He said,
John 14:12 (NIV)
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
It's hard for us to imagine doing "greater things" than what Jesus did. Yet that is what he said.
It is clear that two things work in tandem to make this happen. On the one hand, it is the Spirit of God that makes it possible. John 14:16 (NIV)
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--
It is the Spirit of God that comes to us and makes us possible to do the works of God. In the Greek that this was written in, the word for the Spirit as comforter is "paraclete" - which is "to be called alongside of". The Spirit of God is called alongside of us as believers so that we might have the ability to do the works of God. That is clearly the first thing.
The second thing is right after the chapter division (remember, those chapter divisions weren't part of the original writings).
As Jesus comes to the end of chapter 14, he says to his disciples, "Come now, let us leave" .
The Upper room they were in was part of the residential section of Old Jerusalem. In a couple of chapters Jesus will be East, outside the main part of the city in the Garden of Gethsemane. So, where did he go?
He walked with his disciples through the city as they walked towards the garden. He passed by the temple, it was late at night, and the fire torches were the only thing lighting up the Temple grounds. Before the temple building itself stood two massive pillars.
These two pillars had names, but what was important for us now was that hung from these pillars were vines...the grapes signified the life-giving nature of God...the vines that held them the source of that life.
Here, Jesus stops and speaks to his disciples again, and makes it clear, that while the Spirit of God is the source of our power; there is something we must do. He says it like this.
John 15:1-8 (NIV)
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
I called this post, "Trellis Growth". We will not grow because of repeated church attendance, or even picking up our bibles once in a while, attending a group every so often, praying at times, or many other spiritual activities.
Our growth in Christ is dependent upon a purposeful, intentional effort to seek, and stay close to Christ.
Our growth in Christ is dependent upon a purposeful, intentional effort to seek, and stay close to Christ.
As Jesus looked up at the pillars and the vines that cascaded from them, he reminded his disciples that their, and therefore OUR, continued growth and development would not happen apart from this intentional and purposeful action of "remaining".
How do we do that? The trellis is a structure that is built to sustain the growth of the vine. Without the trellis the vine just scatters randomly across the ground, and it does not truly develop as it could. With the trellis there is a possibility of continued growth.
Over the centuries great men and women of God have thought long and hard about what sustains growth. They have seen that Spiritual Disciplines work in giving structure to spiritual activity.
Scripture
Prayer
Silence before God
Sabbath
Simplicity
Service
Generosity
Family
Community
All of these offer something that stretches us to leave our selfishness and look towards Christ's life as the goal of life.
It is important to build the trellis if we hope to see the Spirit of God at work in our lives.
Peace
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