"Herein is my Father glorified, in that you bear much fruit."  John 15:8

I had been thinking in particular about the verse above, "Herein is my Father glorified, in that you bear much fruit" and that love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, longsuffering, etc., which are all wonderful things to have in one's life, and that this brings glory to God, in that all the glory is His.... who loved us, saved us and has given us the Holy Spirit.  Just thinking on this; that this is His desire for all His children, and it is the direct consequence of all that the Lord Jesus has done for us, and how such a life glorifies God and is both blessed and a blessing.

John 15:2 “......and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit ".

It was this pruning aspect that interested me because anyone who understands vines, and there are loads in the Channel Islands I'm sure, knows that it's all about pruning.... and wondering how the Lord does that in our lives. It sounds painful but personally I don't believe this is the case, quite the opposite I believe.

Having had the pleasure of tending many vines over the years, on pergolas, under glass and on wires, the principle of pruning and why, is the same.  Once one understands it, it's quite simple really, you just have to follow the same rules and systematically go over the whole vine at the right time. 

John 15:5  "I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing".

The essential thing to understand about a vine is that if it's left to itself without someone to tend it, all the new shoots would continue to lengthen and scramble everywhere and most of the energy of the vine would be spent producing leaves at the expense of fruit.  Any fruit produced would probably not be sweet and juicy, due to lack of light to ripen it, caused by the thick leaf canopy above and around them.  Mildew would also spoil some of the fruit due to lack of air flow around it.

Remembering then, that this vine is tended by the greatest gardener of all ..."and my Father is the husbandman", so an abundant harvest is guaranteed. With "much fruit" being the goal, this vine is one that's tended properly and for maximum fruit. Fruitfulness always signifying God's blessing and the key to that, is in the pruning.

So my question is, "How do you prune me Lord”? 

There is one main prune when the vine is resting, no leaves or fruit at that time, the dormant season, and then 2 occasions when the vine is growing strongly, called "stopping", which is when nearly all the shoots, apart from just a few leaders to draw the sap through, are nipped out with finger and thumb. It doesn't sound much but is highly effective in redirecting all the vine's energy into fruit development.

So, the main pruning takes place when the vine is dormant and is probably the one that the Lord referred to in this parable. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a vine, or vines, that they were actually passing by as they walked through the city on their way to the garden at Gethsemane on the opposite side of the valley.  Vines that either very recently, or possibly a few weeks earlier had been pruned, which he used to illustrate his point, plain to see and instantly understandable.  The time of year sounds about right and all over Jerusalem it would have been the same.

In Mediterranean regions, the main pruning of vines takes place just before growth is about to start, whereas here in colder climates it's generally done in midwinter. The reason for the difference is that in the warmer climate any weeping of the sap from any cuts isn't an issue, since it grows away so strongly, and any cuts heal rapidly.

So, the Lord Jesus gave this parable to His disciples in those final hours, shortly before His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane...., his trial and crucifixion taking place just a matter of hours later. This is thought to have been on Friday the 3rd of April on our Calendar. (I think that's correct?)

Consequently, if there was a vine that he was using to illustrate his parable, then it could well have been in the early stages of growth, having been pruned only a few weeks earlier. Possibly even recently pruned, as Jerusalem is about 2,500 ft above sea level in the Judaean mountain range that runs like a spine up through Israel, so the season may be that bit later. Peter was warming himself by the fire if you remember when he denied Jesus.

It's not a thing of beauty, but to a gardener it really is. All of last year’s growth, (that's every branch), has been cut back to its starting point almost, leaving knobbly stumps all along the vine (that’s us !), these have now sprouted brand new shoots and are about 6" long.  It's so pleasing to wander past them all at this time and see tiny little shapes no bigger than one's thumbnail on most of them even at this early stage, miniature little bunches that will eventually grow into large juicy bunches of grapes. These appear usually after the new shoot has sprouted just 4-5 leaves. 

The gardener allows a couple of leaves to sprout on the shoot after seeing the little bunch of fruit and then nips out the growing tip of the shoot. This is called "stopping" and, as to being painful, not at all.  This is finger and thumb stuff and I believe the Lord does this in our lives through His Word, both privately or through the Ministries, such as through preaching, or the gifts. That, as we say Amen, and go with whatever He says, or leads, has been enough to check and redirect us so that fruit develops in us.

I think of all the times I've heard Joseph Prince for example, declaring over and over the once for all perfect work of Jesus on our behalf, and the peace and joy that develops in one's heart the more one says Amen to these things.  Everything hangs on that Word, the Gospel being the key to everything, where God's great love for us has been expressed in Jesus.

Well, to the untrained eye, it can look a bit chaotic at this stage, especially overhead in a glasshouse, or over a pergola, but it isn't really, one just goes over the whole vine systematically. Along wires it's much clearer, but the effect is amazing, and in just over a couple of weeks or so those little fruits are now definite bunches about 3" long.

I’ve had 2 vines trained on a framework of 3 wires, spaced 18” apart, which stretched for about 50 ft.  When laden with fruit, there were probably about a hundred bunches of good quality grapes, average length about 10”-12”, and they would have produced and supported more had the framework been longer.  Never pretty to look at but a real joy.

So, after the first stopping, all the shoots are keen to get going again and start to grow once more from where it was nipped out. Usually, 2 shoots sprout from this point, but the gardener only allows the new shoots to put out a couple of leaves each, before nipping out the growing tips again. Once more, the gentlest of prunes, just finger and thumb; maybe secateurs if they have pushed on a little bit more.

The fruit, after another 2-3 weeks are nice clusters by now with pea sized grapes, and the vine seems to get the message and begins to really slow up as to growth, while the fruit on the other hand swells rapidly, a lovely sight.

The leaves of course are vital for gathering the sunlight and making food and nourishment for the vine, but they are definitely just the support system, the fruit are the main event.

Clearly, we must also have this tendency to be leafy as Christians at the expense of fruit, but the Lord, through His Word, I believe checks that, as we Amen the things He shows us. In fact, later on it's common practice to even remove leaves here and there that are shading some bunches so that they receive maximum sunlight. After that the grapes just get sweeter and sweeter.

From a gardener’s perspective, I thought it would be good to share this principle and for folks to see that pruning is good when done by the one who loves us and knows what He's doing.

I see the main prune in the Spring, when the shoot is almost entirely removed back to it's starting point, as fresh revelation of the love of God, or grace of God, much in the way that Paul prayed for the Ephesians when he said, "having the eyes of your heart enlightened that you might know etc..."  Fired up once more and ready to go. Yes, a deeper revelation year on year, at least for the vine, no such time restriction on us, but then that's all in the Gardener's hands isn't it?

So to summarise, I believe He prunes us with His Word, and that while we tend to think of pruning as something unpleasant, in my opinion this isn’t the case at all,. but it’s through ever increasing revelation of His love for us and the finished work of Christ. And that the times when we are checked from becoming leafy, it need only be a 'finger and thumb' pinching out, requiring just an Amen on our part, which happens as we hear and receive what He’s saying to us, both privately and through the preaching, and go with what He says, that this redirects the energy of the vine into fruit development in our lives.

Chris

Psalm 103:1 "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name".