What is Jesus is talking about in John 15:1-10 when he says he wants us to “be even more fruitful”? In the previous post, I suggested that Jesus is not talking about American metrics of success like “bigger is better” or “winning is everything.”
Jesus doesn’t say how much fruit. He doesn’t say how big the fruit is. Jesus wants us to bear fruit for his Kingdom, and he wants us to be pruned so that we will be more fruitful. Pruning, therefore, painful though it may be, is a good thing, because it means we will be more fruitful. In this post, then, we’re going to talk about the two different actions Jesus refers to in his analogy: cutting and pruning.
Cutting is the act of removal because the branch is dead or diseased. It’s not producing fruit. In John 15, verse 6, Jesus talks about cutting branches there too: “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
People who do not remain in him are cut off. Therefore, it is vital we learn what it means to remain in him. The image of getting cut off is not fun to talk about, is it? No one wants to hear that is even possible. In the theological tradition of which I am a part, we call this apostasy. Apostasy refers to people who choose to no longer remain in Jesus. It is our free will choice.
I was listening to a podcast recently in which a Bible scholar was talking about how he grew up as a committed follower of Jesus, but over the years, through a series of circumstances, study and decisions he made, he no longer believes in Jesus. He is a dead branch. A dead branch is already cut off from the life-giving vine. The Bible scholar is still a Bible scholar. That is his profession. He teaches the Bible simply as a work of ancient literature. But the Bible scholar does not believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, and thus he does not follow Jesus. This man chose to cut himself off from Jesus.
Again, the idea of separation from Jesus is uncomfortable. In John 15:1-10, though, what Jesus emphasizes is not the possibility of being cut off, but the hope and possibility of bearing fruit. And bearing fruit requires pruning. The word Jesus uses for pruning is the standard word for cleansing in the New Testament. For example this concept is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Do you see how this relates to a vine? Pruning doesn’t destroy a branch. Pruning makes branches healthier. Think about how this relates to followers of Jesus. In John 15, Jesus is talking to his disciples, people who love him and want to follow him. Jesus is prepping them for what life will be like and how they can continue to follow him and thrive when he is gone. This pruning will need to happen in an ongoing way, as it does in the garden.
Pruning is a life-long process that is sometimes called “sanctification.” “Sanctification” is not a word that we use in common conversation. The word “sanctified” is translated by numerous English words such as “set apart,” “sanctuary,” “hallowed” or “made holy”. It is defined as “to cause someone to have the quality of holiness.”
I suspect the most famous use of this word is in the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” What Jesus is suggesting is that God is holy, set apart, and therefore we want to set him apart in our hearts and minds. The set-apartness that Jesus is going for here is that God should be our priority, our focus, because he is the one and only true God, the all-powerful, all-loving one. He deserves to be our focus because is worthy of it.
When I think about that, I start to wonder, “How in the world could I ever be made holy like God is holy?” It doesn’t seem possible. As matter of fact, it is not possible. The biblical writers are not suggesting that we can become holy in the same way that God is holy. God is completely other. That means there is no one like God, and there is no possibility for anyone to become everything that God is. But that reality, the reality of God’s otherness, does not preclude the possibility that we can become more and more like God.
In the next post, we’ll talk more about how Jesus’ analogy of pruning can help us become more like God.
Photo by Árpád Czapp on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 