“I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.” –John 15:1-2.
We are continuing to listen to Jesus as He talks with His disciples on their last walk together. They just left the upper room where they had supper and communion together. Now they are walking down into the Kidron Valley on the east side of Jerusalem, up the other side to the garden where Judas will kiss Jesus for his 30 pieces of silver.
We have observed two issues from these first two verses. First, we saw the word “branch,” in this passage, is a Greek word meaning “tender new growth.” The second thing we discovered, is the word “prune” isn’t meant to convey being cut off, but rather, keeping pure and healthy by cleaning. It may include “pruning” but cutting the branch is not primarily what is intended.
We also observed the prominent place of God the Father. Not only is He the vinedresser, the One doing the health care “pruning,” but His prominent role throughout John’s gospel is showing the intimate role God the Father has in the ministry of Jesus, the Son of Man, leading us into Jesus’ example of intimate relationship with His Father. He was in the Father, the Father was in Him and this becomes our relationship example for intimacy with Jesus while we are still on earth, “Because I live, you will also live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you.” Right now, in this world of sin, we spiritually are as Jesus in heaven is. Like Jesus, we need to be in constant communion with the Father through Him. We will look more closely at these first two verses in the next GraceNotes but first we need to lay a foundation which we find in verse three:
“Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” –John 15:3.
This verse provides an introduction into our “in Christ” spiritual nature. Remember Peter’s objection in the upper room when Jesus moved to wash his feet. Jesus responds to Peter’s boisterous outcry with: “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not everyone of you.” Here in John 15:3, we have a continuation of this same theme Jesus laid down to Peter in the room they just left. It is the Word that makes us clean. The logos Word is Jesus and His truth is revealed in our written Word by the Spirit dwelling within us. If the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, He will open up the written Word into our minds and hearts revealing God’s truth … when we invite Him to do so! This fundamental Spiritual reality is critical in understanding the development of our tender new life into a mature branch in the Vine of Jesus.
If we have the resurrected Jesus within us, Romans 8:10, even though our body is dead because of sin, our life is righteous because our spirit is in Christ. Our life is hid with Christ in God. This is true because our new birth is Spiritual. We are now a “Spiritual” person joined to God who is Spirit. This is why the resurrection is so important.
We are called to put to death the sin in our mortal body with the resurrection power of Jesus since we have been redeemed and belong to Him. Our victory over death is possible because Christ Jesus conquered death by coming back to life after being physically put to death on a cross and buried in a tomb for three days. After being raised in newness of life, in a spiritual body, Jesus appeared to countless people in many places. This is the resurrection Life pictured in the Vine flowing into our tender new growth. It is Jesus’ resurrected Spiritual Life flowing into our mortal bodies of sin. His resurrected spiritual life will actually bring His life into our mortal flesh if we permit it!
We have been born again, not of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God. When our time on earth is completed and we are caught up to be with Jesus, we acquire a new spiritual body matching our spiritual identity-birthed in Jesus. But our present issue is to bring our living life in Christ to bear against our soul and fleshly body on earth.
This mystery of Christ in us, is one of the things we discover through discernment as our tender new life becomes mature and produces fruit. We are reminded of the story Mark shares with us about the blind man whom Jesus takes out of the village, teaching the disciples about spiritual discernment.
Jesus had just arrived in Bethsaida from the east side of Galilee in a boat with the disciples. The Pharisees had argued with Jesus asking him for a sign to prove Himself. Jesus left them on the west side and came with His disciples to the other side. In the boat Jesus mentions the “leaven” of the Pharisees. The disciples immediately jump to the fact they have no bread. They had just experienced the feeding of the four thousand so Jesus chides them about their lack of faith. “Are your hearts hardened?” he asks. “Having eyes you do not see, and having ears you do not hear.” This has just happened as they are now docking the boat in Bethsaida. “Do you not yet understand?” is still ringing in their ears as they get out of their boat.
In the town of Bethsaida is a blind man who is a member of the local community. Some of the locals immediately go find the blind man and bring him to Jesus begging him to touch and heal him. Jesus takes the blind man out of town, alone with his disciples, and then spits on the blind man’s eyes and laid His hands upon him.
Jesus asks, “Do you see anything?”
The blind man looks up and says, “I see men, but they look like trees walking.”
Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
“Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” –John 15:3.
Back to the disciples walking to the garden with Jesus: Earlier this same evening, in the upper room with the disciples, Jesus instructed Peter, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not everyone of you.” This same group of guys also had been with Jesus watching Him heal, partially and then fully, the blind man in Bethsaida. Jesus made the blind man to see physically and now He is giving Spiritual sight to His disciples… and us!
At first the disciples were just like the blind man who merely had spittle on his eyes and saw men as trees walking. But now Jesus was laying His hands upon them so they could see clearly. To all the seven churches in Revelation Jesus will later say through John, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” When we are made righteous through new birth by God, it is a done deal but it takes time for us to see clearly!
We are created new in the likeness of God when we are born again by God. This new creation is spiritual and our spirit is joined to God’s Spirit. This is how we acquire spiritual eyes and ears to discern spiritual truth. This is outside the capacity of the natural man’s understanding. Without God’s grace, this is just foolishness!
Newly created spiritual people have tender new life needing nurturing. When we are born again, we are “babes” in Christ regardless of our physical age. At first, we are like the disciples in the boat who, hearing about leaven, immediately think about our temporal needs. It doesn’t matter if we are a child of 7 or an adult of 70.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us the pathway to spiritual maturity is by constant training of our spiritual sense (discernment) to distinguish good from evil. We are now called to live spiritually and not rely on our natural soulish self. This is what is pictured for us by Jesus in John 15. We are clean by a new creation on the inside (back to Peter) but our soul and body needs washing.
This is what it looks like to be “transferred” from the kingdom of darkness into Jesus’ Kingdom of Light. This is what Jesus pictures for us as tender new growth. It is our new spiritual life received in Christ Jesus. The reason Peter needs to be washed on the outside is because he is wearing natural flesh. But inside he has been created new by God in righteousness and truth with the capacity to see and hear spiritually. The believer’s new life in Christ is by creation and is his new identity! The old nature in the flesh has been put to death. We have been liberated from (“transferred from”) the container in which we temporarily dwell.
This is one of our primary challenges here in life’s boot camp on earth, bringing the soul and flesh into submission to the spiritual righteousness which is who we now are in Christ Jesus. The challenges include not only understanding who we are in Jesus, our Redeemer Lord, but accepting this reality into our daily experience so we can actually be who we now are by faith because God’s grace is providing for our every need!
Like Paul, living in the flesh is fruitful labor for us. It is a spiritual workout for our salvation. It is God who is also working in us for His purpose and pleasure. In Christ, we have obtained an inheritance and have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee until we acquire possess of it, to the praise of His glory.