Abiding...

Read: John 15:1-25

In the preceding section we saw Jesus washing the disciples' feet and then entering into a discourse on Truth. He says, "... He may abide in you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (Jo 14:16-17 nkj). He of course, had just told them that Jesus himself was in fact, the Truth (v6).

Now in this section Jesus is using an ages old illustration of the relationship between God and his people, the vine. Isaiah the prophet, speaks of God, the owner and caretaker of the vineyard. The vineyard, Israel, is said to have produced only wild grapes (Is 5:2). Wild grapes are tiny, lacking in juice and have rather strong, at times quite unpleasing, flavor. They are quite unsuited for economically sustainable wine production.

Fruit is used as a metaphor for good things such as, truth, righteousness and justice. The fruit of our thoughts, actions we take, are like the fruit of the vine. Let us take a closer look at this ancient mainstay, the vineyard.

In viticulture, we make sure that we have a phylloxera resistant root stock, then we graft in a highly selected vine stem. The ground lice, phylloxera, have devastated most of the world's vineyards in the recent past. North American species of the grape, are resistant to this pest. The fruit of these North American varieties is, however, quite inferior to the European varieties. The solution then is to take the European vine cutting, and graft it onto a hardy North American root. This practice has lead to the highly productive wine industry we are blessed with in modern times. The key to successful wine, is the emphasis is on quality; adequate yield is important, but is subservient to quality.

Once the vine begins to grow, the gardener, the vinedresser, begins to prune and to train the branches. Out of the many new shoots produced by the new vine, usually only two or three pairs are selected to train. The training is the process by which the grape vine is tied to its supporting structure. Vines, grape vines included, do not have a great deal of natural supporting ability and therefore are dependent on external means of support. Most modern vineyards typically use steel wire tensioned between posts to provide the structures upon which the vines are then trained. Training takes several years, long before the vineyard produces its first wine.

To produce consistently high quality fruit, the vinedresser needs to prune. From Spring through to late Fall, these cuttings take place. The interesting thing to note about this process is, not only are the unproductive branches cut off, but so are perfectly healthy ones. By cutting away dense foliage, the risk of mold, fungus and spoilage can be dramatically reduced. But, it also permits the vine to put more vigor into the remaining branches making the quality of the fruit much higher than it would otherwise have been. The reduced density of the shrubbery allows those precious rays of sun to ripen and sweeten the berries, producing a more delightful wine in the end.

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (Jo 15:3). The word purges the undesirable aspects of our lives. It also causes certain areas of our being to receive greater attention than we would otherwise be inclined to bestow.

"Abide in me." Even as the picture of vines being trained, rely on the trellis that they are being tied to, the concept of 'abiding' is one of reliance and complete dependance. Just as we saw earlier, the vine is grafted into a rootstock. The vine in turn grows and shoots out branches. These branches produce the fruit.

Abiding, takes time. It might take a vineyard five years before it yields its first commercially viable crop. So much in modern society is instant, so much that we lose sight of important concepts like nurture and culture. The fruit of the vine must be fermented and then aged for years, before it becomes desirable. These processes are based on the natural cultures, yeasts which take time to do their work. Even scientific wineries make their product this way. The path from root stock, to productive plant, to fermentation, to aging, to bottling is a slow drawn out process. Many things in life involve culture, something not entirely amenable to our instant gratification society of today.

Much could be made of this, but what Jesus is saying in essence is: your strength comes from this Spirit of truth that you are about to receive; all of your power comes in this way, you are nothing on your own. You are totally dependent on Me, He says, and only in your complete and total submission will you be fruitful. You must abide, that is you must live, in Him.

Unfruitful branches are pruned. We have already applied this to our person, and the need to permit the word to prune our thoughts and our deeds. Now some have understood this to mean that this pruning needs to be performed amongst the members of the church. I would cautiously assent to that, Jesus does seem to make that implication, however, it would be wise to note that the one doing the pruning is the Father, not some of the other branches.

How are we to abide? "Love one another as I have loved you" (v12). In case you find it hard to love that sister that just exudes unrestrained disrespect, or that brother that seems only ever to say the sweetest things, leaving you to wonder, what does he really think? When you think that this commandment is impossible, then consider that Jesus blazed this trail with his blood: "Greater love has no one than to lay down one's life for his friends" (v13). Love like this, is what he is in fact, commanding.

Of course the commandment is impossible. God alone could keep that, and that is exactly why he says, ye must abide: the power must come from the vine - the branches have no power of their own!

Even as the vinedresser chooses which branches will bear fruit, so does Jesus. Do you think you had something to say about it, He says not so: "I chose you" (v16). The only choice we can make is whether or not we obey, whether or not we abide.

"The world loves its own." Is it possible that the follower of Christ, be loved by both? The world hates Jesus; when not outright denouncing Him, they diminish what he says. And, but mention that Jesus' very words pronounce judgement, and they turn on you and denounce you a kook. If we are abiding in Christ we can expect to be treated just as He did (v 20). If they hate us because of Jesus, they not only hate Him, but the very Father, God himself.

Jesus, earlier had said that anything you ask in my name, I will do. Verse 24 he mentions that these works that he has done, stand to condemn these accusers. If someone hates you for having done good, then they, indeed, have hated without cause.

Answer the following Questions

Ancillary Questions:

What fruit does abiding yield?
What does abiding imply?
Why does Jesus frequently make reference to wine and viticulture in his discourse?

There is a phrase in a popular song: "so you're still settling for the water, not the wine". Given ch 15, ch 2, the various references to the Passover and to the Christian communion, what meaning might you impute to such a phrase?

The local newspaper in 2001 published an article on the front page featuring a self-proclaimed prophetess, Erika Kubassek. The tone of the article seemed to raise the question, if she really was a prophetess, why does she not obey the law of the land, citing instances where she disrupts church services. There was no indication in this news article, nor in any previous articles, which implicated the woman for any scripture violations.
1. Do you think that such a law exists in Canada?
2. The argument contained a hidden premise, that prophetesses are respectable, law abiding citizens, and would not do such things -- would you agree with such a premise?
3. Are you offended by a person who has the compunction to stand up, uninvited, before the "Metropolitan Church", in Toronto, and read passages from Romans and from the Torah regarding lawful sexual relations, before a crowd of same-sex promoters?
4. The same-sex lobby often labels actions such as these, "homo-phobic" (literally: fear of homo-sexuality). Would you regard the actions of this woman to be "fearful" in this way?
5. The Metro Police arrested this woman and threw her into prison for allegedly "assaulting" the leader of that institution. Is this covered under what Jesus was referring to in v20?
6. The charges did not stick, in the end, although the cost born by this woman was tremendous. Is police harassment of vocal Christians justifiable in a nation which claims to guarantee religious freedom, as well as freedom of speech?
In what way are you abiding?

Do you think that there is any connection between I Kings 22 and John 15?