Bearing Fruit- John 15:1-11
I encourage you to read this passage on your own. It’s worth the time to peruse it. Let’s take a moment to make some initial observations about this text.
Jesus’ teaching here comes on the heels of Him washing the disciple’s feet, focusing on servanthood, while preparing them to carry on without His physical presence (learning to live under the Spirit’s influence). This transition to His teaching on Him being the Vine and us being the branches begins with the last of His seven “I AM” sayings seen in John’s Gospel. Are you familiar with these? Jesus revealed Himself, saying, I am…”the bread of life,” “the light of the world,” “the gate,” “the good shepherd,” “the resurrection and the life,” “the way, the truth and the life,” and finally, “I am the True Vine.” (see John 6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6 and 15:1 respectively).
We see in John 15:1-11 that His focus is on bearing fruit (vs. 2,4,5,8). What then, does Jesus’ description of Himself as the True Vine tell us about this matter? It reveals that He is the source of all fruit bearing. If we’re going to bear fruit, it’s going to be because of our connection to Him! What is the fruit to which He refers? Here fruit is a metaphor for spiritual richness which includes God’s work in us and through us. Make sense?
What might this look like? A fruit-bearing follower of Christ will display the following features. This is not an exhaustive list. These represent things I’ve observed in fruit bearing people. He or she will,
Be beautifully broken over his/her sin and on that sin’s effect of the Savior.
Receptive to and hungry for Jesus. He becomes the focus and the main attraction!
Intentional about his/her growth- not wanting to plateau.
Show respect toward others by demonstrating each person’s unsurpassable worth.
Acknowledge his/her sin to God and others, not making excuses for injurious behavior.
Forgive from his/her heart, knowing that he/she has been fully forgiven.
Live the crucified life, knowing that there are unwholesome appetites that need to experience death.
I’ll bet you’ve seen these things also. Do you find them attractive?
Next week we’ll explore the process that God uses to help us to become a fruit bearer.