John 15:2

Joh_15:2

Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit

Believers branches in the true vine

I.

WHAT IS IMPLIED IN BEING A BRANCH IN CHRIST AND WHO ARE PROPERLY BRANCHES IN HIM.

1. In order to be such, we must be cut off from the stock, which is wild by nature (Rom_11:24). This stock is our natural and sinful state (1Pe_1:18). Growing in this stock, we bring forth evil fruit. We begin to be cut off from it when we are convinced of our sin, and brought to repentance. Hence we begin to die to all dependance on our own wisdom, righteousness, and strength; to all love of the world and sin (2Co_6:17).

2. We must be ingrafted into Christ (Rom_11:24). The usual way of ingrafting is not to insert a wild scion into a good stock, but a good scion into a wild stock.

3. Hence it appears evidently who are branches in Him

(1) Negatively; not all who have been baptized, and are reckoned members of the visible Church (Rom_2:25-29), who profess to know God, and to have religion (2Ti_2:19; 1Co_13:2-3).

(2) Positively. They are those who have experienced true repentance and faith, and are in Christ new creatures (2Co_5:17).

II. WHAT IS THE FRUIT WHICH SUCH ARE EXPECTED TO BEAR. This implies the cultivation of truth, justice, mercy, charity (Heb_13:16; Tit_3:8; Php_1:10-11). Such must also cultivate, and maintain towards themselves, temperance in all its branches, chastity, self-denial, purity, universal holiness (Heb_12:14).

III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEARING, OR NOT BEARING, THIS FRUIT.

1. If we do not bring forth this fruit, our grace, not being exercised, is withdrawn and lost. We are actually cut off from Christ, as an unfruitful branch is lopped off from a vine. We wither in our fruits, our blossoms, and our very leaves; in our works, graces, and gifts.

2. If we do produce fruit,--we are purged, or purified, by the Spirit, through the Word (Joh_17:17), which is believed, and obeyed Act_15:9; 1Pe_1:22); by affliction (Heb_12:4-11).

IV. HOW WE MAY BE ENABLED TO BEAR THIS FRUIT.

1. By abiding in Christ, and Christ in us (verse 5). We shall not otherwise be fruitful (verse 4), for otherwise we shall want life, inclination, knowledge, and power.

2. We abide in Him by abiding in faith, in God, in His revealed will, in His Gospel and its truths, in Christ, in the promises (Joh_6:47-58; Gal_2:20; Heb_10:38; and especially Rom_11:16; Rom_11:24). By continuing in love (Joh_15:9; Gal_5:6). Hence arise deadness to the world, and power over sin. By continuing to obey Joh_15:10; Joh_14:23-24) In order to these, the use of all prescribed means is necessary, as the Word, prayer, watchfulness, self-denial. (J. Benson.)

Useless branches!

In the natural world branches of the vine which are not good for that to which they were specially ordained, viz., for the bearing of fruit, are good for nothing. There are trees which may be turned to secondary uses, if they fail to fulfil their primary. Not so the vine. As timber it is utterly valueless (Eze_15:3-4). It is with it exactly as with the saltless salt, which, having lost its savour, is fit only to be east out of doors; both of them being meet emblems of the spiritual man who is not spiritual, who is good neither for the work of this world nor of a higher. (Abp. Trench.)

Character and doom of unfruitfulness

I. THE POSITION YOU OCCUPY. The Saviour speaks of those who are in Him. This, in a sense, is true of you; not in the highest sense, indeed; by the supposition, you are not in Him by that vital union which faith produces, and which secures fruitfulness, but you are so in a real, though a subordinate sense. You have some relation to Christ, are not like those to whom His name is unknown; you have heard of Christ, whence He came, what He did, how He suffered, how He is able and willing to save to the uttermost--a fact by which, while your ears are blessed, you are also involved in responsibility. To Him you were dedicated in Christian baptism; by parental piety, in His Church, His name was named upon you, and His blessing invoked. More than this. You have been trained and nurtured amid Christian influences: Inefficacious as these may have proved, they have existed; you can remember them. The possibility of such outward and visible union, as distinct from the inward and spiritual, is variously illustrated. Have not I chosen you twelve? and one of you is a devil. Demas hath forsaken us, having loved the present world. Such, then, is your position.

II. YOU ARE UNFRUITFUL. What do we mean by this? Not that you have no capacity for fruitfulness. You might have been so different, as different from your present self as light from darkness, life from death. Not that you have been unfruitful in all senses. Your intellect, perhaps, has been active, become acute and strong; your judgment has become matured; your affections have budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruit; your character, so far as this can be perfected without the motives and principles of Christian life, has become developed and firm. It may be, too, that in the years we are now reviewing and charging with unfruitfulness, you have done much, been a philanthropist, a patriot, a projector of useful schemes. In what, then, are you chargeable with unfruitfulness? By lacking such principles as these. Love to God. Faith in Christ. Obedience. Humility and repentance, too. It might be supposed that sense of deficiency would have produced at least these. Have they? Has your heart been broken for sin? Have you offered the sacrifice which God will not despise, the broken and contrite spirit? Thus you see, there are fruits which you have not borne, the most important fruits, and those without which all others God esteems, if not abomination, yet certainly most subordinate.

III. SOME OF THE AGGRAVATIONS OF THIS UNFRUITFULNESS. You have had great advantages. Consider, too, the time you have wasted. How insufficient the causes, too, which have produced your infertility. It were wise for you seriously to inquire what these have been. Decree, fate, providence, necessity--you cannot charge these with the future. Your conscience is too enlightened for that. No! the cause is not from above. Nor from beneath altogether. Satan has no compulsory power over us. Where, then, is the cause to be found? In yourself only; in your yielding to outward influences. It is a further aggravation of your sin, that all the time of your unfruitfulness you have been positively injurious. Think, for example, of the incomparable mischief a father does in his family all the time he is living a worldly and careless life.

IV. THE DOOM OF THE UNFRUITFUL BRANCH. It is one proof, among many, of Gods willingness to save, that he announces punishment before He executes it. None are led blindfold to justice. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away. This is fulfilled variously. It is sometimes in the loss of capacity. Then there is Death. This is common to man as the penally of sin; but to different men, how different! Whatever heaven is, and its glory is inexpressible, such are taken away from it; whatever hell is, and its dolefulness, as described by Christ, no darkness can paint, they are taken away to it. (J. Viney.)

Every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it

A sharp knife for the vine branches

I. THE TEXT SUGGESTS SELF-EXAMINATION. It mentions

1. Two characters who are in some respects exceedingly alike; they are both branches, and are in the vine: and yet for all this, the end of the one shall be to be cast away, while the end of the other shall be to bring forth fruit.

2. The distinction between them. The first branch brought forth no fruit; the second branch bore some fruit. We have no right to judge of our neighbours motives and thoughts, except so far as they may be clearly discoverable by their actions and words. The interior we must leave with God, but the exterior we may judge. By their fruits ye shall know them. Paul has given us a list of these fruits in Gal_5:23. Say, professor, hast thou brought forth the fruit love? etc. It is so easy for us to wrap ourselves up in the idea that attention to religious ceremonies is the test, but it is not so, for Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, etc.

3. The solemn difference between them leads to a solemn result.

(1) Sometimes God allows the professor to apostatise.

(2) Or else he is allowed to fall into open sin.

(3) Some have been taken away in a more terrible sense by death.

