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Our nation, leaders and military - Tuesday is election day. Pray that godly people will enter office. Pray that we will understand that Jesus is Lord and no one in Washington or Austin is. Pray for peace through the spread of the good news of Jesus Christ.

"A seventeenth-century prayer from the British House of Commons gets the right perspective, in words that sound eerily foreign in today’s political climate: ‘Almighty God, by whom alone Kings reign, and Princes decree justice; and from whom alone cometh all counsel, wisdom and understanding; We thine unworthy servants, here gathered together in thy Name, do most humbly beseech thee to send down thy heavenly wisdom from above, to direct and guide us in all our consultations; And grant that we, having thy fear always before our eyes, and laying aside all private interests, prejudices, and partial affections, the result of all our counsels, may be the glory of thy blessed name’" (Philip Yancey, Prayer Does It Make Any Difference, Zondervan, 2006, p. 25, footnote).

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener…I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:1, 5).

The Bible of the first century church was the Old Testament or Hebrew scriptures. Jesus, Paul, John and the rest preached from it. The early church understood the quotes, illusions, and metaphors as used by Jesus and the apostles. There are many and as we carefully look at both the Old and New Testaments, we will see numerous connects and the lessons that can be drawn from them. Of course, we need to be careful of the extremes; the Hebrew scriptures have nothing to say to us today to the idea that an allegory can be made of everything in the Old to refer to something in the New.

In our study of the gospel of John, we have seen that he referred to directly or indirectly to many Old Testament texts, especially those found in the Torah, that is, the books of Moses. Understanding this helps deepen our understanding of what Jesus was saying to the people of His day and what John was writing to the church in the last quarter of the first century.

One such figure of speech used by Jesus was that of the vine, which He uses twice. "I am the true vine." Let’s take a look at its use both figuratively and literally. "Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard" (Genesis 9:20). This occurred after the flood. After four hundred years in Egypt, God promised Israel a rich land. When the spies came back from exploring Canaan, they brought with them a cluster of grapes so heavy that two had to carry it (Numbers 13). As Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, God reminds them through Moses that they will have vineyards that they did not plant (Deuteronomy 6:11). Vineyards are often mentioned with those who are faithful, God blessing them with success and wealth. This helps us to understand the symbolic use of vineyards in certain scriptures.

We know that the grape was an important product of the ancient world used both for food and drink. As such it is used to symbolize God’s people. Israel became God’s vineyard. When Jesus said in John that the Father was the gardener, the connection was immediately understood. As the gardener, God is jealous for His garden. "I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside" (Isaiah 5:1). The prophet goes on to show the preparations made for the vineyard, the clearly of stones, the choices vines planted, the watchtower built and the winepress prepared. "Then I looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit" (vs. 2). He then asks the dwellers of Jerusalem and the people of Judah what more he could have done for the vineyard (vs. 3-4). He then decides that he will destroy the vineyard because of its bad and worthless fruit. Why?

"The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel,

for righteousness, but heard cries of distress" (vs. 7) (1).

The rest of the chapter is a series of "woes" on Israel including one that says, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (vs. 20) (2).

The Psalmist laments over the condition of the vineyard of God in Psalm 80. He says,

"You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it" (vs. 8).

This goes back to the Promise Land and the promise of a fruitful land Israel would enter through the work of God. "You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land" (vs. 9). In the imagery of the vine, the Psalmist shows the expansion of the nation (vs. 10-11). Then disaster strikes and the lament begins. In speaking to God, he asks, "Why have you broken down its walls…?" (vs. 12-13). The vineyard is unprotected and being picked apart piece by piece. Reading Israel’s history in Kings and Chronicles, we see that happening as first the northern kingdom is reduced and finally carried off by the Assyrians and then Judah is destroy by three successful invasions by Babylon and carried away. The Psalmist appeals to God to "Restore us, Lord God Almighty" (vs. 7, 19).

Israel as God’s vineyard had lost sight of the law and worship of God. They thought that they could live anyway they wanted because there was a Temple in Jerusalem where God dwelt. They forgot that while God allowed the Temple to be built, it wasn’t His intended purpose. He lived among them and did not need a place to live. With the lost of this idea, Israel placed God in a box called the Temple. Interestingly enough, many do this today as well. We have changed the name from Temple to church. We come and fulfill our "obligations" or "requirements" in the assembly as we have understood them to be, and then leave to live anyway we want. Lie, cheat, gossip, slander during the week to come back on Sunday to "obey" God and think everything is okay.

