John 15: 1 - 8
Parables; Allegories; and Metaphors; - Oh My
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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I AM the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Our Lord Jesus and his disciples were raping up their dinner meeting in the upper room in Jerusalem where they celebrated the Passover. Apparently the disciples were exceedingly anxious, and confused as to what loomed ahead. The words of our Teacher and Lord Jesus then were calculated to instruct, and strengthen His disciples. They needed some crucial preparation for the ordeal that would follow in the next twenty-four hours.
Some biblical scholars have commented that chapter 15 is a parable. However throughout the centuries many experts observe and declare that parables are noticeably absent from the Gospel of John". Here in this chapter our Lord Jesus' teaching contains no parables but three allegories. An allegory is an expanded metaphor. The metaphor is a figure of speech where a comparison is made between two objects for the purpose of illustration. In this allegory, our Lord and Savior set forth some wonderful truths in the pattern of the agricultural environment of His day.
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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I AM the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
There are four characters in the Lord’s illustration.
1. There is the ‘Vine’. The vine is the source of life for the branches. It provides the water and nutrients by which the grapes are produced. Without the vine, no fruit could ever result. Branches are utterly dependent upon the vine. Without our Lord Jesus Christ, or course. There is no spiritual life or hope of eternal reward. It is interesting that Christ Jesus our Lord designates Himself as the ‘True Vine’ The Greek term denotes that which is genuine, the word stands in contrast to that which is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretentious. Inasmuch as the Israelite nation was portrayed on occasion as a ‘vine’ by Old Testament prophets, one can scarcely avoid thinking that this is a rebuke aimed at a considerable segment of the Hebrew population. The nation largely had failed in its God given mission and now was on the verge of murdering its Messiah.
2. There is The Husbandman – This term is rather obscure in our modern culture. It does not signify a husband but rather a tiller of the ground. It is more applicable to say a ‘vinedresser’ or a ‘farmer’. He is the one in charge of the vines and to whom ultimate accountability is to be rendered. He does everything within his power to see that the plant bears fruit. Our Lord Jesus identifies the ‘husbandman’ as ‘My Father’ God The Father. Of special notice is His statement of ‘My’ rather than ‘our’ Father. As the Son of God Christ Jesus our Master enjoyed a very unique relationship to His Heavenly Father, and that is emphasized several times in John’s Gospel. The expression is a subtle affirmation of our Savior’s Deity.
3. There are the ‘branches’. This describes two groups. Those branches which are ‘alive’. They are the Lord’s disciples. And we read that some are ‘dead’. These I want to list as ‘all others’
4. Then there are the ‘They’[ verse 6]. These will be responsible for gathering the withered dead branches and committing them to fire for burning. In other words these are God’s angels.
5. Then there are the ‘other’ plants – Sadly these are plants that are not even considered. These are people who have invested their lives not seeking God and those who have joined phony religions.
At key points in His ministry, Our Precious Holy Lord Jesus Christ emphasized His equality with God in the clearest possible terminology. The strongest affirmations of His deity employed the name for God used when the Father first revealed Himself to Moses back in the book of Exodus 3: 14,– ‘I AM’
The Lord Jesus had already said, ‘I am the Light of the world’ [John 8: 12]; ‘I am the Bread of Life’ [John 6: 35]; ‘I am the Way’ [John 14: 6]; and ‘I am the Door’ [John 10:9]. Now, the night before His death, He tells His disciples, ‘I am the Vine’. Like the other great ‘I AM’ passages it points to His Deity. Each one elevates our Great Master and King Jesus to the level of Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Lord. These titles can be claimed only by God.
Our Holy Magnificent God Jesus Is the ‘True Vine’. In Scripture, the word ‘true’ is often used to describe what is eternal, heavenly, and divine. Israel was imperfect and failed like Adam, but our Lord Jesus Christ Is Perfect and as the 2nd Adam He succeeded. Israel was the type but our Holy Lord Is ‘The Reality’.
In the metaphor, Christ Jesus Is a plant but the Father Is a person. Certain mistaken teachers have claimed that this shows our Lord Jesus Is not Devine but lower in character and essence than the Father. They say if He Is God, then His part should be the vine and The Father’s part should be the root of the vine. Wow, I guess our Great God should have checked in with these experts before putting this in His Bible.