II. CONVEYS INSTRUCTION. The fruit-bearing branches are not perfect. If they were, they would not need pruning. Whenever the sap within them is strong, there is a tendency for that strength to turn into evil. The gardener desires to see that strength in clusters, but alas! instead it runs into wood. When the sap comes into a Christian to produce confidence in God, through the evil that is in him, it often produces confidence in himself. When the sap would produce zeal, how very frequently it turns into rashness. Suppose the sap flows to produce self-examination, very generally, instead of the man doubting himself, he begins to doubt his Lord. How often have I seen even the joy of the Lord turned into pride. That love which we ought to bear towards our neighbours, how apt is that to run into love of the world! Gentleness often turns to a silly compliance with everybodys whim, and meekness, which is a fruit of the Spirit, how often that becomes an excuse for holding your tongue, when you ought boldly to speak!

2. Pruning is the lot of all the fruitful saints. It is generally thought that our trials and troubles purge us: I am not sure of that, they certainly are lost upon some. It is the word (verse 3) that prunes the Christian. Affliction is the handle of the knife, the grindstone that sharpens up the Word; the dresser which removes our soft garments, and lays bare the diseased flesh, so that the surgeons lancet may get at it. Affliction makes us ready to feel the word, but the true pruner is the word in the hand of the Great Husbandman. Sometimes when you lay stretched upon the bed of sickness, you think more upon the word than you did before, that is one great thing. In the next place, you see more the applicability of that word to yourself. In the third place, the Holy Spirit makes you feel more, while you are thus laid aside, the force of the word than you did before.

3. The object in this pruning is never condemnatory. God chastises, but He cannot punish those for whom Jesus Christ has been already punished. You have no right to say, when a man is afflicted, that it is because he has done wrong; on the contrary, just the branch that is good for something gets the pruning knife. It is because the Lord loves His people that He chastens them.

4. The real reason is that more fruit may be produced.

(1) In quantity. A good man, who feels the power of the word pruning him of this and that superfluity, sets to work to do more for Jesus. Before he was afflicted he did not know how to be patient. Before he was poor he did not know how to be humble, etc.

(2) In variety. One tree can only produce one kind of fruit usually, but the Lords people, the more they are pruned the more they will produce.

(3) In quality. The man may not pray more, but he will pray more earnestly.

5. What greater blessing can a man have than to produce much fruit for God? Better to serve God much than to become a prince.

III. INVITES MEDITATION.

1. If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the wicked appear?

2. What a mercy it is to the believer that it is pruning with him and not cutting off!

3. Think how gently the pruning has been done with the most of us up till now, compared with our barrenness.

4. How earnestly we ought to seek for more fruit.

5. How concerned should every one of us be to be efficaciously and truly one with Christ! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Hard times, Gods pruning knife

(Thanksgiving Sermon)

I. TODAY WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL because

1. Hard as the times are, they might be worse.

2. The times are not so hard as we deserve.

3. They are not so hard as we represent.

II. WHAT WE CALL HARD TIMES ARE THE BEST FOR US.

1. Good for mans physical nature. The frugality and self-control they induce are precisely what the athlete practices.

2. Good for his intellectual nature. No great genius ever daudled into inspiration.

3. Good for his moral nature. They remove the excrescences of

(1) Covetousness.

(2) Luxury.

(3) Indolence.

III. THE RESULT WILL BE BETTER FRUIT.

1. A new style or higher type of manhood.

2. A higher type of politics. Hard times teach befooled people to think, and to rise above party dictations.

3. A higher type of religion. God has ever developed the higher Christian life in times of trial.

IV. AFTER ALL, THE PRUNING KNIFE IS ONLY ONE OF THE IMPLEMENTS OF CULTURE. Soft rain and genial sunshine are the larger experience of the vine. And so even in hard times our afflictions are not one to a thousand of our blessings. (C. D. Wadsworth, D. D.)

Pruning, a reason for gratitude

Brambles certainly have a fine time of it, and grow after their own pleasure. We have seen their long shoots reaching far and wide, and no knife has threatened them as they luxuriated upon the commons and waste lands. The poor vine is cut down so closely that little remains of it but bare stems. Yet, when clearing time comes, and the brambles are heaped for their burning, who would not rather be the vine? (C. D. Wadsworth, D. D.)

Means of fruitfulness

The word translated purgeth is kathairo, which includes all the means that are necessary to develop the fruitfulness of the plant, and the removal of all hindrances. It means to purify the ground and prepare it for sowing, by removing weeds and rubbish--to winnow the corn, to separate the chaff from the wheat. Its root idea is purity, freedom from all that is foul, false, useless, or noxious. It is interesting to notice the close resemblance that exists between the word kathairo, to purge, and kathaireo, to destroy. The addition of one letter makes the one word to mean a very different thing from the other. And so there is a resemblance between the purging of the fruitful branches and the taking away of the unfruitful ones. In the garden during spring, the process of digging the ground, cutting the roots and branches, seems purely a process of destruction; but in the added beauty of summer and the richer fruitfulness of autumn, it is seen to be a remedial and constructive process. And so the means which God employs to promote the fertility of His own people seem so like those which He employs to punish the wicked, that the righteous are not seldom perplexed. In considering the means of fruitfulness, let us look at

I. THE NATURE OF THE SOIL in which believers are planted.

1. Some of the finest grapes are produced on volcanic soil. From the rich red mould into which lava is disintegrated when long exposed to the weather, the vine draws the juices that form the largest and most generous clusters. The passion of the soil, as it were, passes into the produce. Palestine, the native country of the vine, exhibits, for its size, more than any other country, evidences of extraordinary geological convulsions. These features were paralleled by the historical revolutions which were intended to make Israel the true vine of the Lord. And so it is in the experience of every nation that is intended to produce much fruit. Africa, with its uniform geology and its monotonous history, has done little for mankind compared with Europe, whose geology and history are exceedingly varied and complicated. It is as true of individuals as of nations, that because they have no changes, they do not fear God or prosper. But God plants His vines amid fiery trials, where they are exposed to constant temptations, lava floods of the wrath and malice of the Adversary and of wicked men. Since the ground beneath them is insecure, and liable to constant convulsive shocks, they are thereby induced to set their affections more firmly on things above, and to walk as pilgrims and strangers on earth.

2. The influence of external circumstances upon objects so plastic as plants is confessedly very powerful, leading often to great modifications of form, structure, and substance. Hence the endless variety of grapes and wines of different countries. A similar modification in the character of the growth and fruit of the Christian is caused by the circumstances in which Gods providence places him. One thing, amid all the changes of his circumstances, the Christian can command if he will--and that is the sunlight of Gods countenance. He does not, however, always avail himself of it. And hence, as the spice trees in our hot houses are destitute of aromatic taste, because we cannot supply them with the brilliant direct sunshine of their native skies, so the Christian, amid all the privileges of the Church, is often destitute of the rich aromatic fragrance of spiritual joy, because he seeks to make up, by the heat of forced spiritual emotion originating in himself, for the full, bright, joyous sunshine that beams from Gods face.

3. Under this head may be noticed the discipline of lifes daily work as one of the means of developing Christian fruitfulness. Like the vine, the Christian requires to be trained along the trellis of formal duties and orderly habits.

