John 15:1-7
John 15 has always been a favourite chapter for me; apart from anything else, I memorised most of it in French while staying in Provence, among the vineyards of the Vaucluse – a long, long time ago. But there are some things worth noting…
Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν· πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν αἴρει αὐτό, καὶ πᾶν τὸ καρπὸν φέρον καθαίρει αὐτὸ ἵνα καρπὸν πλείονα φέρῃ. ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε διὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν λελάληκα ὑμῖν· μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν. καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα οὐ δύναται καρπὸν φέρειν ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἐὰν μὴ μένῃ ἐν τῇ ἀμπέλῳ, οὕτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένητε. ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα. ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν, ὅτι χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν. ἐὰν μή τις μένῃ ἐν ἐμοί, ἐβλήθη ἔξω ὡς τὸ κλῆμα καὶ ἐξηράνθη, καὶ συνάγουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ πῦρ βάλλουσιν καὶ καίεται. ἐὰν μείνητε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ, ὃ ἐὰν θέλητε αἰτήσασθε καὶ γενήσεται ὑμῖν· (John 15:1-7, SBL Greek NT)
At the risk of being pedantic, the world is full of vines, so Jesus does definitely say “I am the true grapevine”, and not any other kind of vine. Secondly, He says His Father is the man who works the soil (ὁ γεωργός, which is often taken as ploughman, but not in the context of a vineyard). Gardener is a bit inexact.
It gets better; τὰ κλήματα are the twigs, not the branches (which would be κλάδοι). Every κλῆμα (twig) in me which doesn’t bear fruit, He (the γεωργός) takes, and every one that does bear fruit, He tidies up, so it will bear more fruit. Yes, you can say καθαίρει is “prunes”, but then you won’t get the sense of the little joke in v.3. Literally καθαίρει is cleanse or clear, with the focus more on “what is taken away” than on “how clean you are”. You can καθαίρει a space or a room. So pruning is clearing away the bits you don’t want to leave. When, in verse 3, we meet the cognate word καθαροί, we shouldn’t be reading “cleansed”, at least in its theological sense. (Really? The disciples are cleansed by His word, while the rest of us require His shed blood on the cross?) Nor is “pruned” really either appropriate of people, nor is it a meaning specifically associated with the adjective καθαροί, although “free of weeds” is! It is more like “you have already been tidied up (or sorted out) by the word I have spoken to you” – with the, as yet unspoken, implication, “so you are good to go, ready to bear fruit”.
Here are a couple of more “weighty” issues, both of which should be blindingly obvious, but which somehow, don’t seem to be.
First off, in the second part of v.4 we find: “Just as the twig is not able to bear fruit from itself unless it remains in the grapevine, likewise neither can you unless you remain in me.”
I fear many of us would totally agree with the words I have in bold there – “we can bear no fruit of ourselves” – and yet completely miss the whole point, which is “unless you remain in me”. In other words, we should not be saying, “we can’t do anything of value, which is why we are waiting for God to do something;” on the contrary, we should be saying “because we remain in Jesus, we absolutely can bear fruit from ourselves”, which is what Jesus says here.
He then repeats Himself, in case we missed the point.
ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν, ὅτι χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν.
“The one remaining in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit, because without me, you are not able to do anything.”
The converse of His statement is “with me, you can do anything.” Which should be obvious, but it is not what I hear believers saying.
The second matter is related, but goes a step further.
ἐὰν μείνητε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ, ὃ ἐὰν θέλητε αἰτήσασθε καὶ γενήσεται ὑμῖν·
“If you should remain in me, and my words (the things I have spoken) should remain in you, ask (and “ask” is a command!) whatever you are willing (to ask), and by you, it shall be done.”
That verse is huge however you look at it. And please note, γενήσεται is middle voice, not passive, hence my rendering above; it isn’t just “it will be done for you, so watch your mailbox and it will turn up”.
But my big question is actually this:
“Whose words?”
Yes, yes, the whole of scripture is God’s word. But Jesus says here “the things I have spoken”. Worth asking yourself if the words of Jesus are your constant study and meditation; He implies they might be quite important.
Especially if you want to move past simply “waiting for Godot…” and instead, lay hold of that Kingdom which it is “the Father’s good pleasure to give you…”
Seeing the Kingdom 