The True Vine and His Fruitful Branches

John 15:1-5 When we think about Maundy Thursday we naturally think about the institution of the Lord’s Supper and it is right to think that way.  How can we ever thank God enough for the gifts of forgiveness and salvation that Jesus gives to us with his body and blood?  But there is much more that happens in the Upper Room than just the Lord’s Supper. 

Before the supper began, Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet.  And when he had finished he asked them,

Do you understand what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

The disciples were willing enough call Jesus Master and Teacher but they constantly struggled with what that meant in terms of their life with others.  They were concerned for themselves and their honor and place and status more than they were concerned for others. 

By washing their feet, the One they called Master and Teacher was trying to show them that acknowledging him as their Savior and Lord meant doing good for others.  Serving others was what he had come to do and those who were his disciples were to follow his example.

But where would they find the strength to live that kind of life that was concerned for others and full of good works? 

That is why Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper—so that his life would become a part of our life—so that his body and blood shed on the cross for the sake of others would strengthen us to offer our lives to serve others—so that we could receive his forgiveness for all those times we are more concerned about ourselves than those around us.

To understand the connection between his life of sacrifice and our life of service Jesus promised to pray for all who would follow him as Lord and Savior and he told them a parable about how our lives that are connected to his life produce the fruit of good works.  Jesus said:  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…and you are the branches.

The picture that Jesus paints is simplicity itself and if you have ever been to a winery or driven past an orchard one you can picture in your mind’s eye exactly what Jesus is talking about.  There is a sturdy root stock planted in the ground from which grow lush green branches and hanging on those branches are bunches of grapes.  The disciples were surrounded by this very thing as they went from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane.  

But Jesus is not just one among many vines—he is the true vine.  It has become popular in our day to talk about many ways leading to God-that what really matter is the destination-- and there are many ways to get there.

The Bible knows nothing of this.  Jesus is the True Vine.  He is the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father apart from him.  The Father is the vinedresser or gardener or farmer.  We who believe in Jesus Christ are the branches.  We draw our life from Jesus and we are only a part of the God’s kingdom because we are connected to Jesus.

And because we are connected to him, God expects that our lives would be fruitful unto good works.  Jesus says:  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit the Father takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

When we plant our gardens and when a farmer plants his fields the entire point of the endeavor is fruitfulness.  Nobody plants a tomato cultivar that is fruitless.  Nobody plants cotton for the foliage.  The purpose is fruit.

Our heavenly Father expects the fruit of good works from the lives of his people.  Those branches that do not bear fruit—the Father removes and piles together to be burned.  But those branches that do bear fruit, God continues to prune and shape us so that we become even more fruitful in lives of service and sacrifice and good works. 

That pruning takes place as we hear his Word.  It takes place as God directs and shapes us through the circumstances and struggles of life.  Pruning is necessary for fruitfulness.

If you have ever been to an orchard you see just how true this is.  Fruit producing trees and grape vines are dramatically pruned each year.  To the untrained eye it may seem as if the trees have been harmed.  But that pruning is necessary if the plants are to be fruitful. 

We see this principle at work in the disciples.  Judas was one of the twelve but he did not produce the fruits of faith and he was removed.  Peter and the others would undergo severe pruning in the hours and days that followed as they discovered that they were not as fruitful as they thought they were.  As we look at what they became after the Pentecost we can see the value of this work in their lives and their fruitful ministries.

When we undergo that pruning in our lives—whether it is by the word that rebukes us for our sins or whether it is by the circumstances of life that shape us into to better Christians-- we ought not give into despair or think that somehow God has abandoned us. 

In those moments he is continuing the work he has already begun when he declared us his own.  Jesus promises us that:  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

            The Bible uses all kinds of different words and pictures to describe our relationship with God.  We are right in his sight.  We are forgiven.  We are his children.  We have peace with God.  And here Jesus says that we are clean. 

All of these words and pictures are simply ways to talk about our life with God and they all describe the same thing:  that by virtue of Jesus’ death and resurrection our sins have been taken away.  Our selfishness.  Our lack of good works.  All of it is washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. 

That Good News was first spoken about us when were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.  We hear this Good News preached in church.  And we hear it as we receive Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. 

Faith comes to us and is sustained in us by hearing this Good News that we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of our sins and members of God’s family.  This is our status before God and Jesus wants to make sure that we remain that way.  He says:  Abide in me, and I in you.

            The Gospel Word that has promised us that we are the forgiven children is the same Gospel Word that keeps us connected to Jesus.  Through Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit has cleansed us of our sins and through Word and Sacrament the Holy Spirit continues to work in our lives, strengthening our faith and empowering us for good works.

When Jesus says “abide in me” he is not just saying stay close to me—but stay connected to me—live in me and me live in you.  That “connectedness and life” we especially experience in Holy Communion where we not only hear his promise that his life is given and his blood is shed for us—but we also receive his real presence.  That can only be found in Holy Communion. 

It is not an accident that these words about vines and branches and the fruit of good works and living in Jesus and Jesus in us are spoken in connection with the Lord’s Supper for this is the means of grace that Jesus himself instituted so that we can remain fruitful Christians throughout our life.  Jesus says:

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.

            It is self-evident that if a branch is no longer connected to the trunk and the root it cannot bear fruit.  It has to stay connected to its source of life.  So it is in our life of faith. 

Far too many people think that if they were confirmed once upon a time or attended Sunday School as a child or even attend church on Easter or Christmas, that this is enough to keep them fruitful Christians.  But that is simply not so!  Branches don’t bear fruit if they are cut off from the root and Christians don’t bear fruit if they are cut off from Christ. 

We must stay connected to Christ to bear the fruit of faith and good works and that happens as we hear his Word and receive his real presence in Holy Communion.  Only in this way can we have the rich, abundant life with God that Jesus came to give.  He says:

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

            All of us want to live a fruitful Christian life.  We want our faith to be strong.  We want the peace that passes all understanding.  We want to have a deep prayer life and less worries and more courage to face the challenges of life.

            That is exactly what Jesus promises.  Whoever abides in me and I in him bears MUCH FRUIT.  That promise encourages us to attend worship and study our bibles and receive Holy Communion and pray regularly so that we live in Christ and Christ lives in us.

But there is also a warning here.  Failure to abide in Christ doesn’t just undermine our Christian faith—it kills it.  Jesus says:  the one who does not abide in me can do nothing!  Nothing.  Not even believe-- much less live a fruitful Christian life.

Tonight we have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ who comes to us under bread and wine, giving us his own body and blood so that our lives would be like his life—fruitful unto good works.  Amen.