4. I may also notice the fact, that Gods tenderest vines are often placed in the most trying circumstances. It seems a strange appointment of nature, that the growing points of all trees should be their weakest and most delicate parts. So it is with Gods own people. Many of the most delicate and sensitive of them have to bear the full brunt of lifes storms. Tender women have often to withstand the severest shocks of circumstances. The sorest trials often meet the Christian at the beginning of his course. He puts forth the tenderest growths of his nature often into the biting air of doubt, and fear, and despondency. But it is good thus to bear the yoke in our youth. The elasticity and hopefulness of the young Christian can overcome trials which would crush the more aged and less buoyant. And the very patience and tenderness of those sensitive ones, who have to bear greater hardships and evils, disarm these evils of their bitterness, and turn them to profitable uses.

II. PRUNING IS ONE OF THE MOST COMMON METHODS BY WHICH INCREASED FRUITFULNESS IS PRODUCED. No plant requires more pruning than the vine. So bountiful is its sap, so vigorous its vital force, that we are amazed at the abundance of superfluous growth which it annually produces. In order to adapt it to our conditions of cultivation we must systematically cripple and restrict it in every part.

1. The head, or leading shoots, are carefully broken off; and the long, luxuriant, lateral shoots are cut back to a few joints.

2. But besides the pruning of the suckers on the branch the branch itself is sometimes pruned. In almost every branch, owing to deficiency of light and heat, or overcrowding, many of the buds that are put forth every year become dormant. Some of these torpid buds retain a sufficient amount of vitality to carry them forward through the annually deposited layers of wood and bark; so that they still continue to maintain their position visibly, year after year, on the outside of the bark. In most instances, however, they are too feeble to keep pace with the onward growth of the branch; and, in that case, they fall behind, necessarily sink below the surface, and become buried beneath succeeding annual deposits of wood and bark. The branch, instead of developing them, employs the sap which ought to have gone for that purpose, into growing fresh shoots. But the gardener comes, and with his sharp pruning knife lops off these useless suckers; and the consequence is, that in a little while the sap goes back to the dormant buds and stimulates their slumbering vitality. And so God prunes every branch in the True Vine for two reasons; first, in order to remove rank and useless qualities; and, secondly, to develop latent graces. In no Christian is there an harmonious spiritual growth, a perfect expansion from a perfect germ in childhood. On the contrary, growth in grace in us is always unsymmetrical. Solid and valuable qualities are united with weak, worthless ones; graces that charm by their beauty lie side by side with defects that repel by their deformity. Some graces, also, are dormant in the soul, repressed by unfavourable circumstances of continued prosperity, or starved by the over-development of other graces. Some besetting sins, such as irritability, covetousness, worldliness, pride, impatience, are allowed to grow up and exhaust in their noxious growth the life of the soul. Now, to repress the evil and stimulate the good qualities of His people, God subjects them to the pruning of His providence. But, the pruning of Gods providence would be very unsatisfactory did it only lop off noxious qualities, mortify easily besetting sins. Such injurious growths may be repressed by affliction, but unless the discipline develops the opposite good qualities, they will spring up anew, and make matters worse than before. Spiritual graces must be developed in their room. In order to get rid of worldly mindedness, spirituality of mind must be cultivated; covetousness will only yield to a larger experience of the Love that for our sakes became poor: anger will only be extirpated by meekness, and pride by humility.

3. But we must be guarded against the idea that affliction of itself can develop the fruitfulness of the Christian life. We find that in the fruit tree the pruning is only of use when there are latent or open buds to develop. And so, unless we have Christian life and Christian capabilities, affliction, so far from doing us good, will only harden and injure us. But, while affliction cannot impart spiritual life, there are instances in which God uses it to quicken the soul dead in trespasses and sins. And here, too, we find an analogy in nature. The buds of plants almost always grow in the axil--the vacant angle between the leaf and the stem, where the hard, resisting bark which everywhere else invests the surface of the plant, is more easily penetrated, and allows the growing tissues to expand more easily. The axil is, so to speak, the joint in the armour of the stem. Now, a wound is virtually an axil, for the continuity of the surface is there broken, and consequently, the resistance of the external investiture diminished. Now, we all invest ourselves with a strong, resisting envelope of pride, worldliness and carelessness. Our property, our friends, our reputation, our comfort, all form a kind of outer crust of selfishness, which prevents our spiritual growth. But God removes our property or our friends, blights our reputation, destroys our carnal ease, and by the wound thus made in our selfish life an axil is formed, from whence springs up the bud of a new and holier growth.

4. There is one process of unusual severity which the gardener has recourse to in cases of obstinate sterility. The barren branch is girdled or ringed--that is, a narrow strip of its bark is removed all round the branch. The juices elaborated by the leaves are arrested in their downward course, and accumulated in the part above the ring, which is thus enabled to produce fruit abundantly; while the shoots that appear below the ring, being fed only by the crude ascending sap, do not bear flowers, but push forth into leafy branches. The prophet Joel says, He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree. Many Christians are ringed to prevent the earthward tendencies of their souls, and enable them to accumulate and concentrate all the heavenly influences which they receive in bringing forth more fruit. Their present life is separated from their past by some terrible crisis of suffering, which has altered everything to their view, which has been in itself a transformation, and has accomplished in a day, in an hour, in a moment, what else is effected only by the gradual process of years. The lot that is thus halved may be more useful than in its full and joyful completeness. Ceasing to draw its nourishment from broken cisterns of earthly love, the lonely branch, separated from its happy past, depends more upon the unfailing clue and sunshine of heavenly love.

5. Sometimes even the roots of the vine require to be dug about and cut short. There is a correspondence between the horizontal extension of the branches in the air and the lateral spreading of the roots in the earth. For this reason the roots require pruning no less than the branches. If they are allowed to develop too luxuriantly, the branches will keep pace with them, only they will be barren. We are prone to root ourselves too firmly in the rich soil of our circumstances, to spread our roots far and wide in search of what shall minister to our love of ease and pleasure. But God digs about us. Our circumstances crumble away about our roots; the things and the persons in which we trusted prove as unstable as a sand heap on a slope. But, from roots bare and exposed, or cut off and circumscribed by uncongenial soil, we should seek to develop a higher beauty and richness of character.

6. The leaves also need sometimes to be taken away, as superabundant foliage would shade the fruit and prevent the sunshine from getting access to it to ripen it. So the fruit of the Christian is sometimes prevented from ripening or filling out properly by the superabundance of the leaves of profession. There may be more profession than practice, more of the rustling foliage than of the silent fruit. The most common fault of believers is letting their profession of the Christian life run ahead of their experience. Not more necessary are the leaves of a natural tree to the production of the fruit, than the profession of a Christian is to the formation of the Christian character. But God, by some appropriate discipline, regulates what leaves of profession should be stripped off and what leaves should remain.

7. Many of the tendrils of the vine require to be nipped off, in order that no sap may be wasted, or diverted from the fruit. If left to itself, the vine would put forth a tendril at every alternate joint; for it would seek to climb to the top of the highest tree. In like manner, it is necessary that the excessive upward tendency of some Christians should he restricted, in order that the common duties, and the homely concerns of ordinary life--which in their own sphere are equally important--may not be neglected.

8. The fruit itself must be thinned. The gardener prunes the cluster of grapes when young and tender, in order that the berries which are allowed to remain may be larger and finer. In the Christian life there must be concentration of effort, conservation of force. Much moral energy is spent without effect on a multiplicity of objects, which, if husbanded and focussed on a few of the most important, would lead to far greater results.

9. It has been observed that the hues of the sunbeam which the growing plant does not reflect at one time are absorbed, like a stream running underground for a while, and reappear in some after part. So is it with Gods discipline of His people. Much of it may seem to be void and lost--to make no adequate return; but in some part or other of the life the effect of it is seen. If it fails to manifest itself in the leaf, it comes out in the blossom or fruit.

