John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples.” (NRSV)
There is an element of completeness and certainty in this verse. While the bearing of fruit and becoming disciples of Jesus is future looking, the glorification of the Father is written in the aorist tense, indicating completion, providing a sense of fulfillment. God was glorified in the work of His Son: lit. “By this was glorified the Father…”
John 17:4 “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (ESV)
Furthermore, God will be glorified in the lives of disciples who abide in His Son:
John 17:10 “All I have is yours and all you have is mine, and in them [the disciples] I am glorified.” (NJB)
Just as true with the disciples then, we as Christians today have the opportunity to partake in the glorification of the Father. How is it that we as humans can bring glory to God? Clearly we can not add to His glory, as He is perfect and matchless glory. There is no lack of glory in Him, nor is there any new glory that we can somehow ascribe to Him, as He is infinite glory. Yet long before it was written in The Westminster Larger Catechism, “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God,” Isaiah revealed from God: “everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isa 43:7, ESV)
Very plainly, we were created to bring Him glory. How is that accomplished? The glorification of the Father is assured through our continual and steadfast abiding in Jesus, coupled with the abiding of His presence and His words in us. The Father was glorified in the redemptive work of the Son; and now that the Son has accomplished the mission set forth for Him by the Father, the Father will continue to be glorified in the furthering of the mission through us, His Son’s disciples. As we become more like Jesus, as His presence and words transform us into a reflection of Him, the Father’s glory is revealed in and through us.
“Bear much fruit and become My disciples.” These should not be understood to be two separate actions or outcomes. The one does not follow the other. We don’t become disciples through bearing much fruit; nor do we bear much fruit after becoming disciples. We cannot bear fruit in of ourselves. Remember, we are simply the branches. The bearing of much fruit and becoming His disciples are the joint outcome of the one action on our part – abiding in Jesus – and the combined work of the Vine (the Son) and the Vinedresser (the Father). The bearing of much fruit is the external manifestation and evidence of one who is becoming a disciple.
We should also note that becoming a disciple is an ongoing, continual process. This side of heaven there is no “attainment level” whereby we have become disciples. It is a never-ending process of becoming until He returns or takes us home. A true disciple is one who is continually becoming more fully a true disciple. Consider the statement of Ignatius of Antioch (circa 110) when on the road to martyrdom, “Now I am beginning to be a disciple.”
Our realization must be that discipleship is neither static nor simply a step that we take and achieve, but rather, a continual growing and developing way of life – the way of life for which we were created. There are no rest stops on the road to discipleship, nor can we shift into neutral or just “idle.” We are either growing and progressing, or we are shrinking and regressing. True Christians have and will continue to find out by experience, that any interruption in the discipline of abiding triggers a Newtonian response: a diminishing of positive growth and pursuit of holy desires and passions, and an equal but opposite increasing of negativism and relapsed into fleshly desires and passions. That is an unfortunate truth to which any one of us who bear battle scars, having suffered losses and failures as veterans of spiritual warfare, can well attest.
As we abide in Jesus and begin to bear fruit as evidence of our discipleship, we quickly realize how much our growth is a direct result of His work in us. In a vineyard or a vine that bears much fruit, the owner is glorified, as it tells of his skill and care. In the disciple who bears much fruit, the Father is glorified. That is only right and good. After all, it is His work in us that accomplishes His will.
Phil 1:6 “For of this I am confident, that He who has begun a good work within you will go on to perfect it in preparation for the day of Jesus Christ.” (WEY)
“In the beginning God…” God started the work. He began the work within the Church, and He began the work in us as true believers. We can know for certain that if He starts something, it will be finished, even in our imperfect state.
Isa 55:11 “So will the words that come out of My mouth not come back empty-handed. They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.” (MSG)
Phil 2:13 “For it is God Himself whose power creates within you the desire to do His gracious will and also brings about the accomplishment of the desire.” (WEY)
As we abide in Him and journey on the road to discipleship in His presence and power, the Father will receive the glory for the work He produces within and through us. Will He receive much glory through our lives, or little or no glory? Is our focus on pursuing a life of discipleship that brings Him the utmost in glory, or is our focus on pursuing a life of anything else, robbing God of the glory that should be His through our lives? What blessed thought – that we could partake in God receiving glory. What dreadful thought – that we could rob God of glory due Him. We dare not take His glory lightly!
What is the nature of this fruit that we will bear? Much debate has been engendered over this “much fruit.” Some have held the fruit to be the souls of those converted by our witness and testimony, others hold to a life of obedience to His instructions, others see the answered prayers of verse 7 as the fruit, some claim fruit here relates to the overall fruit of the Spirit expounded in Galatians 5:22, and some have more narrowly focused on love, as the verses immediately following this mashal discuss abiding in His love. It’s doubtful any of these ideas are completely wrong, yet all of them are likely far too narrow in scope.
While the precise nature of the fruit is not specifically provided, there’s little value in arguing as to what exactly is this fruit. What is important is that our lives show forth such growth in discipleship that the visible manifestation of our becoming disciples brings glory to God. Therefore, this “much fruit” encompasses any deeds, attitudes, words, prayers, etc. that bring glory and praise to God, whether from us or through us.
Matt 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” (AMP)
Col 1:10 “and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to Him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God.” (NJB)
Heb 13:15 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name.” (NIV)
While the Father receives the glory brought about from the bearing of much fruit, we cannot ignore the impact to others. Branches do not eat the fruit they bear. Others do:
Pro 10:21 “The lips [speech] of the righteous feed [nourish] many…”
Consider if others are fed and served by the fruit you bear. Are they eating good, sweet, strengthening fruit, or are you offering bitter and stunted fruit that lacks nourishment? We don’t bear fruit to serve ourselves, just as we haven’t been given spiritual gifts for our own good, but for the good of the body of believers in Christ (1 Cor 12:7; Eph 4:12).
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
the boundless promise
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (ESV)
While verse 6 is somber and troubling, verse 7 is a rich promise that is boundless and defies the impossible. There are miracles in this verse – an unlimited number of them. Mountains are moved here, the sun and moon stop dead in their tracks, the blind can see, the crippled can walk, the dead are raised to life, the impossible is put to shame.
The potential revealed in this verse is so monumental the devil works overtime to keep Christians from laying a hold of this promise. He can’t tolerate even thinking about the modern church wielding the power of the Church in Acts. Yet this verse is too amazing for most of us to grasp, so amazing that it has become fodder for scoffers and, even worse, for cheap “get rich quick” charlatan preachers who peddle this powerful promise as a panacea for a price.
What is so amazing about this verse? It says, “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Well who wouldn’t want that? What could possibly be wrong with that? If that’s what the Bible says, why not claim that promise? But really, “whatever you wish” can’t literally be the full intent here, right? The scoffers laugh and deride, “C’mon, wish for something, anything, show us a sign.” The charlatans promise “whatever you want,” just send in that donation, how else will God know who should be getting their wish?
We as true Christians are too smart for all of that, right? We know that miracles are the stuff of Bible stories, and that they don’t apply to us today. After all, didn’t miracles die off with the apostles? Only a quack would talk today about making a lame man walk, healing the blind to see, or … after all, all those “healing ministries” today are really nothing more than a circus that no serious, mature Christian would ever take seriously. We’re far wiser than that. We have our modern sensibilities, scientific achievements and advances in technology and knowledge. We don’t see miracles anymore. They are a thing of the past.
Jesus had a different thought: “O ye of little faith.” You see, the vast majority of us who are Christians today – we’re the ones crippled and blind, spiritually speaking.
Legend has it that St. Thomas Aquinas, a philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church and the patron saint of Catholic universities, colleges and schools (1225-1274), met with Pope Innocent IV, who had a very large sum of money on the table in front of him. The Pope exclaimed, “You see, Thomas, that the Church cannot now say as the primitive Church, ‘Silver and gold have I none’.” “True, Holy Father,” was the reply, “but neither can she say as did Peter to the crippled man, ‘Rise up and walk’.”
God hasn’t changed, nor has His power. Then why we don’t see miracles in our churches and in our lives today like in the Acts church and lives of the early believers? Because we ignore the first half of verse 7.
See how easy it was to look at the second half and forget the first part? Do you even remember how the verse starts?
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”
There’s that word “abide” again, the word that John uses in verse 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 – a total of 67 times in his writings. Do you remember the significance of that term? (abiding)
These opening words have been rendered in other translations:
“Stay joined to Me and let My teachings become part of you…” (CEV)
“But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you…” (MSG)
Given we’ve already spent much time on the first part of the phrase, abiding in Him, let’s take a closer look at the second part: “and My words abide in you.” Bear in mind there is no distinction being made here between His presence and His words. They are two parts of the same whole, the one leading to the other.
The term “words” here is rhēmata (“hray’-mah-tah”), which relates to all that Jesus spoke and taught, His sayings, within the context of His ministry. His “words” (rhēmata), here in verse 7, which are to abide in us, are related to the “word” (logos, “low´-gose”), in verse 3, which He has spoken to us and which prunes us. The logos comprises the sum total of all His teachings in its entirety. The rhēmata represents the individual truths and lessons that are comprised within the logos.
We must allow His words to make their home in us, incorporating them as an intrinsic part of our being, as vital to our existence as the blood that courses through our veins. This is not the same as simply having a Bible laying around the house, somewhere. We could have a dozen Bibles in our homes, but if we don’t open up the Bible and open ourselves up to the abiding of His words in us, those Bibles are simply wasting shelf space.
It is estimated that around the world over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away each year. Gideon’s International alone gives away a Bible every second. According to recent statistics, the Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world’s population. Bringing it closer to home, it is estimated that Americans buy more than twenty million new Bibles every year. That’s in addition to the four that the average American already has at home.
Yet despite this proliferation of Bibles within our homes and the vast number of churches throughout America, the extent of biblical knowledge in America is abysmal. According to a Gallup survey: one out of every four Americans is ignorant of what is celebrated at Easter, less than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible, nearly two out of three cannot name even half of the 10 commandments, only one out of three can correctly identify who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (with “Billy Graham” as a popular answer), and 12% of Americans think Noah was married to Joan of Arc. In the words of George Gallup, America is “a nation of biblical illiterates.”
