John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
In order to grasp chapter 15, we need to look at chapter 14. Jesus is in the upper room with the disciples. They left there on their way to Gethsemane. On the way out of the city, they went through the gates toward the Mount of Olives. Taking this route would have been easy for them to understand what Jesus was saying. He compared his relationship with them by speaking about the vines of the garden. He wanted them to plainly understand.
What we have and are as believers is a relationship with the Lord; it’s not religion based. Jesus didn’t come to set up religion. In fact, he often corrected the religious of that day. They had turned his teachings into a form and formality. As his own, we enter into a relationship with God and Jesus. God is not a religious figure. He’s God. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, Jesus came to show the truth about sin and eternity.
We’re like what the disciples saw in the garden that night. There were vines, branches, and fruit. The fruit would not have been there except for the good branches on the vine. All branches need pruning from time to time. They can get diseased and out of shape. They need maintenance to continue to live and be productive. The disciples saw the branches, and they saw that the keepers had been pruning.
A common mistake is to view our relationship with the Lord as if we are the husbandman and God is the branch, with the vine of our own concept of Christianity. It’s easy to do. We get used to it. The devil is successful in instilling the idea of a relationship with the Lord as merely a religion, as if we can choose our own way to live. God then becomes what Satan and the world wants. Jesus said “I am the vine.” We can’t add anything to it. We can’t choose our own way. God is the husbandman. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. We have to be mindful of our place in the vine. Our relationship to God and Jesus is of utmost importance. We might get corrupted or die without pruning. A lot can go on in our spiritual life. We can get used to how our branch looks. We tolerate things and get out of shape. It is a gradual transformation or degradation. It can get to the point needing to be cut off. We quit abiding in the vine. Keep God as the husbandman. Let Jesus be Master. The productivity will come. Take care of it or one day you’ll find yourself away from God. This is why pruning must take place.
The end of verse 5 is why we need pruning. “For without me ye can do nothing.” We need help on a continual basis. God knows how to put things in order. Pruning can be painful, but the hurt it causes is a good hurt. It ends in recovery, and the branch continues. Jesus is forever the living vine. Even in this dying and diseased world there grows a living vine. God still has pruning shears. If he didn’t, we’d carry spiritual deformities. We need a visit from the husbandman because we can’t trust ourselves to do it the right way. We’d overlook things and prune our branch the way we want it. Jesus made it plain. We are branches. We don’t prune ourselves. Don’t try to reverse it. We need God to abide in. Jesus gives us life. When we get out of order in our role as a branch, God brings his pruning shears. We need to thank him for it.
In the garden Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from him. However, he said for the Father’s will to be done. If Jesus needed God in his Gethsemane, we need him in ours. Does God have his pruning shears out? Is it pruning time?
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 