Jesus Lifts Us Up
John 15:1-5
by S. M. Henriques
Have you ever felt as though you needed a fresh start? Well, who hasn’t? President John Kennedy found himself wishing once that he could start over. In 1963 he visited West Berlin, and made an impassioned speech which would be remembered for years to come. The climax of his speech was when he paused, and then cried, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" The crowd that day in 1963 was swept up in the emotion of his words and ignored their meaning until later.
Kennedy had wanted to say, "Ich bin Berliner!" or "I am a Berliner!" But what he actually said was, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" or "I am a jelly doughnut!" I’m sure that looking back on that moment, Kennedy wished that he could do that over!
But there are other occasions when the thing we wish we could do over is much more serious than that, when lives are at stake. John Newton was a rough, dirty sailor with a foul mouth. He hated life, and life hated him. He was the captain of a slave ship. His mother had told him about Jesus when John was still very young, and even though he resisted her influence, he could never escape it. Then one day, someone gave John Newton a copy of Thomas a Kempis’ book “The Imitation of Christ,” and he was gloriously saved. He began going all over England sharing his faith, and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In his older years, he had to have an assistant stand in the pulpit with him on Sundays because he was so weak. He was nearly blind and spoke in whispers, but nothing could keep him from preaching while he still had breath. One Sunday, while delivering his message he repeated the sentence: "Jesus Christ is precious." His helper whispered to him: "But you have already said that twice." Newton turned to his helper and said loudly, "Yes, I’ve said it twice, and I’m going to say it again." The stones in the ancient sanctuary fairly shook as the grand old preacher said again: "Jesus Christ is precious!"
John Newton needed a fresh start in his life, and because of Jesus, John Newton received a fresh start in life. He looked back on his life, and realized what a great thing Jesus had done for him, and his experience with Christ is immortalized in the words to our great hymn, “Amazing Grace.” It truly was amazing grace that picked up John Newton and gave him another chance.
Another person who needed lifting up was the thief on the cross next to Jesus. D. L. Moody stated years ago, “The thief had nails through both hands, so that he could not work; and a nail through each foot, so that he could not run errands for the Lord; he could not lift a hand or a foot toward his salvation, and yet Christ offered him the gift of God; and he took it. Christ threw him a passport, and took him into Paradise.” In spite of the things the thief had done, Jesus welcomed him into the Kingdom.
You’ve never been a slave trader, nor have you ever hung, dying, on a Roman cross. Yet you and I can identify with the need to start over. We can identify with the need for someone to come along and lift us up, in spite of our sin; someone who can see the potential that yet remains in us, and loves us regardless of who we are or what we have done.
Through the years, John 15:2 has been the cause of a lot of confusion for many Christians. We read that “He cuts off every branch in Me that does not bear fruit,” and we find ourselves “wondering what type of “fruit” is He talking about? And what if I fail to bear that fruit? Will I be “cut off”?
This line of thinking leads to worry, and has even caused more than a few to wonder if they can somehow lose their salvation. Today I want to challenge the traditional line of thinking that Jesus will cut us off from Him and the rewards of eternity with Him, if we somehow don’t measure up.
But there are other ways to translate this. I don’t want to turn this into a Greek lesson, but it is important enough for us to look at it. The word that is translated “cut” here in John 15:2 can be translated into English much better by the word “lift,” or “take,” as in “take away.” Here are some examples of ways that exact same word is used: (Note: words in CAPS represent the same Greek word translated various ways.)
Look with me first in the book of Matthew:
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will LIFT you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Matthew 4:5-6 (NIV)
They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples PICKED UP twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Matt. 14:20 (NIV)
Let no one on the roof of his house go down to TAKE anything out of the house. Matt. 24:17 (NIV)
Next, let’s turn to the book of John:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who TAKES away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! PICK UP your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to CARRY your mat.”
John 5:8-10 (NIV)
“TAKE AWAY the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” John 11:39 (NIV)
So they TOOK AWAY the stone. Then Jesus LOOKED UP and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. John 11:41 (NIV)
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone HAD BEEN REMOVED from the entrance. John 20:1 (NIV)
And there are some pretty remarkable examples from the book of Acts:
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they RAISED their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. Acts 4:23 through Acts 4:24 (NIV)
Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was PICKED UP dead. Acts 20:9 (NIV)
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they WEIGHED ANCHOR and sailed along the shore of Crete. Acts 27:13 (NIV)
As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men HAD HOISTED IT ABOARD,they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. Acts 27:16-17 (NIV)
Then at least one final example from the book of Revelation:
5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land RAISED his right hand to heaven. Rev. 10:5 (NIV)
So what is the point of all this? The point, in case you haven’t caught it by now, is that I believe that in the final hours before His death Jesus was trying to give the disciples some encouragement. They all, with the sole exception of John, would desert Him while He hung on a cross. Peter would deny three times that he even knew him, but the rest of them would be cowering somewhere in a dark corner.
They have been sharing their last meal together before the crucifixion, and Jesus has given them some final words. John 14 ends with the words, “Come now; let us leave.” So we imagine them leaving the room where they were eating together, and on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, they passed through a vineyard. Jesus stopped at one of them and said, “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.” Then I can see Him kneeling down, lifting up a branch that had fallen on the ground, and saying to them, “He lifts up every branch that cannot hold its fruit up, or every branch that gets knocked off the trellis, he LIFTS UP.”
