John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (ESV)
Note John’s usage yet again of his key term: menō, or abide.
Verse 5 spells out clearly the outcome of one who chooses to abide in Christ. Here in verse 6 the alternative path is likewise clearly set forth. This is a sobering verse, unequivocally setting forth the tragic end of all who do not follow Christ. Described in verse 2 as being cut off from the Vine by the Vinedresser, here in verse 6 their final destiny is revealed – thrown into the fire and burned.
As discussed in the study of verse 2, the branches described here were at one time attached to the Vine as being “in Me.” That would seem to conclusively exclude any individual who flat-out rejects Christ or denies having any association with Him. We don’t need verse 6 to explain their end, as their destination is never in question.
If it is possible for someone to initially be a part of the Vine at some point and then be cut off and thrown away, later to be burned, does that mean Christians risk losing their salvation if they fail to abide in Christ? Or does this indicate one may become a Christian at some point, but it is possible to later reject Christ and therefore, in essence, self-select to be cut off?
These burned branches cannot represent Christians who have lost their salvation, as that would be a contradiction to the many passages in the Bible regarding the security of those who truly believe in Him (cf. John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:26-29; Rom 6:22; 8:1, 38-39; I Cor 1:8-9; Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 1:3-5).
“But you do not believe, because you are not among My sheep. My sheep hear My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.” John 10:26-29 (NAB)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)
Many commentators hold that these branches symbolize true Christians, but who are lacking in fruit and are therefore cut off from experiencing the full blessings of an abiding relationship with Christ (perhaps even including excommunication from the Christian community). These unfulfilled Christians will have their works revealed and burned in the fire at the judgment (Gr: bēma) seat of Christ (Rom 14:12; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Cor 5:10; Eph 6:8). Such Christians will lose their heavenly rewards, but not their salvation (1 Cor 3:12-15).
However, such an interpretation fails on several points. Verse 6 is referring to the judgment of the individual, while the bema seat of Christ is a judgment of their works. The branches here in verse 6 are unmistakably cut off, left to dry out, gathered and then thrown into the fire. It is disingenuous to read in the first few verses of this mashal that the branches represent individuals that are in the Vine, but then here in verse 6 interpret the branches now somehow represent the works of the individuals. This is all the more suspect considering the utter lack of any reference to works in the entire mashal.
It should be noted that works are not the same as fruit. We can do works on our own, but we cannot bear fruit on our own. So while our works can be burned and tried by fire, the fruit we bear is the result of the Vinedresser’s work – not ours. Clearly there is no fruit here, as the branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides, which these branches are not. If these branches had been bearing fruit, they would have been trimmed to bear more fruit, not cut off (vs. 2).
It is true that all Christians will have their works tried by fire at the bema seat, with some sadly having everything burned up, but they themselves will never be put into the fire. Their works will determine the extent of their heavenly reward, but that judgment will not affect their entrance into heaven. Our works can never merit our salvation, as that is so clearly a function of grace and faith – not of works (Eph 2:8-9). So while salvation is not the focus of the bema seat, one’s eternal destiny is the focus here in verse 6. Here the branches themselves are being burned, not their works. This being burned up in the fire is at the Great White Throne judgment, for those who do not have salvation (Rev 20:11-15).
Whether by the process of elimination or by interpretation, the best way to view these “burned branches” is that they represent individuals who may profess or claim to be Christians and who appear to be a part of His church, but they truly are not saved. In keeping with the replacement motif of Jesus as the New Covenant Vine that supersedes the Old Testament Vine - Israel, clearly many Jews in the Old Testament did not follow God. While these Jews were in Israel, or in the old Vine, they did not truly follow God. Similarly, in the church (the body of Christ) today, there are misguided or deluded individuals who claim to be Christians and may even seem to show forth spiritual growth, but their lack of abiding and resulting fruit attest to the fact that they are not genuinely saved.
This shines the spotlight on two unfortunate truths that inflict much damage on the Church: 1) the number of people who call themselves Christians, but who really are not; and 2) the number of people who truly are Christians, but who are not living out the life of faith.
Tragically, it's often difficult to tell the two apart. In fact, it's not uncommon for the non-Christian “Christians” to actually seem more “Christian” than the many Christians who are not living the fruit-bearing life consistent with one who is abiding in Christ. The sad reality is that if those of us who truly are Christians would live a life consistent with our claim to be a follower of Christ, there would be no mistaking or confusing a true Christian from one who is not a Christian.
It’s conservatively estimated that 25% of Americans claim to be Christians – a full quarter of the entire U.S. population. If we are to be the salt in this world (Matt 5:13), I wonder, how noticeable of an impact would a quarter pound of salt have on a one pound hamburger?
How many within our Western churches today claim to be a Christian, yet truly are not? They might be “religious” according to modern standards of religion, but they really are not Christians, according to Biblical definition. They might even “make a confession” or “say a prayer” and regularly attend church. But are they truly Christians? That is not an area of fuzziness in some parts of the world, where it can be very costly to be a Christian, where one's property and life can be at stake. Our culture in America is aptly summed up by Eugene Peterson:
“Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness.” – A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, but who were later scorched or choked-off (Matt 13:3-23; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15). In yet another parable (Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Matt 13:24-30, 36-43), Jesus indicates again that there will be those who appear to have some claim or association with Him, but they really have no part in Him and will be thrown into the fire:
Matt 13:40-42 “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. (ESV)
In this parable, the imagery is of a field vs. a vineyard, and He points out Satan as being the one who purposefully sows weeds in and among the wheat – spiritual infiltration. Note how it wasn’t until the wheat started bearing fruit that the tares became evident:
Matt 13:26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.” (NASB)
So whether the imagery is of fields of grain, a vineyard, wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7: 15) or goats who say “Lord, Lord” (Matt 25:31-46), throughout the entire New Testament there are numerous such references to individuals who at one point display some degree of connection with Jesus and/or His Church but who later either “fall away” and never manifest the fruit of a life truly transformed by an abiding relationship with Christ; or who are revealed by their lack of abiding and fruit to be not who they claim to be, and therefore truly have no part in Christ, His church and His kingdom. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul refers to such individuals as those who “have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Tim 1:19).
This significance of abiding goes well beyond the imagery of John 15, as there is a consistent theme of abiding steadfastly until the end:
Matt 24:9-13 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (ESV)
The term “endures” is the Greek hypomenō, which means “remain firm or steadfast.” This is a compound word from hupo plus John’s favored term: menō.
John 8:31 “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples’.” (NIV)
Once again we see menō, this time translated “hold.”
Col 1:22-23 “But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in His physical body. He did this so that you could come into God's presence without sin, fault, or blame. This is on the condition that you continue in faith without being moved from the solid foundation of the hope that the Good News contains.” (GW)
“continue” is the Greek epimenō
1 John 2:19 “They have gone from among us, but they never really belonged to us; if they had belonged to us, they would have stayed with us. But this was to prove that not one of them belonged to us.” (NJB)
“stayed” is menō
2 John 1:9 “Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.”
These dead branches in verse 6 are people who profess to believe, but their lack of abiding and the resultant fruit indicates genuine salvation has never taken place and they have no life from the vine. It’s tragic, but some who appear to be members in good standing in the Christian community may eventually turn out never truly to have been part of it in the first place. Possibly in the immediate context Judas was in view, but the imagery extends from him to all those who make a profession of faith in Christ but do not actually possess salvation.
Abiding is evidence that salvation has taken place. The abiding believer is the only true believer. The bearing of fruit is the confirmation of abiding. Fruitfulness is normal for believers. An absolutely fruitless life is prima facie evidence that one is not a believer. Jesus left no place among His followers for fruitless disciples. The fruitfulness of one who is in lockstep with the Lord is actually a consistent theme throughout the entire Bible:
“They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green.” Psa 92:13-14
“Ephraim shall say...’I have heard and observed Him. I am like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in me’.” Hos 14:8
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jer 17:7-8
“Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Phil 1:11
The aorist verbs translated “is thrown away” and “dries up” or “withers” refer to accomplished action in the past. The aorist views the action as having been already completed, emphasizing the immediacy and finality of action:
“Unless someone remains in Me, he was cast out as the branch and was dried up and they gather them and into the fire they throw and they are burned.”
The result is so certain that the future is expressed as if it had already come to pass. It’s as if John is treating unfruitfulness, whether present or future, as already a resolved matter: cut off from the Vine, cast out of the Vineyard or Kingdom, and thrown into the fires of hell.
The expression, “cast into the fire” contains the definite article, emphasizing that this is the fire of the eschatological punishment, again, taking place at the Great White Throne judgment.
Why do many translations specify that “people” or “they” or even “men” collect these branches, when so many other translations simply indicate that the branches are thrown into the fire, without any mention of who is doing the gathering and throwing? Likely this is an English attempt to translate the Semitic custom of using the third person plural for the passive. The Greek synagō, which means “to gather together,” is written in the third person plural, without any specification of who is undertaking the gathering action. Thus the most literal rendering would be along the lines of, “the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” This is the most frequent treatment by modern translations (ESV, NIV, MSG, NLT, among many others.)
While this is a common practice in Semitic writings, it is far more typical in English to specify the subject depicted as carrying out the action, hence the adoption of the “they” by several translations (NASB, NKJV and ASV perhaps being the most well-known of such translations). A couple translations insert “people” instead (NCV and NAB), and the KJV stands alone in taking the third person, non-specified gender, and adding “men” to the text.
For the translations that do specify, who are the “they” that does the gathering of the dried branches? While the immediate context doesn’t provide any clues, if we look again at the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, we can perhaps gain some insight into who “they” may be:
Matt 13:40-42 “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. (ESV)
Critics of Christianity hold verse 6 and similar sounding passages in the Bible to be a cold and cruel statement that could never be spoken by a truly good and loving God. Perhaps even some Christians may feel this is overly harsh. Clearly this was indeed spoken by the Lord, but is it really cold and cruel? Sobering yes, but in reality, this verse illustrates God’s mercy, grace and justice – not cold and cruel at all.
Let’s consider: He made us; He gave up His glory to take on human form to re-connect with us after we chose to go against Him; He voluntarily suffered torture and gruesome crucifixion to redeem us, rather than simply leave us to our fate; He gives us the opportunity to either turn to Him or to reject Him; and before we make that decision He reveals to us the ultimate ramifications and end result of each option, so that we can make an informed decision.
So then, if we knowingly choose to live a life that is self-centered, consumed by our own desires, guided by our own standards of what is good and acceptable, and rejecting the way of life and relationship He offers, is it justifiable for us to declare Him to be cold and cruel?
