John 15:1-8

 

i am - As Jesus earlier used vivid imagery followed by an "I am" saying (cf. "I am . . . the bread of life," 6:35; "the gate," 10:7; "the good shepherd," 10:11), so now Jesus says: I am the real vine . . . But unlike the previous occasions, this "I am" saying adds other identifications-("my Father is," v. 1 . . . "you are," v. 5). Thus, Jesus identified himself in relationship to the Father and to the disciples. [1]

kathairô - In verses 15:3-4 the writer uses the verb kathairô which has the double meaning of "to prune" and "to cleanse." Does the writer seek to evoke agricultural realism and theological truth as the NIB suggests? [2] Verses 3-4 do seem to build on this double meaning which equates "cleansing" with staying in relationship to Jesus and his word.

ancient interpreters -the image of community that emerges from this passage speaks of interrelationships, mutuality, and indwelling . .

To get the full sense of this interrelationship, it is helpful to visualize what the branches of a vine actually look like. In a vine, branches are almost completely indistinguishable from one another . . . all run together as they grow out of the central vine. What this vine image suggests about community, then, is that there are no free-standing individuals in community but branches who encircle one another completely. The fruitfulness of each individual branch depends on its relationship to the vine, nothing else. What matters for John is that each individual is rooted in Jesus and hence gives up individual status to become one of many encircling branches. [3]

 

Recall any of your memorable gardening experiences growing up. What did you plant? How careful were you with the seed-to-stalk process? (Did your sweet corn earn a ribbon at the county fair?)

If the vine branches in Jesus’ image were human lives, what pain would be associated with pruning?

As a branch on Christ’s vine, how would you describe the fruit in your life: Grade A? Juicy? Green? Wormy? Why?

 

Do some research on the type of plant that Jesus most likely would have referred to. Bring a similar kind of vine to the pulpit and use it as an illustrated sermon. You wouldn’t need too many points, but you certainly could draw upon the mutuality/interdependence of the vine and branches, the less individualism and more organic unity and teamwork, pruning, and the ultimate goal: branches that produce fruit. End with a luscious fruit of some kind!

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[1] J. Ramsey Michaels, A Good News Commentary: John (NY: Harper & Row, 1983), page 256.
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), page 757.
[3] Adapted from Serendipity Bible  (Zondervan, 1988) , page 1504.