These so called scholars miss the whole point. While He affirms His equality in essence with the Father and by claiming to be the source and sustainer of life, our Lord Jesus Is also emphasizing the fundamental difference in His and The Father’s roles. The point is that the Father cares for the Son and for those joined to the Son by faith.
The disciples were familiar with the role of the vinedresser. After a vine is planted, the vinedresser has two duties. First he cuts off fruitless branches, which take away sap from the fruit bearing branches. If sap is wasted the plant will bear less fruit. Then he constantly trims shoots from the fruit bearing branches so that all the sap is concentrated on fruit bearing. Both of those duties are described in verse 2.
It appears that our Lord Jesus chose the figure of a vine for several reasons. The lowliness of a vine demonstrates His humility. It also pictures a close, permanent, vital union between the vine and branches. It is symbolic of belonging, because branches belong entirely to the vine; if branches are to live and bear fruit, they must completely depend on the vine for nourishment, support, strength, and vitality.
The fruit-bearing branches are pruned so they will bear more fruit. We know these branches represent Christians, because only Christians can bear fruit. Pruning is not done only once—it is a constant process. The Father prunes a branch so it may bear more fruit. After continual pruning, it bears much fruit. As verse 8 says, "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit."
Yet many who call themselves Christians fail to depend on Christ. Instead of being attached to the true vine, they are tied to a bank account. Others are attached to their education. Some have tried to make vines out of popularity, fame, personal skills, possessions, relationships, or fleshly desires. Some think the church is their vine, and try to attach them to a religious system. But none of those things can sustain or bear fruit. The ‘Vine’ Is Christ.
There are those who mingle with believers in the church and only appear to be connected to Christ Jesus. They sadly sap out the life of believers. They are constantly in need. They come for counseling and never do anything to allow Christ Jesus to change them. They want various ministries to meet their desires. They do nothing to benefit the body of Christ. They bear no fruit. Someone made a great quote which stated that because of these dead branches ‘the church’s minister to those they should prune out and put out those they should minister to.’
The fruitless branches that are cut off are useless. Since they do not burn well, they cannot even be used for worthwhile purposes. They are thrown into piles and burned. They are taken away. The vinedresser does not tend to them. He removes them.
I mentioned that the ‘they’ are angels. The Lord has assigned them ‘clean up’ duties. We read this in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13 regarding the gathering and ultimate burning away of the dead useless matter, “24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”?’?”
Before we move on I want to take some time and speak about another issue that has developed from this portion of scripture.
In the Old Testament God’s vine was Israel. He used them to accomplish His purpose in the world, and He blessed those connected to Him. He was the vinedresser. He cared for the vine, trimmed it, and cut off branches that did not bear fruit. But God’s vine degenerated and bore no fruit. The vinedresser grieved over the tragedy of Israel’s fruitlessness.
Speaking through His prophet Isaiah our Holy God said as recorded in chapter 5 verses 1 through 7 this, “1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
So from these verses theologians determined that since Israel did not bear fruit she was no longer God’s vine. Did Isaiah’s verses say that? No, the vineyard is still His - .” 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.”
There has grown a thorn bush in religious circles called ‘Replacement theology.’ Replacement theology proposes the church has in some way replaced Israel. More extreme views declare God has cast off the Jews, and Israel has no special treatment from God anymore. In short because of their continuing disobedience and their rejection of Jesus Christ, God has replaced Israel with the Church, transferring the blessings promised to Israel to the Church
I want to list for you some of the reasons people accept Replacement Theology. For one thing it is brought out that to be a son of Abraham is to have faith in Jesus Christ. For them, Galatians 3:29 shows that son ship to Abraham is seen only in spiritual, not national terms: "And if you be Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
While this is a wonderful inclusionary promise for us Gentiles, this verse does not exclude the Jewish people from their original covenant, promise and blessing as the natural seed of Abraham. This verse simply joins us Gentile Christians to what God had already started with Israel.
Another point made is that the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham was only a "start." The real ‘Promised Land’ is the whole world. They use Romans 4:13 to claim it will be the Church that inherits the world, not Israel. "For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."
Where does this verse exclude Abraham and His natural offspring, the Jews? It simply says that through the law, they would not inherit the world, but this would be acquired through faith. This is also true of the Church.
