THE VINE DRESSER!

John 15:1

A vine must have a husbandman to plant and watch over it, and to receive and rejoice in its fruit. Jesus says: " ...My father is the husbandman. " My Father is the Vine Dresser. He is the one who tills the ground. In this case He is the one who tends the vine. This is revealed in verse 2. The vine dresser occupies himself with the branches. He does this because the emphasis of the parable is fruit. This is mentioned three times.

As Jesus is speaking these words, His disciples are clustered about Him. He is the Vine. They are the branches.The branches are arranged in two classes: fruitless and fruitful. The vine dresser has a task in regard to each.

" Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it might bring forth more fruit." ( verse 2 )

The verse as it reads in the King James suggests severance from the main vine, the result of cutting or pruning by a vine dresser who has lost patience with an unproductive branch. But this is not so!

The Greek word translated, " He taketh away" (aivo) has, according to Thayer, three meanings:

To raise up - is one meaning. This is expressed in a variety of ways. (1) To raise up from the ground; (2) to take up stones, or serpents, or a dead body ( John 8:59; Mark 16:18; Acts 20:9). (3) It was also used to express a lifting upward of the hand ( Rev. 10:5); of the eyes ( John 11:41); of the voice - that is to speak in a loud voice (Luke 17:13).

To take upon one's self and carry what has been raised.

To carry away what has been raised.

So the text should read:" Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He lifted it up."

The word " purgeth " has been regarded as an act of cutting or severing. But this is not the intent of the Greek wording. The Greek word is kathairo. This word means " to cleanse." It is used to express a cleansing from useless shoots ( on the branches ). That means to prune.

But it was also used as cleansing the conscience of guilt. So the root meaning has more to do with "wash" and cleansing than with cutting. Verse 3: "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you."
So the text should read: " Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He lifted it up: and every branch that beareth fruit, He cleanseth it, ( that is, having lifted it up, He washes away the dirt), and if necessary then, He trims it (prunes it) that it may bring forth more fruit."

This message would be fully appreciated in any vineyard , where for various reasons, the branches fall to the ground. Then,as the vine dresser comes to inspect his vineyard, sees the branches in the dirt and with loving care lifts them up and cleanses them. He does whatever is necessary to repair any damage that has been done.

So the prevailing thought in this text is not an act of judgment. It is not that of severing a disappointing fruitless, branch from the parent stem. Rather, it is the loving patience of a wise vine dresser who rejects nothing if there is the slightest chance of restoring a branch to full fruitfulness. The idea that teaches falling from grace is foreign to the theme of this parable. God's great mercy does not impair His wisdom. When it becomes necessary to prune the branches, this is done. We must remember that loving wisdom is the hand that holds the pruning knife.

To fully grasp the teaching of this great parable it is now necessary to see the various steps in the procedure, and to interpret this in the light of Christ's earlier messages.

1. The Vine Dresser sees a branch fallen to the ground.
2. Gently He lifts it up and cleanses away the dirt.
3. He restores it to its place.
4. If He thinks it necessary, He removes any further hindrance so that the harvest will not be impaired.

Remember, according to the teaching of the Saviour, the agent of cleansing was His own word ( verse 3).

It is most important that we see this and understand this task of the Vine Dresser. The Lord sees a fallen branch and immediately He lifts it from the surrounding filth and dirt. Then, He begins to cleanse it by the application of the Word of Truth. It is the application of that same Word to my conduct that begins the pruning of those " useless shoots " which are hindering the fulfillment of my Lord's full and complete use of me. It is only when stubbornness of spirit and unresponsiveness in the soul resembles open rebellion that the Vine Dresser has to take more drastic measures.

When He has to choose between the health of the vine and a consistently unresponsive branch - the end is a foregone conclusion. " If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered..."

All this is clearly expressed in Simon Peter's fall and restoration. He had been one of the most fruitful branches in the group of Jesus' disciples. Yet, unfortunately he sinned, and became contaminated with earth's sin. The Lord saw him; lifted him; cleansed him; restored him. Then Peter's life became more fruitful than it had ever been.

When a withered branch threatens other branches and the disease begins to spread to other parts of the vine, the vine dresser removes the hindrance from the place of productivity. We are aware that a person may be a Christian and be a real disappointment to His Lord. A child may be the son of his parents and yet be an extreme disappointment to those who brought him into the world. THERE ARE CARNAL CHRISTIANS who are concerned with things of the flesh and the world.
THERE ARE ALSO SPIRIT-FILLED CHRISTIANS.
And every day is a day of reckoning for carnal Christians, as the Lord will say, " O foolish Galatians, ye did run well: who hath hindered you?" He will say to those spirit-filled Christians, " Well done, Thou good and faithful servant..."
So the lifting, cleansing, and the pruning away the shoots of the self-life continues that the whole energy of the soul may be directed to the manifesting of the life of the Lord Jesus in us.

So we gain by loss; we live as we die!
The inward man is renewed as the outward man decays!

The Master then says: " Now ye have been lifted and cleansed and pruned through the Word that I have spoken to you."
So "Abide in Me and I in you...that you may bring forth much fruit."
" As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me."

Sermon By Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at hleewhite@aol.com