James Montgomery Boice (among others) believes that the ancient Greek verb airo, translated, takes away is more accurately translated lifts up. There is an alternative understanding of this passage that bears some consideration. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away: The branches that are taken away were never properly abiding in the vine, demonstrated by the fact that they did not bear fruit. The New Covenant participant has relationship with both the Father and the Son with both the vine itself and the vinedresser.Ĭ. God fulfills this role also for the believer under the New Covenant. And My Father is the vinedresser: In the Old Testament use of the vine as a picture of Israel, God the Father was also presented as the One who cultivated and managed the vine. He would remain united to them and they to Him as truly as branches are connected to the main vine.ī. As Jesus was about to depart from His disciples, this was important encouragement. The branch depends on the vine even more than the sheep depends on the shepherd or the child depends on the father. Of the many pictures of the relationship between God and His people, the vine and branch picture emphasizes complete dependence and the need for constant connection. In the New Covenant community, our first identification is in Jesus Christ Himself, not in Israel or even in the church as such. We must be rooted in Him (not in Israel) if we will bear fruit for God.
As well, “The vine was a recognized symbol also of the Messiah.” (Dods) Also, there was a large golden vine set as a prominent decoration on the front of the temple communicating the idea that Israel was God’s vine. He used the picture of the vine because there were grapevines everywhere in ancient Israel. Jesus spoke this to His disciples, probably as they stood in the upper room and prepared to leave. Just in the previous week Jesus publicly taught about Israel being like a vineyard in the Parable of the Vineyard (Matthew 21:33-44).
Yet it was often used in a negative sense (as in Isaiah 5:1-2, 7 and Jeremiah 2:21). God repeatedly used a vine as a symbol of His people in the Hebrew Scriptures (one example is Psalm 80:8-9). I am the true vine: This was a familiar symbol. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”Ī. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. John is sailing sky-high: are we? It is the strongest food in the Bible.” (Trench) A. “It must occur to all who read these discourses preserved by John how simple the text looks, and yet how transcendent is the thought when it is even dimly understood.
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