10. It may happen, however, that the purging, whose various forms and relations I have thus considered, may be here, and the fruition in eternity. Christians are placed in an unfavourable climate. Tropical by nature, they have been carried, like a wind-wafted seed, into a temperate zone, and have striven in vain to grow and flower among the hardy plants around them. But it is a comforting thought, that what bears about it here the marks of incompleteness, and to our eyes the appearance of failure, belongs essentially to some vaster whole.

III. ANOTHER METHOD OF PURGING THE BRANCH IS FREEING IT FROM ITS ENEMIES. The natural vine, owing to its rich productiveness, is peculiarly exposed to the attacks of numerous foes which prey upon it.

1. A species of vegetable parasite not unfrequently assails it, called the dodder. This strange plant is a mere mass of elastic, pale red, knotted threads, which shoot out in all directions over the vine. It springs originally from the ground, and if it finds no living plant near on which to graft itself, it withers and dies; but if there be a vine or any other useful plant within its reach, it surrounds the stem in a very little time, and henceforth lives on the fostering plant by its suckers only, the original root in the ground becoming dried up. The dodder is exceedingly injurious to the plants it attacks, depriving them of their nourishment, and strangling them in its folds. Can we imagine a more striking natural emblem of the law of sin and death with which the believer has to contend, and from which he longs for deliverance? We can only hope to prevent the dodder growing and spreading by perpetually breaking and dividing its stalks before they have time to fruit; and we can only hope to keep down the remains of corruption within us by incessant effort, watchfulness, and prayer; not allowing them to develop into fruit and seed. How blessed will be the deliverance when this terrible despoiler of our peace and usefulness is finally and completely removed from us, when we are saved forever from the power and presence of that sin from whose guilt the blood of Christ has freed us!

2. Every one has heard of the terrible grape mildew which, on its first appearance, utterly destroyed the vineyards in many parts of the world, and still annually reappears to levy its tax upon the vine grower. In consists of a fungus, whose growth spreads a white, downy mould over the surface of the grape, checking its development, and converting its pulp into a sour and watery mass of decay. But it does no harm unless the conditions of its germination exists--which are cold, wet seasons, with little sunshine--in which case it starts into life, and grows with inconceivable rapidity, spreading ruin on every side. To a species of moral mildew the fruit of the Christian is also exposed. In cold seasons, when clouds of unbelief rise up between the soul and the Sun of Righteousness, intercepting His light, this mildew is peculiarly destructive. It is a very solemn thought, that the spiritual atmosphere is full of the devices of the Prince of the power of the air--that the existence of another world of evil beyond our own world, makes all remissness on our part most dangerous.

3. In this country, the greatest pest of the vinery is the little red spider, whose movements over the leaves and fruit are exceedingly nimble, and which makes up by its vast numbers for its individual weakness. It punctures the fruit, sips its juice, and thus injures its appearance and quality. In the East, the land of the vine, the special foe of the vineyard is the fox. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes--or small grapes just out of blossom--says the beautiful Song of Solomon. These are fitting symbols of some weakness or infirmity of believers--some sin of temper or tongue--which, although it may not endanger their safety, will, nevertheless, greatly mar their peace. Peevishness, irritability, etc., may seem so small and trifling as to be hardly entitled to be called sins at all. They may be extenuated and explained away, but they are in reality red spiders--little foxes, that spoil the tender grapes of the soul.

4. There is a disease called rust, which makes its appearance on the berries of the vine a few days after they are out. It is supposed to be caused by handling the berries while thinning them. Our vines have indeed tender grapes. The beauty of holiness is easily blurred: self-consciousness rusts it; affectation brushes off the fine edge--the delicate beauty of the various graces.

5. Another disease known to gardeners is shanking, which makes its appearance just as the grapes are changing from the acid to the saccharine state, and arrests the transformation at once; the berry remaining perfectly acid, and at length shrivelling up. It begins in the decay of the little stem or shank of the berry, and is supposed to be caused by the roots of the vine descending into a cold, wet subsoil. How often, alas, is it true of the believer, that his fruit is shanked, remaining sour when it should become sweet and palatable! (H. Macmillan, D. D.)

Spiritual pruning

What is pruning? Whatever it be, two things are observable. It is effected by the husbandman, and applied to each. It is a pleasant thought that all the discipline is from the hand of our Father. There may indeed by which we are exercised be subordinate instruments, the wicked being Gods sword, but it is still the Lords doing. A work so important as the spiritual culture of His people He commits wholly to none. He pruneth, nor are any exempt. Every branch is the subject of pruning. As all need, so all have, discipline. In the deepest trial there has nothing happened to you but what is common to man. And why this? For greater fruitfulness. Not willingly, for wantonness, for pleasure, for any benefit the husbandman secures, but for fruit. The subject, then, is, Fruit as the result of affliction. Affliction! What a scene does this word open to view. It is well to bear in mind that it is confined to earth. There are whole races of beings who experimentally know not the meaning of the word, who never felt a pain, never breathed a sigh, never wept a tear; others to whom it is a thing of the past. How truthful in this, as in all other respects, is the Bible. How large a portion of the Scriptures is occupied with scenes and truths bearing on affliction! The terms by which it designates it, how various--adversity, correction, chastisement, calamity, distress, grief, judgment, stripes, smiting, trouble, visitation, are some of the literal expressions; while the figures of fire, water, the rod, the yoke, gall, wormwood, rough wind, sackcloth, ashes, and many others, are significantly employed as its symbols. You know, too, how deeply all the histories of the Bible are tinged by it: Job in the ashes, Jacob mourning his children, Joseph in the pit, Moses in the desert, David in the wilderness, the youths in the furnace, Daniel in the den--what are all these familiar tales of life, but scenes of affliction, showinghow it was experienced and borne? It is not of affliction, however, whether in fact or description, we have now to think, but of its fruit, the more fruit, which it is designed to produce, the peaceable fruit which afterward it yields.

1. Affliction deepens on the mind a sense of the reality of eternal things. It is said that after an earthquake, men tread more warily. The foundations having been shaken, a sense of insecurity is felt, which produces solemn impression.

2. Another valuable result of affliction is increased sense of the value of religion. When Israel passed through the desert they learnt, as they never otherwise could have done, the worth of many things--water, manna, guidance. As the dove beaten by the tempest to the sheltering ark, as the tossed disciples to the mighty One who walked on the billows, we repair to Christ. Certain colours require certain lights to show them. There are views of Christ as a Saviour, a Friend, a High Priest, an Example, which only the shadow of affliction could enable us to discern, but which, when once seen, remain forever upon the vision of the soul. So with Gods Word. To enjoy plaintive music or a minor key, a certain state of mind is requisite; and who but one in trial can fully enter into the deep bass of sorrow and wailing in the Lamentations or the Psalms. Prayer is another exercise of which affliction teaches the value. I will go and return unto My place till they seek My face, in their affliction they will seek Me early.

3. Another valuable effect of affliction is the cultivation and growth of the passive virtues. The importance and value of these we are apt to overlook. Constitutionally active, we are all prone to honour the more stirring graces rather than the gentler ones. By far the larger proportion are passive virtues. What are these? Patience, submission, acquiescence. To take away wilfulness, waywardness, self-determination, and suchlike natural excrescences, and thus secure the opposite growth, He prunes even the fruitful branch.

