Calvary Road Baptist Church
“WHAT THE HUSBANDMAN, GOD, DOES”
John 15.2
Please turn to the Lord Jesus Christ’s allegory of the vine and the branches found in John 15.1-17. Although agreement is not unanimous among commentators, it seems clear to me that the Lord Jesus Christ led His remaining eleven apostles from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane, passing by the gates leading into the courtyard of Herod’s Temple, as can be seen on most Bible maps.
As well, agreement is not unanimous concerning the length of the Lord’s allegory that begins in John 15.1, though it likely extends through verse 17. Having considered John 15.1, we prepare to make some progress by once more reading John 15.1-17:
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.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Recall that I pointed out to you that verses 12 and 17 are the Savior’s directives that His eleven remaining apostles love one another. Recall, as well, that it is a directive that is sadly ignored in our day. Some professing Christians pay no attention to this command because they are false professors, and have no concern to please the Master. Others, you may remember me saying, do not obey verses 12 and 17 because they do not grasp the vital truths presented in verses 1-11 and verses 13-16.
Have you given thought to this matter of loving your brothers and sisters in Christ since my message on John 15.1? Have you asked yourself if you love believers unreservedly, despite our inconsistencies and idiosyncrasies and sometimes willful sins? Do grudges against Christians who have wronged you come to mind? Are you embittered by their treatment of you? Do you take offense for the way Church people have treated those you love? Do you recollect my suggestion that some people disapprove of our flaws as compared to their perfections?
I raised the possibility that whatever difficulties some have obeying John 15.12 and 17 are related to their grasp of the truths found in John 15.1-11 and 13-16. Operating on that hypothesis, remember that I plan to carefully preach from John 15.1-17 over the next few weeks, in the hopes that as you come to understand verses 1-11 and 13-16 better, you will also begin to obey verses 12 and 17 more fully.
To restate, I began with John 15.1. In that message from God’s Word, I prevailed upon you to conduct a brief self-examination. Did you perform that self-examination?
Let me remind you. Do you love other believers? Before you credit yourself, be mindful of what is entailed in loving other believers. You cannot love other believers unless you first love God, and you do not love God if you do not consciously and conscientiously obey Him.
The basis for making this statement is First John 5.2-3:
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Recall that love for Christians is built upon the proper foundation of love for God. Recall, also, that love for God is revealed, not by emotion or sentiment, but by obedience to His commands. We saw how this compliments the Apostle Paul’s comments to the new Christians in Thessalonica, in First Thessalonians 1.3-10, where he summarized for them the life and testimony of someone who knows and loves God:
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
5 For our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Believers who love God are characterized by their “work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,” verse 3. The labor, the effort, that is produced by the believer’s love for God results in others coming to Christ, described by Paul in verse 9:
“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”
And this is just the love for God part of the self-examination. The love for Christians part comes after your love for God. You love Christians because you love God, as evidenced by the end of verse 9, which reads “to serve the living and true God.” Remember, as well, from First John 5.3,
“his commandments are not grievous.”
You may recollect that we then paused for a moment. I pointed out for clarification that no one loves other Christians by merely liking us, by not being angry at us for perceived wrongs we have done, or by not holding grudges against us for our failings. The first thing about loving other Christians has to do with whether someone loves God, as shown by serving Him along with others to see sinners turning to God from idols to serve the living and true God.
The important aside I brought to your attention was, can any Christian’s genuine love for God be separated, isolated, from his or her love for Christ? We agreed; the answer is “No.” The reason was, moments earlier, in John 14.15, the Savior said to these same men,
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
This makes perfect sense. Christians love Christians if they first love God and if they first love Christ. If you love God and love Christ, as can only be displayed by obedience, then love for Christians is possible. What is the basis for loving other Christians? If you love God, and if you love Christ, other Christians will be loved through you.[1] That cannot happen if you do not love God. That cannot happen if you do not love Christ.
There is as direct a link between loving God and obeying God, as there is between loving Christ and obeying Christ. Did you take up my suggestion that we should rethink this whole matter of what it is to love God and to love Christ? How about tossing out any delusions that a person can love God without obeying Him or love Christ without obeying Him? Or that a person can love God without loving Christ or love Christ without loving God?
