1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is often described as God’s vine or vineyard. It is summed up in Psalm 80:8, “You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it” (NIV). However, there is a much deeper meaning because Jesus makes a distinction between the vine and the true vine. Part of the reason he does this is that Israel failed to bear fruit in the way God intended. The history of Israel was cycles of obedience followed by disobedience. It came to a climax of degradation in the time of Jeremiah and the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon because of their waywardness. God explained it in Jeremiah 2:20-2,
“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, 'I will not serve you!' Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute. 21 I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?” (NIV)
Israel, with its checkered past could not be the true vine. This means the true vine goes back even farther into the history of Israel. It is identified as coming from the tribe of Judah. Jacob’s blessing of Judah includes this Messianic prophecy:
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. (Gen 49:10-11 ESV)
The Messiah, Jesus is the true vine, and all people will obey him. The foal which is bound to the vine has been described as Gentiles who are compared to the donkey because of “their impurity, ignorance of, and sluggishness in spiritual things, to cleave to him the true vine.”[1]
Isiah 63:1-5 describes Jesus coming back with vengeance on the day of the Lord. Because he wipes out all the evil in the word, he is described as having his garments stained like someone treading grapes. In this passage he states, “My own arm brought me salvation” (Isa 63:5 ESV). The true vine is the Messiah who alone brings salvation. There is nothing that anyone can do to help him in any way. We don’t save ourselves and we don’t do our part when we turn to him for salvation.
God the Father is the one who is the vinedresser. Modern day vine dressing is a daunting task. It starts in the spring planting dormant roots and making sure they will grow. During the growing season, they must prune, irrigate, test soil, weed, and fertilize. They must protect the vineyard from disease and pests. When the grapes are ready for picking, they advise the owner.[2]
As I looked at the job description of a vinedresser, I could see just what God the Father does. He briefly describes it himself in Isaiah 27:3, “I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day” (ESV). The Father watches over Jesus who is the Vine, but since we are totally dependent on Jesus, our vine, then all that the Father does for the Vine, he does for us. He protects us from the pests of sin when we are in Jesus. He feeds us true spiritual nourishment in Jesus. He irrigates us with living water in Jesus. Jesus explains even more.
2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
This is where Jesus’ words get a bit confusing. So far in the Book of John we have seen many verses that tell us that once we are saved, it is a done deal. We will never cross back from life into condemnation. But here, Jesus says that the Father will take away anyone in Jesus who doesn’t bear fruit. There is no question that this person is a Christian because he is in Jesus and therefore a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). I know that we are talking about born again Christians for this is the only kind of person who can be in Jesus. So, I must conclude that when Jesus says the Father will take this unfruitful branch away, he isn’t talking about the person losing his salvation.
That means we must wrestle with what it means for someone to be taken away. This verse clearly says that the branch doesn’t bear fruit. How can a person be a Christian and not bear fruit? Maybe he is a person who has just been saved and hasn’t had time to bear fruit. Perhaps he is an old duffer and stopped bearing fruit (which is a good analogy to vines and branches). Maybe, he is a person who has backslidden to a state that he is indistinguishable for someone who is not saved. These last ones may be who John was talking about in 1 John 5:16 when he says there is sin that leads to death.
Then there is the option that E. W. Bullinger proposes as he examines the Greek word for “take away”. The Greek word, airo[3], which is also used to mean “lift up” explains that the branch is lifted up from the ground so that it can bear fruit.[4]This word is used in this way when Jesus told the paralytic in Matthew 9:6 to take up his bed and go home. Biblical writing often uses synonymous parallelism to say the same thing in different ways to make a point. I believe Jesus is using synonymous parallelism so that taking up the branch is another way of saying the branch is cared for to produce fruit in the same way a pruned branch in Jesus is not being thrown away but enabled to produce more fruit. Verse 3 also reinforces this view because a branch that is lifted up from the ground is done so to get it out of the muck. Jesus reassures us that when we have his word in use we have been lifted up from death and given life (Eph 2:4-6).
Though this exposition runs afoul of twenty-seven Bibles in my library that state the branches will be removed, it resolves the problem of a person who is in Christ and does not bear fruit.
The vinedresser, our heavenly Father, prunes us so that we will bear much fruit. Pruning is cutting of portions of the branch to make it spread out from different buds instead of growing from the end and spending all it’s energy make a longer branch. Pruning appears to be painful but makes for a healthier branch. Pruning in our lives makes us healthier and productive Christians. Two of the best passages that attest to this are Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4. Both of these verses show the fruit that is produced in godly character and sanctification in Christ. Both also testify that this growth comes from trials and suffering. However, we must embrace being lifted up out of the muck and being pruned for them to be effective.
