Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - John 15:1-11
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Daily Lectionary Readings: Proverbs 14:1-27; John 15:1-11; (1 Maccabees 13:1-30)
John 15:1–11
[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [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. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [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. [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [9] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. [10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (ESV)
Jesus Christ is the true Vine. He is not the soy vine, nor is He the fat-free, low-calorie vine. Accept no substitute. Jesus is always genuine, never false nor counterfeit. In reality, Jesus is opposed to the shams and deceits of the pretender. You know who the pretender is. Satan is always the imitator, the deceiver, the scammer. However, this knowledge does not prevent us from falling for it over and over. This is why we need the security of being grafted to the true Vine.
Because counterfeit Christs and Christians abound, John exhorts us to “test the spirits.” You do not want to find yourself grafted to the wrong vine – kudzu instead of grapes. If you are receiving false teaching, you must call it out so that it may be corrected. There are so many false gospels out there making promises that can not be kept. Test the spirits. If the message is not Christ crucified for repentant sinners, be wary.
Men are branches. As branches, we are judged according to our relationship to the true Vine, Jesus. God is the Vinedresser. It is He who carefully planted, waters, and feeds the vine. He is the one who cares for, protects, prunes, and purges that which He planted.
No one wants to be the unfruitful branch that gets chopped off and discarded. No one wants to be cast into the fire. But look at what Jesus is saying in His illustration! These slashed and burned branches are not unattached branches. These unfruitful branches that are in such dire straits are attached to Jesus. A grafted branch has all its needs met from the main branch to which it has become wed. The nutrients and water from the roots of the central stalk also abide in the branches now attached to it. These barren branches appear to abide in Christ just like the fruitful ones; however, they do not bear fruit.
To belabor the agricultural metaphor, the unfruitful Christian became attached to Christ and had an organic relationship with Him. There was a past time when they began to bud. They matured into healthy branches. A healthy branch does many things. For a while, their ears were open to the word. They were fertile, having the potential to bear much fruit precisely like all their neighboring branches. So what went wrong? What do we need to be aware of to prevent it from happening to us? What do we need to look out for, to recognize the signs other branches show when becoming spiritually ill, so we might be a good neighbor to them?
Like the seed sown among thorns, Jesus said, “this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”1 “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”2 The writer to the Hebrews warns us that there will be consequences for those who seek their spiritual nourishment in the world rather than in Christ and urges us to remain steadfast and strengthen one another: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”3
A sick and unfruitful branch is really not drawing true life from the Vine and is not being genuine. Confessing Christ outwardly professes the faith, but not truly believing in the heart (the outward manifestation of which are our good works) means one does not live the faith. A fruitful branch simply is. The unfruitful is a pretender more counterfeit than real, a deceiver more than one who abides in the truth. In other words, he is a faker like his father, the devil, or had been deceived by him.
Sinful behavior leads to discipline by pruning. The pruned branch is different from the branch never grafted onto Christ the true Vine in the first place. Apart from Christ, bearing fruit is impossible. A branch without a vine is lifeless and meaningless, even though it may appear green and healthy for a time. Likewise, those who seek life outside of Christ are doomed to failure and are lifeless and meaningless. As John the Baptist taught, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”4
When we see our gifts and abilities wither and our confidence and assurance fall to the wayside, does that mean we have become unattached and are headed for the fire? Sometimes that may indeed be, but because you recognize the signs leading you to ask this question means you are sinfully stumbling, letting the world hold too much sway over your judgment, yet not yet disconnected from the vine. Hard times do not mean God is punishing you. However, how you handle them lets you know where your trust is placed. Faith doesn't make your life here on earth perfect by any means. Faith does, however, allow you to put your suffering and struggles into perspective. It also allows you to make your problems God's problems. Let Him shoulder your burden for you!
Whose glory do you seek? Yours or the Lord’s? Who stands to benefit from your works? You or your neighbor? Jesus gave us the branch health test to find out: “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”5
The fruit-bearing branch has Christ abiding in him. Abiding in Jesus, a person now walks in open confession before God, being honest to themselves and acknowledging that those sins we casually commit and do not think are so bad are, in fact, sins. Now we are walking in Christ. Now we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and eagerly learn more of God, drawing the strength and authority to live a victorious baptized life. It is the power to continue in the means of grace in our church home. It means confidence, an unashamedness in life that prepares us for eternity. We actively surrender ourselves to God's mercy and seek to follow His commands, repenting our failure often. We dwell in love and unity with all other believers, including those “other sheep not of this fold.”6
The healthy believer takes every opportunity to hear and read the scriptures and make them a part of him. He learns them and takes them to heart. His thoughts and desires are molded by them, and his motivation springs from them. He distinguishes between law and gospel. He serves his neighbor and praises God, knowing that he does not win points or gain status within the Christian community. They do it because they cannot help but do so and hopes the Holy Spirit will snatch up some other branches, not yet of the Vine, in the process.
A miracle occurs when some old, unattached branches see how lush and green the branch abiding in the true vine flourishes. Those barren and dry branches may begin to turn their mind to God! Some may acknowledge that only God's power can produce much fruit. They may start to ask God for help. In time, they may even be grafted onto the Vine next to you.
A well-tended branch bearing much fruit is a beautiful thing! There is never a time when such a branch is not attached and walking in Christ. The vinedresser fertilizes and waters such vines. He even prunes it and removes the dead leaves as we confess our sins and repent. Such vines are constantly nourished by the branch, living in the life-giving waters of our baptism daily and fertilized with His body and blood. Christ is their refuge and strength, their help in time of need.
A healthy branch is confident and unashamed in life not because his every desire is met but because he believes eternal life has been won for him. He no longer walks in continuous sin but walks unburdened by the consequences of his sin, knowing Christ died for him on the cross. He is still a sinner but believes Jesus has taken them away. Therefore He walks in "the newness of life," attempting to put old sinful behaviors behind him and return in repentant faith when he fails. The fruitful branch surrenders his will to the will of God, a new life that looks like the ten commandments kept for the benefit of his neighbor.
1Matthew 13:22 (ESV).
2Titus 1:16 (ESV).
3Hebrews 3:12-14 (ESV).
4Matthew 3:10 (ESV).
5John 13:33-35 (ESV).
6John 10:16.