Other prophets speak to the metaphor of the vineyard as well. Jeremiah complained about the wicked being planted and taking root (12:1-4). God answered and one of the things He said was that "Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland" (vs. 19). Ezekiel talked about the vine and its fruitfulness but because of Israel’s wickedness, it was uprooted and thrown on the ground where it withered and then planted in the desert "in a dry and thirsty land" and fire destroyed its fruit (chapter 19). Micah too addressed the sinful condition of God’s people.

lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets" (7:1-2).

Micah goes on to describe the situation, some of which we can relate to today. At the end of the chapter however, he spoke of the God "who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance" (vs. 18-19).

Jesus also used the idea of God’s vineyard and the people of God misuse of it in the Parable of the Tenants (Luke 20:9-19). An owner of a field (God) planted a vineyard and then rented it out to some farmers (Israel, and in particular the religious leaders). When the harvest came, servants (the prophets) were sent to collect but some were beaten and others killed. Finally the Son was sent (Jesus) and the farmers killed him. The message was clear because the religious leaders understood that Jesus was talking about them.

This brings us back to John 15. Israel is no longer the vine, grapes or vineyard; Jesus is. We are the branches. We are connected to the vine. The important words used here are "prune" and "abide." God was working personally in His vineyard to cultivate branches so that they would bear good fruit. Abiding or remaining in Jesus is essential to what will be produced. As Christians, God’s people, we are intimately connected to God in Christ. We have a redemptive relationship with Him through His sacrificial death and the resurrection.

What are the branches to bear? Looking back at the texts from the prophets and Psalmist, we see that the type of good fruit God wants is that of a faithful and righteous life before God. It is a life in fellowship with God, one that walks in the light of Jesus (1 John 1:7). Good fruit comes from abiding in the vine of Jesus, or to say it another way, becoming like Jesus. Paul would say that we are living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). It is not what we do but who we are in the Vine. Fruit bearing branches bear witness to abiding in and through the command to love one another (John 15:9-17) (3). Since the Holy Spirit is part of this conversation, think about the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus’ love for us is seeking what is best for us even if it means dying for us, which He did. That is the love, or fruit, we are to bear. We are to love our enemies, neighbors, and one another, even if it means dying for them (1 John 3:16). Many miss this today. I have heard far too many sermons about fruit bearing being evangelism and fruit inspectors looking for bad fruit. Neither are in view here, except maybe very indirectly. "Within faith itself, we are just now coming to see how the idea of bearing fruit and even loving one another often have been turned into commodities and sales pitches and performances. Too easily ‘bearing fruit’ was the job of evangelism, which was a human effort to package the gospel in as attractive and convenient a mode as possible" (4). Bearing fruit is not doing but abiding in Christ. People are watching the type of fruit we are bearing. "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (John 15:8). The type of fruit we are bearing depends on if we are abiding in the Vine, Jesus Christ. Go back and read what the prophets said; we might find that we have more in common with Israel than we would like.

There is one more text to God’s vineyard that must be considered. Paul uses the metaphor concerning Jews and Gentiles in Romans 11:11-24. As Gentiles, we were wild branches that have been grafted into the vine. While Paul doesn’t mention that this is Jesus, he surely has this in mind. The wild branches find life in the holy Vine. Some of the original branches are broken off, which refers to some Jews. They too can be grafted back into the Vine. The relationship between Jew and Gentile during the first century was difficult but manageable. Unfortunately later history shows that there would be a separation and hatred that has hindered that relationship. Efforts are being made today to make corrections but there is still a distrust from a Jewish perspective and a judgmental attitude, and even some anti-Semitism from a Christian perspective. Paul makes it clear that the original branches can be grafted back in to the Vine.

This study, like many other studies, are rich in the wisdom of God and understanding of what Jesus, Paul, John, and others wanted to communicate to their audiences, and to us. It helps us to put ideas into perspective and teaches us the way of God more accurately (5).

George B. Mearns

(1) We hear much today about justice, that is, that of taking care of the poor, visiting those in prison, and the end of war, all of which is well and good. But those who cry out about justice have, in my mind, been very selective about what justice they are interested in. While opposed to war, they fail to talk much about the bloodshed of abortion and euthanasia, both of which destroys those who have been created in the image of God. In my view, they would have more influence if this was recognized.

(2) Again, we hear much about being like Jesus and His emphasis on justice but those who declare these ideas redefine evil, or call much that is good evil and much that is evil good. A better understand of the Hebrew scriptures might help many to understand this, for those are the scriptures of Jesus.

(4) ibid.

(5) A good concordance can aid in such studies as this. While somewhat expensive, a concordance is worth the price. Strong’s Concordance goes with the King James Version. Both the NIV and the NRSV both have concordances as well.