“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:1-5 ESV

I recently finished reading a book by Elisabeth Elliott titled Be Still My Soul: Reflections on Living the Christian Life. Near the end of the book, she spoke of the pruning that comes with suffering. She spoke of traveling to Spain just after the vineyards had been pruned, and she noted, “The vines were cut back practically to the ground, leaving nothing but little stumps. It was hard to imagine that from those stubby remains would grow healthy vines bearing heavy clusters of juicy grapes. The pruning process makes us look and feel like those vines.” I do not know about you, but I can most certainly relate to this.

I pondered on that statement, reminded of the passage in John 15 where Jesus proclaimed that He is the true vine and the Father is the vinedresser. The Father removes the fruitless branches while pruning the ones producing fruit. In our minds, we envision pruning as a little trim off the top while still on display. Those prize branches that are producing fruit simply need a gentle trim, and then the real bounty of fruit comes, right? Wrong. The pruning is beyond what we would trim, but God’s ways are higher and better.

When grapevines or even some trees are properly pruned during certain times of the year, they are drastically reduced in size. In many cases, eighty to ninety percent of the growth is removed. What remains is the vine or the trunk of the tree, adorned with short stubs. It brings to mind a portion of Isaiah 53:2, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” In our reasoning, we look upon such a sight and we are tempted to miss the beauty and the majesty. The lack of aesthetics in a pruned vine or tree leaves little to be desired. Yet those truly in Christ can see and understand.

The branches are not the focal point. This is the focus: the vine. The tree. This is what gives life to the branches. It is what causes those branches to be fruitful, stubs abiding in the vine while being nourished to flourish so that more fruit can come forth in due season. It comes full circle in John 15, doesn’t it? Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus is the vine. He is the focus. We exist to glorify Him and to bear fruit testifying of the Vine. It is not about the appearance according to man. It is about the ways of God and what He recognizes as His own. As believers in Christ, we can gain some understanding of having a life hidden with Christ in God when we are content in being pruned to a stub because true branches have been identified by the Father, and as stubs we still abide in Christ, understanding that we exist for His glory and not our own.

Pruning or purging in the context of John 15 means “pure, clean, without stain or spot; to cleanse from filth, to purify.” When Jesus spoke of pruning in John 15:2, this was a cleansing of the branches so that they would bear more fruit. Those who were bearing fruit were abiding in Him. Hebrews 10 speaks of Christ’s perfect sacrifice once-for-all for the redemption of sin. His sacrifice cleanses us as sinners. He removes the spots and the stains of sin, and when we come to saving faith in Him alone, we are positioned in Him by His righteousness.

Pruning indeed comes in times of suffering. It comes when suffering has yet to occur to prepare us for what lies ahead. Pruning indeed makes us more fruitful, and even more so, it is a reminder of cleansing that only God can do. Let us understand this fruitfulness. It is a spiritual maturity that comes from being filled with the Spirit. It is a daily dying to self. It is being ever more in every season of life and all that it brings conformed to the image of Christ, to the point of contentment in having no beauty to be desired by man, but oh ever so pleasing and beautiful to Almighty God.

There is a humility in this purging, a reminder that God is God, and we are not. If it were up to us, we would leave our own branch to its own devices because the stub is not desirable, and we would falsely believe that longer branching and greener foliage brings a greater harvest. May we grow in the grace of understanding that pruning is a blessing and a gift, and may we rejoice in our stubby position as we abide in Christ Jesus, our precious Lord and Savior. We are pruned to bear fruit for Him.