Jesus descended with his disciples after supper from the Holy Mountain, passing through the gates of the city walls at the Kidron valley, and climbing towards the Mount of Olives through vineyards. As they journeyed, Jesus further clarified the meaning of their faith to his disciples and the purpose of their love, using the vine as illustration as they passed along.
Jesus described God as the vinedresser, who planted vines throughout the world. One of these was the people of the Old Testament, as we read in Psalm 80:8-16, and Isaiah 5:1-7. God was displeased with this vine, as it did not bring forth good fruit. So God planted a new shoot in the ground, His Son born of the Spirit, so that he might become the true Vine, and bring forth a new kind and a new generation that would be sound, to produce spiritual fruit in plenty. The subject that Jesus pointed out to his disciples was the fruit of the Holy Spirit in humanity, precious fruit of spiritual virtues. He knew that human teaching was deceptive – a beast lives in man, waiting for someone to arouse him to trample others and devour them. Jesus said this at the early stage of his teaching, that he alone brings fruits that are acceptable before God, and he is the peacemaker and builder of the Church.
Jesus first showed the negative aspects of this allegory, that he who does not open up to the impulses of love, or bring forth spiritual fruit and refuses to allow the flow of the sweet juices from the vine to himself – God will cut him off from the vine as a useless branch. If God does not find the fruit of the Gospel in you, or does not see the death of Christ and his rising in you as influence and result, He will cut you off from His Son’s vine.
However, as soon as He sees the juice of the Holy Spirit, He will establish the signs of growth in you, as the branch in the vine. It will come to leaf and fructify. The vinedresser will cut those parts that are useless, so that you may bring forth more fruit. This fruit is not yours, but Christ’s in you. We are unprofitable servants, he is all in all. Do you know that the vine needs to be pruned every autumn, to bring forth ample fruit next year? God, too, cuts out all human failings, so that your stubbornness may be ended, and you die to sin. And so the life of Christ in you will be crystallized towards maturity. The Lord has many ways to save you from yourself. Events, failures and maladies will attack you to break you down. Do not live for yourself, but in the Lord; you will become a loving person through his power.