I was listening to a sermon on John 15 this past week which lead me to some research and additional reading. The specific scripture that started it was John 15:1-8:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The speaker noted that this was said after Jesus and the disciples left the upper-room where the last supper took place. He theorized that perhaps the group was walking past a vineyard, the main Temple gate, or the Huldah Temple gate both of which had golden vines over them.
This got me curious. Why were grape vines at the Temple gate? Isaiah 5:7 says (in part):
The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel
I had never seen this or made this connection! This then led to the parable of the Tenants starting at Mathew 21:33:
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes? ‘”
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
This parable is a history of Israel. God is the landowner. The vineyard is Israel. The tenants are the leaders of Israel. The landowner’s servants are God’s prophets and the son is Jesus Christ. No wonder the Pharisees were angry!
Back to the John 15 text, Jesus’ remarks make total sense. He is the vine from which we (His followers) grow. He prunes us so that we may bear fruit.
What is pruning? It is a cleaning, cleansing sin from our life. I believe that God allows sickness, hardship, and troubles to occur in our lives to aid in this pruning process.
What is the fruit being discussed? The fruit is a changed life. When we look at a vine that does not contain any fruit – we may or may not know what it is. When we see a vine with a big cluster of grapes, we know exactly what it is.
I want the world to look at me and immediately know that I am a grape vine.
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