Standing in sharp contrast to our biblically illiterate society, notice how the writings and teachings of the apostles in their epistles so frequently are a restatement of the very words Jesus taught them, while He was physically present. In other words, His rhēmata became their rhēmata. Through their abiding in Him, the Word (John 1:1), and allowing His words to abide in them, their vocabulary and form of speech were changed such that the very words they used were a reflection of Him. His words were abiding in His disciples. So must His words abide in us:
Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’.”
Consider the compounding impact between Jesus abiding in us (v. 4) and His words abiding in us. The concept of compound interest in today’s banking world is in essence, interest upon interest. Here in John 15 we see abiding upon abiding. Jesus abiding in us and His words abiding in us has a compounding impact upon our lives. Such an impact cannot but bring about conformity and obedience to His teachings and His way of life. As a result – much fruit and prevailing prayer:
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
The promise of answered prayer, the invoking of the very power of the Father’s will, is hinged upon our ability to pray in His name. This does not mean that He promises to gratify every chance whim or selfish desire, that’s the promise of the charlatans.
However, the prayer of the abiding Christian lays hold of this promise, as an abiding relationship enables a union with Him through which His eternal life and power become forever available to His followers. Prayers of abiding Christians are therefore prayers we make as agents of His, just as if Jesus Himself had spoken the words. Christ’s presence in our lives and His words conditioning and directing our desires and thoughts result in prayers and actions (works) that conform to the Father’s will. The Father’s will cannot be contained, nor can it be thwarted. So with prayers that conform to His will.
As the life of Jesus and His words begin to permeate into our core being, praying ceases to be general, topical and selfish, and becomes specific, pointed and most importantly, consistent with the will and work of the Father. “Petitions of the true disciples are echoes (so to speak) of the words of Jesus because His teaching is transformed into a supplication, and so it will be necessarily heard” – Westcott. Such prayers yield a power that must be fulfilled.
John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (ESV)
The prayer of the abiding Christian wields unlimited power, resulting in miracles far beyond mere human capabilities. Such works, as wonderful as they may be, are not the endpoint for the prayers and miracles. Rather, just as the goal of bearing much fruit is to bring glory to the Father (vs. 8), so the ultimate objective in prevailing prayer is to bring glory to the Father. While we or the beneficiary of the answered prayer may gain great blessing in the fulfillment of the prayer, that is ancillary to bringing glory to the Father, through the revealing of His power and might.
Furthermore, not only does Jesus make available to us His power for “greater works” through answered prayer, He commands us to ask such prayers:
John 16:23-24 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (NASB)
Can you imagine such a life of prayer and power? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if your life was so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if all of us as Christians were so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? No wonder then that the devil works overtime to blind, distract or neutralize Christians. He doesn’t want to imagine what this world would look like if there was an army of abiding Christians.
How much does the devil fear Christians who have Christ’s words abiding in them? CS Lewis captures this fear well in his book, The Screwtape Letters. Consider just two lines taken from an exchange between junior demon, Wormwood, and his mentor demon/uncle, Screwtape:
We simply think too small, looking at things from our own, temporal perspective. What could we possibly imagine or ask that would be beyond God’s infinite and eternal power? This is the God who simply spoke into existence the vast expanse of the universe, which is far beyond our abilities to truly comprehend or explain, even with all of our “scientific advances” and “sophisticated technologies.” Let’s not limit His power within us because we’re focused only on our abilities and our diminutive corner of the universe.
If we truly desire to bear “much good fruit” and to experience the fulfillment of the promise of prevailing prayer, our focus must be to abide in Him, and let His presence and words abide in us. When His presence and words abide in us, power beyond our comprehension works within us in ways we cannot imagine, resulting in miracles and answered prayers, with the ultimate objective of bringing glory to God.
Can you grasp that? We as mortals, bringing glory to Yahweh, Creator God? How can “we” achieve that? By the abiding presence of His Son and words, transforming our lives to be in obedience to His will, working His power to accomplish His will. In other words, it’s all about Him. Let Him be the focus, let us abide.
While verse 6 is somber and troubling, verse 7 is a rich promise that is boundless and defies the impossible. There are miracles in this verse – an unlimited number of them. Mountains are moved here, the sun and moon stop dead in their tracks, the blind can see, the crippled can walk, the dead are raised to life, the impossible is put to shame.
The potential revealed in this verse is so monumental the devil works overtime to keep Christians from laying a hold of this promise. He can’t tolerate even thinking about the modern church wielding the power of the Church in Acts. Yet this verse is too amazing for most of us to grasp, so amazing that it has become fodder for scoffers and, even worse, for cheap “get rich quick” charlatan preachers who peddle this powerful promise as a panacea for a price.
What is so amazing about this verse? It says, “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Well who wouldn’t want that? What could possibly be wrong with that? If that’s what the Bible says, why not claim that promise? But really, “whatever you wish” can’t literally be the full intent here, right? The scoffers laugh and deride, “C’mon, wish for something, anything, show us a sign.” The charlatans promise “whatever you want,” just send in that donation, how else will God know who should be getting their wish?
We as true Christians are too smart for all of that, right? We know that miracles are the stuff of Bible stories, and that they don’t apply to us today. After all, didn’t miracles die off with the apostles? Only a quack would talk today about making a lame man walk, healing the blind to see, or … after all, all those “healing ministries” today are really nothing more than a circus that no serious, mature Christian would ever take seriously. We’re far wiser than that. We have our modern sensibilities, scientific achievements and advances in technology and knowledge. We don’t see miracles anymore. They are a thing of the past.
Jesus had a different thought: “O ye of little faith.” You see, the vast majority of us who are Christians today – we’re the ones crippled and blind, spiritually speaking.
Legend has it that St. Thomas Aquinas, a philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church and the patron saint of Catholic universities, colleges and schools (1225-1274), met with Pope Innocent IV, who had a very large sum of money on the table in front of him. The Pope exclaimed, “You see, Thomas, that the Church cannot now say as the primitive Church, ‘Silver and gold have I none’.” “True, Holy Father,” was the reply, “but neither can she say as did Peter to the crippled man, ‘Rise up and walk’.”
God hasn’t changed, nor has His power. Then why we don’t see miracles in our churches and in our lives today like in the Acts church and lives of the early believers? Because we ignore the first half of verse 7.
See how easy it was to look at the second half and forget the first part? Do you even remember how the verse starts?
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”
There’s that word “abide” again, the word that John uses in verse 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 – a total of 67 times in his writings. Do you remember the significance of that term? (abiding)
These opening words have been rendered in other translations:
“Stay joined to Me and let My teachings become part of you…” (CEV)
“But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you…” (MSG)
Given we’ve already spent much time on the first part of the phrase, abiding in Him, let’s take a closer look at the second part: “and My words abide in you.” Bear in mind there is no distinction being made here between His presence and His words. They are two parts of the same whole, the one leading to the other.
The term “words” here is rhēmata (“hray’-mah-tah”), which relates to all that Jesus spoke and taught, His sayings, within the context of His ministry. His “words” (rhēmata), here in verse 7, which are to abide in us, are related to the “word” (logos, “low´-gose”), in verse 3, which He has spoken to us and which prunes us. The logos comprises the sum total of all His teachings in its entirety. The rhēmata represents the individual truths and lessons that are comprised within the logos.
We must allow His words to make their home in us, incorporating them as an intrinsic part of our being, as vital to our existence as the blood that courses through our veins. This is not the same as simply having a Bible laying around the house, somewhere. We could have a dozen Bibles in our homes, but if we don’t open up the Bible and open ourselves up to the abiding of His words in us, those Bibles are simply wasting shelf space.
It is estimated that around the world over 100 million Bibles are sold or given away each year. Gideon’s International alone gives away a Bible every second. According to recent statistics, the Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world’s population. Bringing it closer to home, it is estimated that Americans buy more than twenty million new Bibles every year. That’s in addition to the four that the average American already has at home.
Yet despite this proliferation of Bibles within our homes and the vast number of churches throughout America, the extent of biblical knowledge in America is abysmal. According to a Gallup survey: one out of every four Americans is ignorant of what is celebrated at Easter, less than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible, nearly two out of three cannot name even half of the 10 commandments, only one out of three can correctly identify who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (with “Billy Graham” as a popular answer), and 12% of Americans think Noah was married to Joan of Arc. In the words of George Gallup, America is “a nation of biblical illiterates.”
Standing in sharp contrast to our biblically illiterate society, notice how the writings and teachings of the apostles in their epistles so frequently are a restatement of the very words Jesus taught them, while He was physically present. In other words, His rhēmata became their rhēmata. Through their abiding in Him, the Word (John 1:1), and allowing His words to abide in them, their vocabulary and form of speech were changed such that the very words they used were a reflection of Him. His words were abiding in His disciples. So must His words abide in us:
Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’.”
Consider the compounding impact between Jesus abiding in us (v. 4) and His words abiding in us. The concept of compound interest in today’s banking world is in essence, interest upon interest. Here in John 15 we see abiding upon abiding. Jesus abiding in us and His words abiding in us has a compounding impact upon our lives. Such an impact cannot but bring about conformity and obedience to His teachings and His way of life. As a result – much fruit and prevailing prayer:
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
The promise of answered prayer, the invoking of the very power of the Father’s will, is hinged upon our ability to pray in His name. This does not mean that He promises to gratify every chance whim or selfish desire, that’s the promise of the charlatans.
However, the prayer of the abiding Christian lays hold of this promise, as an abiding relationship enables a union with Him through which His eternal life and power become forever available to His followers. Prayers of abiding Christians are therefore prayers we make as agents of His, just as if Jesus Himself had spoken the words. Christ’s presence in our lives and His words conditioning and directing our desires and thoughts result in prayers and actions (works) that conform to the Father’s will. The Father’s will cannot be contained, nor can it be thwarted. So with prayers that conform to His will.
