his pruning method

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his pruning method

Joh 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vineyard keeper.

Joh 15:2 He removes every shoot on me that does not produce fruit, and he prunes each that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

Joh 15:3 You are already pruned because of the word I have spoken to you.

The shoots from a grapevine that are about a year old are called canes. Here’s some professional information about canes and their pruning:

In viticulture it is important for wine grape growers to properly manage new canes as they play a vital role in the growth and development of the wine vine and the wine grape yield. Trimming or choosing canes will determine how the vine trains and grows in the vineyard. Not all shoots will develop into canes, growers monitor the growth of shoots from the time they are buds to determine which ones they will allow to grow. Canes that are thicker, or growing closer to the trunk and that are widely spaced, are often chosen as the best fruiting wood, while canes that are thinner and spaced closer together are not chosen, as thin canes can break and clusters that are too close hold moisture and increase the chance of disease. Cane management during the growing season is vital to the grape harvest, as shoots and canes that are not actively growing grapes compete with the grapes and the vine for resources. Canes are cut back after harvest, to promote new growth for the next growing cycle.1

 

The good news for me in today’s text is in verse 3. I need not fear some adversity coming into my life to prune me to make me more fruitful. The word of God itself does the pruning. Those who choose to follow the commands of Jesus are those who make the cut.

 

Lord, thank you for your commands – your pruning method.

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High noon

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John 14:28-31

Joh 14:28 You have heard me saying to you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would celebrate the fact that I am going to the Father, because the Father is more significant than I.

Joh 14:29 I have said it to you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may continue to trust.

Joh 14:30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has nothing to do with me.

Joh 14:31 On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave here.

High noon

In the classic western, the clock seems to go ever so slowly in the minutes before the showdown between the hero and the villain. High noon is coming.

Jesus compares his Father with the ruler of the world— Satan. The contest is between those two, and the winner is the one to whom Jesus remains loyal. That is why Jesus says that Satan – the usurping ruler of the world – has nothing to do with him. Jesus has made his choice. Have you?

Lord, our loyalty pledge is to you, and our heavenly Father. The usurper has nothing to do with us.

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Peace gift

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John 14:25-27

Joh 14:25 “I have spoken these things to you while I am staying with you.

Joh 14:26 But the Discipler, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.

Joh 14:27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you like the world gives. Don’t let your heart be agitated or intimidated.

Peace gift

The peace that Jesus gave his disciples while he was among them was the kind of peace that could withstand diversity because they had confidence in him to overcome it. But Jesus knew that under the discipling influence of the invisible discipler – the Holy Spirit – they would be tempted to anxiety and cowardice. So, he warned them of that possibility.

Jesus has given us his Holy Spirit. He will not take that gift back when we need it most. God’s presence and power will be with us when we face the challenges of living for him.

Lord, thank you for the peace gift.

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About those mansions

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John 14:22-24

Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) says to him, “Lord, what also has happened that you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world? ”

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered, and said to him “If someone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make a room to stay near him.

Joh 14:24 “The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is my sender Father’s.

About those mansions

Judas’ question was specific. He wanted to know what had happened (γίνομαι) that resulted in the Father and Son revealing themselves only to them (the disciples) and not the world. He and the others had expected that they were on the verge of the eschaton – the final culmination of God’s plan.

Jesus’ answer revealed that the eschaton was not about to happen. Instead, the age of gospel proclamation was to intervene. During this age, the father and Son will come spiritually and make a room to stay near those who love Christ, and keep his his word. Notice that Jesus uses the same word (μονή) that he had used in verse 2. This does not mean he is talking about the same event. Verse 2 referred to our permanent residence with God after the return of Christ. Verse 23 referred to God’s permanent residence with us today, through his Holy Spirit.

The bad news is that we are not going to live with God in glorious mansions when we die. The good news is that he can come to live with us while we are still alive.

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a second promise

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John 14:18-21

Joh 14:18 “I will not abandon you as orphans; I am coming to you.

Joh 14:19 Still, in a little while also, the world will no longer experience me, but you will experience me. Because I am living, you will be living too.

Joh 14:20 On that day you will come to know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.

Joh 14:21 The possessor of my commands and keeper of them is the lover of me. And the lover of me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

a second promise

Jesus has two major events in mind here, not just one. When he says “I am coming to you” (ἔρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς), he was referring back to his previous promise as recorded in verse 3, I will come again (πάλιν ἔρχομαι) and take you to myself.” He wants to make it clear that the promise of his literal coming will not be replaced with some kind of spiritual presence.

But there will be a spiritual presence, and that will take place “Still, in a little while” (ἔτι μικρὸν). From verse 19 on, Jesus is elaborating on his promise to send the other discipler, the Holy Spirit. The καὶ is more significant in verse 19a than other translators indicate. It should be translated “also” because it shows that Jesus is talking about a second promise. It is the promise to not leave his disciples as orphans (ὀρφανούς). That term was used metaphorically of disciples who had lost their rabbi. The other discipler fulfilled that promise.

Lord, thank you for the promise of your coming, and the promise of your Holy Spirit, who is with us now.

