In John 15:1, 2b Jesus says, “I am the vine and My Father is the vinedresser. . .and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
Although Jesus could have used any plant He so chose as an example, He chose a grapevine to illustrate His point. An interesting thing about a grapevine, the life of the plant is in the vine.
You can take a cutting from a branch of a grapevine, and it will not grow. Once you detach the branch from the vine, there’s no life in it.
No life can exist for a grapevine except in the vine itself. Also, the vine doesn’t bear fruit. Only the branches grow grapes. The vine gives life so the branches can bear, but the vine has no fruit on it.
One other thing about a grapevine is that fruit is only born on new branches. New growth yields the fruit. That is why grapevines are pruned so drastically. When the branches are cut back, new growth appears. From the new growth, you get fruit.
God’s plan from the beginning of creation was to have Jesus supply the life, and He planned for the branches, you and me, to provide the fruit for the Kingdom. Sometimes the pruning feels a great deal like tribulation.
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