Acts 8:26–40
1 John 4:1–11 (12–21)
John 15:1–8
Jesus Christ Is the True Vine Who Bears Much Fruit in Us
“God is love,” and He has manifested Himself to us by sending “his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9, 16). By the ministry of the Gospel, “he has given us of his Spirit,” so that we also believe and confess “that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.” In this way, we “abide in him and he in us,” and we “love one another” (1 John 4:2, 7, 13). Such divine love is exemplified in Philip’s preaching of “the good news about Jesus” to the Ethiopian eunuch. And when “they came to some water,” the eunuch was baptized into the very Gospel that Philip had preached (Acts 8:35–38). That Ethiopian was thereby grafted into “the true vine,” Jesus Christ (John 15:1), just as we are. Already we are clean because of the Word that Christ has spoken to us and by the washing of water with His Word. We now abide in Him by faith in His forgiveness. As He abides in us, both body and soul, with His own body and His blood, He “bears much fruit” in us (John 15:3–5).
O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of this world, our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found;
Summary: This passage has some great beauty, but presents a great preaching challenge. First, we have some nastiness to the image: branches plucked and pruned. The Greek can soften the blow here: the words for pluck and prune also mean "lift up" and "clean." Yet, I think a real law and Gospel challenge remains: You can find all sorts of traditional discipleship tasks that connect us to God: prayer, the Word, even the community. Yet we can no more force ourselves upon Jesus than a branch can for themselves on the vine. To say to people, "You cannot abide in Jesus, so don't even try" makes a liar out of Jesus. To tell people "You just need to pray and read your Bibles" isn't totally faithful to the image here! Somehow we must invite people into abiding in Jesus while retaining the force of the image: Jesus is the root of connection, not us.
See Luther's sermon on this text. Vol. 24 On suffering of the Chridtian.
Your suffering is refining. You can only grow when it is difficult and taken away from you. The things you fear love and trust in He removes.
John 15:1
Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, καὶ ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστιν.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
:1 "true vine" as opposed to unbelieving Israel, the false vine
Key words:
αμπελος ("vine"; 15.1) Like many metaphors in John's Gospel, a person new to the Bible can grasp its meaning, but a knowledge of the OT amplifies its significance.
The OT (Hosea 14; Jeremiah 2; perhaps also Ezekiel 19, but who understands Ezekiel...) makes the claim that Israel is the vine of the Lord. Jesus here is saying "I am Israel." All the promises, all the hopes (if not the judgment) of Israel in the Bible have been transferred to Jesus.
John 15:2
:2 πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπὸν, αἴρει αὐτό, καὶ πᾶν τὸ καρπὸν φέρον, καθαίρει αὐτὸ ἵνα καρπὸν πλείονα φέρῃ.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
αιρεω ("take away" or "take up"; 15:2). I thought I had a unique insight here and then I realized the NET Bible already explained in a footnote. In their words:
The Greek verb ai;rw (airoÒ) can mean "lift up" as well as "take away," and it is sometimes argued that here it is a reference to the gardener "lifting up" (i.e., propping up) a weak branch so that it bears fruit again. In Johannine usage the word occurs in the sense of "lift up" in 8:59 and 5:8-12, but in the sense of "remove" it is found in 11:39, 11:48, 16:22, and 17:15. In context (theological presuppositions aside for the moment) the meaning "remove" does seem more natural and less forced.
John 15:3
:3 ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε διὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν λελάληκα ὑμῖν·
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
:2-3 "fruit" Not just holy deeds, but love and witness leading to new disciples. "prunes" lit "cleanses" Christians have already been cleansed by God's forgiveness, they are daily in need of repentance and daily spiritual growth "clean because of the word" The means through which the cleansing takes place since the Word's content is Christ.
When reading these verses in English, there seems to be a break at verse 3 in the flow of thought: Jesus is talking about trees and fruit, when suddenly he digresses for a moment to point out to his disciples that they are “clean” before continuing with his gardening metaphor.
John 15:4
:4 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.
Abide continue remain in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides/remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide/remain in Me.
You do not possess God you receive Him in faith. He is the medicine of eternal life. There is no benefit without the reception.
John 15:5
:5 γώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος, ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα. ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν, ὅτι χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέ
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who remains/abides in Me and I in him, this one bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
:5 "We cannot keep the Law without Christ's aid...So before we keep the Law, our hearts must be born again through faith." [Ap V 194]
"Without faith human nature does not call upon God, nor expect anything from Him, nor bear the cross (Matthew 16:24) Instead, human nature seeks and trusts in human help. So when there is no faith and trust in God. all kinds of lusts and human intentions rule in the heart." (Genesis 6:5) [AC XX 37-38]
John 15:6
:6 ἐὰν μή τις μένῃ ἐν ἐμοί, ἐβλήθη ἔξω ὡς τὸ κλῆμα καὶ ἐξηράνθη, καὶ συνάγουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ πῦρ βάλλουσιν, καὶ καίεται.
If anyone does not remain/abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
:6 fire Symbol of judgment and destruction see Ezk. 15:1-8
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
John 15:7
:7 ἐὰν μείνητε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ, ὃ ἐὰν θέλητε αἰτήσασθε καὶ γενήσεται ὑμῖν.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:8
:8 ἐν τούτῳ ἐδοξάσθη ὁ Πατήρ μου, ἵνα καρπὸν πολὺν φέρητε καὶ γενήσεσθε ἐμοὶ μαθηταί.
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
:8 As Christ glorified the Father through His obedience, believers glorify God through their lives - and show that they are real disciples, attached to the vine.
Sources:
-The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software
-ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
-Schnorr Von Carolsfeld woodcuts, ‘The Resurrection of our Lord’© WELS permission granted for personal and congregational use
-LCMS Lectionary notes © 2018
-Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing
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