4. Another fruit of affliction is increasing fellowship with Christ. There are communications for which affliction is indispensable, and which the Saviour reserves for this season. To see the stars we require darkness. Certain flowers open only at night. The sweetest song is heard in the dusk. The most beautiful effect of colour requires a camera obscura, a darkened chamber. It is even thus with affliction. Would Abraham have heard the angel had it not been for the outstretched knife? And it is worth while to be afflicted to have such fruit as this. Is it necessary to pass through spiritual darkness and desertion in order to know the unchanging love of Christ.

5. Another result of sanctified affliction is increased desire for heaven. Such are some of the fruits of sanctified affliction. Some, not all. Each affliction comes with its special message, as well as its general one. Every branch has its own particular deformities, and these the pruning knife first cuts. It may be, too, that affliction sometimes comes specially with reference to others--is rather relative than personal. Trial may be vicarious. The child suffers for the parent, the sister for the brother, the minister for the people. Learn, then, to estimate affliction aright. Seek earnestly to get the benefit of affliction. Look through affliction to that which is beyond. (J. Viney.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:2. Every branch in me — True believers, who by faith have an interest in, and union with Christ, are the branches of the vine here spoken of. Though, as to the place of their abode, their religious sentiments in lesser matters, and their modes of worship, they may be distant from each other, yet they meet in Christ, their root and stock, and the centre of their unity. That beareth not fruit — Answerable to his advantages, fruit suitable to the relation in which he stands to me, and the union which by faith he has had with me: he whose faith in me and my gospel does not work or continue to work by love, and whose love does not continue to manifest itself by his obedience; he who does not bring forth, with constancy and perseverance, the internal and external fruits of the Spirit, namely, all goodness, righteousness, and truth, Eph 5:9; he taketh away — Such unfruitful branches the vine-dresser cuts off in his righteous judgment, and entirely separates them from me, depriving them of all the advantages for fruitfulness, which they derived, or might have derived, from their connection with me, and their reception of my truth and grace. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it — Or rather, pruneth it, cuts off from it every thing superfluous, and removes all the hinderances of its fruitfulness. Thus God, in the course of his providence, by various sufferings in the minds, bodies, families, circumstances, and situations of his people, and by his word, and their faith therein, and obedience thereto, (1Pe 1:22;) and by the influence of his Spirit, mortifies and destroys what is still corrupt in their affections and dispositions, with what remains in them of the carnal mind, and prevents their bearing fruit to perfection. That it may bring forth more fruit — Than it brought forth before, to God’s greater glory, the greater benefit of mankind, and their own greater progress in holiness here, and a fuller reward of felicity and glory hereafter. Dr. Campbell reads the verse, Every barren branch in me he loppeth off: every fruitful branch he cleaneth, by pruning, to render it more fruitful: remarking upon it as follows: “Critics have observed a verbal allusion or paronomasia in this verse. To the barren branch the word αιρει, [he loppeth off,] is applied; to the fruitful, καθαιρει, [he cleaneth by pruning.] It is not always possible in a version to preserve figures which depend entirely on the sound, or on the etymology of the words, though sometimes they are not without emphasis. This verse and the following afford a remarkable instance of this trope. As our Lord himself is here represented by the vine, his disciples are represented by the branches. The mention of the method which the dresser takes with the fruitful branches, in order to render them more fruitful, and which he expresses by the word καθαιρει, leads him to take notice of the state wherein the apostles, the principal branches, were at that time: ηδη υμεις καθαροι, &c., now are ye clean, &c. It is hardly possible not to consider the καθαιρει, applied to the branches, as giving occasion to this remark, which immediately follows it. Now, when the train of the thoughts arises in any degree from verbal allusions, it is of some consequence to preserve them, where it can be easily effected in a translation. It is for this reason that I have translated the word καθαιρει by a circumlocution, and said cleaneth by pruning. It is evident, that καθαιρει, in this application, means pruneth. But to have said in English, simply, pruneth, would have been to throw away the allusion, and make the thoughts appear more abrupt in the version than they do in the original; and to have said cleaneth, without adding any explanation, would have been obscure, or rather improper.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Every branch in me; i.e. this unity of life between me and mine is graciously handled by the Father my Father! The branches are of two kinds unfruitful and fruitful. The indefinite statement, in nominative absolute, calls great attention to it. "Every branch in me that beareth no fruit." Then it is possible to come into this organic relation with the true Vine, to be in it and to be a part of it, and to bring forth no fruit. If it were not for Ver. 5 we might say that these branches were nations, customs, institutions, and the like; but the context forbids it. The relation to him must therefore be one that is insufficient to secure life, or fruit, or continuance. Baptized, communicating, professing, partially believing Christians there may be in abundance, who, though in him, yet cannot continue in him. (See stony ground, thorny ground, and unripe ears, of the parable of the sower; and the bad fish caught in the net. (Mt 13 1Jn_2:19, etc.) He taketh away. (cf. John the Baptist: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down," Mat_3:10; and Deu_32:32 Mic_7:1) What is done with the valueless prunings is said afterwards. Every branch that beareth fruit, he pruneth (or, cleanseth), that it may bring forth more fruit. Let the non-reappearance of en emoi be observed. The suavis rhythmus of Bengel is a mere accidental touch. The words airei and kayairei rhyme with each other; but the latter word is not connected with kayairew , a compound of airew , nor is it equivalent to katairei , the true compound of kata with airw ; but it is derived from kayarov , clean, and means "to cleanse with libations," and perhaps "to prune with the knife." The Husbandman aims at more fruit, more of meekness, gentleness, love, and faithfulness, in fact, all those fruits of the Spirit enumerated in Gal_5:22, Gal_5:23. The word klhma , used for "branch" in these verses, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The word kladov , elsewhere used, (Mat_13:32 Mat_21:8 Mat_24:32 Mar_4:32 13:28 Rom_11:16-21) means the smaller "branches" of a tree. The term means here vine-branch, the essential constituent elements of the vine itself, and is so used in Aristophanes, Aeschines, and Theophrastus. (see LXX, Eze_15:2)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

purgeth

Three conditions of the fruitful life: Cleansing, Joh 15:2; Joh 15:3. (See Scofield "Joh 13:10"), abiding, See Scofield "Joh 15:4", obedience, Joh 15:4; Joh 15:10; Joh 15:12 (See "Law of Christ,") Gal 6:2. See Scofield "2Jn 1:5".

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:2-3 Gardeners cut away dead branches and trim healthy branches so they will produce more fruit. Fruitfulness is the result of life-giving connection to the vine.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 15:2. Κλῆμα, branch) A most delightful simile, Rom 6:5; Rom 11:17-18; 1Co 3:6-7.—αἴρει· καθαίρει) A sweet rhythm (similarity of sounds), even though καθαίρω does not come, as if it were καταίρω, from αἴρω. Καθαίρω is an expression θεία καὶ σεμνὴ, of a divine and solemn character, among the ancients, as Eustathius observes. Our heavenly Father requires that all things should be ‘clean’ (καθαρὰ) and ‘fruit-bearing.’ Cleanness and fruitfulness mutually assist one another.—τὸ) Emphatic. The other clause, viz. μὴ φέρον, has no article, as this has, πᾶν τὸ καρπὸν φέρον.[357]—πλείονα more abundant) Those excrescences which are redundant are taken away by internal and external affliction: by those very means the fruit is increased. [But if thou shouldest be unwilling that the things which are bad should be taken away from thee, it will become necessary that thou thyself shouldest be taken away.—V. g.]

