The Divine Pruning Knife

I can't count the times that I've preached from John chapter 15, but I know that it's a lot. There's so much meat for the believer here in this remarkable chapter. A preacher can approach it from several different angles and still miss fathoming its deep riches.

I want to focus on one aspect from this passage today, friends, and that is the ways of the in dealing with his people. The title of my message today is The Divine Pruning Knife, and my text can be found in John's Gospel chapter 15. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends.

We will be in verses 1 and 2. This discourse on the vine and the branches has some differing opinions from scholars on where the discourse took place and what exactly was the imagery used here by our Lord Jesus. Some scholars say that this discourse took place in the upper room where Christ's disciples had just shared the Passover meal with him, and the imagery of the vine was probably a creeping vine on the trellis of the open window. Others suggest that the vine spoken of is a reference to the grapevine of the cup of wine that they shared.

Other scholars point to the preceding verse in John 14, 31, where Jesus says, Arise, let us go hence, referring to the fact that Jesus and his men had left the upper room and were making their way across the Kidron to the garden of Gethsemane, and as they passed over the Kidron, they saw vine cuttings burning in the distance as they glowed in the evening sky. Either way, that's very striking imagery, isn't it? I personally believe this discourse took place as Jesus and his disciples slowly made their way to Gethsemane, and you can just picture that little band of men staying close to Jesus, almost hugging him as they walked closely, hanging on every word that dropped from their master's lips. Soon he would be taken from them, arrested, tried, and crucified, bringing an end to their world as they knew it.

Well, let us get to our text, friends. Here now is the Word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his Holy Word. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Let me pause here to say that Christ is distinguishing himself here, separating himself here from anyone else by stating he alone is the true vine, implying all others are fakes and frauds. Verse 1 reads in the original Greek language, I, in contradistinction to anyone else, am the genuine vine, and my Father is the tiller of the soil. This is a very profound and rich statement.

Jesus is saying about himself that he is the real deal, so to speak, and he makes reference to his Father as the tiller of the soil. Well, what does a tiller of the soil do? He cares for the vineyard. He digs and plants and prunes his crop with the utmost care in order to get the richest harvest.

But the tiller of the soil has an investment in the vineyard, and he will take great measures to ensure he will reap a reward for his time, labor, and investment. Years ago, when I was a successful businessman, I was overworked, and I awoke one night early in the morning around 2 a.m., and I felt like I was dying. I had trouble breathing, and I felt run down, and I pulled myself up from bed and got to my study, where I sat at my desk with an open Bible before me.

As I read the Word of God, I was praying to God, and I said something along the lines to him like this, Oh, Lord, I am weary, and I am ready to come home to thee now, if that is your will for me. I heard a voice speak to me, not an audible voice, but a voice of authority nonetheless, as it spoke to the quiet still place in my heart. The voice asked me a question, and in his earthly ministry did not Jesus often respond to a statement made to him by someone by asking that person a question? I believe this is how he dealt with many people.

Well, that's how he dealt with me early that morning. I heard a voice ask me a question in response to my concern of dying. The question was direct.

What kind of business are you in? I answered, the investment business. Then I heard the following words, I have an investment in you, and I will receive the dividends from my investment. Well, I stood up and went back to bed, and now I'm an old man, and I can see the tiller of the soil through the years, taking an active interest in my life, digging where furrows were cut deep, where the ground in my life had to be turned up and over and laid bare, where the seed had to be planted with care for a rich harvest, but the branches had to be pruned back with a sharp knife that cut deeply and cleanly for future growth, and grapes had to be bruised for wine to come forth.

Is this not what our Lord refers to in verse 2 of chapter 15, friends? Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Who is Christ referring to here? Well, none else but the Father, the tiller of the soil. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

The fact that God is the tiller of the soil, and he will take an active part in the life of his vineyard is evident here from the striking passage of Scripture. Listen, friend, if you desire more usefulness to God, then be prepared for him to take out his divine pruning knife on you. The cutting will be deep and the process painful as God performs the necessary work in your life in order to make you more fruitful to him.

If you are going through a trial right now, and perhaps you don't understand it, it may be very well that the tiller of the soil is at work in your life, uprooting here and planting there, stripping here and pruning there, in order to ensure his harvest will be productive to him for his purpose and for his glory. Your happiness doesn't even enter into this work, for it is God at work in you to fulfill his purpose in your life. If you truly desire a life more faithful to Christ, more useful to Christ, and more fruitful for Christ, then be prepared to submit to the divine pruning knife as the tiller of the soil labors with care and scrutiny to receive his harvest of fruit production, fruit, more fruit, much fruit, and fruit that remains.

Let us pray.