No. Because of His mercy and grace, He gives us the options and reveals the paths that each lead. Because He is just, He will judge. It’s our decision to abide in Him or to reject Him.
One day we’ll see firsthand who chose to abide, though we may at times struggle now to be able to determine that. (It’s been joked that there will be two surprises in heaven: seeing those you didn’t expect to see, and not seeing those you did expect to see.) However, if we are abiding in Him, we will be known by our fruit (Matt 7:20). May it be much fruit!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
John 15:5 - define the roles
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you the branches. The one remaining in Me and I in him, this one bears fruit much, because apart from me not you are able to do anything.” (Interlinear)
It may seem verse 5 is completely redundant and therefore unnecessary as it doesn’t appear to add anything new or relevant to this passage. What is being said here that hasn’t already been addressed? Why not simply skip ahead to verse 6?
We can be certain that if Jesus is making an “I AM” statement, then clearly something important is about to follow. The usage of the Greek egō eimi is infrequent and consequently purposeful; particularly when it is used in contrast to “you” (hymeis), by extension, us. The truth here is so foundational, that if we can see it and seize hold of it, it will impact us as greatly as it ignited His disciples. Yet it’s so simple and easy to skim over, that we miss it continually.
Jesus reiterates that He is the vine, but in verse 1 He directs His imagery up to the Father and then out in broad, general terms. Here He brings the message down and drives it home directly and personally to His disciples. In other words, He’s taking His lesson and making it relevant and applicable to His audience.
John is not concerned about redundancy here. He is taking pains to ensure a solid grasp of a very fundamental truth about being a disciple. In modern vernacular we could say he is attempting to clearly define roles. The roles of Christ and of His followers are not to be confused. The branches are not the Vine, nor is the Vine the branches.
Sounds pretty elementary and duh!? Hardly worth spending another verse on something so basic and straightforward? I wonder, have you ever found yourself trying to play God? Do you rest and take comfort in the truth that He is God and you’re, well, you? The sad reality is that we humans have a long history, going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, of being susceptible to the disease of identity crisis. We continually attempt to be or to do what simply isn’t intended for us, often wanting to be or to do anything that truly isn’t us.
In the Garden the temptation was to become like God (Gen 3:5), an identity crisis that still holds true today. A former executive of Oracle Corporation wrote a book about Larry Ellison, the co-founder and CEO of Oracle (and the 14th richest man in the world according to the latest issue of Forbes, which pegged him for $25B in net worth), In his book he poses the question, “What is the difference between God and Larry Ellison?” The answer: “God doesn’t think that He’s Larry.” Sadly, this identity crisis is not a secular, corporate problem in which Larry holds a monopoly. It’s also pervasive within our churches, as so often we Christians try hard to be someone or something that we’re not, ceaselessly striving to accomplish something that isn’t intended for us. As a result, the beauty, significance and purpose of who He created us to be and to do is completely lost on us.
This tendency of ours to continually attempt to be someone who we’re not was rather humorously highlighted for me when I took a 10-day trip to Indonesia, not long after the tragic tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004. While I was there I noticed a number of Indonesian women who appeared to have applied a healthy amount of white powder to their faces. I asked if that was a native custom or if it had some religious implications. I found out to my astonishment that it was simply a matter of vanity.
Apparently these Indonesian women, who have darker skin as a function of their ethnicity, use white powder as a course of their daily cosmetic or make-up process to appear lighter in color than they truly are. In their eyes, whiter is more beautiful. Now contrast that to so many women who, here in the United States, use as a part of their cosmetic regimen, lotions that make their skin appear darker. To these fair-skinned women, darker is more beautiful. In other words, these two contrasting groups of women, half-a-world away, are both attempting to be like the other, neither content with being who they really are, while regarding the other as having the true beauty!
The diagnosis: whether due to pride, vanity, insecurity or any other pathogen, we have a recurring case of identity crisis. Verse 5 is a reality check – a let’s define the roles moment. John did not want there to be any confusion over the issue of identity. The roles of Christ and of His followers are not to be misconstrued. Just as it is unmistakable to see the difference between the vine and the branches in the natural world, in the spiritual world the branches are not to be confused with the Vine, and the Vine must be acknowledged as being very distinct from the branches.
He is the “I AM,” the Vine. We are the branches. He is God. We are not. We are branches. Doesn’t that sound glorious? Seriously. Consider how radical, earth-shattering and liberating this truth was to the ragtag band of misfits, fishermen and rude Galileans. How wonderful and enlightening it is to truly know your place in this world, and to know your worth and value! We are branches. Don’t undervalue or underestimate the truth of that statement. Who or what else in all of God’s creation, including the heavenly beings, has the glory of being the branch – vitally and personally attached to the Vine – Jesus, the Son of God? We are branches. We need be nothing more. In fact, we should not want to be anything more, because that is who He created us to be.
Why is it that so many of us have such difficulty in accepting who we are and what our role is? Perhaps it because we’re focused on us – our goals, problems, desires, etc. Keep in mind that in this mashal we’re never commanded to bear fruit – it’s the vinedresser’s responsibility to ensure that we bear fruit. Our job is to abide, to focus on the vine. The reality is, if we truly focus on who God is, long enough to catch even the briefest glimpse of His vastness and incomprehensible greatness, everything else in life will fall into proper order and perspective.
That’s why we need this “define the roles” verse. It’s a reminder of what the Bible says to us from the very start: “In the beginning God…” (Gen 1:1).
We’ve all heard or read that verse so many times, that most of us probably glibly quote that verse by memory, without paying any attention to the meaning in those first four words. Consider those first four words carefully. Which statement is more reflective of your life: “In the beginning God” or “In the beginning _________” and your name is in the blank? Do you live your life every day, consciously and purposefully acknowledging in all things, “In the beginning God.”?
In the beginning God spoke, creation happened, and it was good. God, as the penultimate authority and Creator, has by His uncontestable Word (the logos) commanded all things into existence and ordered their design and purpose. By very definition then, all things are under His sole and exclusive control. He is the Vine. We are the branches. All life, power and meaning flow from and through Him to us. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Do you believe that? Do you accept that? Is your life reflective of your accepting that? If so, that foundational truth will completely set you free from all fear, worry and stress. That’s why Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry, “So do not worry” (Matt 6:31), and that’s how Paul could so confidently say, “Do not be anxious about anything…” (Phil 4:6)
“The fear of the Lord is such that when you fear Him, you’ll fear nothing else. If you don’t fear Him, you’ll fear everything else.” – Oswald Chambers
Look at the progression in this imagery regarding the fruit: no fruit, fruit, more fruit and much fruit. Then look at how that comes about: “The one remaining in Me and I in him, this one bears fruit much.” Our active part is in abiding or remaining in Him, not in rushing around and trying to bear fruit.
Incidentally, it has been suggested that Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna in the early 2nd century and a disciple of John, received his name in recognition of his focus on abiding, and the consequent bearing of much fruit: karpos (fruit) and polys (much). Our English prefix, poly, as in polygon or polytheism, is derived from this latter Greek term.
This verse not only clarifies roles, but it also emphasizes the duality of this identity truth. We bear much fruit if we abide in Him, but if we don’t abide in Him, it’s not a matter of bearing less fruit or even a little fruit – it’s nothing. In fact, in the Greek, it’s actually less than nothing. Contrary to our modern math concept of two negatives multiplied together equals a positive (-5 x -5 = +25), a double negative in the Greek means you’re really in negative territory.
The Greek ou (“not”) and ouden (“nothing”) renders the text to read literally, “not you are able to do nothing.” Our feeble attempts on our own, our “inherent goodness” does not give us “half credit” or merit or consideration. There is nothing positive we can do on our own to offset the sins which we commit on our own. Our “good works” and our “religious deeds” count for less than nothing on our own merit. That was radical teaching by Jesus in the days of the Pharisees, and it is radical teaching today in our culture of good people doing good things. It simply doesn’t leave any wiggle room for the “natural goodness” of man or lend any power to do good works that perhaps might be worthy of eternal reward.
This last line, “apart from me you can do nothing” has played an important role in the history of the theological discussion of grace works. Augustine used it to refute Pelagius, who stressed man’s natural power to do good works worthy of eternal reward; the text was cited again in 418 by the Council of Carthage against the Pelagians; and again in 529 by the second Council of Orange against the Semi-Pelagians, who defended man’s natural power to do good works that were in some sense deserving of grace. The text appeared again in the mid-1500s at the Council of Trent, in the arguments Rome brought against the Reformers, defending the meritorious quality of good works done in union with Christ.
However, in addition to this verse, the Bible is very clear as to our ability to do anything meritorious on our own:
Psa 14:3 “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (ESV)
2 Cor 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” (NKJV)
Do you struggle with that? Do you have difficulty in accepting your role, that on your own you can accomplish “not…nothing?” Do you find yourself getting frustrated that your life doesn’t seem to be exhibiting the fruit you want to see, or that you don’t seem to be bearing fruit as quickly as you’d like? You’d be unusual if you don’t have that struggle.
How often we pray for the end results – the much fruit. How weary we become in our pursuit of good deeds. Yet that is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Our bearing fruit should not be the focus. That means the focus is on us. We simply can’t go out and bear fruit by striving to bear fruit. We so often fail to realize that the fruit is the natural byproduct of abiding in Christ. If we want to bear much fruit, our focus shouldn’t be on the fruit – it should be on abiding. That means the focus is on Him, the Vine. Focus on Him, and much fruit will follow. Focus on the fruit, and much frustration will follow.
Gandhi was asked by a close friend, “If you admire Christ so much, why don’t you become a Christian?” Gandhi reportedly replied, “When I meet a Christian who is a follower of Christ, I may consider it.” Gandhi considered the Sermon on the Mount to be the most sublime teachings ever given on human conduct. He lived his life in the pursuit of the good fruit of what Christ taught. Yet, while we might say his “good intentions” were admirable, he had it completely backwards. It is fruitless to try to live a life consistent with the Sermon on the Mount – it won’t happen. However, if we focus on abiding in Christ, the characteristics described in the Sermon on the Mount will become a natural reflection of our life.
Dallas Willard, in his book Spirit of the Disciplines, aptly describes this tension using the analogy of sports. A professional athlete who expects to excel in a game without adequate exercise of his body and mind, even with the most incredible of inherent skills and talents, is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living.
The amazing reflexes and responses that we see in a professional athlete aren’t produced and maintained by the short hours of the game itself. They are available to the athlete for those short and all-important hours because of the continual discipline of a daily regimen no one sees. For us to perform at the level of a professional athlete, we would likewise have to first have the inherent capability, along with the necessary discipline to do what it takes to be able to produce the same results as an all-star athlete. With Christ in our lives, we have inherent the power to bear much fruit, yet if we do not maintain the discipline of abiding, should it be any surprise if we fail to exhibit the “reflexes and responses” of a mature disciple of Christ?
