St. John 15: 1 – 17; 1John 2: 1 – 17

Feb. 27, 2022

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

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.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

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.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

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.

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.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Allow me to make a suggestion: open another tab and go to kingjamesbibleonline.org. Keep both this blog tab open and the kjvonline tab open so you can toggle back and forth between the two. The kjvonline has a nifty feature – in the header, we have two choices. We can search by words or verses or, a little further to the right, we can search by book, chapter, and verse. In the book search, scroll down to and select 1John and the system will take you to the second NT reading for today. Now we can work with both readings as easily as a click on tab.

In St. John, verse two, he uses the word ‘purgeth’ in regard to the branch. In today’s parlance, ‘purge’ means to do away with, get rid of. That’s not, in this particular verse, what is intended; think, rather, ‘pruning’ or ‘cutting back’. I must confess – I’ve never met a plant that I haven’t killed in love. I am the sad owner of two black thumbs. My house is where plants come to die, I’m afraid. But I completely understand the idea of pruning – nip off those buds that are not quite right in order that the plant support the buds that are healthy. This way, the plant doesn’t support anything that is going to waste its resources.

In 1John, verses 13 and 14 can be thought of as the buds that bore fruit and were not pruned. The language of ‘… because ye have known the Father …’ and ‘… the word of God abideth in you …’ supports that the Father, as the husbandman (St. John, verse one) will save those who are alive in Jesus and live their lives accordingly. Jesus clearly says He is the vine and we are the buds of fruit.

When we wear our crosses or tell people that we are Christian, we become that plant in the garden. People who look at that plant should be able to tell what the plant is. Does it speak well and gently to all it comes in contact with? Does it promote assistance to widows and orphans? Does it mind it’s tongue and all things that come forth from it? Does it praise and worship Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Does it spread its seed of truth and declare Jesus Christ is Lord to the community in which it dwells?

People look beyond the crosses and our professions to see what kind of plant we really are. Have we checked our roots lately? Have we seen to our growth in knowledge of Him? We might want to grab that pair of gardening gloves in the garage and check out our own plant.

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