There is also antithetic parallelism where two lines are contrasted with one another to make a point. The antithetic idea is not part of verse 2 but occurs in verse 6. Because it is, I will do something different here and jump down to verse 6 because this should make it clearer.
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Again, this appears to be speaking about someone who is a branch and therefore has at some time been in Christ. However, this is a complete misinterpretation of the verse. The wording is speaking of a person who is not in Christ. The King James Version is much clearer and is almost a word for word translation of the Greek. It states, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch.” This is clear that the person doesn’t abide in Christ. It isn’t as if the person was once in Christ, then somehow stopped being in Christ. As stated above, that would have to contradict too many of Jesus’ own statements. This person is like those who died in the desert because their disobedience proved that their faith was bogus. In the same way these who do not abide in Christ have never had saving faith in Christ and therefore they are like the dead branches in a vineyard. They are thrown into the fire. E. W. Bullinger expresses it this way, “Here in verse 6 He makes a general proposition concerning anyone. Not, if anyone who is already in Him does not continue in Him.”[5]
It is also clear that being thrown into the fire is a clear reference to eternal punishment in hell. Some may use this verse or others to say that a person is annihilated because the branches are burned up and no longer exist. But remember, Jesus is making a comparison to a vineyard and comparisons just like parables don’t provide all the nuances that didactic expositions do. So it is easy to take this verse and others like Matthew 10:28 to believe that the wicked will cease to exist after death. However, Revelation 14:10-11 along with other descriptions in Revelation clearly indicate that their punishment continues. They are not annihilated.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Sometimes it we must work around the hard stuff in Scripture to get to passages that are much easier to understand. I mentioned synonymous parallelism above and Jesus is clearly using it here. Jesus reiterates his premise that a branch can’t bear fruit unless it remains in the vine. But he clarifies that he has been talking all along about our relationship with him. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Any fruit that we produce comes through Jesus first. It is so important to understand this that he states we can do nothing without him.
Whatever we do in this life is motivated either by our own desires or the desires that God is working in us. This bears witness to Isaiah 64:6, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (ESV). When we are doing even good things for our own benefit and desires, they are like filthy rags. There will be no rewards in heaven for these. This occurs when we have idols in our hearts. When we pursue earthly goals for earthly rewards to serve our own pleasures, whatever we do will be the same as nothing.
On the other hand, as we submit our desires to the Lord, we will bear fruit. Just as our selfish works result in fruitlessness, so our deeds done in submission to God will produce fruit. His power is what brings about the fruit.
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess 1:11-12 NIV)
Any desire to do good must be prompted by faith. When it is, we can be sure that it will bring glory to God. When we abide in Christ, we can be sure we will be doing this in his power.
Just as when we are seeking to bring forth fruit when we abide in Christ and do it by his power, we should also be fully aware that we cannot overcome sinful habits in our own power. What applies to bearing fruit also applies to getting rid of bad fruit. When we are pruned to get rid of the sin in our lives, we must yield to God’s work. We must rely on the nourishing power that Jesus give us. When we overcome a sinful habit by the force of our own will and not by depending on the power of the Holy Spirit and abiding in Jesus, we are only bringing glory to ourselves. God doesn’t honor or reward that motivation. He doesn’t share his glory with anyone (Isa 42:8).
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
This promise is echoed in Psalm 37:4-6:
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday (ESV).
When we delight in the Lord, when we abide in Christ, he gives us the desires of our hearts because we desire that which is pleasing to God. We desire that which will bring glory to God. This is not a name-it-and-claim-it blank check to ask God for anything we want. It is only a check that can be cashed for the glory of God. If our motives are corrupt only to spend on our own pleasures, the check will bounce because it hasn’t been signed. James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (ESV). God knows exactly what’s going on in our hearts. When we take that check to the bank, the teller is omniscient. He knows why you want the cash. He will not give you what you want when it is an idol of your heart.
How do we get this right? It all comes back to abiding in Christ. His word makes us clean, and his word is what reveals our motives. By his word and trusting in Jesus, we can line up our desire with his.
[1]John Gill, “Gen 29:11,” in John Gill's Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, (Seattle, WA: BibleSoft, 2011).
[2]Mary Dowd, “Job Description of a Vinedresser,” Work, December 21, 2021, https://work.chron.com/job-description-vinedresser-7358.html.
[3]Strong’s, “NT:142.”
[4]E. W. Bullinger, “John 15:6,” in Figures of Speech Used in the Bible(Seattle, WA: Biblesoft, Inc., 2013).
[5]Bullinger, “John 15:6.”
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