What we find here is true of any human endeavor capable of giving significance in our lives. A successful performance at a moment of crisis or an abundance of good fruit isn’t an “on-the-spot” matter. Gandhi attempted to live that – to be able to do the right deed, to bear the right fruit, on the spot. However, following “in His steps” cannot be equated with behaving as He did when He was “on the spot.” To live as Christ lived, to bear the much fruit and become more like Him, to do what He would do, is to do as He did all His life – abiding. As much as we may want to think otherwise, there is no truth to “situational Christianity.”
Wearing a WWJD (“What Would Jesus Do”) bracelet was popular for some time, but if we are not abiding in Him, wearing WWJD doesn’t do much good. We will not bear His fruit – we will not respond “on-the-spot” as He would. If we are abiding in Him, we don’t need to ask WWJD. Rather, our abiding in Him and He in us will result in a life that is already living as He would want. Then if we find ourselves “on-the-spot,” we can rest in the promise Jesus gave to His disciples when they found themselves “on-the-spot”: “Do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” (Luke 12:12)
The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we desire or know to be right. This is the feature of human character that explains why “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it a reality.
Are we trying to bear fruit, or are we an abiding branch? Note how we in essence decide whether or not we will do less than nothing, or everything. His way bears much fruit. Our way bears much frustration. No fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit – what will it be?
It may seem verse 5 is completely redundant and therefore unnecessary as it doesn’t appear to add anything new or relevant to this passage. What is being said here that hasn’t already been addressed? Why not simply skip ahead to verse 6?
We can be certain that if Jesus is making an “I AM” statement, then clearly something important is about to follow. The usage of the Greek egō eimi is infrequent and consequently purposeful; particularly when it is used in contrast to “you” (hymeis), by extension, us. The truth here is so foundational, that if we can see it and seize hold of it, it will impact us as greatly as it ignited His disciples. Yet it’s so simple and easy to skim over, that we miss it continually.
Jesus reiterates that He is the vine, but in verse 1 He directs His imagery up to the Father and then out in broad, general terms. Here He brings the message down and drives it home directly and personally to His disciples. In other words, He’s taking His lesson and making it relevant and applicable to His audience.
John is not concerned about redundancy here. He is taking pains to ensure a solid grasp of a very fundamental truth about being a disciple. In modern vernacular we could say he is attempting to clearly define roles. The roles of Christ and of His followers are not to be confused. The branches are not the Vine, nor is the Vine the branches.
Sounds pretty elementary and duh!? Hardly worth spending another verse on something so basic and straightforward? I wonder, have you ever found yourself trying to play God? Do you rest and take comfort in the truth that He is God and you’re, well, you? The sad reality is that we humans have a long history, going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, of being susceptible to the disease of identity crisis. We continually attempt to be or to do what simply isn’t intended for us, often wanting to be or to do anything that truly isn’t us.
In the Garden the temptation was to become like God (Gen 3:5), an identity crisis that still holds true today. A former executive of Oracle Corporation wrote a book about Larry Ellison, the co-founder and CEO of Oracle (and the 14th richest man in the world according to the latest issue of Forbes, which pegged him for $25B in net worth), In his book he poses the question, “What is the difference between God and Larry Ellison?” The answer: “God doesn’t think that He’s Larry.” Sadly, this identity crisis is not a secular, corporate problem in which Larry holds a monopoly. It’s also pervasive within our churches, as so often we Christians try hard to be someone or something that we’re not, ceaselessly striving to accomplish something that isn’t intended for us. As a result, the beauty, significance and purpose of who He created us to be and to do is completely lost on us.
This tendency of ours to continually attempt to be someone who we’re not was rather humorously highlighted for me when I took a 10-day trip to Indonesia, not long after the tragic tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004. While I was there I noticed a number of Indonesian women who appeared to have applied a healthy amount of white powder to their faces. I asked if that was a native custom or if it had some religious implications. I found out to my astonishment that it was simply a matter of vanity.
Apparently these Indonesian women, who have darker skin as a function of their ethnicity, use white powder as a course of their daily cosmetic or make-up process to appear lighter in color than they truly are. In their eyes, whiter is more beautiful. Now contrast that to so many women who, here in the United States, use as a part of their cosmetic regimen, lotions that make their skin appear darker. To these fair-skinned women, darker is more beautiful. In other words, these two contrasting groups of women, half-a-world away, are both attempting to be like the other, neither content with being who they really are, while regarding the other as having the true beauty!
The diagnosis: whether due to pride, vanity, insecurity or any other pathogen, we have a recurring case of identity crisis. Verse 5 is a reality check – a let’s define the roles moment. John did not want there to be any confusion over the issue of identity. The roles of Christ and of His followers are not to be misconstrued. Just as it is unmistakable to see the difference between the vine and the branches in the natural world, in the spiritual world the branches are not to be confused with the Vine, and the Vine must be acknowledged as being very distinct from the branches.
He is the “I AM,” the Vine. We are the branches. He is God. We are not. We are branches. Doesn’t that sound glorious? Seriously. Consider how radical, earth-shattering and liberating this truth was to the ragtag band of misfits, fishermen and rude Galileans. How wonderful and enlightening it is to truly know your place in this world, and to know your worth and value! We are branches. Don’t undervalue or underestimate the truth of that statement. Who or what else in all of God’s creation, including the heavenly beings, has the glory of being the branch – vitally and personally attached to the Vine – Jesus, the Son of God? We are branches. We need be nothing more. In fact, we should not want to be anything more, because that is who He created us to be.
Why is it that so many of us have such difficulty in accepting who we are and what our role is? Perhaps it because we’re focused on us – our goals, problems, desires, etc. Keep in mind that in this mashal we’re never commanded to bear fruit – it’s the vinedresser’s responsibility to ensure that we bear fruit. Our job is to abide, to focus on the vine. The reality is, if we truly focus on who God is, long enough to catch even the briefest glimpse of His vastness and incomprehensible greatness, everything else in life will fall into proper order and perspective.
That’s why we need this “define the roles” verse. It’s a reminder of what the Bible says to us from the very start: “In the beginning God…” (Gen 1:1).
We’ve all heard or read that verse so many times, that most of us probably glibly quote that verse by memory, without paying any attention to the meaning in those first four words. Consider those first four words carefully. Which statement is more reflective of your life: “In the beginning God” or “In the beginning _________” and your name is in the blank? Do you live your life every day, consciously and purposefully acknowledging in all things, “In the beginning God.”?
In the beginning God spoke, creation happened, and it was good. God, as the penultimate authority and Creator, has by His uncontestable Word (the logos) commanded all things into existence and ordered their design and purpose. By very definition then, all things are under His sole and exclusive control. He is the Vine. We are the branches. All life, power and meaning flow from and through Him to us. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Do you believe that? Do you accept that? Is your life reflective of your accepting that? If so, that foundational truth will completely set you free from all fear, worry and stress. That’s why Jesus said at the beginning of His ministry, “So do not worry” (Matt 6:31), and that’s how Paul could so confidently say, “Do not be anxious about anything…” (Phil 4:6)
“The fear of the Lord is such that when you fear Him, you’ll fear nothing else. If you don’t fear Him, you’ll fear everything else.” – Oswald Chambers
Look at the progression in this imagery regarding the fruit: no fruit, fruit, more fruit and much fruit. Then look at how that comes about: “The one remaining in Me and I in him, this one bears fruit much.” Our active part is in abiding or remaining in Him, not in rushing around and trying to bear fruit.
Incidentally, it has been suggested that Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna in the early 2nd century and a disciple of John, received his name in recognition of his focus on abiding, and the consequent bearing of much fruit: karpos (fruit) and polys (much). Our English prefix, poly, as in polygon or polytheism, is derived from this latter Greek term.
This verse not only clarifies roles, but it also emphasizes the duality of this identity truth. We bear much fruit if we abide in Him, but if we don’t abide in Him, it’s not a matter of bearing less fruit or even a little fruit – it’s nothing. In fact, in the Greek, it’s actually less than nothing. Contrary to our modern math concept of two negatives multiplied together equals a positive (-5 x -5 = +25), a double negative in the Greek means you’re really in negative territory.
The Greek ou (“not”) and ouden (“nothing”) renders the text to read literally, “not you are able to do nothing.” Our feeble attempts on our own, our “inherent goodness” does not give us “half credit” or merit or consideration. There is nothing positive we can do on our own to offset the sins which we commit on our own. Our “good works” and our “religious deeds” count for less than nothing on our own merit. That was radical teaching by Jesus in the days of the Pharisees, and it is radical teaching today in our culture of good people doing good things. It simply doesn’t leave any wiggle room for the “natural goodness” of man or lend any power to do good works that perhaps might be worthy of eternal reward.
This last line, “apart from me you can do nothing” has played an important role in the history of the theological discussion of grace works. Augustine used it to refute Pelagius, who stressed man’s natural power to do good works worthy of eternal reward; the text was cited again in 418 by the Council of Carthage against the Pelagians; and again in 529 by the second Council of Orange against the Semi-Pelagians, who defended man’s natural power to do good works that were in some sense deserving of grace. The text appeared again in the mid-1500s at the Council of Trent, in the arguments Rome brought against the Reformers, defending the meritorious quality of good works done in union with Christ.
However, in addition to this verse, the Bible is very clear as to our ability to do anything meritorious on our own:
Psa 14:3 “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (ESV)
2 Cor 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” (NKJV)
Do you struggle with that? Do you have difficulty in accepting your role, that on your own you can accomplish “not…nothing?” Do you find yourself getting frustrated that your life doesn’t seem to be exhibiting the fruit you want to see, or that you don’t seem to be bearing fruit as quickly as you’d like? You’d be unusual if you don’t have that struggle.
How often we pray for the end results – the much fruit. How weary we become in our pursuit of good deeds. Yet that is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Our bearing fruit should not be the focus. That means the focus is on us. We simply can’t go out and bear fruit by striving to bear fruit. We so often fail to realize that the fruit is the natural byproduct of abiding in Christ. If we want to bear much fruit, our focus shouldn’t be on the fruit – it should be on abiding. That means the focus is on Him, the Vine. Focus on Him, and much fruit will follow. Focus on the fruit, and much frustration will follow.
Gandhi was asked by a close friend, “If you admire Christ so much, why don’t you become a Christian?” Gandhi reportedly replied, “When I meet a Christian who is a follower of Christ, I may consider it.” Gandhi considered the Sermon on the Mount to be the most sublime teachings ever given on human conduct. He lived his life in the pursuit of the good fruit of what Christ taught. Yet, while we might say his “good intentions” were admirable, he had it completely backwards. It is fruitless to try to live a life consistent with the Sermon on the Mount – it won’t happen. However, if we focus on abiding in Christ, the characteristics described in the Sermon on the Mount will become a natural reflection of our life.