[357] “Every non-fruit-bearing branch; every branch which beareth fruit—every such branch as that which beareth fruit.”—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_15:2. As on the natural vine there are fruitful and unfruitful branches (i.e. tendrils, Plat. Rep. p. 353 A; Pollux, vii. 145), so there are in the fellowship of Christ such as evince their faith by deed as by faiths fruit, and those amongst whom this is not the case.

The latter, who are not, with Hengstenberg, to be taken for the unbelieving Jews (as is already clear from ἐν ἐμοί and from Joh_15:5), but for the lip-Christians and those who say Lord! Lord! (comp. those who believe without love, 1 Corinthians 13), God separates from the fellowship of Christ, which act is conceived from the point of view of divine retribution (comp. the thing, according to another figure, Joh_8:35); the former He causes to experience His purging influence, in order that their life of faith may increase in moral practical manifestation and efficiency. This purification is effected by means of temptations and sufferings, not solely, but by other things along with these.

πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοί] Nominat. absol. as in Joh_1:12, Joh_6:39, Joh_17:2, with weighty emphasis.

αἴρει] takes it away with the pruning-knife. It forms with καθαίρει a suavis rhythmus, Bengel.

τὸ καρπ. φέρ.] which bears fruit; but previously μή φέρ.: if it does not bear.

καθαίρ.] He cleanses, prunes. Figure of the moral καθαρισμός,continually necessary even for the approved Christian,through the working of divine grace, Joh_13:10.

For a political view of the community under the figure of the vine, see in Aesch. adv. Ctesiph. 166; Beck.: ἀμπελουργοῦσί τινες τὴν πόλιν, ἀνατετμήκασί τινες τὰ κλήματα τὰ τοῦ δήμου.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:2 . The function of the vinedresser is at once described: πᾶν κλῆμα … φέρῃ . κλῆμα , or more fully as in Xen., Oecon. , xix. 8, κλῆμα ἀμπέλου , is the shoot of the vine which is annually put forth. It is from κλάω , “I break,” as also is κλάδος , but Wetstein quotes Pollux to show that κλάδος was appropriated to the shoots of the olive, while κλῆμα signified a vine-shoot. Of these shoots there are two kinds, the fruitless, which the vine-dresser αἴρει : “Inutilesque falce ramos amputans,” Hor. Epod. , ii. 13; the fruitful, which He καθαίρει [“suavis rhythmus,” Bengel]. The full meaning of αἴρει is described in Joh 15:6 : καθαίρει here denotes especially the pruning requisite for concentrating the vigour of the tree on the one object, ἵνα πλείονα καρπὸν φέρῃ , that it may continually surpass itself, and yield richer and richer results. The vine-dresser spares no pains and no material on his plants, but all for the sake of fruit. [ Cf. Cicero, De Senec. , xv. 53.] The use of καθαίρει was probably determined by the καθαροί of Joh 15:3 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. κλῆμα. Occurs here only (Joh 15:2-6) in N.T. In classical Greek it is specially used of the vine. Κλάδος (Mat 13:32; Mat 21:8; Mat 24:32; Mar 4:32; Mar 13:28; Luk 13:9; Rom 11:16-21) is the smaller branch of any tree. So that κλῆμα itself, independently of the context, fixes the meaning of the allegory. Every vine-branch, every one who is by origin a Christian, if he continues such by origin only, and bears no fruit, is cut off. The allegory takes no account of the branches of other trees: neither Jews nor heathen are included. These could not be called κλήματ ἐν ἐμοῖ. Note the casus pendens in both clauses. Comp. Joh 6:39, Joh 7:38; 1Jn 2:24; 1Jn 2:27; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:12; Rev 3:21.

καθαίρει. He cleanseth it. Mark the connexion with καθαροί in Joh 15:3. The play between αἴρει and καθαίρει is perhaps intentional; but cannot be reproduced in English. Καθαίρειν means freeing from excrescences and useless shoots which are a drain on the branch for nothing. The Eleven are now to be cleansed by suffering.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit . . . every branch that beareth fruit--As in a fruit tree, some branches may be fruitful, others quite barren, according as there is a vital connection between the branch and the stock, or no vital connection; so the disciples of Christ may be spiritually fruitful or the reverse, according as they are vitally and spiritually connected with Christ, or but externally and mechanically attached to Him. The fruitless He "taketh away" (see on Joh 15:6); the fruitful He "purgeth" (cleanseth, pruneth)--stripping it, as the husbandman does, of what is rank (Mar 4:19), "that it may bring forth more fruit"; a process often painful, but no less needful and beneficial than in the natural husbandry.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. Every branch in me] I stand in the same relation to my followers, and they to me, as the vine to the branches, and the branches to the vine.

He taketh away] As the vine-dresser will remove every unfruitful branch from the vine, so will my Father remove every unfruitful member from my mystical body - such as Judas, the unbelieving Jews, the apostatizing disciples, and all false and merely nominal Christians, who are attached to the vine by faith in the word and Divine mission of Christ, while they live not in his life and Spirit, and bring forth no fruit to the glory of God; and also every branch which has been in him by true faith-such as have given way to iniquity, and made shipwreck of their faith and of their good conscience: all these he taketh away.

He purgeth it] He pruneth. The branch which bears not fruit, the husbandman αερειαυτο, taketh IT away; but the branch that beareth fruit, καθαιρει αυτο, he taketh away FROM it, i.e. he prunes away excrescences, and removes every thing that might hinder its increasing fruitfulness. The verb καθαιρω; from κατα, intens. and αιρω, I take away, signifies ordinarily to cleanse, purge, purify, but is certainly to be taken in the sense of pruning, or cutting off, in this text, as the verb purgare is used by HORACE, Epist. lib. i. ep. vii. v. 51.

Cultello proprios purgantem leniter ungues.

"Composedly PARING his own nails with a penknife."

He who brings forth fruit to God's glory, according to his light and power, will have the hinderances taken away from his heart; for his very thoughts shall be cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit As some men corrupt the grace of God, others suppress it maliciously, and others choke it by carelessness, Christ intends by these words to awaken anxious inquiry, by declaring that all the branches which shall be unfruitful will be cut off from the vine But here comes a question. Can any one who is engrafted into Christ be without fruit? I answer, many are supposed to be in the vine, according to the opinion of men, who actually have no root in the vine Thus, in the writings of the prophets, the Lord calls the people of Israel his vine, because, by outward profession, they had the name of The Church.

And every branch that beareth, fruit he pruneth. By these words, he shows that believers need incessant culture that they may be prevented from degenerating; and that they produce nothing good, unless God continually apply his hand; for it will not be enough to have been once made partakers of adoption, if God do not continue the work of his grace in us. He speaks of pruning or cleansing, because our flesh abounds in superfluities and destructive vices, and is too fertile in producing them, and because they grow and multiply without end, if we are not cleansed or pruned by the hand of God. When he says that vines are pruned, that they may yield more abundant fruit, he shows what ought to be the progress of believers in the course of true religion?

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.—The two chief duties of the vine-dresser, cutting off all fruitless tendrils, and cleansing those that bear fruit, supply illustrations of the training of human souls by the Divine Husbandman. We are not to interpret these words, as they frequently have been interpreted, of the unbelieving world, or of the Jews; but of Christians in name, who claim to be branches of the true vine. These the Husbandman watcheth day by day; He knoweth them, and readeth the inner realities of their lives, and every one that is fruitless He taketh away.

