20160525 Wednesday, May 25 2016
John 15: The Lesson Of The Vine And The Branches

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit"

The English-language word "husbandman" means someone who cultivates the soil. The word is used in some Bible versions to translate the Hebrew word, pronounced ik-kawr, that means to dig. Although the English words husband and husbandman are derived from the same ancient Anglo-Saxon word, husbonda, meaning house-band, or one who bonds a household together, the Hebrew word for husband is an entirely different word from ik-kawr; pronounced eesh, it means to be a man.

The Messiah referred to the Father as "the husbandman" Who prunes His vineyard based upon productivity: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." How is that decision determined? "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."

"15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another." (John 15:1-17 KJV)

Every garden (field, orchard, vineyard) now has weeds (see Who Created Weeds?), or even plants of the desired species that have gown wild or produced bad fruit - or no fruit at all. The principle also now applies to humanity in which toxic and vain people make themselves obstinate toward those who are producing good fruit by truly obeying the LORD as best that they humanly can (see Who And What Is The Way To Salvation?). Such as it will be, until the time of the harvest (see the Fact Finder question below).

"15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 15:22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 15:23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 15:25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." (John 15:18-27 KJV)

Fact Finder: When will God purify His Creation from all "weeds"?
See Let Both Grow Together Until The Harvest