As the life of Jesus and His words begin to permeate into our core being, praying ceases to be general, topical and selfish, and becomes specific, pointed and most importantly, consistent with the will and work of the Father. “Petitions of the true disciples are echoes (so to speak) of the words of Jesus because His teaching is transformed into a supplication, and so it will be necessarily heard” – Westcott. Such prayers yield a power that must be fulfilled.
John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (ESV)
The prayer of the abiding Christian wields unlimited power, resulting in miracles far beyond mere human capabilities. Such works, as wonderful as they may be, are not the endpoint for the prayers and miracles. Rather, just as the goal of bearing much fruit is to bring glory to the Father (vs. 8), so the ultimate objective in prevailing prayer is to bring glory to the Father. While we or the beneficiary of the answered prayer may gain great blessing in the fulfillment of the prayer, that is ancillary to bringing glory to the Father, through the revealing of His power and might.
Furthermore, not only does Jesus make available to us His power for “greater works” through answered prayer, He commands us to ask such prayers:
John 16:23-24 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.” (NASB)
Can you imagine such a life of prayer and power? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if your life was so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? Can you imagine the impact upon the Church if all of us as Christians were so infused with the power and works of prevailing prayer, of compound abiding? No wonder then that the devil works overtime to blind, distract or neutralize Christians. He doesn’t want to imagine what this world would look like if there was an army of abiding Christians.
How much does the devil fear Christians who have Christ’s words abiding in them? CS Lewis captures this fear well in his book, The Screwtape Letters. Consider just two lines taken from an exchange between junior demon, Wormwood, and his mentor demon/uncle, Screwtape:
Wormwood: “Believers have so many weapons at their disposal. It is difficult to neutralize them. It takes a huge effort just to slow the work of a single Christian.”We as Christians must stop living the Christian life on our own power and initiative. We have to comprehend that our attempts at good deeds and devout living, all wrapped up in our good intentions and religiosity, are not noble, effective or lasting; but in reality, are feeble, misguided, futile and self-centered.
Screwtape: “Make sure your targets read as little of the Book as possible. Don’t get too worried if they stick to their favorite twenty cliché verses. But make sure they remain ignorant of most of the Word.”
We simply think too small, looking at things from our own, temporal perspective. What could we possibly imagine or ask that would be beyond God’s infinite and eternal power? This is the God who simply spoke into existence the vast expanse of the universe, which is far beyond our abilities to truly comprehend or explain, even with all of our “scientific advances” and “sophisticated technologies.” Let’s not limit His power within us because we’re focused only on our abilities and our diminutive corner of the universe.
If we truly desire to bear “much good fruit” and to experience the fulfillment of the promise of prevailing prayer, our focus must be to abide in Him, and let His presence and words abide in us. When His presence and words abide in us, power beyond our comprehension works within us in ways we cannot imagine, resulting in miracles and answered prayers, with the ultimate objective of bringing glory to God.
Can you grasp that? We as mortals, bringing glory to Yahweh, Creator God? How can “we” achieve that? By the abiding presence of His Son and words, transforming our lives to be in obedience to His will, working His power to accomplish His will. In other words, it’s all about Him. Let Him be the focus, let us abide.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
a somber verse
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)
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 hard verse. It is sure to generate considerable debate and argument, not only from an interpretive standpoint, but as society becomes ever increasingly “tolerant” and “anything goes,” this verse becomes ever increasingly a lightning rod for criticism of the “intolerance” and “extremism” of Christianity. This is a somber verse, unequivocally setting forth the tragic end of all who do not follow Christ. It is concise, it is decisive, and it is certain.
Who is being described here? The context of this verse, highlighted in the NIV: “If anyone does not remain in Me…” would seem to indicate those who at one point were connected to the Vine, “in Him.” For someone to cease remaining in Him, would that not indicate this same someone to have been in Him at one time? Such an understanding would conclusively eliminate from consideration any unsaved individual, as they would have never been a part of the Vine from the beginning. Their expected end is never in doubt or question.
If it is possible for someone to initially be a part of the Vine, to be “in Him” 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 (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:28-29; Rom 6:22; 8:1, 38-39; I Cor 1:8-9; Phil 1:6; etc.). If we put our faith in Him, we “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation” (1 Pet 1:5).
Perhaps, as some commentators have suggested, these branches symbolize Christians whose works will be burned up in the fire at the judgment seat of Christ (I Cor 3:15)? Such Christians might lose their rewards, but not their salvation. However, these branches are dead and later burned, while at the time of our judgment, our works will be burned and tried by fire, but we will be very much alive.
The best way to view these “burned branches” is that they represent individuals who profess to be Christians, and who may even seem to show forth initial growth after their profession, but they are not genuinely saved. This shines the spotlight on two unfortunate truths: 1) the number of people who call themselves Christians, but really are not; and 2) the number of people who truly are Christians, but they 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 a life consistent with their confession. The sad reality is that if we 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.
How many within our 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 standards. They might even “make a confession” or “say a prayer” or regularly “attend church.” But are they truly Christians?
Accordingly, these dead branches are people who profess to believe, but their lack of fruit indicates genuine salvation has never taken place and they have no life from the vine. 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. 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 bear fruit, or else they would have been “trimmed clean” (vs. 2) not cut off.
Matt 24:12-13 “For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.” (MSG)
John 8:31 “Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in Him; ‘If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure’.” (MSG)
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)
Heb 10:26-30 “If we give up and turn our backs on all we've learned, all we've been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter.” (MSG)
2 Pet 2:20-22 “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit, and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’.” (NKJV)
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
2 John 9 “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
The “abiding” or “remaining” is evidence that salvation has already taken place, not vice versa. The abiding believer is the only legitimate believer. Abiding and believing are addressing the same issue of genuine salvation. The fruit or evidence of salvation is continuance in service to Him and in His teaching. Fruitfulness is normal for believers. An absolutely fruitless life is prima facie evidence that one is not a believer:
Psa 92:13-14 “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.” (ESV)
Hos 14:8 “Ephraim shall say...’I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; your fruit is found in Me’.”
Jer 17:7-8 “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.” (ESV)
Phil 1:11 “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
The only purpose for the branches is to bear fruit. Fruitless branches were cut off and dried on the wall of the vineyard for later use as fuel, the only possible use for such branches: “And the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything’!” Eze 15:1-5 (ESV)
In relation to Jesus Christ, there are two ultimate scenarios, expressed in stark, no uncertain terms. Either one is a disciple of His, abiding in Him and bearing fruit; or one is not a disciple of His, cut off and bundled to be burned. There is no compromise, no alternative scenario, no purgatory, no possibility of uncertainty, no shades of gray: “He who is not with Me is against Me.” Matt 12:30; Luke 11:23
Is that not cruel, harsh and tyrannical? Is it not so incredibly intolerant, extreme and dangerous? Let us stop and consider the enormity of the treachery of this inhumane God:
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 stand before Him at the end of time, demand that He accept the fact we chose to live on our own terms and conditions, but yet still grant us access into His eternal heaven?
In other words, we, as finite human beings, dictate the terms and conditions that He, as infinite God, must abide by, after all that we have done for us and all that He has done for us? Someone please elucidate the logic and reason here for me. I am too slow and feeble-minded to grasp such high and lofty wisdom.
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 hard verse. It is sure to generate considerable debate and argument, not only from an interpretive standpoint, but as society becomes ever increasingly “tolerant” and “anything goes,” this verse becomes ever increasingly a lightning rod for criticism of the “intolerance” and “extremism” of Christianity. This is a somber verse, unequivocally setting forth the tragic end of all who do not follow Christ. It is concise, it is decisive, and it is certain.
Who is being described here? The context of this verse, highlighted in the NIV: “If anyone does not remain in Me…” would seem to indicate those who at one point were connected to the Vine, “in Him.” For someone to cease remaining in Him, would that not indicate this same someone to have been in Him at one time? Such an understanding would conclusively eliminate from consideration any unsaved individual, as they would have never been a part of the Vine from the beginning. Their expected end is never in doubt or question.
If it is possible for someone to initially be a part of the Vine, to be “in Him” 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 (John 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:28-29; Rom 6:22; 8:1, 38-39; I Cor 1:8-9; Phil 1:6; etc.). If we put our faith in Him, we “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation” (1 Pet 1:5).
Perhaps, as some commentators have suggested, these branches symbolize Christians whose works will be burned up in the fire at the judgment seat of Christ (I Cor 3:15)? Such Christians might lose their rewards, but not their salvation. However, these branches are dead and later burned, while at the time of our judgment, our works will be burned and tried by fire, but we will be very much alive.
The best way to view these “burned branches” is that they represent individuals who profess to be Christians, and who may even seem to show forth initial growth after their profession, but they are not genuinely saved. This shines the spotlight on two unfortunate truths: 1) the number of people who call themselves Christians, but really are not; and 2) the number of people who truly are Christians, but they 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 a life consistent with their confession. The sad reality is that if we 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.
How many within our 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 standards. They might even “make a confession” or “say a prayer” or regularly “attend church.” But are they truly Christians?
“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.” – Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same DirectionThroughout Jesus’ teachings and the epistles in the New Testament we find numerous 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 fruit of a life truly transformed by a relationship with Christ (Matt 24:12-13; John 6:60-66; I John 2:19). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, that were later scorched or choked-off (Matt 13:3-23; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul refers to such individuals as those who “have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Tim 1:19).
Accordingly, these dead branches are people who profess to believe, but their lack of fruit indicates genuine salvation has never taken place and they have no life from the vine. 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. 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 bear fruit, or else they would have been “trimmed clean” (vs. 2) not cut off.