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Our other Discipler

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John 14:15-17

Joh 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

Joh 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Discipler to be with you permanently:

Joh 14:17 The Spirit of truth, who the world is unable to take, because it cannot experience him or get to know him. But you are getting to know him, because he stays with you and will be in you.

Our other Discipler

I chose the word Discipler for παράκλητος because the Holy Spirit’s role after the ascension of Christ is to do all the things Jesus had done for his disciples. It is also significant that John used the word ἄλλος for “another” instead of ἕτερος. It emphasizes the sameness of the two disciplers, rather than the difference. We have the same opportunities that the original disciples had, because we have another Discipler among us.

The Discipler that Jesus asked the Father to give us is with us from now on. Jesus emphasized that fact by using the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα in verse 16, which I translate with the adverb “permanently.” He further emphasizes it with the phrase παρ᾽ ὑμῖν μένει in verse 17 – “he stays with you.” I cannot help but believe that Jesus said these things because there would always be those who would teach that the current generation does not have the Holy Spirit in the same way the original apostles did. I cannot reconcile that teaching with Jesus’ promises here.

Lord, thank you for our other Discipler, The Holy Spirit.

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Prayer that glorifies Christ

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John 14:11-14

Joh 14:11 Trust me because I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, trust because of the works themselves.

Joh 14:12 “I am honestly telling you, the one who trusts in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even more works than these, because I am going to the Father.

Joh 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Joh 14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Prayer that glorifies Christ

It is important not to separate the promise in verse 14 from the command in verse 11. The “anything” in verse 11 is not an unqualified “anything.” Jesus is not saying that if I ask for a new car, he’s obligated to produce one for me. There is a purpose for the kind of prayer that Jesus promises to answer. That purpose must be to glorify (δοξάζω) Christ. The more Christ is glorified, the more people will believe in him and put their trust in him (πιστεύω).

So, this is what Jesus is saying: God had some works (ἔργα) to do, and Jesus did those works while down here among us. Those works glorified him. God still wants to do those works through followers of Jesus, to continue glorifying his Son. When we cooperate with God’s plan by discerning the work he wants done, and ask for that work to be done by Jesus and him or herself together, in Jesus’ name – Jesus will do it.

Lord, tune us in to the works you want to do today, and give us the courage to pray boldly for your miraculous power.

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Experiencing one through the other

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John 14:8-10

Joh 14:8 Philip says to him, “Lord, exhibit the Father for us, and that’s enough for us.”

Joh 14:9 Jesus says to him, “Have I been among you so much time and you have not come to know me, Philip? The one who has experienced me has experienced the Father. How can you say, ‘Exhibit the Father for us ‘?

Joh 14:10 Don’t you trust that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The statements I make to you I am not speaking on my own. The Father who stays in me is doing his works.

Experiencing one through the other

I am so glad Jesus and Philip had this conversation. It helps to guide us as to how we should live today. Jesus was bearing witness to the Father’s existence by his life. Anyone wanting to experience the Father had only to get to know the Son.

Now, it’s our turn. Anyone wanting to experience Christ need only get to know us, because we who trust in him are in him, and he is in us.

Lord, shine through us, so people can experience you.

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the way to the Father now

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John 14:4-7

Joh 14:4 You also know the way where I am departing for.”

Joh 14:5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re departing for. How can we know the way?”

Joh 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father if not through me.

Joh 14:7 If you have come to know me, you will come to know my Father as well. From now on you have come to know him and have seen him.”

the way to the Father now

Many people read Jesus’ conversation with his disciples here as if he is promising to bring them to heaven after they die. That is not at all what he is promising. He is promising access to a relationship with the Father starting now. He did promise to return to take them to be where he is, but that is not heaven either. When he returns, he will take his place as the rightful king on earth.

So, when Jesus told his disciples that they knew (οἶδα) the way, it was because they had come to know (γινώσκω) the Son. What they had not realized was that by coming to know Jesus, they had come to know the Father as well.

Thank you, Lord, for showing us the Way to the Father.

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Permanent digs

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John 14:1-3

Joh 14:1 “Don’t let your heart be agitated. Put your trust in God; and put your trust in me.

Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many rooms to stay; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3 Since I am going away and preparing a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be as well.

Permanent digs

First as a student, then as a pastor, then as a soldier, then as a missionary, now as a student again — I have lived all of my adult life in temporary places. I have to admit a bit of envy of those who own their own homes. I have problems relating to the idea of a permanent residence. But I understand the desire for a personal home.

The disciples of Jesus had been moving around with him, and they probably were wondering if they were going to do that for the rest of their lives. Jesus promised them many μοναὶ – which is a noun related to the verb μένω, which means to stay, to continue. It would have been especially significant for these disciples at this time to know that although Jesus was leaving them, that when he returned it would be to set up permanent digs.

Yes, I said when he returned. When you take away all the extraneous elements of this passage, it reads like this: “Trust me…I will come again.” It’s not about mansions in heaven. It’s about Jesus coming again.

Lord, thank you for the promise of permanent digs.

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