Bearing Much Fruit

John 15:5 – “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

I am the vine, you are the branches: Perhaps Jesus explained it this way because the disciples were so accustomed to thinking of Israel as the vine. They now had to think of Jesus as the vine, and emphasize their connection to Him.

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit: Fruit bearing is inevitable with abiding. The quality and quantity of the fruit may differ, but the presence of fruit will be inevitable.

The purpose of the branch is to bear fruit. Though there are uses for grape leaves, people don’t raise grape vines only to look at the pretty leaves. They take the trouble to cultivate, plant, water and tend the vines so that fruit can be enjoyed. In this sense, we can say that fruit represents Christian character (such as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5). God’s work in us and our connection to Him should be evidenced by fruit, and perhaps by much fruit.

Fruit also implies inherent reproduction. Virtually every piece of fruit has seeds within it, in order to reproduce more fruit.

The concept of abiding is not restricted to our abiding in Jesus; it also includes His abiding in us. It is a mutual dynamic which expects our life to be in vital connection with Jesus both spiritually and practically, and which expects Him to indwell us in a real and active way. The responsibility for abiding is not only upon the believer.

Without Me you can do nothing: It isn’t that the disciples could do no activity without Jesus. They could be active without Him, as were the enemies of Jesus and many others. Yet they and we could do nothing of real, eternal value without Jesus.

F.F. Bruce mentions that, “Paul expresses the same truth when he says, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20), and ‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13).”

Charles Spurgeon remarks, “‘Without Me ye can do nothing;’ if this be true of apostles, much more of opposers! If His friends can do nothing without Him, I am sure His foes can do nothing against Him.”

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.