The Vine and The Branches (2.0)

Posted by Traci at 9:48 PM

In preparing for my awesome small group meeting with the girls on Wednesday I’ve been reading John 15 this week.  Mostly the first eight verses about the vine and the branches.  Being a Holy Spirit freak (not my label thank you very much), I’ve read this passage alot. A whole lot.  But when I turned there this week my eyes just happened to start on verse 3 – “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you”.  I thought the passage was all about getting rid of the bad stuff, but then Jesus is saying we are already clean. So why do we need pruning if we're already clean?  And why is he saying that some of the branches will be removed, cast out and thrown into the fire?  God says we can never be separated from His love, that He will never walk out and leave us.  What what? as my son says.

Well I spent a week working through this and Chip and I talked about it and of course the Holy Spirit worked in my spirit about it and I googled it.  Here’s kinda what I’ve come to.  Sorry it’s so long, but this blog is really for me anyway so I guess I'm just aplogizing to myself? Anyhoo...

The branches that are being thrown out were never joined to the vine in the first place. They never belonged to Christ. They gave no fruit and therefore are not Christians.  So a person with zero evidence of the fruit of God – love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self control, etc. – that person is showing by their life that they don’t belong to God.  Never did.  A true Christian automatically is clean and therefore should have fruit.  By default.  That’s why Jesus said “You are already clean”.   He’s assuring the disciples that they are not who He’s talking about when he says some will be cut off.  I'm sure this assurance from Jesus was a great encouragement. But now on to the fun part – any branch that is truly joined to the vine (any Christian) has to be pruned IF they want to get even more fruitful than they already are.  And IF they want to fulfill the destiny God has for them (v.7).  And to be honest, what true Christian doesn't want these things. 

But how does that pruning happen?  Well Hebrews 12:6 tells us it’s by God’s discipline in our lives. His intervention (I love that sign, it’s so clear). Stopping us from doing something we’re currently doing.  Starting us doing something else.  The only point of reference I have for this is my son.  Sometimes I need him to stop rolling his rusty matchbox car on my dining room table.  Sometimes I need him to go clean up the disaster we call his playroom.  But I love him and I want him to have a nice house and playroom so I have to move him in that direction somehow.  I'm pruning him.

It’s so easy to sing “mold me and make me Master I pray” but when it comes down to the twisting and turning and severing it really really hurts. Depending on what’s being severed, it hurts more than we think we can stand sometimes.  But it really is necessary if we are going to move from glory to glory, as it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

And finally how do we stand it?  How is it not just painful after painful after painful.  Because my son doesn’t have a blast being disciplined and neither do I.  I usually get the arms-crossed, forehead creased “humph” from him (which I probably shouldn’t let him do but it’s just so cute).  But here’s how we stand it.  Stay. In. His Word.  John 15:7 “If you abide in me and My words abide in you”.  IF

When it’s drudgery and when it’s a joy, just stay.  The Word that the foundations of the universe were founded on is enough to hold you up when all you want to do is fall down and stay there. It really is. The Word that is already in your heart from things you’ve heard before. The new Word you’re reading now. It’s enough.  Peter knew that.  Everybody was jumping off the Jesus freak bandwagon as fast as they could. Jesus had just told everybody that they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood and that pretty much did it for most of his disciples.  So He turns to the twelve and asks if they’re leaving too.  Here’s what Peter says in response in John 6:68: “But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”  To Peter it was all about His words, not even Jesus in bodily form. But what He said.

So, in closing ( a very pastorly thing to say) thank God that your Christianity gives you fruit. From the get go. You want to live for Him. To not be an out of control person.  That makes you different.  That desire alone makes you separate from the world.  Then accept his discipline, his twisting and turning and severing. And read His word to get you through it.