Good Branch … Bad Branch? (Part #1)
John 15:1-8
Turn to John 15. If you plan to be part of the church New Testament read which starts tomorrow, the information is in the bulletin. If you want a hard copy, they are on the table. Also, we are planning a Baptism Sunday for Jan 28th. Speak to one of the elders if you are interested. Next Sunday night, we will begin Hebrews “An Unknown Author Makes Christ Known.” See the bulletin announcement. And if you sometimes take notes and sometimes do not, this morning would be a good Sunday, as I will be giving you much information.
Sometimes we can lose sight of some of these passages, how they might be delivered by Jesus with His disciples or a close group of believers. John 15 is a very familiar passage of Jesus as the vine and we as the branches. And it is such a comforting passage, words like “I am the vine and you are the branches.” But there are also warnings in this passage. And if we fail to understand the warnings of Christ, we then fail to fully appreciate and realize the blessings of Christ; as the blessing of the vine only becomes overwhelmingly obvious if we realize the danger of not being attached to the vine. So, listen to the words here of Jesus as he speaks.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
John 15:1-8 (LSB)
Admittedly, I enjoy taking a passage and outlining it so that it is well understood. Yet this passage is such a challenge, as there are some hard questions we need to ask about this passage. At first glance, it could be said that this is about the vine and the branches. In other words, it is about Christ and His people, and it is. But it’s not really that straightforward. The first thing we might skim over is that (vs 1) there is one God, but in two distinct Persons.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower.”
John 15:1 (LSB)
Jesus Christ is the vine and God the Father is the vine-grower. But harder than this is to clarify the identity of the branches.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2 (LSB)
“Every branch in Christ that does not bear fruit, He [the Father] takes away.” And every branch that does bear fruit, He [the Father] cleans. So, what is Jesus talking about here when he is talking about branches? We could say that the fruitful branches (end of vs 2) are growing believers and that the unfruitful branches, beginning (vs 2), are struggling believers. Or could they be something else? Certainly, the fruitful branches seem to be describing the fruitful Christian.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. [But then notice (vs 6)] If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
John 15:4-6 (LSB)
Who are these branches? Or are they branches? The LSB says “as a branch.” Most translations are pretty consistent here. Some say “like a branch.” So, are the branches (vs 6) actual branches? Or are they only “like a branch.” And if they are only “like a branch,” and not a true branch; how different are they from someone that would not even be considered “like a branch”? Are you with me? So, we need to ask the direct question, who are the good branches? And who are the bad branches? And who are those who would not be considered to be any kind of branch? What is Jesus talking about here? By the way, this sermon will continue to next Sunday, as there is so much here. And I also understand that even this morning may bring some questions that may not be answered this week, but will be answered next week as well. So, let us begin with some statements, and try to bring some clarity to this passage.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower.”
John 15:1 (LSB)
- God the Father is the Overseer and Owner of the Vine (vs 1)
This is important to understand, that God the Father is the caretaker of the vine and all its branches, this is His focus. Therefore, nothing can happen to the vine that He does not permit. Each and everything that comes near to the vine, the Father is ever watching and always aware. In other words, nothing is going to surprise the vine-grower, for the vine is His, He owns it. And with ownership comes the responsibility to care and look after. If the Father owns the vine, therefore, the Father is responsible for the health of the vine.
I am not a huge gardener, but I do enjoy roses. And I understand the importance of oversight. For if you do not oversee the rose bushes, they will soon develop several problems. Bugs, like aphids, and this year several Japanese beetles. Certain diseases, black spot on the leaves caused by fungus. And roses like water, but they do not like to have water on them. And so, there is some work in making sure they get watered, but watering at the base of the bushes, and making sure that they are sprayed for bugs and fungus. In the fall, it is good to take the leaves off the bushes as any disease in the leaves that fall into the soil, will contaminate the soil for the next season. And to prune a rose, at least the kind that I grow, in the spring you literally cut them back to about 4-5” from the ground, and by the end of the summer, they are again around 4’ tall again. But if you do these things there is fruit, beautiful roses, large flowers that last well into the end of October. And I am just a human rose gardener. I do not watch my roses 24 hours a day. I might go home at lunch and walk out and supervise for five minutes, or a few of times a week will cultivate or water or put in a little fertilizer, some spray. But the vine-grower keeps ever watch over His vine. The psalmist wrote:
“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?