Matt 24:12-13 “For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.” (MSG)
John 8:31 “Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in Him; ‘If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure’.” (MSG)
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)
Heb 10:26-30 “If we give up and turn our backs on all we've learned, all we've been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ's sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God's Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter.” (MSG)
2 Pet 2:20-22 “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit, and, ‘a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire’.” (NKJV)
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”
2 John 9 “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
The “abiding” or “remaining” is evidence that salvation has already taken place, not vice versa. The abiding believer is the only legitimate believer. Abiding and believing are addressing the same issue of genuine salvation. The fruit or evidence of salvation is continuance in service to Him and in His teaching. Fruitfulness is normal for believers. An absolutely fruitless life is prima facie evidence that one is not a believer:
Psa 92:13-14 “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.” (ESV)
Hos 14:8 “Ephraim shall say...’I have heard and observed him. I am like a green cypress tree; your fruit is found in Me’.”
Jer 17:7-8 “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.” (ESV)
Phil 1:11 “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
The only purpose for the branches is to bear fruit. Fruitless branches were cut off and dried on the wall of the vineyard for later use as fuel, the only possible use for such branches: “And the word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything’!” Eze 15:1-5 (ESV)
In relation to Jesus Christ, there are two ultimate scenarios, expressed in stark, no uncertain terms. Either one is a disciple of His, abiding in Him and bearing fruit; or one is not a disciple of His, cut off and bundled to be burned. There is no compromise, no alternative scenario, no purgatory, no possibility of uncertainty, no shades of gray: “He who is not with Me is against Me.” Matt 12:30; Luke 11:23
Is that not cruel, harsh and tyrannical? Is it not so incredibly intolerant, extreme and dangerous? Let us stop and consider the enormity of the treachery of this inhumane God:
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 stand before Him at the end of time, demand that He accept the fact we chose to live on our own terms and conditions, but yet still grant us access into His eternal heaven?
In other words, we, as finite human beings, dictate the terms and conditions that He, as infinite God, must abide by, after all that we have done for us and all that He has done for us? Someone please elucidate the logic and reason here for me. I am too slow and feeble-minded to grasp such high and lofty wisdom.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
much fruit
John 15:5 “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.” (NKJV)
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 and vastly significant is about to follow. The usage of the Greek egō eimi (“eh-go´ ay-mee´”) is infrequent and consequently purposeful; particularly when it is used in contrast to “you” (hymeis, “who-mase´”), by extension, us.
John is not concerned about redundancy here. He is taking pains to ensure a solid grasp of a very foundational truth about being a disciple. In modern vernacular we could say he is attempting to clearly define roles. The reality is that we as humans have a long history, all the way back to the Garden of Eden, of succumbing to the disease of identity crisis. We continually attempt to be or to do what simply isn’t intended for us, perhaps even 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 CEO of Oracle, in which he poses the question: “What is the difference between God and Larry Ellison?” The answer: “God doesn’t think that He’s Larry Ellison.” Sadly, this identity crisis is not solely a secular, corporate problem in which Larry holds a monopoly. It’s also pervasive within our churches, as we Christians repeatedly prove to be just as susceptible to a bad case of mistaken identity.
We’re so busy trying to be someone that we’re not, ceaselessly striving to accomplish something that isn’t intended for us, that the beauty and significance of who He created us to be and to do ever eludes us. Is it any wonder that so many of us run the risk of never becoming or accomplishing all that God has in store for 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 the women who here in the United States, use, as a part of their cosmetic regime, 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.
The reality then – regardless whether by pride or vanity or any other catalyst – is we have a recurring problem of identity crisis. That point leads to the seeming redundancy here in verse 5. 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. The roles are defined and clarified. He is God. We are not. We are branches. We need be nothing more. In fact, we should not want to be anything more, because if we want not just fruit, but “much fruit,” then we should embrace our role of the abiding branch. Notice the progression in these first few verses: no fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit. What do you want for your life?
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.” Nothing is less than “not something” in the eyes of God. 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 tolerance and ecumenicalism. Such a verdict is hardly popular, but it is essential for us to understand.
In isolation from Him no spiritual achievement is possible. This truth has played an important role in the history of the theological discussion of grace and works. It doesn’t leave wiggle room for the “natural goodness” of man or lend any power to do good works that perhaps might be worthy of eternal reward:
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?” Consider then the example of Jesus. Just as He is saying we can only bear much fruit through our abiding in Him, He as the Vine Himself declares His dependence, His acceptance of His role:
“I can do nothing on My own” (John 5:30); “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (6:38); “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (7:16); “nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him” (13:16); “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (8:29); “the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (14:24); “ I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (17:4).
Perhaps you might say that you don’t struggle with acknowledging who you are in light of who Christ is, but do you still find yourself striving to do good deeds, to bear much fruit? 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. Do you want to bear much fruit and perform good deeds as a manifestation of your faith? Then focus on abiding in Christ. 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 adhering to the much fruit of what Christ taught in that sermon. 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 pro 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. That is at the crux of my personal bias against the popular and very spiritual seeming concept of WWJD – “What Would Jesus Do?” 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.”
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.
Our focus should not be “What Would Jesus Do?” If we are not abiding in Him, 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 that question. 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)
What’s our focus? Are we trying so hard to bear fruit and to be a good Christian that we fail to abide? 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 and vastly significant is about to follow. The usage of the Greek egō eimi (“eh-go´ ay-mee´”) is infrequent and consequently purposeful; particularly when it is used in contrast to “you” (hymeis, “who-mase´”), by extension, us.
John is not concerned about redundancy here. He is taking pains to ensure a solid grasp of a very foundational truth about being a disciple. In modern vernacular we could say he is attempting to clearly define roles. The reality is that we as humans have a long history, all the way back to the Garden of Eden, of succumbing to the disease of identity crisis. We continually attempt to be or to do what simply isn’t intended for us, perhaps even 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 CEO of Oracle, in which he poses the question: “What is the difference between God and Larry Ellison?” The answer: “God doesn’t think that He’s Larry Ellison.” Sadly, this identity crisis is not solely a secular, corporate problem in which Larry holds a monopoly. It’s also pervasive within our churches, as we Christians repeatedly prove to be just as susceptible to a bad case of mistaken identity.
We’re so busy trying to be someone that we’re not, ceaselessly striving to accomplish something that isn’t intended for us, that the beauty and significance of who He created us to be and to do ever eludes us. Is it any wonder that so many of us run the risk of never becoming or accomplishing all that God has in store for 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 the women who here in the United States, use, as a part of their cosmetic regime, 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.
The reality then – regardless whether by pride or vanity or any other catalyst – is we have a recurring problem of identity crisis. That point leads to the seeming redundancy here in verse 5. 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. The roles are defined and clarified. He is God. We are not. We are branches. We need be nothing more. In fact, we should not want to be anything more, because if we want not just fruit, but “much fruit,” then we should embrace our role of the abiding branch. Notice the progression in these first few verses: no fruit, fruit, more fruit, much fruit. What do you want for your life?
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.” Nothing is less than “not something” in the eyes of God. 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 tolerance and ecumenicalism. Such a verdict is hardly popular, but it is essential for us to understand.
In isolation from Him no spiritual achievement is possible. This truth has played an important role in the history of the theological discussion of grace and works. It doesn’t leave wiggle room for the “natural goodness” of man or lend any power to do good works that perhaps might be worthy of eternal reward:
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?” Consider then the example of Jesus. Just as He is saying we can only bear much fruit through our abiding in Him, He as the Vine Himself declares His dependence, His acceptance of His role:
“I can do nothing on My own” (John 5:30); “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (6:38); “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (7:16); “nor is the one who is sent greater than the one who sent him” (13:16); “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (8:29); “the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me” (14:24); “ I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (17:4).
Perhaps you might say that you don’t struggle with acknowledging who you are in light of who Christ is, but do you still find yourself striving to do good deeds, to bear much fruit? 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. Do you want to bear much fruit and perform good deeds as a manifestation of your faith? Then focus on abiding in Christ. 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 adhering to the much fruit of what Christ taught in that sermon. 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 pro 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. That is at the crux of my personal bias against the popular and very spiritual seeming concept of WWJD – “What Would Jesus Do?” 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.”
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.
Our focus should not be “What Would Jesus Do?” If we are not abiding in Him, 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 that question. 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)
What’s our focus? Are we trying so hard to bear fruit and to be a good Christian that we fail to abide? 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?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
abiding
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 (“men´-oh”), which means “abide, remain, stay, dwell, lodge.” This term is found 120 times overall in the NT, 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 sounds all 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…”
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 second half of the first sentence of verse 4 has been the subject of considerable debate. 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.) assumes 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.
This should not be construed to be a comparison between two separate actions. Nor should the strong command that starts the sentence be 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 your hardness of 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 the ying and the yang of 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 (“men´-oh”), which means “abide, remain, stay, dwell, lodge.” This term is found 120 times overall in the NT, 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 sounds all 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…”
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 second half of the first sentence of verse 4 has been the subject of considerable debate. 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.) assumes 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.
This should not be construed to be a comparison between two separate actions. Nor should the strong command that starts the sentence be 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 your hardness of 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 the ying and the yang of 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
Sunday, November 25, 2007
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, “trims clean” branches that bear fruit. The Greek term there is kathairo (“koth-eye´-row”). Here in verse 3 Jesus is saying that the disciples are already clean by the Word, the Greek term being katharos (“koth-ar-oss´”). So in light of this setting and the play on words, this verse could then be read, “You are already pruned or trimmed clean like a branch…”
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 used this same term “clean” (katharos) earlier that evening just after the Passover dinner, 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)
In responding to Peter at that time Jesus stated to them that they were clean, beyond the mere fact of having clean feet. The obvious exception that He singles out is 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 was no longer present in their company as one of them. Judas was an example of a branch that was cut off.
In this short verse that can be so easily overlooked, Jesus reinforces a truth that we must not ignore – the power and efficacy of God’s Word. Jesus very simply but emphatically sheds light on how the Father is pruning, cleansing these disciples – through His Word. 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. The pruning work had begun as Jesus taught them the Word of the Father: “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16).
Through His instruction, Jesus had purged from their minds the ingrained teachings of the Pharisees and their culture, opening 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.
Have you ever considered the Word of God to be a pruning knife? That God uses His Word to cleanse us? That through the truths contained in His Word we are trimmed clean of the heavy overgrowth that entangles and enslaves us? We are cleansed and set free by His Word: “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 “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12) and cuts and prunes.
