John, as an apostolic witness, informs our understanding of Christ’s teaching through his writing about The Vine and the Branches- John 15:1-10
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
3 You are already “clean” because of the word I have spoken to you.
[ I read this as “righteous, saved, the disciples bearing the imputed righteousness of Christ and being fully reconciled to the Father’s righteousness through Christ. Christ spoke it over them in their confession of belief in Him and it was made so. ]
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now REMAIN in my love.
10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
[ Jesus’ message and wisdom here is that remaining obedient to God KEEPS US ATTACHED, REMAINING in the Father’s love as Jesus himself is remaining in the Father’s love.
In the very next sentence Jesus says he is telling his disciples this so that their joy may be full, complete, overflowing….]
John 15:11 ESV
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be FULL.”
NIV
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made COMPLETE.”!
Amplified
“I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and OVERFLOWING.”
[ There is a difference between being “clean” in the eyes of the Father, i.e. made righteous by the word of Christ spoken over us, and having the FULLNESS of joy that is the same as Christ’s joy that arises from obedience to the Father’s will.
We may be made “clean”, i.e. righteous in the eyes of God through faith in Christ…. preserved until that future time. This FACT gives us hope and a future ( Jeremiah 29:11 )
But we may not REMAIN in the FULLNESS of the JOY of Christ unless we REMAIN, stay connected, in his LOVE, as Jesus remains in the Father’s love as well, which arises from obedience to the continued instruction in his Word. This allows us to know in the present the additional blessing of fellowship with God in Christ that brings a special, personal, intimate sense of his Presence with us, growing in us so that we may yield fruit for the Kingdom.
This story from John also points us back to the psalmist’s significantly more concise example of the same principles in Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the PATH of LIFE; ( which is salvation, righteousness, through being “cleaned”)
….in your PRESENCE there is fullness of joy; ( made complete through REMAINING connected in love that is manifest in obedience to the Word )
…..at your right hand are PLEASURES forevermore.” ( the blessing of eternal life at the right hand of God, which infers that because of one having been both cleansed and shown the path, and having become connected, REMAINING in obedience so that his PRESENCE is with us always, God will give to us, as he gave to Jesus, the blessing of being used by him, at his right hand, to fulfill His will. )
Now, here is the result of considering all of this:
In Matthew 24 Jesus has just told his disciples about the future destruction of the temple and the signs of the end times ….. then he addresses them this way in Matthew 25:
“At THAT time the kingdom of heaven will be like……”
….and Jesus tells them two parables, the one of the ten virgins and the one of the three bags with varying measures of talents given to three servants.
The story of the ten virgins represents those who strive for obedience to the letter of the Law, keeping wicks trimmed and being ready to light the lamps. Some are wise and some are foolish, taking no heed of how long the bripdegroom may be delayed. Some prepared for the long haul, some didn’t. All fell asleep, all grew weary in waiting…. as all who seek to see the coming kingdom by faithfulness to the letter of the Law will. Only the ones who had prepared and planned for waiting by having the extra oil for their lamps were ready when they were awakened by his coming.
In the parable of the three servants, all were already in service to the master, in his kingdom, and each was entrusted with a measure of wealth to steward according to his ability. Two of the three grew the wealth, doubling it through their respective abilities in good stewardship. The third one hid his and did nothing with it, yielding nothing of value, no “fruit” for the master, and even defamed the master’s reputation blaming his lack of productivity on the master. The first two were commended as
– good ( righteous) and
– faithful ( obedient) and were
– given additional responsibility in stewardship and welcomed into the master’s joy, which is accomplished through increased fruitfulness.
The third lazy one was cast out.
These three servants represent those who are “on the vine”, being trusted participants of the masters vineyard/kingdom. Those who produce fruit are pruned and produce more. Those who do not are cut away and are destroyed. This parable represents the higher standard of Christ’s call to live into the Spirit of the Law, the fuller commitment to (BE)COME through hunger and thirst for righteousness AND TO BE FRUITFUL through obedience that yields fruit, not simply to be and do nothing.
Both of these parables foreshadow the coming of the HOLY SPIRIT, the extra oil possessed by the prepared virgins and the use of one’s gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT to produce fruit.
Christ is telling them that the Kingdom of God exists with them through the coming of the HOLY SPIRIT to dwell with them…… first through his own incarnate presence to DWELL AMONG them and later through the HOLY SPIRIT’s return to DWELL IN them forever which will be a greater, higher living out of their abilities attached to the vine In service to the vineyard owner/ kingdom master and vine dresser to produce much fruit.
One can continue this reading through the rest of Chapter 25 and interpret further how the coming of the fullness of the kingdom will be revealed in the end times through his parable of the sheep and goats. What do we know of sheep and goats that inform our reflection on how and why they are separated? Are both valued? Yes. Are they both given the same reward? No. Have they both come through the same Shepherd? Perhaps. Jesus told his disciples he had other flocks about whom they did not know….
Which do you wish to be? Sheep or goat?
How you live will reveal which you are. How will you live? Do you know and come at his voice? Are you cleansed by Christ’s Word having been spoken to you, and are you remaining on the vine in obedience and yielding fruit and enjoying life in the master’s service? Or are you running out of oil while not planning for the long delay of the bridegroom or hiding your talents by lazy failure to be a good steward? Or being pruned from the vine, once on it by having produced no fruit?
They all speak to the same truths, have the same demands, and offer the same reward that the psalmist spoke about, and Jesus taught, and his disciples witnessed to through their records of his life and ministry.
This is one of those “red threads” pulled throughout the Bible to bring integrity to our lives and unity to God’s people .
