Because Jesus Says So

John 15:1-5

I’m not much of a gardener. [laughter] Yeah. Stating the obvious, huh? That’s not gonna work, pastor. This is a branch off of one of our tomato plants, thanks to Steve, by the way. It has no buds on it, and so I cut it off. Why? Because that’s supposed to help the other branches on the plant, which are bearing fruit, which do have buds, become even more fruitful. I’m also smart enough to know that there will be no fruit coming from this branch, because it’s been cut off, right? Yeah. And even if you’ve never gardened in your life, I think every one of us can keep up with that logic. If the branch is cut off from the vine, there’s no way it can bear fruit. That’s exactly the analogy that Jesus is using here in our sermon text. No, he doesn’t compare himself to a tomato plant. He compares himself to a grapevine. But it’s exactly the same point, right? For the grapevine branches to bear fruit, they have to be connected to the grapevine. You cut the branches off of the vine, and there will be no fruit forthcoming. Let’s unpack our text a little bit, shall we? When does Jesus give this? It’s sometime on Maundy Thursday. We don’t know exactly when. John chooses not to put many time stamps into his gospel. Since chapter 15 comes after chapter 13, we assume that it happens after Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet, but even that, we don’t know for sure. Here’s what we do know for sure. This is the night on which they will celebrate the final Passover meal. This is the night on which Jesus will institute the Lord’s Supper for the first time. This is the night that they will go out to the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus will be taken captive. The disciples will flee. Peter will deny. Peter will even cut off the servants here, and Jesus has to heal it. And within hours, literally, Jesus will be on the cross. What’s on Jesus’ mind? What does Jesus see? As he says to his disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Well, there’s Thomas, who in just a couple of days is going to be very arrogantly saying, “Unless I see the nail prints and shove my hands into his side, I will not believe that he’s risen from the dead.” The doubter. Oh, and there’s Peter, who within a few hours is going to be standing in the high priest’s courtyard saying, “Even swearing to God that this is the truth, I don’t know Jesus.” Denier. And all the rest of the disciples are going to run away and flee. And these are the guys that Jesus has poured himself into. These are the inner twelve of the people that Jesus has spent the most time with, has spent the most time teaching, has spent the most time doing miracles, etc., etc. Are there a bunch of doubters, deniers, and fleers? What does Jesus see when he looks at you and me? I wish I could say that it was dramatically different. Here’s sort of a look into my heart and mind. One of the hardest things about being a pastor is that you get to see your own hypocrisy really clearly. Whenever I do pre-marriage or marriage counseling, I’m forced to wrestle with my own failures as a husband. Whenever I’m giving encouragement to people who are struggling with whatever has come up in their life, I’m forced to recognize how often I, too, doubt God’s guidance, question God’s direction, wonder about why God does this or God does that. How often don’t I see myself having opportunities to inject myself into a discussion, to bring the words of God to somebody, and I come up with some good reason why I shouldn’t. Doubter, denier, and fleer. And I’m going to take a wild guess that if I went around and asked you some of the same types of questions, we’d get the same kinds of answers if we’re being honest. And what does Jesus say to those doubters, deniers, and fleers? I am the vine, you are the branches. The vine isn’t worth much if there aren’t branches there, right? Finally, if all you’ve got is the stalk but you have no branches, you’re going to get no fruit. And so the branches are critical. I am the vine, you are the branches. Can you imagine? In incredible grace, God has chosen to connect himself to you and to connect you to himself. Oh, do those disciples still need some pruning? Big time. As do you and me. As do you and I. I don’t know. But Jesus says something to them about that, too. Jesus says to them, “Every branch that is in me, my father prunes that it might be even more fruitful.” And then he goes on to say, “You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you.” Now, what doesn’t catch your eye is that in the Greek, there’s a pun. “Every branch that’s in me, the father prunes is kathairai, and you are already clean is kathairoi.” In other words, it’s a word play. That what Jesus is saying, “Every branch that is in me, my father prunes it to make it even more fruitful, and you are already pruned.” Just like cutting this branch off of the stock, cleaned the stock, cleaned the branch from which it came, so God prunes you and me. He sends us testings. He sends us challenges. He sends us trials. He sends us opportunities. Why? Simply because he wants to lead us to trust him all the more fully and to bear even more fruit for him. But hear what Jesus says. “You are already pruned.” You are already cleaned. And why? Because of the word I have spoken to you. You are clean because Jesus says so. It’s not that you and I were so great by nature. We’re not. Neither were those doubters, deniers, and fleers. But Jesus says, “You’re clean.” Jesus says, “I want the forgiveness of sins for you.” Jesus says, “Your sins are paid for in full because Jesus said, ‘It is finished.” You are clean because Jesus says so. And if Jesus says it, that settles it. Amen? And now guess what happens. What happens next is that the branches bear fruit. Never once have I stood by my tomato plants in my backyard and said to them, “Bear tomatoes! Bear tomatoes! Bear tomatoes! Bear tomatoes!” In fact, if I did that, you’d think I was crazy. True? I don’t have to stand there and demand that they bear fruit. Tomato plants just bear fruit. That’s what they do. Nor does Jesus have to stand in front of you and say, “Bear fruit! Bear fruit! Bear fruit!” No, no, no, no, no. It just happens. And that’s why the translation I gave you of that last verse is so much better. Jesus is not there making a conditional promise. He is making an unconditional promise. He’s saying, “The one who is connected to me bears fruit.” And here’s the reality, my brothers and sisters. You’ve been doing it all day today already, and you didn’t even think about it, and didn’t even know it. How many times today did you have peace? A whole bunch already? How many times today have you had joy? A whole bunch already? How many times today have you had goodness and patience and kindness and love? A whole bunch of times already. And nobody stood in front of you and said, “Have joy! Have peace! Have patience!” You just did. Why? Because you are connected to Jesus. He is the vine. He is the one who want eternal peace for you. And as He assures you of that eternal peace, you simply have the fruit of peace. He is the one who won for you the joy of salvation. And as He reminds you that heaven is your home, you simply have joy. As Jesus exercises His patience with you and with me, we’re empowered to exercise patience. And He doesn’t demand it. He doesn’t hold a fist over us or point a finger at us. It simply happens because you’re connected to Jesus. Is there more pruning that needs to be done? Oh, yeah. And until we go to heaven, there will continue to be more pruning that needs to be done. But even as Jesus prunes us, what does He see? You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. You are pruned because Jesus says so. And my dear fellow critical branches connected to the most critical vine. Let’s go out and bear fruit. Amen? And amen.