In April 2013 we had a week’s holiday near Toulouse in the South of France. It was bitterly cold – that freak winter which didn’t really end until later in April – and the landscape was striking. Field after field was full of rows of small stumps, hacked down to little over a foot above the ground. Initially we were not sure what they were – then we realised that they were thousands upon thousands of vines.
It seemed almost impossible that these little stumps could produce anything at all; but later in the week we went on a tour of a vineyard and the owner told us that this is what they do every year. To get the best fruit, the vine has to be pared back to practically a stump. But sure enough, come the spring and summer, it grows like crazy and produces beautiful grapes to make fabulous wine. The severe pruning is necessary for growth and health.
This is exactly what Jesus is talking about in today’s passage. It’s an iconic image – one those 7 ‘I am’ statements in John, indeed the very last of them: Jesus as the Vine. In biblical terms, the vineyard is traditionally a picture of Israel – see Isaiah 5:1-7 – here, Jesus co-opts it, to tell his friends that he is the true Vine. Where Old Testament Israel’s vineyard had failed to produce fruit, Jesus promises those who are grafted into his vine will bear much fruit (v5; more on that tomorrow).
And part of this fruit-bearing process is pruning: the spiritual equivalent of what we saw in those fields of vineyards in southern France. The word used for ‘prunes’ here also means ‘cleans’, which helps us to identify the sorts of things Jesus means when he talks about our spiritual lives being ‘pruned’ (cleansed): it’s anything that hinders or blocks our growth as followers of Jesus. That could be distractions, bad habits, wrong attitudes, or secret sins. It could also be things which are not bad in themselves, but act as a sort of ‘worldly security’ which stops us trusting God. It could even be a ‘wilderness’ time – a season when God seems hidden and the spiritual ground seems bare.
The point is that this kind of pruning is not cruel or unnecessary – quite the reverse: (v2) ‘Every branch that does bear fruit [my Father] prunes, so that it will become even more fruitful.’ Pruning is for our long-term health and growth. It is so that we might become even more like Jesus, more fruitful in our faith.
As we begin our week, you may feel in need of some ‘pruning’; or you may feel that you already are, and you’re not sure if it’s good news or not; or you’ve come out of such a season, thankful you can see its benefits. Wherever you find yourself at present, give thanks that the Lord is our true Vine, and that his purposes are always good and kind – that we might be as fruitful as possible. And pray for grace for yourself or others to embrace whatever pruning we experience, trusting that it is always for our good. The divine gardener knows what He’s doing.