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 cleanses and purifies us: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Psa 119:9 NIV)
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)
From the beginning of His earthly ministry with the Sermon on the Mount to these words spoken at the Passover dinner, His words of instruction had tried, cleansed and pruned (an ongoing work) them of their selfishness, ignorance and weakness. 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).
In verse 2 the Father prunes or literally, “trims clean” branches that bear fruit. The Greek term there is kathairo (“koth-eye´-row”). Here in verse 3 Jesus is saying that the disciples are already clean by the Word, the Greek term being katharos (“koth-ar-oss´”). So in light of this setting and the play on words, this verse could then be read, “You are already pruned or trimmed clean like a branch…”
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 used this same term “clean” (katharos) earlier that evening just after the Passover dinner, 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)
In responding to Peter at that time Jesus stated to them that they were clean, beyond the mere fact of having clean feet. The obvious exception that He singles out is 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 was no longer present in their company as one of them. Judas was an example of a branch that was cut off.
In this short verse that can be so easily overlooked, Jesus reinforces a truth that we must not ignore – the power and efficacy of God’s Word. Jesus very simply but emphatically sheds light on how the Father is pruning, cleansing these disciples – through His Word. 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. The pruning work had begun as Jesus taught them the Word of the Father: “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (John 7:16).
Through His instruction, Jesus had purged from their minds the ingrained teachings of the Pharisees and their culture, opening 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.
Have you ever considered the Word of God to be a pruning knife? That God uses His Word to cleanse us? That through the truths contained in His Word we are trimmed clean of the heavy overgrowth that entangles and enslaves us? We are cleansed and set free by His Word: “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 “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12) and cuts and prunes.
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 cleanses and purifies us: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.” (Psa 119:9 NIV)
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)
From the beginning of His earthly ministry with the Sermon on the Mount to these words spoken at the Passover dinner, His words of instruction had tried, cleansed and pruned (an ongoing work) them of their selfishness, ignorance and weakness. 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).
“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
“It is as the soul gives up its own thoughts, and men's thoughts of what is religion, and yields itself heartily, humbly, patiently, to the teaching of the Word by the Spirit, that the Father will do His blessed work of pruning and cleansing away all of nature and self that mixes with our work and hinders His Spirit. Let those who would know all the Husbandman can do for them, all the Vine can bring forth through them, seek earnestly to yield themselves heartily to the blessed cleansing through the Word. Let them, in their study of the Word, receive it as a hammer that breaks and opens up, as a fire that melts and refines, as a sword that lays bare and slays all that is of the flesh. The word of conviction will prepare for the word of comfort and of hope, and the Father will cleanse them through the Word.” – Andrew Murray, The True Vine
Sunday, November 18, 2007
expect pruning
John 15:2 “He cuts off any of My branches that does not bear fruit, but any that bears fruit He trims clean to make it bear more fruit.” (AB)
The actions of the Father here as the vinedresser are decisive. 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 cuts off” and “He trims clean.”
The word used here for branches, klēma (“klay´-mah”), is only found four times in the NT and only in this mashal (vv. 2, 4, 5, & 6). The term denotes not a branch in our familiar sense or usage of the term, as used elsewhere in the NT, which would be klados (“klahd´-ose”), rather the word is particularly used of vine tendrils or shoots.
A vine tendril has one purpose – to bear fruit. That is the only reason for growing a vine. In a vineyard fruitfulness is not simply desirable, it is imperative. That is the sole point of the vineyard. 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 (Eze 15:1-6). Accordingly, a branch that does not bear fruit must be removed – it cannot be allowed to remain on the vine.
Pruning 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 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 decay or rot. Dead branches must go.
Here in verse 2, God as the divine vinedresser wields His pruning knife and “cuts off” all branches that do not bear fruit. If Jesus is the vine and these branches that are “in Me” or “My branches” are here 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, as some have interpreted, either non-Christians used to depict dead wood for the sake of this imagery of the vine, or 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 take this mashal in the context of both the full Scriptures and the setting in which this was given. As stated before, 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 became so degenerate the resulting fruit was rotten.
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 (13:31), as had a larger number of disciples who had left Him earlier (6:60-66). These remaining disciples would later become 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, and perhaps may even show forth growth 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 is that there must be good fruit. Again, that is the only point of a vine – to bear fruit.
Throughout Jesus’ teachings, and really 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; I John 2:19). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, that was 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. 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. These branches are not 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 (cf. 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 bear fruit, or else they would have been “trimmed clean,” not cut off.
Some may find this interpretation unduly harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches, for those who are even attending church, yet who have not truly given their lives to Christ. However, we must go back to the original intent of the vine. It is to bear fruit. Without the fruit, the vine has no value. With Jesus as the true vine, a life that is connected to Him cannot but bear fruit. There is no middle ground or alternative option in relation to Jesus. It is either fully “yes” or completely “no.” 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 must also be pruned. Left to itself a 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 wood – not grapes. While it may have the appearance of lush, green health and attractiveness to the world and to the untrained eye, 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.
This is an important lesson for us today. Churches and individuals may appear to have rich, luxuriant 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 good fruit.
A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear good fruit. Not every branch bears the same amount of fruit, just as not every field has yields 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 (vv. 2, 8).
For maximum fruitfulness from a vine, extensive pruning is essential. 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. Many Christians pray that God will make them more fruitful, but they do not enjoy the pruning process that follows!
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 at the moment, but we need it.
“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 purple grapes. As the vinedresser wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most, there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.
The actions of the Father here as the vinedresser are decisive. 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 cuts off” and “He trims clean.”
The word used here for branches, klēma (“klay´-mah”), is only found four times in the NT and only in this mashal (vv. 2, 4, 5, & 6). The term denotes not a branch in our familiar sense or usage of the term, as used elsewhere in the NT, which would be klados (“klahd´-ose”), rather the word is particularly used of vine tendrils or shoots.
A vine tendril has one purpose – to bear fruit. That is the only reason for growing a vine. In a vineyard fruitfulness is not simply desirable, it is imperative. That is the sole point of the vineyard. 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 (Eze 15:1-6). Accordingly, a branch that does not bear fruit must be removed – it cannot be allowed to remain on the vine.
Pruning 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 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 decay or rot. Dead branches must go.
Here in verse 2, God as the divine vinedresser wields His pruning knife and “cuts off” all branches that do not bear fruit. If Jesus is the vine and these branches that are “in Me” or “My branches” are here 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, as some have interpreted, either non-Christians used to depict dead wood for the sake of this imagery of the vine, or 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 take this mashal in the context of both the full Scriptures and the setting in which this was given. As stated before, 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 became so degenerate the resulting fruit was rotten.
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 (13:31), as had a larger number of disciples who had left Him earlier (6:60-66). These remaining disciples would later become 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, and perhaps may even show forth growth 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 is that there must be good fruit. Again, that is the only point of a vine – to bear fruit.
Throughout Jesus’ teachings, and really 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; I John 2:19). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus gave two examples of individuals whose lives showed initial growth, that was 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. 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. These branches are not 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 (cf. 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 bear fruit, or else they would have been “trimmed clean,” not cut off.
Some may find this interpretation unduly harsh since it holds out no hope for the unproductive branches, for those who are even attending church, yet who have not truly given their lives to Christ. However, we must go back to the original intent of the vine. It is to bear fruit. Without the fruit, the vine has no value. With Jesus as the true vine, a life that is connected to Him cannot but bear fruit. There is no middle ground or alternative option in relation to Jesus. It is either fully “yes” or completely “no.” 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 must also be pruned. Left to itself a 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 wood – not grapes. While it may have the appearance of lush, green health and attractiveness to the world and to the untrained eye, 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.
This is an important lesson for us today. Churches and individuals may appear to have rich, luxuriant 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 good fruit.
A true branch, united with the vine, will always bear good fruit. Not every branch bears the same amount of fruit, just as not every field has yields 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 (vv. 2, 8).
For maximum fruitfulness from a vine, extensive pruning is essential. 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. Many Christians pray that God will make them more fruitful, but they do not enjoy the pruning process that follows!
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 at the moment, but we need it.
“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 purple grapes. As the vinedresser wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most, there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
the root of faith and good deeds
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” (NASB)
This is the last of the seven “I am” messages of Jesus recorded in John. This “I am” declaration introduces the mashal of the vine. A mashal (“may´-shal”) is a Hebrew term for a symbolic or figurative conveyance of an important message; an extended metaphor or parable.
This mashal of the vine would have had been extremely relevant for the disciples and their contemporary Jews, as the cultivation of vineyards (viticulture) was one of the most significant occupations in the history of Palestine. While the Middle East in ancient times flourished with many types of plants that produced vines, such as cucumbers and melons, the word vine in the Bible almost always refers to the grapevine or vineyard.
The origin of viticulture is uncertain, but Palestine appears to have been a vine-growing region from ancient times. The countless wine presses found in and around centers of early civilization attest to this. The earliest mention in the Bible of caring for vineyards comes from the time of Noah (Gen 9:20-21); external references to vineyards appear from the time of Gudea (an ancient Sumerian ruler before 2100 B.C.), and wall paintings found in a tomb at Thebes in Egypt, dating from before 1400 B.C., depict the entire process of wine making from the gathering and treading of the grapes to the storing of the wine in jars.
The climate of Palestine was well-suited for growing vineyards, with the elevation of the hills and tablelands of Judea and Samaria particularly desirable for viticulture. When the tribe of Judah obtained for their inheritance these hilly slopes, the prophecy of their ancestor was fulfilled: “He washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes” (Gen 49:11). The sides of these hills are still dotted with the watchtowers, walls and terraces of vineyards long ago.
Further evidencing the suitability of Palestine for viticulture, even certain valleys were considered particularly fertile for vineyards. Engedi, Hebron and Eshcol are specifically mentioned in the Bible for their remarkable yields of grapes. The vines of Palestine were noted both for their luxuriant growth and for the immense clusters of grapes which they produced. It was in the Valley of Eshcol (“cluster”) that the spies of Moses cut down a cluster of grapes so gigantic that it required two men to carry: “Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men” (Num 13:23).