There is a practical application for all this. Biblical Christianity is the most practical lifestyle known to man. Can you love God or Christ without faithfully attending the gathered worship of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Church of God? Can you love God or Christ without living your life in such a way that you cooperate with others in your Church to reach others with the Gospel so that they turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God? This is simple faith in action, doing your part in Christian ministry, doing your part in outreach, doing your part in exhorting one another, and faithfully attending gathered worship to serve as an example to others. All of this to obey God, obey Christ, and thereby display your love for God.
We paused with our self-evaluation at this first step, conducted to determine one’s love other believers. Before I can even consider if I love other believers, I must address the issue of whether or not I love God, as displayed by my obedience to Him, my compliance to His wishes, His directives, His instructions. Do I do what God wants me to do? Or am I stubborn and unyielding to His will for my life? These are valid and important questions.
I then brought Lucifer to your attention, who said in his heart as he rebelled against God,
“I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.”[2]
His five “I wills” over against God’s will shows the pride behind all rebellion against God.
Our goal to strive for as believers is Christ-like obedience, as reflected in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26.39, where my Lord prayed,
“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
It is the heart’s desire for every child of God to love God as we ought, to love Christ as we ought, and then to love our blood-bought and blood-washed brothers and sisters in Christ as we ought. We love our blood relatives, our family members.
Do you reflect on the truth that natural family ties and relationships are shadows of the spiritual bonds that will not end when we pass from this world to the next? Do you cherish those lasting, enduring, eternal bonds forged by the Spirit of God and purchased by the blood of Christ? Do you want to love those with whom you will spend eternity?
So that you and I might love one another, as our Savior directed, we began our journey toward loving one another by turning to John 15.1, where the Lord Jesus Christ said,
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.”
To emphasize to His eleven apostles the principles that would lead to their loving one another, which is a restatement of what He had said to them in the Upper Room in John 13.34, the Lord began by making two assertions, first about Himself and then about His Father. He is the true vine, and His Father is the husbandman. Remember. To obey verses 12 and 17, you must have an understanding of the Father and the Lord Jesus. In verse 2, our Lord develops His allegory to impress upon His men and later believers a profound truth about the overarching purpose of God in our lives.
I invite you to stand and read John 15.2:
“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.”
In this verse, the Lord Jesus Christ further informs our understanding of God the Father. We see this under three considerations:
First, CONSIDER THE PURPOSE OF THIS ALLEGORY
Some commentators refer to this passage as an allegory, while other commentators refer to it as an extended metaphor. Webster’s dictionary defines metaphor as “a figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, different thing by being spoken of as if it were that other.”[3] The same dictionary defines allegory as the “description of one thing under the image of another.”[4] English majors may disagree with my oversimplification of allegory and metaphor. Still, the essence of both figures of speech is the comparing one thing with another different thing, to draw attention to the point of comparison. Allegories are longer than metaphors, but they accomplish the same end.
Regardless of whether you assigned to this passage the label of allegory or extended metaphor, we can agree that the Savior’s goal in using this figure of speech is to create in the minds of His apostles greater understanding about God the Father. The text before us is an expansion, an elaboration of the Lord Jesus Christ’s labeling of God the Father as the husbandman of this passage. While it is true that God is a spirit, and they that worship Him worship Him in spirit and truth,[5] in some way that is important to the Son of God (and should be considered relevant to these men of God), this figure of speech was chosen by the Savior to communicate important realities concerning God’s relationship to them and His dealings with them (and with us).
Next, CONSIDER THE CHARACTERS IN THIS ALLEGORY
Though there are four characters in this verse, I want to use five sub-points as a means of clarifying to you who these characters are:
First, consider the identity of the “branch.” It is almost universally assumed by people who read the Bible that the “branch” referred to in this verse represents believers in Jesus Christ. However, let me suggest to you as a working hypothesis that the term “branch” does not in this allegory necessarily refer to a believer, but rather to someone in close physical proximity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do I make this suggestion? I will develop it as we proceed through the passage in succeeding messages, but bear in mind that it has only been a few minutes since Judas Iscariot left the Upper Room to conclude his conspiracy to betray the Savior. I believe that this allegory, in part, explains not only the situation of the 11 remaining apostles but also the situation of the son of perdition, Judas Iscariot. So, for now, allow me to present the “branch” referred to in this verse as someone who, because of his proximity to Christ, appears to have a connection to Christ. But appearances can sometimes be deceiving.
Next, consider the identity of “me.” The personal pronoun “me” must refer to the speaker. It can refer to no other person. The “me” in John 15.2 is the Lord Jesus Christ, the True Vine.