My help comes from Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to stumble; He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel Will not slumber and will not sleep.
Yahweh is your keeper; Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night.
Yahweh will keep you from all evil; He will keep your soul.
Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in From now until forever.”
Ps 121 (LSB)
This is the vine-grower who never sleeps, who never leaves His watch, as the Father is the overseer and owner of the vine.
- Christ is the Vine (vs 1)
Now you cannot just read this statement from (vs 1) and disregard everything that Christ has been teaching for 14 chapters of John. So, Christ is the vine. What is the significance of this, so what? In the fall just before I take off the leaves, I cut my roses back to about 12-18” from the ground, and I take some extra soil and mound them up so that they have a better chance of making it through the winter. And for the most part they do, but there are a few, maybe 1 out of 15-20 bushes that do not make it. But, of course, this is impossible for the vine. As the vine is Christ, the eternal Christ. So, the vine does not die and there is life in the vine.
- Life Comes through Christ (John 11:25)
The truth is that Christ claims to be the life. John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me will live.” That when we are attached to the living vine, Jesus Christ, we live. This is why Peter said that there is salvation in no one else than other than Christ. And you might say, Mark, that is obvious. Well, keep that truth in mind as we must interact with our culture, as Christianity and our society drift further and further apart. For I see something happening here, as it can become easy to begin to sympathize with others who agree with us. Maybe those who agree with our moral concerns, but who reject Christ. Or those who appear to believe in Christ, yet teach another gospel. Do you know what I am saying? In our battle, we may be tempted because of the mounting opposition to hold to a very conservative, moral view, and we do, but we can never abandon faith alone, in Christ alone. Is in any war when the enemy grows stronger, alliances are made, but not every alliance is right, as life comes through faith only in Christ, and in nothing else. Listen, in all your thinking, in all your wondering about what you should do, or say, or respond to current situations; never forget that Christ is the vine. That without Christ, it doesn’t matter what your views may be, or how conservative someone may be; they are lost without Christ, and they will be eternally condemned as they have rejected the only source of life. For life comes through Christ.
- Everyone who is Christ’s, was given to Christ by the Father (John 6:37)
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2 (LSB)
And we could leave it at (vs 2) and therefore understand this as that there are branches who are believers that are not fruitful so that they are simply pruned, so that they would become better, more fruitful branches. But (vs 6) places some doubt with that understanding.
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
John 15:6 (LSB)
The words (vs 2) he “takes away” is the Greek word ah’-ee-ro, which means that they are lifted up or cast away. Same word used in Matthew 22:13 where the wicked servant was bound and taken away to outer darkness. And now (vs 6) that same branch is thrown away, it dries up and is burned. And these branches (vs 6) that were thrown away and burned are described as branches that are not abiding in Christ. Beginning (vs 6) if anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away. So, let me give you statement #3:
- There are False Branches (vs 2, 6)
We must understand from this passage that there are branches, true branches; and there are some that only appear as branches, false branches. Therefore, there are true believers and there are false believers. And also understand that a false believer is a non-believer, but not every non-believer is a false believer. Because a non-believer does not confess to believe, whereas a false believer does confess to believe. The non-believer does not look like a branch, whereas the false believer may look like a branch. Are you with me? In this analogy of the vine, Jesus is not warning those who do not claim Christ, non-believers. Though there are plenty of warnings in the Bible about those who do not believe, if you do not believe in the Son you do not have life. John 3:18, “he who does not believe has been judged already.” So, to put this simply, the branches believe and are saved, and the non-branches do not believe and are not saved. Yet what this vine analogy is differentiating between is not branches and non-branches. But what it is differentiating between is branches and those who appear like branches.
