| Strength and Beauty |
Chapter 7 |
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When we think of this as an illustration of the relation of the believer to Christ we have a suggestion of the closeness and intimacy of that relation. The Christian does not merely receive blessing from Christ, does not merely enjoy his friendship, have his help, and live under his protection. This would be a high privilege, even if it were all. To have the Son of God for Friend, Helper, Keeper, and Guide brings into a sinful, frail, imperiled human life unspeakable good. But the believer is a branch of Christ, one with him. Christ’s life is his life. Christ’s fullness flows into his heart. Christ’s joy and peace and strength are his. Apart from Christ he can do nothing, but in Christ he can do all things.
There is, however, another side of this illustration of the branch. The test of true union with the vine is fruitfulness. The branch which does not bear fruit is cut off and cast away as useless. The vine itself bears no fruit – all the fruit must grow on the branches. This suggests the responsibility of being a branch. If a branch is fruitless, with nothing but leaves, it makes the vine a failure at the point where it grows. The hungry come to it seeking for fruit, but find none and are disappointed and Christ is disappointed too. And it is not the fault of the vine, whose life is full all the while and ready to produce abundant fruit, but the fault of the branch, which for some reason does not avail itself of the rich resources of life at its disposal, that is, does not do its full duty as a branch.
The figure holds true in spiritual life. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. Christ himself does not bear the fruit with which he desires to feed the world’s hunger – it must grow in the lives of his followers. Once, for a time, he was himself in the world as a Branch, and as such he was wondrously fruitful. Every possibility of his nature was developed. In him all the fruits of the Spirit grew to their ripest and best. Love reached its perfection in his life. He went about doing good. Everywhere he went he carried blessing.
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