Bearing Fruit

I love to eat green sultana grapes in the summer, either on their own or in a fruit salad.

TV chef, Jamie Oliver likes tossing grapes into his salads. With a flamboyant sweep of his hand, he drops purple grapes onto a bed of mixed green leaves.

It feels counterintuitive, but it actually works. I tried it myself and now I like to sneak them into most of my green salad combos. The sweetness of the grapes is a pleasant contrast to the bitter, peppery or buttery flavour of the greens.

Then there are those scorchers, where you’ve run out of water ice blocks and your body craves something icy and sugary. Just throw a cluster of grapes in the freezer and voila, a few hours later you’ll be in for a good time.

I’ve never tried to grow my own grapes owing to my fine reputation as an expert plant murderer. However, I did have a neighbor who was experimenting with growing grapevines. He was training them to grow over his outdoor pergola.

One afternoon, I sat under his pergola, enjoying a meal with him and his family. Clusters of grapes hung tantalizingly overhead. It was nice to unwind by the greenery and the gentle breeze.

I asked about the overhanging fruit, and my neighbor scrunched his face.

“They look beautiful, but they’re just awful,” he said with an deep exhale. “They’re so sour.”

This was over two decades ago, and I still remember how gorgeous the grapes and the branches looked in the garden.

Jesus talked a lot about bearing fruit.

In John 15:8 he said,

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Here’s the scenario.

God the Father owns the vineyard. He tends the vineyard with a keen eye in the hopes of producing an abundance of grapes.

He keeps the vine growing on a trellis at waist height, coaxing the branches to grow on either direction of this frame.

Clearly, Jesus is the vine that grows out of the ground. Followers of Christ are the branches.

The vinedresser’s focus is for his branches to produce quality fruit.

What fruit?

Fruitfulness in a Christian’s life is marked by doing good deeds. We need the right mindset and motive. Our good works should flow from unfeigned love and the desire to glorify God.

And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. Titus 3:15

When you help your friend understand factorization in algebra without pulling your hair out, (or their hair out) you’re bearing fruit.

When you bring food and visit someone who is stuck in hospital recovering from a serious illness, you’re bearing fruit.

When you pray for someone that has been awful to you, or has offended you or your loved ones, you’re bearing fruit.

Kind acts or good works are synonymous with fruit. They’re external, visible and the hallmark of genuine Christians.

Fruit doesn’t have to be purely manifested on the outside by actions. God does an internal work where fruit has a lot to do with conforming to Christ’s image.

In my previous post, We’re at War, I looked at the civil war raging within each believer. When our flesh wins, then the works of the flesh become evident in our lives. However, when we yield to the Spirit we grow in the character of Jesus.

We bear Christ like qualities—inner fruit.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  Galatians 5:22

Some disturbing words.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.  John 15:2a

Investigating some trusty commentaries, I found that Matthew Henry holds the view that unfruitful branches are false Christians. These do not bear fruit.

They are tied to Jesus by the thread of outward profession, they seem to be branches, but lack fruit, which indicates that they are mere pretenders. They are taken away.

At first glance this seems plausible, but Jesus spoke of every branch in him. Contrary to Henry’s position, this should restrict these branches to only true believers and not false ones.

The Wycliffe commentary supports this alternative view maintaining that the unfruitful branches are unproductive children of God (true believers, though deficient in output).

These may expect to be set aside. In other words, unproductive Christians are removed from this earth through death.

Grim news indeed.

Here is a third explanation. Bruce Wilkinson in his excellent book, Secrets of the Vine says that the Greek word airo, rendered in John 15 as ‘take away’ would be ‘take up’ or ‘lift up’.

Picture the vinedresser lifting up a new branch.

New branches like to trail down and grow along the ground and they don’t bear fruit down there.

Why is this? The leaves become covered in dirt and dust, and when it rains the branch is caked in mud. Mildew forms and pretty soon it’s useless and sickly.

The vinedresser will lift these branches up, wash them off and tie them to the trellis. The cleansed branches flourish in the sunlight and clean air.

All that knowledge you gained in school about photosynthesis is true.

If you’re covered in dirt, the light can’t get in. If you’re dirty with sin, you won’t grow nor will you produce fruit.

God has to step in and discipline you, so that your life becomes fruitful. There must be cleansing. The Heavenly Father will discipline out of love.

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Heb 12:6

Is it time to repent? Is it time to turn away from the sin which has kept you from producing pleasing clusters of grapes?

God uses discipline to turn unproductive Christians into fruit bearers. But what of those who are already bearing fruit? It’s a topic that I’d like to explore my next post.

In the meantime, look forward to the harvest. Turn to Him and flourish.

Bibliography

Henry, M. 1961, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Zondervan, Michigan.

Pfeiffer C,F. 1990, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Moody Publishers, Illinois.

Wilkinson, B. 2001, Secrets of the Vine, Multnomah Publishers, Oregon.