The grapes of Hebron are still considered the finest in the Holy Land. Bunches weighing from six to seven pounds are said to be commonplace, with an occasional cluster reminiscent of the magnificent sample taken by the spies of Moses.
The cultivation of a vineyard was the most costly, time-intensive and laborious of all other forms of agriculture in ancient Palestine. Hillsides were typically considered as the most desirable locations for the vines, especially since they were less suitable for other forms of agriculture. The slopes were generally terraced, with the large rocks and boulders, which are so prevalent in the area, heaped into long rows. The tendrils from the vines were trailed out over these rock rows and terraces to keep them out of the dirt and to preserve the fruit from dampness.
The smaller stones were left untouched as they were indispensable for retaining the moisture in the soil. Unlike the rest of the crops cultivated at that time, vineyards were carefully enclosed in their entirety by stone walls and/or hedges, to protect the grapes from jackals, foxes, wild boars and thieves. Watchtowers were also built so that hired watchmen could be stationed to look out for predators during the grape season.
In addition to the rock walls and towers that were built, the final phase of preparing these vineyards was to carve out the wine presses. The wine presses, or vats, were typically hewn out of the native rock next to the vineyards, and as such, they remain the most permanent testaments of the labor involved with these ancient and prevalent vineyards. The grapes were always pressed on location, so that they would not get bruised, damaged or otherwise spoil during transport. The presses were simply two parallel troughs, one above the other, with a perforated channel between them. The clusters of grapes were thrown into the upper trough, where they were trodden underfoot. The juice from the pressed grapes would then flow into the lower trough, from whence the juice was collected into wine skins or other containers.
In the early spring after the young grapes had set on the branches, the vines were carefully pruned by cutting off dead and fruitless branches. This pruning was an essential process for ensuring stronger branches and a more productive fruit yield. In the summer the vineyards were a beautiful mass of green, as contrasted with the dried-up, parched land surrounding these luxuriant vineyards. At the end of summer, late August or early September, the harvest of the grapes would take place.
Harvest time was a season of great festivity. The towns would be largely empty, as the people lived in the vineyards, in booths or tents. The clusters of fragrant grapes were gathered with shouts of joy, and carried in baskets to the wine press. The finest of the grapes were set aside to be dried as raisins, many of the clusters would have been eaten there on the spot by the jubilant people, other clusters would have been separated for eating later, and the rest piled into the upper wine vat to be trodden underfoot.
While a considerable amount of the juice would have been set aside for drinking, much, if not most, of the juice was cultivated as a source of sugar. The juice was boiled down to a treacle or molasses-like consistency known as “grape honey,” referred to as dibs. This is likely the most common reference to “honey,” aside from specific mention of “honey-comb,” found in the Old Testament; and before the days of cane sugar was the chief source of sugar.
After the harvest, some of the leaves from the vine were gathered and used in meal preparation. Chopped meat and rice were rolled up together in the grape leaves and then boiled, making a tasty meal. Trimmings from the vine and the leaves were used as mulch or fertilizer for the soil, while the leaves were also used for fodder. The wood from the pruned branches were dried and used for burning. Nothing was wasted from these important vineyards.
The extreme cultural significance of the Vineyard vineyard to the Hebrews is highlighted by the exemption from military duty for the man who had planted a vineyard: “Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would begin to use its fruit” (Deut 20:6). This was one of only four exceptions allowed for exemption from military service: dedication of new home, engagement, new vineyard, and those who were afraid or “faint of heart” (Deut 20:5-8).
Other laws specifically governed the use of vineyards: other plants/seeds could not be sown in them, although vineyard could be established around existing trees, such as mentions of fig trees in the Old Testament. During harvest they could not be stripped clean of their grapes. The owner was to leave gleanings for the poor and the sojourner, and the fatherless and the widow. A traveler or neighbor was free to partake of as many grapes as they could eat while walking through a vineyard, but they were forbidden to carry any grapes out of the vineyard. A Nazirite was strictly forbidden from eating or drinking any aspect of the vine (Num 6:4; Jud 13:14).
It was forbidden to eat the fruit of a vineyard during the first three years after its planting, and in the fourth year all the fruit was holy to the Lord, “to praise the Lord.” Only in the fifth year could the produce of the vines be enjoyed by the owner of the vineyard. Various markings were etched into the walls or towers of the vineyards, whereby passerby’s might distinguish the “age” of the vineyards and so escape the peril of eating the grapes prematurely. Additionally, vineyards were to lie fallow every seventh year and during the 50th year of Jubilee. In other words, considering the ban on the first four years and the fallow seventh year, this was a very significant investment in time and property. The vineyard owner would only realize tangible benefit from the vineyard for two years out of the first seven years. It wouldn’t be until the eighth year that the owner would be able to enjoy the product of his vineyard on a regular, yearly basis.
The entire Old Testament provides ample witness of how great a part the vine played in the culture of the Hebrews, both in terms of actual dependence upon the vine and its products, as well as in the figurative impact upon the people. Men rejoiced in the produce of the vine as one of God's best gifts (Jud 9:13; Psa 104:15). To plant vineyards and to be able to enjoy the produce of the vine was an emblem of long and settled habitation. To plant and not eat of the vine signified misfortune or God’s displeasure or wrath. The lack of vineyards emphasized a lack of permanent habitation or stability.
The expression “every man under his vine and his fig tree” symbolized national peace, prosperity, and domestic happiness: “So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kin 4:25; Mic 4:4). The abundance of vines and vineyards were seen as expressions of God’s favor, with the eschatological glorious age to come when the treader of the grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed (Gen 49:10-12; Amos 9:13-15). Even a “fruitful” marriage was compared to the vine: “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house…” (Psa 128:3).
The considerable import of the vine on the Jewish society is encapsulated in their adoption of the vine as the emblem of their nation. Over the Herodian-built temple in Jerusalem was the symbolic decoration of a great golden vine with clusters of grapes as tall as a man. The vine is also found on the nationalistic coins of the First Jewish Revolt, minted by the Maccabees, circa 66-70 A.D.
Bringing the focus back to the context of the mashal of the vine taught by Jesus, three of His parables are connected with vineyards (Matt 20:1; 21:28, 33), in addition to applying the metaphor of the vine to Himself, here in John 15. Suffice it to say the impact of the usage of a vine metaphor would have been far greater for these first disciples than in our modern culture.
Here in His opening words, Jesus introduces a contrast and comparison between the nation of Israel and Himself. In the Old Testament, the vine or vineyard was frequently used as an illustration of the nation of Israel, with God as the husbandman or vinedresser (cf. Psa 80:8-19; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Eze 19:10-14; Hos 10:1). Israel was God’s choice vine on which He lavished care and attention. If ever a nation had everything it needed to succeed, it was Israel: “What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?” God asked (Isa 5:4). However, in all the Old Testament passages in which historic Israel is referred metaphorically to vine or vineyard, the emphasis is on the vine’s failure to produce good fruit and the corresponding threat of God’s judgment upon the nation.
God desired a harvest of choice fruit from His painstaking nurturing of His vineyard, but the vine (Israel) became degenerate and produced rotten fruit, as lamented by both Isaiah and Jeremiah: “How then did you turn into a wild vine that grows bad fruit?” (Jer 2:21 NCV). Hosea also decried Israel degenerating into an empty vine. Instead of practicing justice, it practiced oppression; instead of producing righteousness, it produced unrighteousness and cries of distress from the victims (Hos 10). God had to deal with the nation of Israel and chasten it, but even that did not produce lasting results. When God's own Son came to the vineyard, they cast Him out and killed Him (Matt 21:33-46).
The only reference to Israel bearing good fruit is “In that day” (“the day of the Lord” – at the end times when His kingdom is forever established) after God’s judgment on the nation and after He has restored futuristic Israel (Isa 27:1-6).
In contradistinction to the vine of Israel that bore either no fruit or rotten fruit, Jesus claims, “I am the true vine.” The designation “true” (alēthinos, “awl-ay-theh-noss´”) is applied to that which is “genuine, authentic, real.” A thing can be true vis-à-vis error and falsehood, or a thing can be true vis-à-vis that which is a counterfeit. The latter is how the term is used here.
The first essential in planting a vineyard is to have the right stock, to plant the right kind of vine or tree in order to assure the proper quality of fruit. No fruit can be better than the vine that produces it. As the vine was used as a symbol of Israel, this adjective points to Israel as the degenerate vine now replaced by the true one. Jesus claimed to be the one true stock. Just as there must be an original vine from which all specimens of a given variety are taken, so He alone is the source of the heavenly life of the spiritual vine.
The disciples had Jewish concepts and their thought patterns had been governed by the Old Testament. Jesus is telling them now that the nation of Israel is not the genuine vine. Their identification with the Jewish nation and the Jewish religion is not the essential element. “I am the genuine vine.” The important identification now is for the disciples to be related to Jesus Christ. This theme would prove particularly telling to diaspora Jews: if they wished to enjoy the status of being part of God’s chosen vine, they must be rightly related to Jesus (Matt 21:43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” ESV).
Jesus makes it very clear that it is not your identification with a religion or a ceremony or an organization that is essential. We are to be identified with Christ. Unless the believer is vitally connected with Him, the quality of his fruitfulness will be unacceptable. There may be many branches, but if they are to bear the right kind of fruit, they must be a part of the real vine.
The word “vinedresser” more properly expresses the sense of the original word than husbandman. It means one who has the care of a vineyard; whose responsibility it is to nurture, trim, and defend the vine, and who has a deep, vested interest in its growth and welfare. Jesus said that this is the work of His Father.
Although Jesus is central to this story, the Father’s role is far more than mere background: “I planted and Apollos watered; but it was God who was, all the time, giving the increase. So that neither the planter nor the waterer is of any importance. God who gives the increase is all in all.” 1 Cor 3:6-7 (WEY)
Jesus ever lived and breathed in the spirit of what He had said as recorded earlier in John: “the Son can do nothing of Himself” (5:19) and “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works” (14:10).