So what does that mean for us today? For all the times when we need to be lifted up, we need to remember that our God is a compassionate God, who does not delight in cutting off His people. Do you need lifting up today? The good news is that Jesus told us that He will lift us up! What are some important truths for us to remember when we need to be lifted up?
1. The first truth is that we often find ourselves “on the ground.”
In the natural course of things, a branch will grow rapidly. As new growth, it will not necessarily grow where it is supposed to grow. Left to itself, it will tend to grow downward, aiming for the ground. That is much the way we are, is it not? Left to ourselves, we find ourselves running along the ground, so to speak. The Bible calls that our sin nature, and it is a natural part of who we are.
But there are other reasons why a branch might be on the ground. A strong wind or a heavy rain could also knock the branch from its trellis. The vinedresser must come through on a regular basis and check to see if any branches have fallen. When times of adversity come our way, our Heavenly Father picks us up and puts us back where we can do the most good and bear the most fruit.
2. The second truth: Jesus lifts us up when we are least likely to do Him any good.
Lying on the ground, whether there because of its vigorous growth or because of wind and rain, the branch is completely unable to fulfill its sole purpose. The wood of a grapevine is good for nothing. In our day, we might fashion it into wreaths of some sort, but beyond that, it can be used for very little. You can’t build anything with it, and it is too soft for much of anything else. It doesn’t grow tall enough to provide very good shade. The sole purpose of a branch on a grapevine is to bear grapes! So the vinedresser must help it. On the ground it is covered with dust and mud, and is subject to mildew and disease. But on the trellis, it is able to bear fruit!
Folks, the Bible tells us that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He didn’t wait for us to get it all together. He didn’t wait until we cleaned up our lives. He died for us when we were least able to do Him any good at all.
3. The third truth: Jesus sees too much potential in us to leave us on the mud, mildew and dust.
Just as He saw potential in Peter, He sees potential in you and me. We all have more potential than we are realizing in our lives. When Bernard Shaw was nearing the end of his life, he was asked by a reporter "If you could live your life over and be anybody you’ve known, or any person from history, who would you be?"
"I would choose," replied Shaw "to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was." Well, he didn’t have that choice. You and I don’t have that choice, either, but we do have one choice that George Bernard Shaw never took advantage of. We can explore, discover and live up to the potential that God has for each of us. The potential is not to be found on the ground of our sinful natures.
4. The fourth truth is that Jesus loves us too much to leave us in the mud, mildew and dust.
The vinedresser watches over his vineyard much the same way that a shepherd would watch over his sheep. He knows what his goals are for that vineyard, and he knows how to treat and care for each separate vine. You could even say that the vinedresser actually loves his work and his vineyard.
Our Heavenly Father loves us with a love that is incomparable. He sent His only Son, not merely to live here, but to die here, and not merely to die here, but to die for us here, that we might live with Him there. He simply loves us too much to leave us the way we are.
5. The fifth truth: Jesus treats us with compassion as He lifts us up.
Many of you will remember Bruce Wilkinson as being the author of “The Prayer of Jabez.” But let me tell you, I believe the next little book in that “Breakthrough Series” is even better. It is called “The Secrets of the Vine,” and in that little book, Wilkinson uncovers the truth I’ve shared with you today. He only spends a couple of pages on it, but it aroused my curiosity just enough that I began to do a little more digging on my own. And it has literally been eleven months since God began to do a work in my life over John 15:2. I sensed that there was some great, wonderful truth there, and that it begged to be shared. I have held back with this on purpose, until it had had time to do its work in my own life.
Wilkinson struggled with it, also. He tells in his book that he was sharing this in a conference in California once, when a man came up to him and identified himself as the owner of a nearby vineyard. When Wilkinson shared with the group that the word often translated “cut” should be more accurately translated “lift,” the owner of the vineyard said he knew exactly what that meant. He shared with Wilkinson that on a regular basis, the workers of the vineyard will carry a bucket of water in among the vines. On their hands and knees they look for any branches that might have fallen or been knocked from the trellis. With great care, so as not to bruise the tender branches, or break them, the workers lift the branches, and carefully wash them off, before weaving them back in the trellis.
So that is what we see here. Verse three here mentions that we are clean because of the Word. And God’s Word does indeed do a marvelous work of cleansing our souls. In the pages of the Bible we find hope and peace and love and forgiveness. We find courage and joy and purpose and meaning. But we also find that each and every one of these things is given to us by our Heavenly Father because of His great, incomparable love for us.
Are you covered with the mud of sin? Do you find yourself diseased with the belief that you could never be of any value to our Heavenly Father? Are you wondering if you are living up to your potential and purpose? On the authority of God’s Holy Word, friends, I tell you that God is not going to cut you off because you have failed. No, not at all! You’ve failed. I’ve failed. We have all failed. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But that is the very reason Christ died!
And with great compassion He comes to us, kneels down beside us, and lifts us up! Regardless of the reasons why we are down there in the mud and dust, He lifts us up! No matter what others may say about your life, your motives, your heart or your potential, our Heavenly Father has way too much invested in you to give up on you now.
John Newton may never have discovered this wonderful truth. John Newton was a slave trader, and most would have written him off as being worthless in the Kingdom of God. Yet one day, Jesus walked by, and seeing John Newton, lifted him up out of the mire of sinful attitudes and lifestyles. He cleaned him up, and placed him on the trellis.
If Jesus can do that for someone like John Newton, if Jesus can reveal His awesome Amazing Grace to John Newton—He can do it for me! He can do it for you!
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