Dallas Willard, in his book Spirit of the Disciplines, aptly describes this tension using the analogy of sports. A professional athlete who expects to excel in a game without adequate exercise of his body and mind, even with the most incredible of inherent skills and talents, is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living.
The amazing reflexes and responses that we see in a professional athlete aren’t produced and maintained by the short hours of the game itself. They are available to the athlete for those short and all-important hours because of the continual discipline of a daily regimen no one sees. For us to perform at the level of a professional athlete, we would likewise have to first have the inherent capability, along with the necessary discipline to do what it takes to be able to produce the same results as an all-star athlete. With Christ in our lives, we have inherent the power to bear much fruit, yet if we do not maintain the discipline of abiding, should it be any surprise if we fail to exhibit the “reflexes and responses” of a mature disciple of Christ?
What we find here is true of any human endeavor capable of giving significance in our lives. A successful performance at a moment of crisis or an abundance of good fruit isn’t an “on-the-spot” matter. Gandhi attempted to live that – to be able to do the right deed, to bear the right fruit, on the spot. However, following “in His steps” cannot be equated with behaving as He did when He was “on the spot.” To live as Christ lived, to bear the much fruit and become more like Him, to do what He would do, is to do as He did all His life – abiding. As much as we may want to think otherwise, there is no truth to “situational Christianity.”
Wearing a WWJD (“What Would Jesus Do”) bracelet was popular for some time, but if we are not abiding in Him, wearing WWJD doesn’t do much good. We will not bear His fruit – we will not respond “on-the-spot” as He would. If we are abiding in Him, we don’t need to ask WWJD. Rather, our abiding in Him and He in us will result in a life that is already living as He would want. Then if we find ourselves “on-the-spot,” we can rest in the promise Jesus gave to His disciples when they found themselves “on-the-spot”: “Do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” (Luke 12:12)
The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we desire or know to be right. This is the feature of human character that explains why “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” We intend what is right, but we avoid the life that would make it a reality.
Are we trying to bear fruit, or are we an abiding branch? Note how we in essence decide whether or not we will do less than nothing, or everything. His way bears much fruit. Our way bears much frustration. No fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit – what will it be?
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
John 15:4 - abide
John 15:4 “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.” (ESV)
In verse 4 we see one of John’s key concepts in his theology: menō, which means “abide, remain, dwell, lodge.” This term is found 120 times overall in the New Testament, yet 67 of these occurrences are in John’s writings – 11 times alone just in chapter 15.
What could possibly be so significant about menō that John, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, would use this term so frequently? What does it mean to “abide?”
Breaking this key term down in the Greek, it is written in the second person, imperative mood, aorist tense, and active voice. And you’re saying now, “Yes, that all sounds Greek to me…”
Imperative mood means this word was spoken as a direct command. The imperative expresses a stern order – one that is to be carried out without argument or wavering. Aorist tense here carries the concept of “summary occurrence” without regard for the amount of time taken to accomplish the action, although it may actually take place over a period of time. Second person active voice would be similar to our English concept of the “understood you.” Come here vs. You come here.
Put all that together, this seemingly simple “abide” is a strident command to us as followers of Christ to take our dwelling in Him and remain in that state of dwelling in Him. Not simply in a passive or comatose condition, but in a constant, vibrant, unbroken, and ever-deepening relationship. Abiding is fellowship and communion with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind throughout our entire life here on earth, until we achieve perfect abiding in Him in heaven.
John 1:38 gives a glimpse into the full meaning of abiding: “And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying’?”
The Message translation renders 15:4: “Live in Me. Make your home in Me…” How long does it take to make a home, a home? It is never not home, yet you’re growing in and into your home, until it truly is your home. In like fashion we are to abide in Christ, until we are truly abiding in Him.
What should be our model? The perfect example of such abiding? Just earlier in chapter 14 John quotes Jesus: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…” (14:10-11)
The Father abides in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. That perfect interabiding, communion and fellowship is the model given to the disciples here, and we as Christians by extension, to abide in the Vine.
Can you see why John so highly regarded this term that he would use it 67 times?
The first part of this verse is very straight forward, thanks to the verb we’ve been discussing, “Abide in Me.” However, the follow-up clause doesn’t contain a Greek verb, reading literally, “and I in you.” Due to the uncertainty of the sentence structure in the Greek, there are several varying renderings of this second clause found among modern translations.
Some translations (NIV, NLT, Message, etc.) assume a conditional clause: “Remain in me and I will remain in you.” This connotes the disciples’ perseverance in remaining in Jesus as the condition for His remaining in them. Their consistency is therefore the occasional cause for His presence. The conditional proponents argue the “if” statements later in verses 6 and 7 support such an interpretation. They also site Rev 3:20 (“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.”) as further support for Christ’s response being at times conditional to ours.
Other translations (NRSV, NJB, BBE, etc.) render the second clause “as I abide in you,” which suggests Jesus is the model for the disciples’ abiding. Such a parallelism, however, would mean that Jesus is commanding the vine to abide or remain in the branches. Considering the context of the second half of this verse and the rest of this mashal, this view is not likely. The disciples are clearly the ones being commanded to abide, and the only parallelism drawn regarding Jesus is in verse 9 where His actions are in lock-step with the Father – not the disciples. They are to be in lock-step with Him.
Certain translations (NASB, ESV, KJV, etc.) simply provide the literal translation: “Abide in Me, and I in you.” Some commentators claim such translations are not supplying a verb and therefore leaving this verse to the reader to interpret the meaning. However, the literal translation is the best rendering of this verse. Not simply because the interpretation should be left to the reader, but rather because the wrangling over the Greek sentence structure is a much-ado-about-nothing.
The fact of the matter is, this should not be construed to be a comparison between two separate actions. Nor should the strong command that starts the sentence be seen as the causal condition of the response. Rather, this verse should be understood to mean the one cannot exist without the other. Remaining in Jesus and having Jesus remain in the disciple are parts of the whole. Christianity is Christ. Christianity is nothing without Him. Just as it would be unimaginable for Jesus to not be in the Father and the Father to not be in Jesus, it should be similarly unimaginable for a true disciple to not be in an interabiding relationship with Jesus. Christianity separated from Christ is not Christianity. We may still call it such today, but that was never the intent. If you are truly a disciple of Christ, you are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in you – there should be no other possibility.
This is analogous to the teaching of Jesus as relates to divorce. Recall when the Pharisees challenged Him on the matter of divorce (Matt 19:3-9). His response to their attempt to trap Him was, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” In the divine plan there is no such concept as divorce – oneness of unity of man and wife was the only scenario. Anything less should be unimaginable. The Pharisees shot back, “Why then did Moses…” as their justification. Jesus’ answer to them is the same explanation as to why there could be such a thing as someone who claims to be a Christian when they really aren’t, or why one who is a Christian does not live a life consistent with one who is abiding in Christ: “Because of the hardness of your heart.”
The interabiding of Jesus with the Father is holy and pure. Such is meant to be our relationship with Jesus. The same holds true for those of us who are married. It is only when our sin and our hardness of heart enters into the relationship, that the unthinkable and unimaginable happens – separation.
All who remain in Jesus bear fruit and only those. Standing in stark contrast to human pride and deluded notions of self-adequacy, these vine tendrils are weak and useless in of themselves. Independence is a human concept and term. Jesus is calling us away from ourselves and our own strength, to Himself and His strength. A branch is not a self-contained entity, and neither is the Christian disciple. No branch bears fruit on its own, nor can it even produce its own life. It draws its very life from the vine. As a branch separated from the vine is utterly lacking in the supply of nourishment and therefore cannot produce fruit, neither can the Christian who is separated from Christ bear fruit. Fruit bearing for the disciple is totally dependent on a direct connection to Jesus. We cannot bear fruit on our own.
Oh we may have great intentions don’t we? And just like a branch may seem healthy for a brief time when severed from the branch, we may seem to be able to do just fine thank you, when we attempt to do good deeds on our own. However, just as that severed branch eventually withers and dies, so we also will wither. We’ve all been there. We’ve all tried to be “good” Christians on are own. We may fool others and even ourselves for a time, but then comes the wither.
Attachment to Jesus or abiding in Him is the sine qua non of Christian discipleship – the indispensable condition or essential element. Our abiding in Him should be such that His thoughts, emotions, desires and power are manifested in and through us. Paul expresses this truth when he says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13).
“Abiding in the Vine then comes to be nothing more nor less than the restful surrender of the soul to let Christ have all and work all, as completely as in nature the branch knows and seeks nothing but the vine.” – Andrew Murray, The True Vine
In verse 4 we see one of John’s key concepts in his theology: menō, which means “abide, remain, dwell, lodge.” This term is found 120 times overall in the New Testament, yet 67 of these occurrences are in John’s writings – 11 times alone just in chapter 15.
What could possibly be so significant about menō that John, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, would use this term so frequently? What does it mean to “abide?”
Breaking this key term down in the Greek, it is written in the second person, imperative mood, aorist tense, and active voice. And you’re saying now, “Yes, that all sounds Greek to me…”
Imperative mood means this word was spoken as a direct command. The imperative expresses a stern order – one that is to be carried out without argument or wavering. Aorist tense here carries the concept of “summary occurrence” without regard for the amount of time taken to accomplish the action, although it may actually take place over a period of time. Second person active voice would be similar to our English concept of the “understood you.” Come here vs. You come here.
Put all that together, this seemingly simple “abide” is a strident command to us as followers of Christ to take our dwelling in Him and remain in that state of dwelling in Him. Not simply in a passive or comatose condition, but in a constant, vibrant, unbroken, and ever-deepening relationship. Abiding is fellowship and communion with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind throughout our entire life here on earth, until we achieve perfect abiding in Him in heaven.
John 1:38 gives a glimpse into the full meaning of abiding: “And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to Him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying’?”
The Message translation renders 15:4: “Live in Me. Make your home in Me…” How long does it take to make a home, a home? It is never not home, yet you’re growing in and into your home, until it truly is your home. In like fashion we are to abide in Christ, until we are truly abiding in Him.
What should be our model? The perfect example of such abiding? Just earlier in chapter 14 John quotes Jesus: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…” (14:10-11)
The Father abides in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father. That perfect interabiding, communion and fellowship is the model given to the disciples here, and we as Christians by extension, to abide in the Vine.
Can you see why John so highly regarded this term that he would use it 67 times?