In other words, we are not differentiating between a person who claims Christ and a person who does not claim Christ. This is not between the Christian: and the atheist or the Muslim or the Jew or the guy that just says I don’t believe the Bible. No, we are differentiating between a person who claims Christ and a person who only appears to claim Christ. They likely both go to church. And I want to show you that the person who only appears to be a branch is not a Christian in this analogy. And I also want to show you that a person who only appears to be a branch was never a Christian. For we must ask the question, can a true branch or true Christian (vs 6) be thrown away by God, that is can dry up, and be burned? As we are really asking the question, can a person become a sheep and then at some point not be a sheep? And from today’s passage, can a Christian (vs 6) not abide in Christ after abiding in Christ?
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
John 15:6 (LSB)
Does that sound like a Christian? No. See, when someone truly becomes a believer, they are transformed by God. John 1:12, they are given power to become children of God. And that Jesus has said:
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out.”
John 6:37 (LSB)
And we are really answering our second question as well. Can a person become a Christian and then lose his or her salvation? Well, not if the true Christian can never be cast out. So, these cut-off branches cannot be Christians that have lost their salvation. Nor can they be struggling Christians whom God is simply pruning. But are false believers that the Father will at some point expose them and cut them off. John speaks about three groups of people all the time: those who truly believe, those who merely claim to believe, and those who do not believe. Before we leave this, let me just give you one more passage. Turn to:
“As He was speaking these things, many believed in Him.”
John 8:30 (LSB)
And then He specifically speaks to some Jews who believed in Him. But says:
“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples.’”
John 8:31 (LSB)
And then a few verses later He says to the same Jews:
“I know that you are Abraham’s seed; yet you are seeking to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”
John 8:37 (LSB)
And John will also use the same terminology with the term disciple
“As a result of this many of His disciples [so-called disciples] went away and were not walking with Him anymore.”
John 6:66 (LSB)
So, there are true believers and false believers who only claim to believe. There are true disciples and false disciples who eventually will walk away so. There are true branches and there are false branches. And these false branches are cut off, thrown away, and burned. And their result is the same as the one who never claimed Christ, eternal punishment. Statement #4, where we will see what a true branch looks like, or better said, what a true believer actually is.
- True Branches Prove to be Disciples (vs 4-5, 7-8)
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
John 15:7-8 (LSB)
We have seen in the book of John that there are true disciples and false disciples. And here, Jesus uses the term that certain qualities in a person’s life, prove that they are disciples of Jesus. And we need to distinguish that these certain qualities do not make disciples of Christ, but certain qualities prove someone is a disciple of Christ. Notice with me (vs 8) “that you bear much fruit and so prove to be disciples.” ESV and NASB use the same terminology. NIV says, “showing yourselves to be” My disciples. And if we take the opposite of that, we could say that if you do not bear much fruit, there is no proof that you are a disciple. In other words, this is what a true branch looks like. And the reason that this is so vital is that among true branches there will also be false branches. And even then, it may be hard to distinguish at times, as we know Judas fooled the other disciples over three years of ministry. And we will go deeper into this next week, but I want to begin with two characteristics of the true branch.
- Perseverance (vs 7a)
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:7 (LSB)
“Abide” the Greek word men’-o, means to continue, to endure, to not leave or depart. We might use the word “faithfulness.” This is the branch that does not waver in his or her faith. The branch that continues to say to self through thick and thin, I must persevere. If you know Christ as Saviour and Lord this morning, this is you. For this exemplifies the calling of Christ to His sheep.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
John 10:27 (LSB)
And I do not want to dampen this, this morning, by saying that yes, we all sin and we all have times when our faith may struggle. But also understand that this becomes the defining statement of the truth branch or the true sheep, that they listen to the voice of the Shepherd, Jesus Christ and they follow Jesus Christ. So, to call ourselves a Christian, though the term Christianity has lost some of its sharpness. Or to call ourselves an evangelical, meaning that we hold to a belief in the entirety of the Bible, to faith alone in Christ alone, and who believe that every person needs to be born again to be saved. Or to refer to ourselves as true believers. But we could also simply reply that we are sheep who follow the Shepherd, we are disciples who follow Christ. For this is who you are if you claim to be a branch, a Christian, a sheep who follows the Shepherd. This is what true Christianity means. That you renounce your old life, you abandon the following your own desires. You repent of your sins and you follow Jesus Christ. It is much more than head knowledge, though it is head knowledge, for we must know the truth to believe the truth. But it is also a transformation. Howard Hendricks wrote:
“The Bible was not written to satisfy your curiosity; it was written to transform your life.”
