Bob Josey - 6B The Vine and Branches Lesson #2 - Jan 16, 2022

Thriving in Jesus

6B – The Abundant Life - Lesson 2

The Vine and the Branches

Introduction

For those of you who were in some type management or administrative job, you probably had the responsibility of hiring, firing, training individuals. You may have also had to deal with workers that were non-productive or those that were productive but could have been more productive. Those who were non-productive probably fit into one or more of the categories such as lazy, incompetent, disobedient, and/or apathetic. There are different means of dealing with people who are unproductive. One is just outright firing them. I’ve done my share of that but is that always the best thing to do? NO!

For those of you who were not a manage or administrator, you were involved with meetings, training, evaluations of your job performance from management or

administrators. Some of you may have even been fired.

The lessons in the next couple of weeks are going to involve believers who are productive and those who are not productive. In both cases we are going to see management will get involved.

The mortgage lending startup Better.com fired 900 employees via a Zoom webinar with no prior notice and just days before the holidays. The firm’s CEO accused them of “stealing” from colleagues and customers by being unproductive.

“If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off. Your employment here is terminated effective immediately,” the firm’s CEO Vishal Garg said in a Zoom webinar.

One person who was surveyed from US job searching website said that “life’s too short to waste on work.” I would call that person lazy. He might also be characterized as incompetent and apathetic.

As a consumer have you ever gone into McDonalds or other service businesses and experienced an incompetent, lazy, or empathic employee? They do not want to be there. Some people are just plain lazy or have a bad attitude. There might be others who are unproductive but need training or mentoring. You can go Chick-fil-A’ and find most employees busy, friendly, courteous, but they receive excellent training.

Do managers and administrators have the responsibility to do all they can to make a person productive or make a person who is productive more productive? Should individuals who are unproductive because they are lazy, disobedient, or aphetic be given opportunities to redeem themselves after a time of training, mentoring, and encouragement instead of just reading them the riot act?

In the spiritual realm we also see believers who are unproductive. Some are lazy, have a rotten attitude, apathic or just plain disobedient. We know we as believes are to produce spiritual fruit. We know what fruit is in the physical realm and from where it comes. Apple trees produce apples, a pear tree produces pears, a grapevine produces grapes, etc. But what is fruit in the spiritual realm as it relates the believer in Jesus. In the spiritual realm Isaiah 5 says that bearing fruit involves obedience, righteousness, and justice. From a New Testament perspective, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is called fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Blackberry vines produce blackberries and believers in Jesus are to produce the items I just mentioned. I think we can add more thing that would be considered fruit. To help believers produce spiritual fruit, the Father has given every believer at least one spiritual gift and has ordained that believer use their gift(s) to glorify Him and to help those in need in the body of Christ and those who are not in the body of Christ.

During our last lesson, we discussed that Jesus is our only source in order to live the abundant life. He is the One who gives wisdom and strength to the believer.

Today from John 15:1b-2 we are going to learn that God the Father is the Owner and CEO of the Body of Christ and that He has a process for dealing with both productive and unproductive believers in Jesus.

Let’s read verse John 15:1. I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Jesus is the source for providing everything for living the abundant life, and today we see that God the Father is the Owner and CEO of the Body of Christ, the Church.

Before we discuss the Father’s role as owner and CEO of His vineyard, I want to mention a few things about the God the Father. The three persons of the Tri-unity are all God. All three have the same essence as seen in John 10:30. Jesus said, “I and the Father are One.” This verse could be read, “I and the Father are a unity,” or “I and the Father are one essence.” The Trinity is fully God, and that each person fully shares in all the attributes of God. The main difference between them is that each one has a different function, role, or ministry within the Godhead. We see this in verse 1 where Jesus is the vine and the Father is the Vineyard owner and CEO.

In verse one Jesus called the Father a Vinedresser in the NASB. The Greek word means a person who owns a farm. In this case, however, it means a person who owns a vineyard. The vineyard owner and CEO usually got involved in most aspects of the vineyard such as in harvesting, pruning, cutting off dead branches, making wine, and maybe turning grapes in to raisins. Other translations are husbandman and gardener. Husbandman is old work that means farmer. Gardener is not a good choice at all. The Holman Christian Standard Bible has the best translation – Vineyard keeper. He was not just a vinekeeper but a vineyard keeper.

God the Father has a process in dealing with unproductive believers.

John 15:2a - Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, he lifts up (he takes away).

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Unproductive Grapevine Branches

One of the vineyard managers responsibilities in maintaining healthy vines in the vineyard is to deal with the unproductive branches. In verses 2 and 5 we see four different levels of potential productivity – no fruit, fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. In verses 2 & 5 we are going to see three scenarios concerning fruit bearing and how the Father deals with each. Let’s began with unproductive branches. Just as there are unproductive grape branches, we know that there are unproductive believers. Jesus in verse 2 compared unproductive grape branches to unproductive believers. Even though there are some who see this verse as speaking of unbelievers, there are several reasons that seem to indicate that He was speaking about believers. The most obvious reason is that the unproductive branches were in Jesus. Please notice in the beginning of verse two Jesus said, “Every branch in me…” Unbelievers are never said to be “in Jesus” Being “in Christ” is a special mystical union that exists between Jesus and believers. Being in Christ is our special identity as a believer and a member of Christ’s body, the Church. We’ll talk more about being “in Christ” in the next couple of weeks.