And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it.—Better, he cleanseth it. (Comp. Heb_1:3.) This means in the natural vine the cutting off of shoots which run to waste, and the removal of every excrescence which hinders the growth of the branch. It means in the spiritual training the checking of natural impulses and affections, and the removal of everything, even though it be by a pang sharp as the edge of the pruner’s knife, which can misdirect or weaken the energy of the spiritual life, and thus diminish its fruitfulness. A vine which has been pruned—here a tendril cut off, and there one bent back—here a shoot that seemed of fairest promise to the unskilled eye unsparingly severed by the vine-dresser, who sees it is worthless—here a branch, in itself good, made to yield its place to one that is better, and itself trained to fill another place—such is the familiar picture of the natural vine—such, also, to a wisdom higher than ours, is the picture of human life.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. Every branch] The word for ‘branch’ in these six verses occurs here only in N.T., and in classical Greek is specially used of the vine. The word used in the other Gospels (Mat_13:32; Mat_21:8; Mat_24:32; Mar_4:32; Mar_13:28; Luk_13:9), and in Rom_11:16-21, is of the same origin (from ‘to break’) but of more general meaning,—the smaller branch of any tree. So that the very word used, independently of the context, fixes the meaning of the allegory. It is every vine-branch, i.e. every one who is by origin a Christian. If they continue such by origin only, and give forth no fruit, they are cut off. The allegory takes no account of the branches of other trees: neither Jews nor heathen are included. Christ would not have called them branches ‘in Me.’

he taketh away] Literally, He taketh it away; in both clauses we have a nominativus pendens.

he purgeth it] Better, He cleanseth it, in order to bring out the connexion with ‘ye are clean’ (Joh_15:3). The Greek words rendered ‘purgeth’ and ‘clean’ are from the same root. There is also a similarity of sound between the Greek words for ‘taketh away’ and ‘cleanseth,’ like ‘bear and forbear’ in English (airei and kathairei). This may be intentional, but it cannot be reproduced in translation. By cleansing is meant freeing from excrescences and useless shoots which are a drain on the branch for nothing. The eleven were now to be cleansed by suffering.

bring forth] Better, as before, bear.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit,.... There are two sorts of branches in Christ the vine; the one sort are such who have only an historical faith in him, believe but for a time, and are removed; they are such who only profess to believe in him, as Simon Magus did; are in him by profession only; they submit to outward ordinances, become church members, and so are reckoned to be in Christ, being in a church state, as the churches of Judea and Thessalonica, and others, are said, in general, to he in Christ; though it is not to be thought that every individual person in these churches were truly and savingly in him. These branches are unfruitful ones; what fruit they seemed to have, withers away, and proves not to be genuine fruit; what fruit they bring forth is to themselves, and not to the glory of God, being none of the fruits of his Spirit and grace: and such branches the husbandman

taketh away; removes them from that sort of being which they had in Christ. By some means or another he discovers them to the saints to be what they are; sometimes he suffers persecution to arise because of the word, and these men are quickly offended, and depart of their own accord; or they fall into erroneous principles, and set up for themselves, and separate from the churches of Christ; or they become guilty of scandalous enormities, and so are removed from their fellowship by excommunication; or if neither of these should be the case, but these tares should grow together with the wheat till the harvest, the angels will be sent forth, who will gather out of the kingdom of God all that offend and do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire, as branches withered, and fit to be burnt.

And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. These are the other sort of branches, who are truly and savingly in Christ; such as are rooted in him; to whom he is the green fir tree, from whom all their fruit is found; who are filled by him with all the fruits of his Spirit, grace, and righteousness. These are purged or pruned, chiefly by afflictions and temptations, which are as needful for their growth and fruitfulness, as the pruning and cutting of the vines are for theirs; and though these are sometimes sharp, and never joyous, but grievous, yet they are attended with the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and so the end of bringing forth more fruit is answered; for it is not enough that a believer exercise grace, and perform good works for the present, but these must remain; or he must be constant herein, and still bring forth fruit, and add one virtue to another, that it may appear he is not barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ, in whom he is implanted. These different acts of the vinedresser "taking away" some branches, and "purging" others, are expressed by the Misnic doctors (p) by and The former, the commentators (q) say, signifies to cut off the branches that are withered and perished, and are good for nothing; and the latter signifies the pruning of the vine when it has a superfluity of branches, or these extend themselves too far; when some are left, and others taken off.

(p) Misn. Sheviith, c, 2. sect. 3. (q) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Ver. 2. Every branch in me] That thinks himself to be in me, and is so thought to be by others, but proves not to be so. These are said to "deny the Lord that bought them, to trample on the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, to wallow in the mire from which they had been washed," 2Pe 2:1; 2Pe 2:22 Heb 10:20. So here, to be branches in Christ, and yet unfruitful. Not that they ever were in Christ, but seemed to be so; as a pole fixed in the earth, but not rooted; as a rotten leg cleaves to the body, but is no part of it; or, as warts and ulcers, which are taken away without loss to it.

He purgeth it] Αιρει, καθαιρει, Amputat, putat. Of all possessions, saith Cato, none requires more pains about it than that of vineyards. Grain comes up and grows without the husbandman’s care, Mar 4:27, he knows not how. But vines must be dressed, supported, sheltered, pruned every day almost; lopped they must be ever and anon, lest the juice be spent in leaves. And if it be painful to bleed, it is worse to wither. Better be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Every branch in me - Everyone that is a true follower of me, that is united to me by faith, and that truly derives grace and strength from me, as the branch does from the vine. The word “branch” includes all the boughs, and the smallest tendrils that shoot out from the parent stalk. Jesus here says that he sustains the same relation to his disciples that a parent stalk does to the branches; but this does not denote any physical or incomprehensible union. It is a union formed by believing on him; resulting from our feeling our dependence on him and our need of him; from embracing him as our Saviour, Redeemer, and Friend. We become united to him in all our interests, and have common feelings, common desires, and a common destiny with him. We seek the same objects, are willing to encounter the same trials, contempt, persecution, and want, and are desirous that his God shall be ours, and his eternal abode ours. It is a union of friendship, of love, and of dependence; a union of weakness with strength; of imperfection with perfection; of a dying nature with a living Saviour; of a lost sinner with an unchanging Friend and Redeemer. It is the most tender and interesting of all relations, but not more mysterious or more physical than the union of parent and child, of husband and wife Eph 5:23, or friend and friend.

That beareth not fruit - As the vinedresser will remove all branches that are dead or that bear no fruit, so will God take from his church all professed Christians who give no evidence by their lives that they are truly united to the Lord Jesus. He here refers to such cases as that of Judas, the apostatizing disciples, and all false and merely nominal Christians (Dr. Adam Clarke).

He taketh away - The vine-dresser cuts it off. God removes such in various ways:

1.By the discipline of the church.

2.By suffering them to fall into temptation.

3.By persecution and tribulation, by the deceitfulness of riches, and by the cares of the world Mat 13:21-22; by suffering the man to be placed in such circumstances as Judas, Achan, and Ananias were such as to show what they were, to bring their characters fairly out, and to let it be seen that they had no true love to God.

4.By death, for God has power thus at any moment to remove unprofitable branches from the church.

Every branch that beareth fruit - That is, all true Christians, for all such bear fruit. To bear fruit is to show by our lives that we are under the influence of the religion of Christ, and that that religion produces in us its appropriate effects, Gal 5:22-23. Notes, Mat 7:16-20. It is also to live so as to be useful to others, As a vineyard is worthless unless it bears fruit that may promote the happiness or subsistence of man, so the Christian principle would be worthless unless Christians should live so that others may be made holy and happy by their example and labors, and so that the world may be brought to the cross of the Saviour.

