in me, as I remain in you."
          His Word makes us clean … His Word makes us fruitful … His Word shapes our words of prayer. It’s to His Father’s glory that you bear fruit, much fruit, and that you be His disciples, trusting Him all the way in life and in death. You are the branches; He is the Vine. In Him you are fruitful. AMEN.