As dependent as a vine is on the vinedresser for the place where it is to grow, for its watering and pruning, Jesus felt Himself entirely dependent on the Father every day for the wisdom, strength and power to do the Father's will. This absolute dependence resulted in absolute confidence. With such a vinedresser as His Father, He could enter death and the grave. He could trust God to raise Him up. All that Jesus was, is and has, He has, not in Himself, but from the Father.
This is the last of the seven “I am” messages of Jesus recorded in John. This “I am” declaration introduces the mashal of the vine. A mashal (“may´-shal”) is a Hebrew term for a symbolic or figurative conveyance of an important message; an extended metaphor or parable.
This mashal of the vine would have had been extremely relevant for the disciples and their contemporary Jews, as the cultivation of vineyards (viticulture) was one of the most significant occupations in the history of Palestine. While the Middle East in ancient times flourished with many types of plants that produced vines, such as cucumbers and melons, the word vine in the Bible almost always refers to the grapevine or vineyard.
The origin of viticulture is uncertain, but Palestine appears to have been a vine-growing region from ancient times. The countless wine presses found in and around centers of early civilization attest to this. The earliest mention in the Bible of caring for vineyards comes from the time of Noah (Gen 9:20-21); external references to vineyards appear from the time of Gudea (an ancient Sumerian ruler before 2100 B.C.), and wall paintings found in a tomb at Thebes in Egypt, dating from before 1400 B.C., depict the entire process of wine making from the gathering and treading of the grapes to the storing of the wine in jars.
The climate of Palestine was well-suited for growing vineyards, with the elevation of the hills and tablelands of Judea and Samaria particularly desirable for viticulture. When the tribe of Judah obtained for their inheritance these hilly slopes, the prophecy of their ancestor was fulfilled: “He washes his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes” (Gen 49:11). The sides of these hills are still dotted with the watchtowers, walls and terraces of vineyards long ago.
Further evidencing the suitability of Palestine for viticulture, even certain valleys were considered particularly fertile for vineyards. Engedi, Hebron and Eshcol are specifically mentioned in the Bible for their remarkable yields of grapes. The vines of Palestine were noted both for their luxuriant growth and for the immense clusters of grapes which they produced. It was in the Valley of Eshcol (“cluster”) that the spies of Moses cut down a cluster of grapes so gigantic that it required two men to carry: “Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men” (Num 13:23).
The grapes of Hebron are still considered the finest in the Holy Land. Bunches weighing from six to seven pounds are said to be commonplace, with an occasional cluster reminiscent of the magnificent sample taken by the spies of Moses.
The cultivation of a vineyard was the most costly, time-intensive and laborious of all other forms of agriculture in ancient Palestine. Hillsides were typically considered as the most desirable locations for the vines, especially since they were less suitable for other forms of agriculture. The slopes were generally terraced, with the large rocks and boulders, which are so prevalent in the area, heaped into long rows. The tendrils from the vines were trailed out over these rock rows and terraces to keep them out of the dirt and to preserve the fruit from dampness.
The smaller stones were left untouched as they were indispensable for retaining the moisture in the soil. Unlike the rest of the crops cultivated at that time, vineyards were carefully enclosed in their entirety by stone walls and/or hedges, to protect the grapes from jackals, foxes, wild boars and thieves. Watchtowers were also built so that hired watchmen could be stationed to look out for predators during the grape season.
In addition to the rock walls and towers that were built, the final phase of preparing these vineyards was to carve out the wine presses. The wine presses, or vats, were typically hewn out of the native rock next to the vineyards, and as such, they remain the most permanent testaments of the labor involved with these ancient and prevalent vineyards. The grapes were always pressed on location, so that they would not get bruised, damaged or otherwise spoil during transport. The presses were simply two parallel troughs, one above the other, with a perforated channel between them. The clusters of grapes were thrown into the upper trough, where they were trodden underfoot. The juice from the pressed grapes would then flow into the lower trough, from whence the juice was collected into wine skins or other containers.
In the early spring after the young grapes had set on the branches, the vines were carefully pruned by cutting off dead and fruitless branches. This pruning was an essential process for ensuring stronger branches and a more productive fruit yield. In the summer the vineyards were a beautiful mass of green, as contrasted with the dried-up, parched land surrounding these luxuriant vineyards. At the end of summer, late August or early September, the harvest of the grapes would take place.
Harvest time was a season of great festivity. The towns would be largely empty, as the people lived in the vineyards, in booths or tents. The clusters of fragrant grapes were gathered with shouts of joy, and carried in baskets to the wine press. The finest of the grapes were set aside to be dried as raisins, many of the clusters would have been eaten there on the spot by the jubilant people, other clusters would have been separated for eating later, and the rest piled into the upper wine vat to be trodden underfoot.
While a considerable amount of the juice would have been set aside for drinking, much, if not most, of the juice was cultivated as a source of sugar. The juice was boiled down to a treacle or molasses-like consistency known as “grape honey,” referred to as dibs. This is likely the most common reference to “honey,” aside from specific mention of “honey-comb,” found in the Old Testament; and before the days of cane sugar was the chief source of sugar.
After the harvest, some of the leaves from the vine were gathered and used in meal preparation. Chopped meat and rice were rolled up together in the grape leaves and then boiled, making a tasty meal. Trimmings from the vine and the leaves were used as mulch or fertilizer for the soil, while the leaves were also used for fodder. The wood from the pruned branches were dried and used for burning. Nothing was wasted from these important vineyards.
The extreme cultural significance of the Vineyard vineyard to the Hebrews is highlighted by the exemption from military duty for the man who had planted a vineyard: “Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not begun to use its fruit? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would begin to use its fruit” (Deut 20:6). This was one of only four exceptions allowed for exemption from military service: dedication of new home, engagement, new vineyard, and those who were afraid or “faint of heart” (Deut 20:5-8).
Other laws specifically governed the use of vineyards: other plants/seeds could not be sown in them, although vineyard could be established around existing trees, such as mentions of fig trees in the Old Testament. During harvest they could not be stripped clean of their grapes. The owner was to leave gleanings for the poor and the sojourner, and the fatherless and the widow. A traveler or neighbor was free to partake of as many grapes as they could eat while walking through a vineyard, but they were forbidden to carry any grapes out of the vineyard. A Nazirite was strictly forbidden from eating or drinking any aspect of the vine (Num 6:4; Jud 13:14).
It was forbidden to eat the fruit of a vineyard during the first three years after its planting, and in the fourth year all the fruit was holy to the Lord, “to praise the Lord.” Only in the fifth year could the produce of the vines be enjoyed by the owner of the vineyard. Various markings were etched into the walls or towers of the vineyards, whereby passerby’s might distinguish the “age” of the vineyards and so escape the peril of eating the grapes prematurely. Additionally, vineyards were to lie fallow every seventh year and during the 50th year of Jubilee. In other words, considering the ban on the first four years and the fallow seventh year, this was a very significant investment in time and property. The vineyard owner would only realize tangible benefit from the vineyard for two years out of the first seven years. It wouldn’t be until the eighth year that the owner would be able to enjoy the product of his vineyard on a regular, yearly basis.
The entire Old Testament provides ample witness of how great a part the vine played in the culture of the Hebrews, both in terms of actual dependence upon the vine and its products, as well as in the figurative impact upon the people. Men rejoiced in the produce of the vine as one of God's best gifts (Jud 9:13; Psa 104:15). To plant vineyards and to be able to enjoy the produce of the vine was an emblem of long and settled habitation. To plant and not eat of the vine signified misfortune or God’s displeasure or wrath. The lack of vineyards emphasized a lack of permanent habitation or stability.
The expression “every man under his vine and his fig tree” symbolized national peace, prosperity, and domestic happiness: “So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon” (1 Kin 4:25; Mic 4:4). The abundance of vines and vineyards were seen as expressions of God’s favor, with the eschatological glorious age to come when the treader of the grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed (Gen 49:10-12; Amos 9:13-15). Even a “fruitful” marriage was compared to the vine: “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house…” (Psa 128:3).
The considerable import of the vine on the Jewish society is encapsulated in their adoption of the vine as the emblem of their nation. Over the Herodian-built temple in Jerusalem was the symbolic decoration of a great golden vine with clusters of grapes as tall as a man. The vine is also found on the nationalistic coins of the First Jewish Revolt, minted by the Maccabees, circa 66-70 A.D.
Bringing the focus back to the context of the mashal of the vine taught by Jesus, three of His parables are connected with vineyards (Matt 20:1; 21:28, 33), in addition to applying the metaphor of the vine to Himself, here in John 15. Suffice it to say the impact of the usage of a vine metaphor would have been far greater for these first disciples than in our modern culture.
Here in His opening words, Jesus introduces a contrast and comparison between the nation of Israel and Himself. In the Old Testament, the vine or vineyard was frequently used as an illustration of the nation of Israel, with God as the husbandman or vinedresser (cf. Psa 80:8-19; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Eze 19:10-14; Hos 10:1). Israel was God’s choice vine on which He lavished care and attention. If ever a nation had everything it needed to succeed, it was Israel: “What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?” God asked (Isa 5:4). However, in all the Old Testament passages in which historic Israel is referred metaphorically to vine or vineyard, the emphasis is on the vine’s failure to produce good fruit and the corresponding threat of God’s judgment upon the nation.
God desired a harvest of choice fruit from His painstaking nurturing of His vineyard, but the vine (Israel) became degenerate and produced rotten fruit, as lamented by both Isaiah and Jeremiah: “How then did you turn into a wild vine that grows bad fruit?” (Jer 2:21 NCV). Hosea also decried Israel degenerating into an empty vine. Instead of practicing justice, it practiced oppression; instead of producing righteousness, it produced unrighteousness and cries of distress from the victims (Hos 10). God had to deal with the nation of Israel and chasten it, but even that did not produce lasting results. When God's own Son came to the vineyard, they cast Him out and killed Him (Matt 21:33-46).
