“I am the true vine, and
My Father is the vinedresser.”
In this picture that Jesus paints of
bearing fruit, He makes it clear here and again in verse 5 that He is the
vine. We are the branches and the Father
is the vinedresser. Since the destiny of
both the vine and the branches are dependent upon the vinedresser it would be
good to gain a better understanding of the work of a vinedresser. A vinedresser is a professional agricultural
worker who unlike a harvester or other worker in the vineyard, works on the
plant year round. There is cultivating
and pruning regularly. Pruning is very
important to fruit bearing and to good fruit in particular. Grape pruning requires knowledge of each type
of grape in order to prune it properly.
Proper pruning focuses the growth of the vine where you want it, and
determines how much fruit the vine will have.
Jesus goes on to say in verse 2, “Every
branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch
that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. If a
person is not bearing fruit there can be only one explanation: they are not
connected to the vine. If a branch is
connected to the vine it will be producing fruit. However, even for the Christian, the
believer, the branch, there is still an ongoing process of pruning that
increases our fruitfulness. This is
where we must leave the analogy and see that as human beings we are different
than plants. Unlike the vine we can
resist the pruning. Ongoing pruning by
the Father is an ongoing part of our submission to discipleship. If we ever stop submitting to the pruning we
are starting a process of separation from the vine. Pruning cuts off a part of the branch that is
sapping the life from the main part of the branch and allows for the most
productive fruit bearing.
We must ask ourselves, if
along the way we felt we had moved beyond the need for pruning. Pruning is necessary only so long as we
intend to bear fruit. It is impossible
to bear fruit without it.
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