LOVE ONE ANOTHER
John 15:1-17
Jesus is the Vine and the Father is the Gardener. Looking at the separation of roles, it seems to me that Jesus’ role as the Vine is to welcome all who desire to be a part of him. The Church is not to play God to determine who is saved or who is not. All are welcome who wish to come. We should take people at their word.
It is the Father, who, as the Gardener, will take action and weed out the false from the true. No one will enter the Kingdom of God on false pretenses. “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.” For the rest, “he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Many preachers focus on the fact that pruning is a painful process. Whether painful or not, God desires to cut away that which is superfluous and unnecessary, as the writer to the Hebrews writes, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” so that we will be even more fruitful. While we as branches are affected, it is God who takes the lead.
Jesus is the Vine and we are the Branches. What is very clear is that if we do not belong to the Vine, if we are not a part of the Vine, then there is no way we will be fruitful. The Gardener will at some point remove us.
However, Jesus went a step further and describes Branches who are attached, who are considered a part of the Vine, but do not “remain” in him. These “are like” those dead branches. Jesus does not categorically state that they will eventually detach from the Vine completely, but it is not a situation to be complacent over. The many “if” statements tell us that “remaining in him” is crucial to our health as branches.
Remain in me. But how do we “remain” in him? Very clearly Jesus says, “If you remain in me and I in you”, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you”, “Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love.”
These statements of his tell us very clearly that the key aspect of our remaining in him is that he is in our lives and shapes our lives. “I in you”, “my words remain in you”, and “keep my commands” leaves us in no doubt that we are to so walk with Jesus that who he is influences and shapes us.
The key to our understanding of his vision for us is in the command that he explicitly gives: “Love one another”. It is significant that he did not make “be righteous”, or “keep yourself pure”, or even “love God” or “love me” as the cornerstone of what he desires of us. This is not to say that all these are now set aside or rendered secondary issues. It is to say that this is the key: love each other. Love then the mark of a disciple of Christ. Love in essence is the fruit of the Vine.
As we let his love and his word fill us, and we embrace his command to love one another, the resources of the vine flow—the power of prayer, the love of our Lord, the fruit of the Holy Spirit—so that our lives will indeed be fruitful—fruit that will last—fruit that glorifies God.
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”