Today’s Gospel from John uses the image of the vine and branches to give us an important reminder. The Father is the vinegrower, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me…Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” It rings so completely true – you hear the words and know to the depth of your being that they are right. Nonetheless, the reminder is an important one on two levels.
First, we need to always remember that what we do we do for the glory of God, not for ourselves. In the words of Psalm 115, “Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.” We need to be mindful of that we are about God’s work and God’s glory, not our own. Once in a while, even the most well-intentioned among us loses sight of that. We are capable of of forgetting it is not about us, but about God. Even Jesus said, over and over, that he did the will of the Father, not his own, and he spoke the words of the Father, not his own.
Second, what we do we do, not through our own power, but through the Spirit of God that flows through us. Without Jesus, we can do nothing; the branch without the vine will never bear fruit. But with Jesus, there is no limit. ”Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.”
As I reflected on this passage again this morning, the line that I focused on was Jesus’ explanation that the vine grower – the Father – prunes the branches that bear fruit so that they bear more fruit. The question worth praying with is: Where do I need some pruning? What in me needs to be pruned so that I can bear more fruit for God?
Very excellent post! I especially appreciate your questions at the end, which are very helpful and important to consider.
I wrote a similar post a few months ago. If you’d like to check it out here’s the link:
http://graceforgrace.com/2008/01/02/jesus-is-the-vinewe-are-the-branches/
thanks again for the great post!