The first part of this verse is very straight forward, thanks to the verb we’ve been discussing, “Abide in Me.” However, the follow-up clause doesn’t contain a Greek verb, reading literally, “and I in you.” Due to the uncertainty of the sentence structure in the Greek, there are several varying renderings of this second clause found among modern translations.
Some translations (NIV, NLT, Message, etc.) assume a conditional clause: “Remain in me and I will remain in you.” This connotes the disciples’ perseverance in remaining in Jesus as the condition for His remaining in them. Their consistency is therefore the occasional cause for His presence. The conditional proponents argue the “if” statements later in verses 6 and 7 support such an interpretation. They also site Rev 3:20 (“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.”) as further support for Christ’s response being at times conditional to ours.
Other translations (NRSV, NJB, BBE, etc.) render the second clause “as I abide in you,” which suggests Jesus is the model for the disciples’ abiding. Such a parallelism, however, would mean that Jesus is commanding the vine to abide or remain in the branches. Considering the context of the second half of this verse and the rest of this mashal, this view is not likely. The disciples are clearly the ones being commanded to abide, and the only parallelism drawn regarding Jesus is in verse 9 where His actions are in lock-step with the Father – not the disciples. They are to be in lock-step with Him.
Certain translations (NASB, ESV, KJV, etc.) simply provide the literal translation: “Abide in Me, and I in you.” Some commentators claim such translations are not supplying a verb and therefore leaving this verse to the reader to interpret the meaning. However, the literal translation is the best rendering of this verse. Not simply because the interpretation should be left to the reader, but rather because the wrangling over the Greek sentence structure is a much-ado-about-nothing.
The fact of the matter is, this should not be construed to be a comparison between two separate actions. Nor should the strong command that starts the sentence be seen as the causal condition of the response. Rather, this verse should be understood to mean the one cannot exist without the other. Remaining in Jesus and having Jesus remain in the disciple are parts of the whole. Christianity is Christ. Christianity is nothing without Him. Just as it would be unimaginable for Jesus to not be in the Father and the Father to not be in Jesus, it should be similarly unimaginable for a true disciple to not be in an interabiding relationship with Jesus. Christianity separated from Christ is not Christianity. We may still call it such today, but that was never the intent. If you are truly a disciple of Christ, you are abiding in Him, and He is abiding in you – there should be no other possibility.
This is analogous to the teaching of Jesus as relates to divorce. Recall when the Pharisees challenged Him on the matter of divorce (Matt 19:3-9). His response to their attempt to trap Him was, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” In the divine plan there is no such concept as divorce – oneness of unity of man and wife was the only scenario. Anything less should be unimaginable. The Pharisees shot back, “Why then did Moses…” as their justification. Jesus’ answer to them is the same explanation as to why there could be such a thing as someone who claims to be a Christian when they really aren’t, or why one who is a Christian does not live a life consistent with one who is abiding in Christ: “Because of the hardness of your heart.”
The interabiding of Jesus with the Father is holy and pure. Such is meant to be our relationship with Jesus. The same holds true for those of us who are married. It is only when our sin and our hardness of heart enters into the relationship, that the unthinkable and unimaginable happens – separation.
All who remain in Jesus bear fruit and only those. Standing in stark contrast to human pride and deluded notions of self-adequacy, these vine tendrils are weak and useless in of themselves. Independence is a human concept and term. Jesus is calling us away from ourselves and our own strength, to Himself and His strength. A branch is not a self-contained entity, and neither is the Christian disciple. No branch bears fruit on its own, nor can it even produce its own life. It draws its very life from the vine. As a branch separated from the vine is utterly lacking in the supply of nourishment and therefore cannot produce fruit, neither can the Christian who is separated from Christ bear fruit. Fruit bearing for the disciple is totally dependent on a direct connection to Jesus. We cannot bear fruit on our own.
Oh we may have great intentions don’t we? And just like a branch may seem healthy for a brief time when severed from the branch, we may seem to be able to do just fine thank you, when we attempt to do good deeds on our own. However, just as that severed branch eventually withers and dies, so we also will wither. We’ve all been there. We’ve all tried to be “good” Christians on are own. We may fool others and even ourselves for a time, but then comes the wither.
Attachment to Jesus or abiding in Him is the sine qua non of Christian discipleship – the indispensable condition or essential element. Our abiding in Him should be such that His thoughts, emotions, desires and power are manifested in and through us. Paul expresses this truth when he says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20) and “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13).
“Abiding in the Vine then comes to be nothing more nor less than the restful surrender of the soul to let Christ have all and work all, as completely as in nature the branch knows and seeks nothing but the vine.” – Andrew Murray, The True Vine
John 15:3 - the pruning sword?
John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” (NASB)
In verse 2 the Father prunes or literally, “cleanses” branches that bear fruit. The Greek term there is kathairō. Here in verse 3 Jesus is saying that the disciples are already clean by the Word, the Greek term being katharos. Incidentally, this term katharos is the basis for our English word catharsis, which means “an emotional release and purification, the release of tension and anxiety.”
Jesus had already used the term katharos earlier that evening when He was responding to Peter’s protestation of His washing Peter’s feet: “Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you’.” (13:10)
Jesus stated to them that they were clean, beyond the mere fact of having clean feet. The obvious exception that He singled out was Judas, who was consciously and deliberately planning to betray Him, even as Jesus was washing his feet. Here in verse 3, His “you are already clean” does not need an exception as Judas had already gone out from their company (13:30).
The Greek term logos is employed here for “word,” signifying the complete body of Jesus’ teachings – the sum total of His individual words. The disciples were already clean (though not perfect, as they so clearly evidenced) through the continual process of being trimmed by His instructions, all the time He had been with them. Yet more than just His individual words are in focus here.
How can Jesus say in verse 2 that the pruning or cleansing work is being done by the Father, yet now in verse 3 He says that it’s through His words that they have been cleansed? How do we resolve this seeming contradiction?
Who was Jesus? Was He not, after all, logos incarnate? “In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14 ESV)
As the Son of God and the very logos of God, the sum of all His words, who He was and what He did was being directed by the Father, the vinedresser, who was and is and always will be in supreme control of all things. Even though He was the logos of God, Jesus claimed no ownership of what He taught: “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16). Once again we see the perfect and incomprehensible union between God the Father and God the Son, which we’ll address further as we look into the meaning of “abide” in the next verse.
In this short verse that can be so easily overlooked, Jesus reinforces a truth that we cannot ignore – the power and efficacy of God’s Word. By His spoken Word God brought into existence the universe and all life as we know it (Gen 1). By His spoken Word He rebuked the forces of the natural and the supernatural (Luke 8:22-25, 28-31). Now we see the pruning work had already begun in the lives of His disciples as Jesus taught them the Word of the Father.
Through the teaching of His Father’s Word, He had purged from the disciples’ minds the ingrained teachings of the Pharisees and their culture; He had opened their eyes and minds to the truths long hidden in the Scriptures. He removed their erroneous notions of the Messiah, cut back their selfish ambitions and desires so they could attain far loftier goals, retrained their eyes to see beyond themselves to the far broader fields of harvest – extending even to the Gentiles, and the list goes on.
Perhaps the most significant evidence of their pruning was the confession of Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). Jesus attributed this confession as the work of “My Father who is in heaven” taking root in Peter (v. 17). Peter’s confession is one that every true disciple of Jesus must embrace, and only one who has the Spirit of God can make such a confession: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2 NASB). Only the faithful pruning of the Father in the lives of these disciples and in the lives of true disciples today can produce the fruit of such a confession.
As an aside, this verse has been a key reference for nonsacramentalists, who point to this verse “as indicating that the Christian is cleansed not by church institutions or sacramental means,” contrary to the dogma of the Catholic and other Orthodox churches.
Have you ever considered the Word of God to be a pruning knife? Through the truths contained in His Word, the sword that is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12), we are trimmed clean of the heavy overgrowth that entangles and enslaves us: “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32 NASB).
The Word of God “is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.” (2 Tim 3:16 NCV)
The Word of God sanctifies us: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NKJV); “so that He might sanctify her [the Church], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph 5:26 NASB)
Look at the amazing consistency throughout the Scriptures. In the Old Testament we see how the Word of God cleanses and purifies us: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word.” (Psa 119:9 NIV)
Then in the New Testament, Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt 5:8) The Greek word here that’s been rendered pure is none other than katharos. So in other words, God, through His Word, makes us katharos, and the katharos in heart are blessed and shall see God. God indeed is “the Alpha and the Omega” – the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8), the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2).
From the beginning of His earthly ministry, starting with the Sermon on the Mount, to the words spoken at the Passover dinner, His words of instruction had tried, cleansed and pruned (an ongoing work) them of their selfishness, ignorance and weaknesses. His words were revealing to them His true nature and readying them for the imminent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who would continue to teach them and remind them of the words spoken to them by Jesus (John 14:26). While His words provided the initial purging both of them and of the dead wood from their midst, His words would continue pruning and molding them as they remained in Him, and His words remained in them:
“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (Psa 119:11 NASB)
“It is not our judgment of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God…It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In verse 2 the Father prunes or literally, “cleanses” branches that bear fruit. The Greek term there is kathairō. Here in verse 3 Jesus is saying that the disciples are already clean by the Word, the Greek term being katharos. Incidentally, this term katharos is the basis for our English word catharsis, which means “an emotional release and purification, the release of tension and anxiety.”
Jesus had already used the term katharos earlier that evening when He was responding to Peter’s protestation of His washing Peter’s feet: “Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you’.” (13:10)
Jesus stated to them that they were clean, beyond the mere fact of having clean feet. The obvious exception that He singled out was Judas, who was consciously and deliberately planning to betray Him, even as Jesus was washing his feet. Here in verse 3, His “you are already clean” does not need an exception as Judas had already gone out from their company (13:30).
The Greek term logos is employed here for “word,” signifying the complete body of Jesus’ teachings – the sum total of His individual words. The disciples were already clean (though not perfect, as they so clearly evidenced) through the continual process of being trimmed by His instructions, all the time He had been with them. Yet more than just His individual words are in focus here.
How can Jesus say in verse 2 that the pruning or cleansing work is being done by the Father, yet now in verse 3 He says that it’s through His words that they have been cleansed? How do we resolve this seeming contradiction?
Who was Jesus? Was He not, after all, logos incarnate? “In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14 ESV)
As the Son of God and the very logos of God, the sum of all His words, who He was and what He did was being directed by the Father, the vinedresser, who was and is and always will be in supreme control of all things. Even though He was the logos of God, Jesus claimed no ownership of what He taught: “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16). Once again we see the perfect and incomprehensible union between God the Father and God the Son, which we’ll address further as we look into the meaning of “abide” in the next verse.