The only reference to Israel bearing good fruit is “In that day” (“the day of the Lord” – at the end times when His kingdom is forever established) after God’s judgment on the nation and after He has restored futuristic Israel (Isa 27:1-6).
In contradistinction to the vine of Israel that bore either no fruit or rotten fruit, Jesus claims, “I am the true vine.” The designation “true” (alēthinos, “awl-ay-theh-noss´”) is applied to that which is “genuine, authentic, real.” A thing can be true vis-à-vis error and falsehood, or a thing can be true vis-à-vis that which is a counterfeit. The latter is how the term is used here.
The first essential in planting a vineyard is to have the right stock, to plant the right kind of vine or tree in order to assure the proper quality of fruit. No fruit can be better than the vine that produces it. As the vine was used as a symbol of Israel, this adjective points to Israel as the degenerate vine now replaced by the true one. Jesus claimed to be the one true stock. Just as there must be an original vine from which all specimens of a given variety are taken, so He alone is the source of the heavenly life of the spiritual vine.
The disciples had Jewish concepts and their thought patterns had been governed by the Old Testament. Jesus is telling them now that the nation of Israel is not the genuine vine. Their identification with the Jewish nation and the Jewish religion is not the essential element. “I am the genuine vine.” The important identification now is for the disciples to be related to Jesus Christ. This theme would prove particularly telling to diaspora Jews: if they wished to enjoy the status of being part of God’s chosen vine, they must be rightly related to Jesus (Matt 21:43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” ESV).
Jesus makes it very clear that it is not your identification with a religion or a ceremony or an organization that is essential. We are to be identified with Christ. Unless the believer is vitally connected with Him, the quality of his fruitfulness will be unacceptable. There may be many branches, but if they are to bear the right kind of fruit, they must be a part of the real vine.
The word “vinedresser” more properly expresses the sense of the original word than husbandman. It means one who has the care of a vineyard; whose responsibility it is to nurture, trim, and defend the vine, and who has a deep, vested interest in its growth and welfare. Jesus said that this is the work of His Father.
Although Jesus is central to this story, the Father’s role is far more than mere background: “I planted and Apollos watered; but it was God who was, all the time, giving the increase. So that neither the planter nor the waterer is of any importance. God who gives the increase is all in all.” 1 Cor 3:6-7 (WEY)
Jesus ever lived and breathed in the spirit of what He had said as recorded earlier in John: “the Son can do nothing of Himself” (5:19) and “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works” (14:10).
As dependent as a vine is on the vinedresser for the place where it is to grow, for its watering and pruning, Jesus felt Himself entirely dependent on the Father every day for the wisdom, strength and power to do the Father's will. This absolute dependence resulted in absolute confidence. With such a vinedresser as His Father, He could enter death and the grave. He could trust God to raise Him up. All that Jesus was, is and has, He has, not in Himself, but from the Father.
Monday, November 5, 2007
a basic definition
Gregg Easterbrook wrote the following in his book The Progress Paradox, How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse:
1) The number of people who call themselves Christians, but who really aren't. They might be "religious" according to modern standards of religion, but they aren't Christians, according to Biblical standards.
2) The number of Christians who aren't living the life of faith.
Sadly, it's often difficult to tell the two apart. In fact, it's not uncommon for the people in the first scenario to actually seem "more Christian" than the Christians in scenario two. Either way, we're talking about a life that is missing the power of Christ working in them.
Given the primary focus of this blog is to address Christians, let's start by first stripping away the "confusion" as to what or who a Christian truly is. Such a foundational step will help to separate the two scenarios and will be the building block upon which future posts will be established.
Seem basic and simplistic? I like simple. I need simple. I found that out the hard way - my natural learning style.
Do you like simple? Most people typically agree they like simple, yet have you ever noticed how we have a tendency to make things complicated?
In the Old Testament we were given the 10 commandments. That’s simple – we can count them on our two hands. In the New Testament Jesus made it simpler yet. He zeroed in on two commandments – to love God and to love your neighbor. According to Him, “All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matt 22:40
Ten commandments distilled to two – that’s simple. Yet what had the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders, done? They documented 613 commandments in the Law, 248 positive (the dos) and 365 negative (the don’ts). No person, not even a Pharisee, could ever hope to know and fully obey all of these commandments. So, to make it easier, these religious leaders divided this vast array of commandments into the “heavy” (read, important) and the “light” (read, unimportant). A person could therefore major on the “heavy" commandments and not worry about the “trivial” ones.
Wow! However, lest we err in being too quick to criticize the Pharisees, consider what we have done with Christianity. We have made Christianity an overly-burdensome and complex mess of numerous denominations, each with their own vast litany of rules and regulations, even to the point of dictating which version of the Bible should be used, what type of music is appropriate in worshipping God, and formally declaring who has the authority to pray and intercede on our behalf before God. We have made Christianity into a very complex religion and, even worse, a booming industry.
What a tragedy! Christianity was never meant to be a religion. Christianity was never intended to be a complex set of rules and regulations. Contrary to popular belief, Christianity is not about a litany of legalistic dos and don’ts. Christianity is not a religion – it’s a relationship. A true Christian is by very definition of the word, one who follows Christ. Christianity is therefore about a relationship between an individual and Jesus Christ. It’s about being a disciple of Jesus, and living a life that is consistent with that calling.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus – you are not a Christian. It’s that plain and simple. It makes no difference whether you call yourself a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Catholic, a Lutheran or a Martian. If you do not call Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, you are not a Christian. Period. Simple.
So with that being the basic definition, this blog is targeted to Christians. Jesus said we were to be the light and salt to the world. There are many varying statistics as to the number of "true" Christians in the US. A conservative estimate is that approximately 25% of the population claims to be a Christian. I wonder if anyone would notice a quarter of a pound of salt in a one pound hamburger?
Dallas Willard penned in his book Spirit of the Disciplines:On the first day of the 21st century, President Bill Clinton declared that Western society had “never before enjoyed, at once, so much prosperity combined with so much social progress.”
Almost all aspects of Western life have vastly improved in the past century. However, far from feeling better about their lives, many are actually feeling worse. Throughout the US and Europe, incidence of clinical melancholy has been rising in eerie synchronization with rising prosperity… while depression and stress have become ever more prevalent.
The great paradox: the better off we are and the higher the level of our living standards, the less happy we are.
Living in the land of plenty, and as Christians who should be living the abundant, joy and power-filled life, where’s the disconnect? Perhaps some would argue I'm being overly simplistic here, but the disconnect stems from two basic issues:Amid a flood of techniques for self-help and fulfillment there is an epidemic of depression, suicide, personal emptiness, escapism through drugs and alcohol, cultic obsession, consumerism, and gratuitous sex and violence – all combined with an inability to sustain deep and enduring personal relationships. These ongoing and ever-increasing personal and societal problems clearly establish as fact that social, educational and political programs simply do not provide a cure for the ailments of mankind.
But if the cure is a spiritual one, how does modern Christianity fit into the answer? very poorly, it seems, for Christians are among those caught up in the sorrowful epidemic just referred to. And that fact is so prominent that modern thinking has come to view the Christian faith as powerless, even somehow archaic, at the very least irrelevant.
1) The number of people who call themselves Christians, but who really aren't. They might be "religious" according to modern standards of religion, but they aren't Christians, according to Biblical standards.
2) The number of Christians who aren't living the life of faith.
Sadly, it's often difficult to tell the two apart. In fact, it's not uncommon for the people in the first scenario to actually seem "more Christian" than the Christians in scenario two. Either way, we're talking about a life that is missing the power of Christ working in them.
Given the primary focus of this blog is to address Christians, let's start by first stripping away the "confusion" as to what or who a Christian truly is. Such a foundational step will help to separate the two scenarios and will be the building block upon which future posts will be established.
Seem basic and simplistic? I like simple. I need simple. I found that out the hard way - my natural learning style.
Do you like simple? Most people typically agree they like simple, yet have you ever noticed how we have a tendency to make things complicated?
In the Old Testament we were given the 10 commandments. That’s simple – we can count them on our two hands. In the New Testament Jesus made it simpler yet. He zeroed in on two commandments – to love God and to love your neighbor. According to Him, “All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matt 22:40
Ten commandments distilled to two – that’s simple. Yet what had the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders, done? They documented 613 commandments in the Law, 248 positive (the dos) and 365 negative (the don’ts). No person, not even a Pharisee, could ever hope to know and fully obey all of these commandments. So, to make it easier, these religious leaders divided this vast array of commandments into the “heavy” (read, important) and the “light” (read, unimportant). A person could therefore major on the “heavy" commandments and not worry about the “trivial” ones.
Wow! However, lest we err in being too quick to criticize the Pharisees, consider what we have done with Christianity. We have made Christianity an overly-burdensome and complex mess of numerous denominations, each with their own vast litany of rules and regulations, even to the point of dictating which version of the Bible should be used, what type of music is appropriate in worshipping God, and formally declaring who has the authority to pray and intercede on our behalf before God. We have made Christianity into a very complex religion and, even worse, a booming industry.
What a tragedy! Christianity was never meant to be a religion. Christianity was never intended to be a complex set of rules and regulations. Contrary to popular belief, Christianity is not about a litany of legalistic dos and don’ts. Christianity is not a religion – it’s a relationship. A true Christian is by very definition of the word, one who follows Christ. Christianity is therefore about a relationship between an individual and Jesus Christ. It’s about being a disciple of Jesus, and living a life that is consistent with that calling.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus – you are not a Christian. It’s that plain and simple. It makes no difference whether you call yourself a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Catholic, a Lutheran or a Martian. If you do not call Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, you are not a Christian. Period. Simple.
So with that being the basic definition, this blog is targeted to Christians. Jesus said we were to be the light and salt to the world. There are many varying statistics as to the number of "true" Christians in the US. A conservative estimate is that approximately 25% of the population claims to be a Christian. I wonder if anyone would notice a quarter of a pound of salt in a one pound hamburger?
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