Another idea is that the nation of Israel was only the seed of the future Church, which would arise and incorporate people of all nations (Malachi 1:11): "For from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, My Name shall be great among the nations, and in every place, incense shall be offered to My Name, and a pure offering for My Name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of Hosts."
This idea however sheds positive light on Israel. It shows that the Jewish people and Israel fulfilled one of their callings to be "a light to the nations," so that God's Word has gone around the world. It does not suggest God's dealing with Israel was negated because His Name spread around the world.
Replacement advocates point out that our Lord Jesus taught that the Jews would lose their spiritual privileges, and be replaced by another people (Matthew 21:43): "Therefore I am saying to you, 'The kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of it.'"
To understand scripture we need to look at the passage before and after a verse. In this case, our Lord Jesus was talking about the priests and Pharisees, who failed as leaders of the people. This passage is not talking about the Jewish people or nation of Israel.
Another position is taken because a true Jew is anyone born of the Spirit, whether he is racially Gentile or Jewish (Romans 2:28-29): "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
This argument does not support the notion that the Church replaced Israel. Rather, it simply reinforces what had been said throughout the Hebrew Scriptures [the Old Testament], and it certainly qualifies the spiritual qualifications for Jews or anyone else who professes to be a follower of the God of Israel.
Even more extreme is the thought that Paul shows that the Church is really the same "olive tree" as was Israel, and the Church is now the tree. Therefore, to distinguish between Israel and the Church is, strictly speaking, false. Indeed, people of Jewish origin need to be grafted back into the Church (Romans11:17-23).
This claim is the most outrageous because this passage clearly shows that we Gentiles are the "wild olive branches," who get our life from being grafted into the olive tree. The tree represents the covenants, promises and hopes of Israel (Ephesians 2:12), rooted in the Messiah and fed by the sap, which represents the Holy Spirit, giving life to the Jews (the "natural branches") and Gentile alike. We Gentiles are told to remember that the olive tree holds us up and NOT to be arrogant or boast against the "natural branches" because they can be grafted in again. The olive tree is NOT the Church. We are simply grafted into God's plan that preceded us for over 2,000 years.
These representatives of this school of thought boldly proclaim that all the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament, unless they were historically fulfilled before the coming of Jesus Christ, are now the property of the Christian Church. These promises should not be interpreted literally or carnally, but spiritually and symbolically, so that references to Israel, Jerusalem, Zion and the Temple, when they are prophetic, really refer to the Church (II Corinthians 1:20). "For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus) are Yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us." Therefore, they teach that the New Testament needs to be taught figuratively, not literally
So, in truth and reality the New Testament references to Israel clearly pertain to Israel, not the Church. Therefore, no promise to Israel and the Jewish people in the Bible is figurative, nor can they be relegated to the Church alone. The promises and covenants are literal, many of them are everlasting, and we Christians can participate in them as part of our rebirth, not in that we took them over to the exclusion of Israel. The New Testament speaks of the Church's relationship to Israel and her covenants as being "grafted in" (Romans 11:17), "brought near" (Ephesians 2:13), "Abraham's offspring (by faith)" (Romans 4:16), and "partakers" (Romans 15:27), NOT as usurpers of the covenant and a replacer of physical Israel. We Gentile Christians joined into what God had been doing in Israel, and God did not break His covenant promises with Israel (Romans 11:29).
The Jewish people have fulfilled their role. The promise to the world through Abraham was that, "in you will all the nations on the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). They were to be a light unto the nations and, while they made mistakes as we all do, they did demonstrate the power of God on earth, they did hear God's Word and record it so that we have the Bible, and they were the human channel for the Messiah, who was born, ministered, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and will return to Jerusalem, Israel, in a day yet to come.
God made an everlasting covenant between the land of Israel and the Jewish people that must be fulfilled and completed or His Word, the Bible, will be proven a lie, which it is not. God will never forget or annul His ancient people. If God will not fulfill His promises to Israel, what guarantee do we have that He will fulfill His promises to the Church?
In closing I give you the words of God as recorded by the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 verses 35-37 of his book.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name) 36 “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.” 37 Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the LORD. 38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that the city shall be built for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”