In this short verse that can be so easily overlooked, Jesus reinforces a truth that we cannot ignore – the power and efficacy of God’s Word. By His spoken Word God brought into existence the universe and all life as we know it (Gen 1). By His spoken Word He rebuked the forces of the natural and the supernatural (Luke 8:22-25, 28-31). Now we see the pruning work had already begun in the lives of His disciples as Jesus taught them the Word of the Father.
Through the teaching of His Father’s Word, He had purged from the disciples’ minds the ingrained teachings of the Pharisees and their culture; He had opened their eyes and minds to the truths long hidden in the Scriptures. He removed their erroneous notions of the Messiah, cut back their selfish ambitions and desires so they could attain far loftier goals, retrained their eyes to see beyond themselves to the far broader fields of harvest – extending even to the Gentiles, and the list goes on.
Perhaps the most significant evidence of their pruning was the confession of Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). Jesus attributed this confession as the work of “My Father who is in heaven” taking root in Peter (v. 17). Peter’s confession is one that every true disciple of Jesus must embrace, and only one who has the Spirit of God can make such a confession: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:2 NASB). Only the faithful pruning of the Father in the lives of these disciples and in the lives of true disciples today can produce the fruit of such a confession.
As an aside, this verse has been a key reference for nonsacramentalists, who point to this verse “as indicating that the Christian is cleansed not by church institutions or sacramental means,” contrary to the dogma of the Catholic and other Orthodox churches.
Have you ever considered the Word of God to be a pruning knife? Through the truths contained in His Word, the sword that is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12), we are trimmed clean of the heavy overgrowth that entangles and enslaves us: “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32 NASB).
The Word of God “is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.” (2 Tim 3:16 NCV)
The Word of God sanctifies us: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NKJV); “so that He might sanctify her [the Church], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” (Eph 5:26 NASB)
Look at the amazing consistency throughout the Scriptures. In the Old Testament we see how the Word of God cleanses and purifies us: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word.” (Psa 119:9 NIV)
Then in the New Testament, Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt 5:8) The Greek word here that’s been rendered pure is none other than katharos. So in other words, God, through His Word, makes us katharos, and the katharos in heart are blessed and shall see God. God indeed is “the Alpha and the Omega” – the beginning and the end (Rev 1:8), the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2).
From the beginning of His earthly ministry, starting with the Sermon on the Mount, to the words spoken at the Passover dinner, His words of instruction had tried, cleansed and pruned (an ongoing work) them of their selfishness, ignorance and weaknesses. His words were revealing to them His true nature and readying them for the imminent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who would continue to teach them and remind them of the words spoken to them by Jesus (John 14:26). While His words provided the initial purging both of them and of the dead wood from their midst, His words would continue pruning and molding them as they remained in Him, and His words remained in them:
“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (Psa 119:11 NASB)
“It is not our judgment of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God…It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
John 15:2 - a somber verse
John 15:2 “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.” (NIV)
The NIV translation flows seamlessly from the introduction of the Father as the vinedresser to the pruning actions He takes. While the NIV and other modern translations flow smoothly from verse one, they mask elements of the debate this verse has sparked, and the paronomasia, or play on words, which is visible in the original Greek text is lost altogether in any English translation. A crude translation that imperfectly reflects this paronomasia:
Every branch in Me not bearing fruit, He airō;
And every fruit bearing, He kathairō;
airō : “to lift, to take off or away what is attached to anything, to cut off”
kathairō : “to cleanse or purge” from filth, impurity; or in an agricultural context, “to prune” trees and vines of useless shoots
The ASV captures more of the literal rendering of this verse, albeit not as flowing to our modern ears:
“Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.” (ASV)
kathairō is only used the one time here in the NT, and while it is not uncommon in the Greek relative to agricultural processes, it would be, used by itself, an atypical selection of term to describe the pruning process for a vine. The use of airō, while frequently used in the NT, is an even more peculiar choice to denote cutting off of branches for pruning purposes. John appears then to have crafted this paronomasia not so much for the primary applicability to viticulture, but to accentuate the related but dichotomous (positive and negative) work of the Father in relation to Jesus, and to those who make claim (valid and invalid) to Him.
The actions of the Father here as the vinedresser are decisive, as clearly indicated in the NIV. There are only two possible scenarios, represented by two types of branches: 1) ones that do not bear fruit and 2) ones that do. These two scenarios lead conclusively to two and only two outcomes. The actions of the Father are predictable, to be anticipated, definitive and ongoing: “He takes away” and “He cleanses.” There is no alternative outcome, no shades of gray, no compromise, no purgatory – only purgation.
The word used here for branches, klēma, is only found four times in the NT and only in this mashal (vv. 2, 4, 5, & 6). klēma typically refers to vine tendrils or shoots, versus the branch in our familiar sense or usage of the term, as used elsewhere in the NT, which would be klados.
For the vineyard keeper, a vine tendril has one purpose and one purpose only – to bear fruit. That is the sole point of the vineyard. Given the immense investment in time and labor a vineyard requires, as discussed previously, lush green growth is not the desired end. Fruitfulness – at a high degree of quality and abundance – is the only desired and expected end. A branch therefore that does not bear fruit is good only for burning, as a vine tendril hardly has the composition to be used as lumber for building or other form of carpentry, as noted by Ezekiel (15:1-6). Accordingly, a branch that does not bear fruit must be cut off from the vine and taken away – there’s simply no other value or purpose for the branch.
Pruning therefore is critical for any vine. The pruning process is the most important part of any viticulture enterprise, and the people who do it are carefully trained. Pruners may undergo two or three years of training as they learn when to cut, what to cut, where to cut, how much to cut, and even the precise angle of the cut. The lack of proper pruning can literally destroy an entire crop.
In order for a vine to be healthy and produce a rich harvest of grapes, the one doing the pruning cannot take half measures. All dead wood must be ruthlessly removed. Dead wood can harbor insects or disease and may cause the vine to rot and decay. Dead branches clearly must go. The same also holds true for branches that are not bearing any fruit, no matter how lush and healthy they look. Such branches are simply siphoning off the nutrients needed by the branches that are bearing fruit, potentially hindering the achievement of the ripest and richest harvest. Philo of Alexandria in his writings refers to “superfluous shoots … which are a great injury to the genuine shoots, and which the husbandmen cleanse and prune.”
Early in the spring, sometime in February or March, the first evidence of life becomes visible on the branches. If branches don’t show life at this stage, there will be no fruit on them later, so these barren or dead branches are removed from the vine. Later in the summer, around July or August, the second stage of pruning takes place, where the vinedresser removes the overgrowth, ensuring all the vital essence of the vine is nourishing the young fruit.
Consider the somber ramifications of this short verse. Jesus’ words anticipates that there will be branches (“in Me”) that will not bear fruit and therefore can have no part in Him, and that even the branches that do bear fruit will need pruning. Here in verse 2, Yahweh, as the divine vinedresser, wields His pruning knife and “takes away” or “cuts off” all branches that do not bear fruit. If Jesus is the vine and these branches that are “in Me” are cut off and then later burned (v. 6), who do these branches represent? How can one be a part of Christ and then later cut off and burned? Are these branches representative of non-believing Jews who will ultimately be cut off? Perhaps they are non-Christians simply used to depict dead wood for the sake of this imagery of the vine, or maybe Christians who were living branches at one time and who have lost their salvation and become dead?
In order to understand this properly, we must consider this mashal within the construct of this imagery and the context of the full canon of Scripture. We must avoid over-reaching on conclusions by excessive or over-interpreting the vine metaphor, and clearly we must not interpret a meaning inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. As stated previously, the nation of Israel was frequently likened to God’s vineyard or vine. Though Israel was God’s vineyard, His chosen people, not all who were in Israel chose to follow God. The nation of Israel had become degenerate to the point the resulting fruit was rotten (Jer 2:21).
Jesus as the “true vine” supersedes Israel, and His body, the Church, constitutes those who have been called by God as a part of the “new covenant.” Jesus is speaking here at the end of the Passover dinner to “the eleven” – His remaining disciples. Judas had already left (John 13:31), as had a larger number of disciples who had left Him earlier (John 6:60-66). These remaining 11 disciples (with Paul included later) would become the building blocks of the foundation upon which Jesus established His church, with Himself being the chief corner stone (John 17:20; Eph 2:20).
In the context of this allegory then, Jesus is saying that there will be those who may profess to be His followers, or “in Him,” and perhaps may even show forth initial growth (not fruit) as in the Parable of the Sower. However, if a branch does not bear fruit, it is truly not a part of Him and must be permanently severed. The irrefutable sign of a true Christian in this vineyard imagery is that there must be good fruit. Again, that is the only point of a vine – to bear fruit.
Throughout Jesus’ teachings, and the entire New Testament as a whole, we find many references to individuals who at one point display some degree of connection with Jesus and/or His Church, but who later “fall away” and never manifest the perseverance and the tell-tale fruit of a life truly transformed and spiritually reborn in a relationship with Christ (Matt 24:12-13; John 6:60-66). In one of John’s later writings, he refers to certain individuals who were once a part of the Church, but left the fellowship of the Christians because they really had no part in abiding in Christ and in His Church (1 John 2:18-19). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, but who were later scorched or choked-off (Matt 13:3-23; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15).
Accordingly, these dead branches are people who, like Judas, profess to believe, but their lack of fruit indicates genuine salvation has never taken place, and they have no life from the vine. Let’s look at an earlier conversation from that very same evening, when Peter protested at Jesus washing his feet:
“Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For He knew who was to betray Him; that was why He said, ‘Not all of you are clean’.” (John 13:10-11)
It is clear from these verse that Jesus has Judas in mind as the one who was not clean, even though Judas, up until he walked out of that upper room, had been identified as being with Jesus, one of the select 12 disciples. While he was not a part of the inner circle of Peter, James and John, clearly he was one who, using the construct of this mashal, had been “in Him.” Very few had closer contact than he did, yet clearly he was not one who had truly given his life over for Christ. Rather, he gave Christ’s life over to others. Not hardly one who would have been “cleansed” as with the other 11, he was cut off as “one doomed to destruction” (John 17:12, NIV), or more literally, “son of perdition” or “son of the destruction.” Not so coincidentally, in these two verses from John 13, all three usage of “clean” are the Greek term, katharos, the root word from which kathairō is derived.
Now possibly in the immediate context of the mashal tragic Judas was in view, but the imagery extends more broadly from him to all those who make a profession of faith in Christ but do not truly have a conversion experience and thereby are saved. These branches cannot be Christians who truly had a conversion experience but then later lost their salvation. That scenario would be a contradiction to Scripture and therefore must be dismissed (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:28-29; Rom. 8:1). A branch that bears no fruit is dead or will soon be dead. Therefore, like Judas, it is cut off. These have no life in them; they have never borne fruit nor will they ever bear fruit, or else they would be “trimmed clean,” not cut off.
