John 15:1-2 is the famous "I am the true vine..." statement where Jesus compares life in Christ with a vine. Verses 1 and 2 read: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (NIV)" The Greek word translated here "cuts off," or "takes away" in other translations, is the word airo (pronounced 'ah-ee-ro'). Like many English words, it has many meanings. It can mean "to take away," or "to remove." But it can also mean "to elevate, raise, lift up; to raise from the ground." (Check it out for yourself here.) If the meaning is this definition, then we don't get the image of the gardener "cutting off" unproductive branches, rather, it's an image of the gardener "lifting up" the unproductive branches. What could that possibly mean?
Dr. Fleming showed us a picture of a biblical vineyard. Here it is...
Contrary to our modern image of vines growing on an elevated framework or wiremesh trellis, this biblical vineyard showed the vines all growing on the ground, with the bigger vines elevated on stones. If an end of a vine should touch the ground, it would start to sink roots. Sounds good, except that it then begins to take its own nourishment and no longer draws it from the "mother vine," or "true vine." It becomes unproductive. To prevent this, the farmer piles stones under the vine, he "lifts it up" to make it more productive.
That sort of changes the picture of what Jesus is talking about. The Father is not about being judgmental or vindictive. He is about producing fruit. So unproductive branches he "lifts up" so that they will again draw nourishment from the "true vine."
It sure helps to understand the biblical culture, doesn't it?
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