John 15 - Divine Agronomy
- Chad Werkhoven
- Dec 22, 2022
- 2 min read
God promises to give you whatever you ask for... but there's a catch.
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Previous DIG DEEPER posts on John
John 15 Summary
We can't know for sure, but based on the last verse of chap 14 ("Come now, let us leave"), it's likely that Jesus spoke these words as He and the disciples walked through vineyards on the way from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane. In the early springtime, the grapes have just been pruned, making a vivid contrast between the remaining branches and those thrown on the burn pile.
Dig Deeper
If a healthy grape vine is planted in good soil, and is given plenty of sunshine and water at just the right times, it can not help but to bear grapes. It's in its DNA; in a sense, a planted grape vine must bear fruit. So it is, says Jesus, of His followers: a Christian, planted in the good soil of a church, fed and watered with regular doses of the means of grace (preaching & sacraments), can not help but to bear fruit. If a Christian is not bearing fruit (doing good works), it's a sign that the conditions she's in need immediate improvement.
Technically, vines do not produce fruit, rather they bear fruit, which is the word John uses. As we saw in the last paragraph, the grape vine doesn't do something to make grapes, rather the grapes passively come naturally. You are not called to produce good works. That's what the Pharisees were trying to do: they were actively trying to fabricate works that made them look better. Rather, you've been called to passively bear the fruit of good works.
In other words, take care to make sure you're planted in the right conditions and being regularly fed with God's Word, and then the fruit will come quite naturally (although often you won't even notice - see the parable of the sheep and goats).
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father in heaven, who loves you (v9)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will keep yourself in good growing conditions, fed and watered by God's Word, so that you will go and bear fruit that will last (v16)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: If you're abiding in Christ, and His words are abiding in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (v7)
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