Some commentators hold that airō here should be interpreted as “lifted up” to signify fruitless branches are lifted up for better exposure to the sun and away from the dirt. This then would allow such branches a better opportunity for fruitfulness. Here the vinedresser’s purpose is not to judge but to produce fruit, thereby rendering aid to a faltering vine.
Proponents of this school of thought point out there are eight occasions in John where airō could be rendered “lift up” or “pick up.” However, even a cursory review of the context of the passages where airō could reasonably be translated in such a manner clearly indicates a temporary scenario vs. the permanent removal obviously intended here. It should also be noted that airō is rendered “take away” or “remove” for a total of 16 times in John. Compare these twin sets of two references:
“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.” (5:8-9)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’ Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” (8:58-59)
“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (1:29)
“So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone.’” (11:38-39)
Moreover, such an interpretation of “lift up” or “pick up” is not consistent or substantiated with common viticulture practice; and it does not fit with the paronomasia, as its very awkwardness would otherwise have been pointless. It would also be discordant with the broader context of the mashal (as clearly evidenced in the verses to follow); and we must go back to the original intent of the vine and the obvious dichotomy in this vineyard metaphor. The antithetical parallelism of the first part of each statement (“every branch in me that bears no fruit”/“every branch in me that does bear fruit”) is matched by corresponding divine action, be it judgment (negative) or discipline (positive). The whole point of a vineyard is to bear fruit. Branches that do not bear fruit are met with one action, while branches that do bear fruit another. In the case of Jesus’ followers, Judas was an example of the former, Peter of the latter. (Köstenberger)
Some may find this interpretation as narrow and unduly harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches. However, there is no middle ground or alternative option in relation to Jesus. It’s either fully accept God’s plan of salvation offered through faith in Jesus, or to reject Him. There is no third choice – He didn’t intend there to be any other options. He did not leave room for compromise, neutrality or ecumenical peace:
“He who is not with Me is against Me.” Matt 12:30; Luke 11:23
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matt 10:34
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.” Luke 12:51
Dead branches aren’t the only ones to encounter the pruning knife of the vinedresser. Live branches also must be pruned. An unattended vine will produce a good deal of growth lacking in fruit. An untrimmed vine will develop long rambling branches that produce heavy growth with little or no fruit, because the life of the vine is given to growing foliage – not grapes. While it may have the appearance of lush, green health and attractiveness to the world, it has no value. It has no more value than a common weed.
The point of a vineyard is to produce grapes, not merely green growth. Dead or non-fruit bearing, anything that could possibly divert the vital strength of the vine must be decisively removed. The unquestionable and fully expected task of any skilled vinedresser, then, is to be able to discern between productive and unproductive branches, and then to act appropriately and decisively.
Many churches across our country and abroad are filled with dead, fruitless and unproductive branches, who claim either loosely or falsely to be “in Him.” These churches, hobbled by our inherent humanity, lack the ability or even the desire to actively and decisively address this lack of fruitfulness. Clearly much of that may be attributable in our complacent, western society to be a function of the preeminence placed upon enrollment or membership numbers and flashy programs vs. a focus on worship and discipleship/teaching (Matt 28:19-20).
This modern church culture, that so often attempts to replace a relationship with Christ with the religion of playing church and casual Christianity, is so prevalent today that it can detract from or outright depart from the true purpose and meaning of worship and the Great Commission – what Dallas Willard refers to as “The Great Omission.” A stark contrast, however, can be seen in some parts of our world still today, where claiming to be a Christian requires one to truly count the costs – including the cost of their life. In such settings it makes as little point to claim to be a Christian when you’re truly not, as to have a vineyard that doesn’t produce fruit. It’s only in our complacent and “inclusive” society that one would choose to play church and Christianity, even to the extent of claiming to be “in Him.”
However, the modern church does not the pruning knife wield. We are all accountable to a much higher vinedresser. Where we may be fooled or lulled by seemingly healthy, luxuriant growth, the all-seeing and all-knowing eyes of Jehovah discerns both which branches need to be cut off, as well as trimmed cleaned. Churches and individuals may appear to have rich, lush growth that is sprouting up everywhere in endless activities, programs, services and numbers. All of this may look healthy and vibrant, and the activities may truly be good ones, but it is all for naught if the fruit God desires is missing. Jesus gave a solemn warning that “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven;” instructing us that we “will know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:15-23). Green growth and a flurry of activity cannot substitute for an abundance of good fruit. We must never mistake activity for productivity.
A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear good fruit. With Jesus as the true vine, a life that is truly connected to Him cannot but bear fruit. Not every branch bears the same amount of fruit, just as not every field yield the same harvest (Matt 13:8, 23), but there is always fruit where there is life. Why? Because the Father “trims clean” for more fruit.
Note the progression here in this mashal: no fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit. The repeated references to “does not bear fruit … does bear fruit … bear even more fruit” draw attention to the fact that the bearing of fruit is one of God’s primary creative (“be fruitful and multiply” Gen 1:11–12, 22, 28) and redemptive purposes (John 15:8, 16). The Old Testament prophets envisioned a time when Israel would “bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit” (Isa. 27:6; cf. Hos. 14:4–8). Paul, in his opening remarks to the Romans, openly shared his desire to “obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the Gentiles” (1:13).
For maximum fruitfulness from a vine, extensive pruning is essential. Likewise, the fruitfulness of a Christian life is never the result of our being left to our own devices. Rather, it’s due to the work of the Father, trimming us clean to bear more fruit. Isn’t it ironic how many Christians pray that God will make them more fruitful, but then chafe and fret at the pruning that must necessarily take place in order for their prayer to be answered? We must understand and accept that not even fruit-bearing branches are exempted from the pruning knife.
He prunes us by taking away that which hinders our fruitfulness, however much we may be attached to that which He is trimming, and as painful as that may seem at the time. Yet we can be assured our Heavenly vinedresser is never nearer to us than when He is pruning us. We must also bear in mind that pruning does not simply mean spiritual surgery that removes what is bad. It can mean trimming off the good and the better, so that we can produce the best. Can pruning hurt? Absolutely. We may not enjoy it, and perhaps not even want it, but we need it. The vinedresser’s purpose may be loving, but that doesn’t mean the pruning won’t be painful:
“He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Heb 12:10b-11, NASB)
The vineyards in the early spring look like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps; but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant grapes. As the vinedresser wields the pruning knife among His branches, so God cuts dead wood out from among His people, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His methods may seem harsh. Nevertheless, from those who have been pruned the most, there often comes the greatest fruitfulness (Tenney).
The NIV translation flows seamlessly from the introduction of the Father as the vinedresser to the pruning actions He takes. While the NIV and other modern translations flow smoothly from verse one, they mask elements of the debate this verse has sparked, and the paronomasia, or play on words, which is visible in the original Greek text is lost altogether in any English translation. A crude translation that imperfectly reflects this paronomasia:
Every branch in Me not bearing fruit, He airō;
And every fruit bearing, He kathairō;
airō : “to lift, to take off or away what is attached to anything, to cut off”
kathairō : “to cleanse or purge” from filth, impurity; or in an agricultural context, “to prune” trees and vines of useless shoots
The ASV captures more of the literal rendering of this verse, albeit not as flowing to our modern ears:
“Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.” (ASV)
kathairō is only used the one time here in the NT, and while it is not uncommon in the Greek relative to agricultural processes, it would be, used by itself, an atypical selection of term to describe the pruning process for a vine. The use of airō, while frequently used in the NT, is an even more peculiar choice to denote cutting off of branches for pruning purposes. John appears then to have crafted this paronomasia not so much for the primary applicability to viticulture, but to accentuate the related but dichotomous (positive and negative) work of the Father in relation to Jesus, and to those who make claim (valid and invalid) to Him.
The actions of the Father here as the vinedresser are decisive, as clearly indicated in the NIV. There are only two possible scenarios, represented by two types of branches: 1) ones that do not bear fruit and 2) ones that do. These two scenarios lead conclusively to two and only two outcomes. The actions of the Father are predictable, to be anticipated, definitive and ongoing: “He takes away” and “He cleanses.” There is no alternative outcome, no shades of gray, no compromise, no purgatory – only purgation.
The word used here for branches, klēma, is only found four times in the NT and only in this mashal (vv. 2, 4, 5, & 6). klēma typically refers to vine tendrils or shoots, versus the branch in our familiar sense or usage of the term, as used elsewhere in the NT, which would be klados.
For the vineyard keeper, a vine tendril has one purpose and one purpose only – to bear fruit. That is the sole point of the vineyard. Given the immense investment in time and labor a vineyard requires, as discussed previously, lush green growth is not the desired end. Fruitfulness – at a high degree of quality and abundance – is the only desired and expected end. A branch therefore that does not bear fruit is good only for burning, as a vine tendril hardly has the composition to be used as lumber for building or other form of carpentry, as noted by Ezekiel (15:1-6). Accordingly, a branch that does not bear fruit must be cut off from the vine and taken away – there’s simply no other value or purpose for the branch.
Pruning therefore is critical for any vine. The pruning process is the most important part of any viticulture enterprise, and the people who do it are carefully trained. Pruners may undergo two or three years of training as they learn when to cut, what to cut, where to cut, how much to cut, and even the precise angle of the cut. The lack of proper pruning can literally destroy an entire crop.
In order for a vine to be healthy and produce a rich harvest of grapes, the one doing the pruning cannot take half measures. All dead wood must be ruthlessly removed. Dead wood can harbor insects or disease and may cause the vine to rot and decay. Dead branches clearly must go. The same also holds true for branches that are not bearing any fruit, no matter how lush and healthy they look. Such branches are simply siphoning off the nutrients needed by the branches that are bearing fruit, potentially hindering the achievement of the ripest and richest harvest. Philo of Alexandria in his writings refers to “superfluous shoots … which are a great injury to the genuine shoots, and which the husbandmen cleanse and prune.”
Early in the spring, sometime in February or March, the first evidence of life becomes visible on the branches. If branches don’t show life at this stage, there will be no fruit on them later, so these barren or dead branches are removed from the vine. Later in the summer, around July or August, the second stage of pruning takes place, where the vinedresser removes the overgrowth, ensuring all the vital essence of the vine is nourishing the young fruit.