Some contend that the phrase, “He takes away” shows that the unproductive branches are unbelievers. In any language most words have more than one meaning. Dictionaries tend to put the meaning used the most in first place. The Greek word in question here is airo. The definition in position one in a Greek dictionary callee a Lexicon is “to raise to a higher place or position, lift up, take up, pick up” (BDAG p, 28 [1])

A few examples:

Take away – John 16:22 - Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

Lift up - John 4:35 Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then

comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the

fields, that they are white for harvest.

Both remove and raise – John 11:41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Some choose the translation take away in verse 2 because it is similar to verse 6.

John 15:6 “If anyone does not 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.”

One problem with that view is that they assume in verse 2 they are going to be burned. It says nothing about where they will be taken. In our next study, we will see that verse 2 and 6 are talking about two different things.

The word in question, like all other words, must be translated in context regardless where it is used in other places and regardless of what position it is in the Greek or Hebrew dictionary. I prefer the definition “to lift up” for a couple reasons. One, verses 1&2 introduce two of the procedures used by a vineyard owner or manager for nurturing the vines so they would be more productive. Two, Jesus’ illustration takes place during growing season. Vinedressers are rarely seen cutting off branches during the growing season. An article on the internet website Majic Gardening says,

“Vines are in the juice early and can “bleed” profusely from cuts. It is therefore advisable to carry out the pruning of grapes while the juice is resting. The best time for the main pruning is immediately after the main frost period in February.”

When grape branches fall to the ground and are still attached to the vine, they are not cut off and taken away. The vineyard workers carry a bundle of strings and a pair of pruning shears as they work their way down a row to inspect each vine. They carefully lift sagging branches and tie them to the trellis—a procedure called “training.” This allows the leaves to dry out by receiving air and sun on both sides so that the branch that was unproductive may become productive. The purpose for lifting up the branch is so that will become productive.

Questions or comments

Unproductive Believers in Jesus

Is there such as thing as an unproductive believer in Jesus. Yes indeed! At the Judgement Seat of Christ when rewards will be given to faithful believers, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:15 - If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Everyone at the Judgement Seat of Christ are believers. There will be some there who will receive no rewards, but they will be there because they trust in Jesus as their Savior. In 1 Corinthians 3:3 Paul called them carnal Christians. In Luke 8:14 in the parable of the four soils, Jesus likened one of the soils to an unproductive believer who has produced no fruit because the worries and riches and pleasures of this life have caused them to bring no fruit to maturity.

Have you ever had a fruit tree that was alive but it did not produce fruit. I have. In the same manner, a grapevine branch can have life and sap in it but does not produce fruit and there can be believers who are saved but have produced no spiritual fruit. As we will see at our next study, believers do not bear fruit because they are out of fellowship with God.

Back to John 15. Because the Vineyard owner or manager cares about unproductive branches becoming productive, he does something about it. Because the Father cares about unproductive believers becoming productive, He does something about it. So how do we compare the vineyard worker lifting up a vine branch that is on the ground and then tying it to a trellis so it will become productive to the Father who wants believer in Jesus who are unproductive to become productive? Remember, the Father’s goal is to assist an unproductive believer to become a productive believer. Remember Jesus is talking to the disciples. Judas the unbeliever is gone. In this scenario we find the Father being gentile to the unproductive believer just as the vineyard worker was gentle with the grapevine. Here we see the pastoral attribute of the Father being displayed. That’s one reason why the translation take away does not fit verse 2. Taking away is harsh. A human father who has an unproductive child in school, does not begin with some harsh method to assist the child to become a productive student.

The disciples, beginning on the night Jesus was crucified and lasting for several weeks became unproductive. They had opportunities to glorify Jesus, but didn’t. They had failed as disciples. Every disciple left and disowned Jesus. They were branches who were bearing no fruit and needed help. God did not reject them or cut off His fellowship from them. He dealt tenderly with them so that they would begin to bear fruit again. And guess what? They did! As the old saying goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

When Jesus saw the disciples in the room after the resurrection, did He chastise them for disowning and leaving Him alone in the Garden? NO! When Jesus had breakfast on the sea of Galilee in John 20, did Jesus chastise Peter for denying Him three times and disowning Him? NO! He told him to tend and feed Jesus’ flock of believes.

Non-Productive believes today

Today and of us as believes can experience times of being unproductive and disobedient. In these situations, I believe the LORD deals with us as the Vineyard owner dealt with the branches as Jesus did with the disciples after the resurrection. The Father speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit in His small and quiet voice when we are engaged with Scripture. It is first and foremost through Scripture that the Lord speaks to us. Are you listening? Are you listening to His voice when you read or study Scripture? The Father can also speak to us about different aspects of our unproductiveness through Bible studies, sermons, books, podcasts, etc. Are you listening? The Father can certainly get our attention through these venues which of course revolve around Scripture. Have you ever been convicted about something while studying or reading the Bible, in a Bible study class, during a sermon at church or some source?

Most of the time everyone knows when their life or part of our life is unproductive. When this occurs, we should be listening to God’s voice from Scripture wheather it be reading or studying, attending a Bible study or worship service. Then when we hear Him speak to us, we did to take action and obey His leading in the matter. Are you listening? As we shall see in the next couple of lessons, if a believer is not listening to God voice and is not and not obedient, God may use other measures to get their attention.

Questions or comment?