Third, consider the meaning of “in me.” This short phrase translates two Greek words, the Greek pronoun for “me” and the Greek preposition á¼n. This little word is found hundreds of times in the Greek New Testament. It might surprise you to learn that there is no direct correspondence between the Greek word á¼n and our English word that translates it, the term “in.”
The best of the Greek lexicons uses the better part of five pages to deal with this Greek word, á¼n, noting that this preposition is a marker word that is used to indicate at least 12 different things in the Greek New Testament.[6] What is a challenge to the Bible student is the recognition that although the four Gospel accounts are written in Greek, putting into Greek words that were originally spoken in Aramaic, the Lord’s use of this Greek word á¼n would be different than the Apostle Paul’s use of this same Greek word á¼n. The two speakers had different cultural baggage that accompanied their use of this phrase.
When the Apostle Paul used the phrase “in Christ,” or “in him,” he was communicating to Greek speaking readers in a Greek-speaking way. Though the Greeks used this word á¼n to refer to a sphere of influence, it would be a mistake to assume the Lord Jesus Christ used the same phrase in the same way when speaking what was originally Aramaic to a Jewish audience. What does this mean? It means that when the Apostle Paul used the phrase “in Christ” he was referring to the sphere of influence experienced by a believer in Jesus Christ, though the Lord Jesus Christ using the same phrase, “in me,” was not necessarily referring to believers. How can this be?
The Lord Jesus Christ was speaking in Aramaic, was speaking to Jews, and was speaking in a Jewish setting. His words were then recorded in the Gospel accounts in Greek. The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, was writing in Greek, writing to Greek speakers, and was writing in a Greek setting. Therefore, the implications of this simple phrase in these two completely different settings are substantially different. What can we conclude? We can rightly find that the phrase “in me” does not always or necessarily refer to someone who knows Christ as his Savior. I am persuaded that is the case in this verse. As is always the case when reading God’s Word, context rules.
Fourth, consider the identity of “fruit.” What is meant by the term fruit in this verse? It is an important question, deserving a carefully considered answer, bearing in mind that there are various kinds of fruit referred to in the New Testament. Sometimes fruit refers to grapes and figs, etc.[7] Sometimes “fruit” refers to biological offspring, sons, and daughters.[8] Sometimes “fruit” refers to money given as a gift to advance the Gospel enterprise or benefit needy believers in Christ.[9] Sometimes “fruit” refers to the end result of evangelism, souls introduced to Christ. And sometimes, “fruit” refers to Christian personality traits and Christian character.[10] What “fruit” is referred to in this verse by the Lord Jesus Christ? Is the Lord Jesus Christ referring here to the end result of evangelism, souls brought to Christ? Or does He here refer to Christian personality traits, impressions made upon us by the Holy Spirit of God? I am not sure I can answer that question definitively. After all, evangelism and a personality that reflects the character of the indwelling Spirit of God go hand-in-hand.
Finally, consider the identity of “he.” There can be no doubt about the identity of the person to whom this pronoun “he” refers. “He” can only be God the Father. There are two ways in which this can be shown as the correct response to the question of who “he” is. First, this verse is an expansion and explanation related to the husbandman introduced in verse one. But the husbandman of verse one is the Lord Jesus Christ’s heavenly Father. Second, there is the activity of the twice-mentioned “he” in this verse, taking away and purging. Both activities are reserved for God the Father. We have identified four characters in verse two. There is the Lord Jesus Christ, “me.” There are those in close proximity to Christ, both saved and lost, “branches.” There is fruit, being perhaps souls won to Christ or Christian character traits. Finally, there is “he,” God the Father. This allegory deals with significant matters. You cannot have trivial issues in connection with this cast of characters.
Finally, CONSIDER THE LESSONS OF THIS ALLEGORY
Have you noticed that although there are four characters in this verse, activity is ascribed to only two of the actors? There is the action versus inaction of the branches (bearing and not bearing fruit), and there are the actions of the husbandman. To consider the lessons of this allegory, we need only focus on the two activities of the husbandman, God the Father:
The Father’s first activity - “he taketh away.” There is significant disagreement about the meaning of the phrase “he taketh away.” Admittedly, this is a very challenging portion of Scripture. However, I think two considerations sway me to conclude that this refers to the removal of someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ. First, and almost always neglected by those who find this does not refer to the removal of an unsaved person, is the recent dispatch of Judas Iscariot by the Lord Jesus Christ from the Upper Room only minutes before these words were uttered. That contextual consideration is significant. Second, is the Lord’s comment in verse six, further explaining what He said here in verse 2:
“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”
These two contextual considerations, coupled with the fact that the phrase “in me”, when used by the Lord Jesus Christ, does not necessarily refer to a believer in Christ, persuades me that the Father’s first-mentioned activity is directed toward nonbelievers. If you bear no “fruit,” whether the meaning of “fruit” here is evangelism or the display of Christian personality and character traits (showing that you are not a believer in Jesus Christ), God will deal with you. The husbandman will cut you, not to improve you but to remove you. That is an appropriately terrifying declaration. How does someone end up in Hell? Who puts an unsaved person in the place of eternal torment? God does. Are you lost, and without any significant connection to Jesus Christ? God will cut you. He will remove you who reject His Son, ultimately by casting you into Hellfire.