Consider the somber ramifications of this short verse. Jesus’ words anticipates that there will be branches (“in Me”) that will not bear fruit and therefore can have no part in Him, and that even the branches that do bear fruit will need pruning. Here in verse 2, Yahweh, as the divine vinedresser, wields His pruning knife and “takes away” or “cuts off” all branches that do not bear fruit. If Jesus is the vine and these branches that are “in Me” are cut off and then later burned (v. 6), who do these branches represent? How can one be a part of Christ and then later cut off and burned? Are these branches representative of non-believing Jews who will ultimately be cut off? Perhaps they are non-Christians simply used to depict dead wood for the sake of this imagery of the vine, or maybe Christians who were living branches at one time and who have lost their salvation and become dead?
In order to understand this properly, we must consider this mashal within the construct of this imagery and the context of the full canon of Scripture. We must avoid over-reaching on conclusions by excessive or over-interpreting the vine metaphor, and clearly we must not interpret a meaning inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. As stated previously, the nation of Israel was frequently likened to God’s vineyard or vine. Though Israel was God’s vineyard, His chosen people, not all who were in Israel chose to follow God. The nation of Israel had become degenerate to the point the resulting fruit was rotten (Jer 2:21).
Jesus as the “true vine” supersedes Israel, and His body, the Church, constitutes those who have been called by God as a part of the “new covenant.” Jesus is speaking here at the end of the Passover dinner to “the eleven” – His remaining disciples. Judas had already left (John 13:31), as had a larger number of disciples who had left Him earlier (John 6:60-66). These remaining 11 disciples (with Paul included later) would become the building blocks of the foundation upon which Jesus established His church, with Himself being the chief corner stone (John 17:20; Eph 2:20).
In the context of this allegory then, Jesus is saying that there will be those who may profess to be His followers, or “in Him,” and perhaps may even show forth initial growth (not fruit) as in the Parable of the Sower. However, if a branch does not bear fruit, it is truly not a part of Him and must be permanently severed. The irrefutable sign of a true Christian in this vineyard imagery is that there must be good fruit. Again, that is the only point of a vine – to bear fruit.
Throughout Jesus’ teachings, and the entire New Testament as a whole, we find many references to individuals who at one point display some degree of connection with Jesus and/or His Church, but who later “fall away” and never manifest the perseverance and the tell-tale fruit of a life truly transformed and spiritually reborn in a relationship with Christ (Matt 24:12-13; John 6:60-66). In one of John’s later writings, he refers to certain individuals who were once a part of the Church, but left the fellowship of the Christians because they really had no part in abiding in Christ and in His Church (1 John 2:18-19). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, but who were later scorched or choked-off (Matt 13:3-23; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15).
Accordingly, these dead branches are people who, like Judas, profess to believe, but their lack of fruit indicates genuine salvation has never taken place, and they have no life from the vine. Let’s look at an earlier conversation from that very same evening, when Peter protested at Jesus washing his feet:
“Jesus said to him, ‘The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.’ For He knew who was to betray Him; that was why He said, ‘Not all of you are clean’.” (John 13:10-11)
It is clear from these verse that Jesus has Judas in mind as the one who was not clean, even though Judas, up until he walked out of that upper room, had been identified as being with Jesus, one of the select 12 disciples. While he was not a part of the inner circle of Peter, James and John, clearly he was one who, using the construct of this mashal, had been “in Him.” Very few had closer contact than he did, yet clearly he was not one who had truly given his life over for Christ. Rather, he gave Christ’s life over to others. Not hardly one who would have been “cleansed” as with the other 11, he was cut off as “one doomed to destruction” (John 17:12, NIV), or more literally, “son of perdition” or “son of the destruction.” Not so coincidentally, in these two verses from John 13, all three usage of “clean” are the Greek term, katharos, the root word from which kathairō is derived.
Now possibly in the immediate context of the mashal tragic Judas was in view, but the imagery extends more broadly from him to all those who make a profession of faith in Christ but do not truly have a conversion experience and thereby are saved. These branches cannot be Christians who truly had a conversion experience but then later lost their salvation. That scenario would be a contradiction to Scripture and therefore must be dismissed (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:28-29; Rom. 8:1). A branch that bears no fruit is dead or will soon be dead. Therefore, like Judas, it is cut off. These have no life in them; they have never borne fruit nor will they ever bear fruit, or else they would be “trimmed clean,” not cut off.
Some commentators hold that airō here should be interpreted as “lifted up” to signify fruitless branches are lifted up for better exposure to the sun and away from the dirt. This then would allow such branches a better opportunity for fruitfulness. Here the vinedresser’s purpose is not to judge but to produce fruit, thereby rendering aid to a faltering vine.
Proponents of this school of thought point out there are eight occasions in John where airō could be rendered “lift up” or “pick up.” However, even a cursory review of the context of the passages where airō could reasonably be translated in such a manner clearly indicates a temporary scenario vs. the permanent removal obviously intended here. It should also be noted that airō is rendered “take away” or “remove” for a total of 16 times in John. Compare these twin sets of two references:
“Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.” (5:8-9)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’ Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” (8:58-59)
“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (1:29)
“So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone.’” (11:38-39)
Moreover, such an interpretation of “lift up” or “pick up” is not consistent or substantiated with common viticulture practice; and it does not fit with the paronomasia, as its very awkwardness would otherwise have been pointless. It would also be discordant with the broader context of the mashal (as clearly evidenced in the verses to follow); and we must go back to the original intent of the vine and the obvious dichotomy in this vineyard metaphor. The antithetical parallelism of the first part of each statement (“every branch in me that bears no fruit”/“every branch in me that does bear fruit”) is matched by corresponding divine action, be it judgment (negative) or discipline (positive). The whole point of a vineyard is to bear fruit. Branches that do not bear fruit are met with one action, while branches that do bear fruit another. In the case of Jesus’ followers, Judas was an example of the former, Peter of the latter. (Köstenberger)
Some may find this interpretation as narrow and unduly harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches. However, there is no middle ground or alternative option in relation to Jesus. It’s either fully accept God’s plan of salvation offered through faith in Jesus, or to reject Him. There is no third choice – He didn’t intend there to be any other options. He did not leave room for compromise, neutrality or ecumenical peace:
“He who is not with Me is against Me.” Matt 12:30; Luke 11:23
“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matt 10:34
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.” Luke 12:51
Dead branches aren’t the only ones to encounter the pruning knife of the vinedresser. Live branches also must be pruned. An unattended vine will produce a good deal of growth lacking in fruit. An untrimmed vine will develop long rambling branches that produce heavy growth with little or no fruit, because the life of the vine is given to growing foliage – not grapes. While it may have the appearance of lush, green health and attractiveness to the world, it has no value. It has no more value than a common weed.
The point of a vineyard is to produce grapes, not merely green growth. Dead or non-fruit bearing, anything that could possibly divert the vital strength of the vine must be decisively removed. The unquestionable and fully expected task of any skilled vinedresser, then, is to be able to discern between productive and unproductive branches, and then to act appropriately and decisively.
Many churches across our country and abroad are filled with dead, fruitless and unproductive branches, who claim either loosely or falsely to be “in Him.” These churches, hobbled by our inherent humanity, lack the ability or even the desire to actively and decisively address this lack of fruitfulness. Clearly much of that may be attributable in our complacent, western society to be a function of the preeminence placed upon enrollment or membership numbers and flashy programs vs. a focus on worship and discipleship/teaching (Matt 28:19-20).
This modern church culture, that so often attempts to replace a relationship with Christ with the religion of playing church and casual Christianity, is so prevalent today that it can detract from or outright depart from the true purpose and meaning of worship and the Great Commission – what Dallas Willard refers to as “The Great Omission.” A stark contrast, however, can be seen in some parts of our world still today, where claiming to be a Christian requires one to truly count the costs – including the cost of their life. In such settings it makes as little point to claim to be a Christian when you’re truly not, as to have a vineyard that doesn’t produce fruit. It’s only in our complacent and “inclusive” society that one would choose to play church and Christianity, even to the extent of claiming to be “in Him.”
However, the modern church does not the pruning knife wield. We are all accountable to a much higher vinedresser. Where we may be fooled or lulled by seemingly healthy, luxuriant growth, the all-seeing and all-knowing eyes of Jehovah discerns both which branches need to be cut off, as well as trimmed cleaned. Churches and individuals may appear to have rich, lush growth that is sprouting up everywhere in endless activities, programs, services and numbers. All of this may look healthy and vibrant, and the activities may truly be good ones, but it is all for naught if the fruit God desires is missing. Jesus gave a solemn warning that “not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven;” instructing us that we “will know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:15-23). Green growth and a flurry of activity cannot substitute for an abundance of good fruit. We must never mistake activity for productivity.
A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear good fruit. With Jesus as the true vine, a life that is truly connected to Him cannot but bear fruit. Not every branch bears the same amount of fruit, just as not every field yield the same harvest (Matt 13:8, 23), but there is always fruit where there is life. Why? Because the Father “trims clean” for more fruit.
Note the progression here in this mashal: no fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit. The repeated references to “does not bear fruit … does bear fruit … bear even more fruit” draw attention to the fact that the bearing of fruit is one of God’s primary creative (“be fruitful and multiply” Gen 1:11–12, 22, 28) and redemptive purposes (John 15:8, 16). The Old Testament prophets envisioned a time when Israel would “bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit” (Isa. 27:6; cf. Hos. 14:4–8). Paul, in his opening remarks to the Romans, openly shared his desire to “obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the Gentiles” (1:13).
For maximum fruitfulness from a vine, extensive pruning is essential. Likewise, the fruitfulness of a Christian life is never the result of our being left to our own devices. Rather, it’s due to the work of the Father, trimming us clean to bear more fruit. Isn’t it ironic how many Christians pray that God will make them more fruitful, but then chafe and fret at the pruning that must necessarily take place in order for their prayer to be answered? We must understand and accept that not even fruit-bearing branches are exempted from the pruning knife.
He prunes us by taking away that which hinders our fruitfulness, however much we may be attached to that which He is trimming, and as painful as that may seem at the time. Yet we can be assured our Heavenly vinedresser is never nearer to us than when He is pruning us. We must also bear in mind that pruning does not simply mean spiritual surgery that removes what is bad. It can mean trimming off the good and the better, so that we can produce the best. Can pruning hurt? Absolutely. We may not enjoy it, and perhaps not even want it, but we need it. The vinedresser’s purpose may be loving, but that doesn’t mean the pruning won’t be painful:
“He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Heb 12:10b-11, NASB)
The vineyards in the early spring look like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps; but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant grapes. As the vinedresser wields the pruning knife among His branches, so God cuts dead wood out from among His people, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His methods may seem harsh. Nevertheless, from those who have been pruned the most, there often comes the greatest fruitfulness (Tenney).
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