Howard Hendricks, Living by the Book 290
When we had the marriage seminar we said that when a couple say “I do,” they are promising to each other that they will always love each other and that they will never leave each other. I will always love you, I will never leave you. This is similar to our relationship with Christ. That our promise to follow Christ is for “all the days of our lives.” That through all the challenges of life, I will always serve Christ. Polycarp, who was born in 69AD was told to renounce his faith or he would be burned at the stake. And while being tied at the stake he said:
“Fourscore and six years [or 86 years] have I served him [Christ], and he has never done me injury; how then can I now blaspheme my King and Saviour?”
Polycarp
A characteristic of a true branch is perseverance. Finally:
- Prayer (vs 7b)
End of (vs 7), “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” This is certainly not a verse to encourage us to ask the Lord for material gain, as it would not be in line with what we read of the New Testament saints. Nowhere do we read of such things as, Lord, may we have a bigger home or might You bless me with more money. These words, “ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you,” could be described as a great reliance upon God, a dependency upon the Shepherd for everything, for all that we need both spiritually and physically. We must remember that Jesus said these words when he was about to be crucified. And He is speaking to His disciples who would soon be persecuted for their faith. And look at the words around this passage: Jesus is speaking about spiritual fruit (vs 5); He is speaking about abiding in Him (vs 7); and He is speaking about His Father being glorified (vs 8). Therefore, this is a passage that is not encouraging prayers such as Lord, I want this and that, as we might here from the prosperity crew. But this asking is such things as: Lord, make me fruitful as a Mon, Dad, a spiritual friend, a teen; Lord, help to abide in You in every matter of life; Lord, may my life bring glory to the Father as Your life brings glory to the Father. Sometimes I have closed our service with a prayer that is an old Welsh prayer. Asking not for material things but spiritual things. Father, for what we know not, teach us. For what we have not, give us. And for what we are not, make us. This kind of prayer highlights that we are dependent upon God for everything. John Piper describes this as “Looking away from ourselves to the only One who could possibly make us deeper.”
Well, we have much more to go on this section, as Jesus will tell us of more evidence of the true branch. When we first moved to Arkona, Anne said to me, so where are you going to put your rose garden? And realized that the most sun is in the front, and roses like sun. Yet I did balk at this a bit, for in Wyoming the sun was in the backyard and I liked the privacy. And the pressure of everyone driving by and now seeing my garden: ooh, something is eating Mark’s roses; hey, those roses look a little dry; is that yellow leaf Mark? See, roses on the front lawn must look good! I brought a few roses that I dug up from Wyoming. I did tell the people buying the house. And we had some roses given to us. And they have all done quite well. I bought from Keira who I think owns Westland Nurseries in Grand Bend. A beautiful Grandiflora with deep red, real tight petals. And nice to think that in another three months things will start to get popping again. And there is such joy in caring for the garden.
This is what the Father is doing, for He is the vine-grower. And He is overseeing every branch that is attached to the vine, connected to His Son, and desires that you and I will be so dependent upon the vine that we become these beautiful deep spiritual roses for Christ. Can you imagine the heart of God when He spoke about the church in Philadelphia?
“I know your deeds. Behold, I have given before you an open door which no one can shut … and [you] have kept My word, and have not denied My name … Because you have kept the word of My perseverance … I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Rev 3:8-11(LSB)
Let’s pray. O Lord, we praise You for Your watch-care over the garden, over the vine. Might You be able to look down at Your garden here in Arkona and see beauty and growth and perseverance. Forgive us for our unwillingness at times, our indifference. Forgive my own hesitation for Your work in my life. And we praise You for Christ, where we receive life. Might we be strong branches, lush, green, growing; producing beautiful fruit for the Father. And all God’s people said, amen.