Now for the Father’s other activity - “he purgeth it.” Remembering that the husbandman has only one tool, something everyone in that era would know only too well, that one device was always a knife. What is a knife particularly useful to do? Knives are used to cut. Some knives have a sharp point. Other knives have a round point. But all knives have a sharp, cutting edge. What a husbandman does then, is cut. The cutting the husbandman does in connection with the unfruitful branch, the unsaved person, is cut off. It is the removal of the branch from the vine. However, the cutting the husbandman does in connection with the fruitful branch, the saved person, is not cutting off but trimming back. The process of purging does not refer to cutting a branch from the vine, but refers to trimming back small twigs to enhance the future fruitfulness of the branch that bears fruit, but which the husbandman prepares to bear more fruit.
We are presented with a word picture that illustrates in the mind a dramatic contrast between the husbandman’s cutting to remove an unfruitful branch, and the husbandman’s cutting to trim back a fruitful branch so that the branch will be even more fruitful in the future. One activity is directed toward the lost and the other activity is directed toward the saved. Both activities involve cutting, but with dramatically different intents. The Savior has thus explained Judas Iscariot’s situation immediately past, and the eleven’s situation in the future. The pruning of a Christian is sometimes quite painful, not infrequently resulting in suffering. But the husbandman’s goal is always beneficial for His child, that we might bear more fruit for His glory.
Thus, we are brought to the Father’s goal as a husbandman in this allegory, which is fruit and more fruit. On the one hand, the husbandman removes the unfruitful branch. God removes the unsaved person. What does this refer to? Does this refer to God removing an unsaved person from the believer’s life, perhaps a friend, family member, or loved one who is removed from your life, who does not and will not embrace Christ? Or does this refer to God removing an unsaved person from this life, dispatching the unbeliever not only to the next life but to Hell? I think this encompasses both, but ultimately the latter of the two. With respect to purging the fruitful branch, however, this refers to the activities of God in the lives of His children, by means of one thing or another to remove from our lives obstacles in hindrance to our fruitfulness. Sometimes this pruning is painful. Frequently this pruning causes suffering. But God’s activities in this regard in the lives of His children are always beneficial, and always increase the fruitfulness of the Christian’s life.
Hours before His arrest, unjust trials, and crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ is both preparing His men to love one another, and also understand the big picture of what is happening to them and around them. Christ is the life-giving True Vine. If they have life, they were bear fruit. Those who do not have life in Christ will not bear fruit.
To broadly understand what is happening on a grand scale, the Savior made use of an allegory that those men could not misunderstand. God is the husbandman. Husbandmen have only one tool, a knife. Husbandman do only one thing. They cut.
If you are not saved, if you have no life-giving relationship with the True Vine, with Christ, you will be cut. The cutting will be your removal and eventual consignment to Hellfire. If you do have a life-giving relationship with the True Vine you will also be cut, but the cutting will improve you and result in more fruit.
John 15.2 does not present a complete picture of God the Father, but it does present an aspect of Him that is frequently misunderstood or ignored. Bottom line? He will have fruit. To produce more fruit, He will either eliminate you, or He will prune you, depending upon your relationship with the True Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a reality that you must come to grips with, or you will be overtaken by it to your eternal destruction.
__________
[1] 2 Corinthians 5.14
[2] Isaiah 14.13-14
[3] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 1132.
[4] Ibid., page 47.
[5] John 4.24
[6] Bauer, Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000), pages 326-330.
[7] 1 Corinthians 9.7; James 5.7
[8] Acts 2.30
[9] Romans 1.13; 15.28; Philippians 4.17
[10] Galatians 5.22; Ephesians 5.9
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Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church