He purgeth it - Or rather he prunes it, or cleanses it by pruning. There is a use of words here - a paronomasia - in the original which cannot be retained in the translation. It may be imperfectly seen by retaining the Greek words “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away αἴρει airei; every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it καθαίρει kathairei; now ye are clean καθαροί katharoi,” etc. The same Greek word in different forms is still retained. God purifies all true Christians so that they may be more useful. He takes away that which hindered their usefulness; teaches them; quickens them; revives them; makes them more pure in motive and in life. This he does by the regular influences of his Spirit in sanctifying them, purifying their motives, teaching them the beauty of holiness, and inducing them to devote themselves more to him. He does it by taking away what opposes their usefulness, however much they may be attached to it, or however painful to part with it; as a vine-dresser will often feel himself compelled to lop off a branch that is large, apparently thrifty, and handsome, but which bears no fruit, and which shades or injures those which do. So God often takes away the property of his people, their children, or other idols. He removes the objects which bind their affections, and which render them inactive. He takes away the things around man, as he did the valued gourds of Jonah Jon 4:5-11, so that he may feel his dependence, and live more to the honor of God, and bring forth more proof of humble and active piety.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He here shews, that the virtuous themselves stand in need of the help of the husbandman; therefore the Almighty sends them tribulations, and temptations, that they may be cleansed, and rendered firm, like the vine, which, the more it is pruned, the more vigorous are its shoots. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lxxv. in Joan.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

And concerning his Father’s care, he tells us, that as the good vine dresser cutteth off those branches in the vine which bring forth no fruit, so his Father will take away such branches in him as bring forth no fruit. But here ariseth a question, viz. Whether, or how, any can be branches in Christ, and yet bring forth no fruit?

Answer.

1. Some say, there is no need of translating the words so, which may as well be translated, Every branch not bringing forth fruit in me. Indeed no true fruit can be brought forth but in Christ; but yet much that looks like fruit, much that men may call fruit, may be brought forth without any true spiritual union with Christ. All acts of moral discipline, or any acts of formal profession in religion, may be brought forth without any true root and foundation in Christ; and God will in the end discover and cut off those who bring forth no other fruit. But:

2. Men may be said to be branches in him, by a sacramental implantation, being baptized into him, Rom 6:3; and are hereby members of the visible church, and make a visible profession of adhering to him, with respect to their own good opinion and persuasions of themselves, though they be not so in respect of any true, spiritual, and real implantation. But those who in the last sense are not in him, bring forth no fruit unto perfection, and God will cut them off, either by withdrawing his restraining grace, and giving them up to strong delusions to believe lies; or to a reprobate mind, and vile lusts and affections; or by taking away their gifts; or some way or other, so as they shall never have an eternal communion with God in glory. But if any man bringeth forth true spiritual fruit in Christ, him God the Father will purge, by the sprinkling of Christ’s blood yet further upon his conscience, Heb 10:22; and by his Holy Spirit working on him like fire, to purge away his dross, and like water, to purge away his filth; and by his word, 1Pe 1:22, by faith, Act 15:9, by crosses and trials. Isa 1:25; Isa 27:9; that he may be more fruitful in works of holiness and righteousness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Every branch—But who are the branches of this vine? From Joh_15:5, Ye are the branches, we might infer that they were the apostles alone, and that they became branches by the election of Christ. But from Joh_15:6, If a man abide not in me, we infer that any and every man is, primitively, a branch of Christ; and then the apostles are but one class of branches in the great whole. But in what respect are all men branches of Christ? And, to prepare our reply to this question, we must, first, repudiate two interpretations, or rather falsifications, of the text. The first falsification is that which makes the vine to be not Christ but the Church, which is not interpretation but substitution of words. And as the vine is not the Church but Christ, so the branches are living members of Christ, drawing their life from him. The second is that which supposes that, in the cases of all apparent apostates, the union between branch and vine is not real but only seeming. As it is real branches of Christ that are described, whose connection with him is vital, so it is a real separation of these branches which is described, and that separation is final, for the branches are burned. We may here note that Christ, as the second Adam, is the gracious basis of all physical life to humanity, and the source of all spiritual life to the race and to the individual, even before the individual birth. By nature, we are the branches of the fallen vine, the first Adam; by grace, we are born the spiritual branches of the heavenly vine, the second Adam. Hence we are birth-branches, not merely of the Church, but of Christ the true vine himself. Baptism creates not this union, but only recognizes and seals it. And hence, too, all growth in wickedness is apostacy. Every man who lives an unregenerate life has fallen from grace. Every branch of Christ has received the vital sap, the spiritual life, from him. If he bear not fruit, and incur a cutting off, he is an apostate; and if finally burned, a final apostate.

That beareth not fruit—These branches are living, voluntary, free, responsible agents. They do not, like the vegetable branch, bear or fail to bear by an inward necessity of nature, but by a free responsible will, competent, in the self-same circumstances, either for the bearing or the barrenness.

He taketh away—By a just judgment the union between Christ and the branch is severed. That disunion, however, goes not so far, while he has yet a remainder of vital sap within him and is not withered, but that he may be reingrafted. But when so separated, and so withered, that no possibility of life remains, his end is to be burned.

He purgeth it—Purifies it; a term not so applicable to the branch as to the literal man figured by the branch. We have here, as in various parts of the apologue, an interchange of literal with figurative language. God, through his Spirit, ever and increasingly sanctifies the faithful followers of his Son.

More fruit— And what is this fruit? And here, while we insist upon including under this term fruit all those heavenly tempers which are the inward fruits of the Spirit, we would avoid the approach to a spurious evangelicism, apparent in Olshausen’s comment upon the passage, which too much excludes holy, practical, external action. By their fruits, says our Saviour, that is, by their external conduct before the world, shall ye know them. There is a danger in making religious fruit too internal and subjective. There is some Antinomian error liable to arise when we say, too securely, right tempers will necessarily produce right action. Action, action, action, is quite as necessary in religion as in oratory, and is to be insisted upon distinctly and of itself. Integrity in the practical dealings of life; conduct squared by the principles of a true ethics; zeal, liberality, and energy in the benevolent organizations and operations of the Church and age, are fruits which every branch of Christ should bring forth abundantly and increasingly. For it is this increase, this more fruit, which it is the purpose of the purifying Spirit to produce.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Everyone that beareth fruit, he purifieth - by obeying the truth, 1 Pet. i, 22; and by inward or outward sufferings, Heb. xii, 10, 11. So purity and fruitfulness help each other. That it may bear more fruit - For this is one of the noblest rewards God can bestow on former acts of obedience, to make us yet more holy, and fit for farther and more eminent service.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away. As the husbandman cuts off the unfruitful branches of the vine, so the Father severs the unfruitful branches from his Son. Judas, an unfruitful branch which did not have the life of the Vine, had just been severed and had gone forth. Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it. The husbandman prunes and dresses the branches in order that they may be more healthy and fruitful. The Father cleanses, purifies, frees from sin, all who become branches of the True Vine.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

2.] The Vine contains fruitful, and unfruitful branches. Who are these unfruitful branches? Who are the branches? Clearly, all those who, adopting the parallel image, are made members of Christ by baptism, Rom 6:3, Rom 6:4: compare σύμφυτοι, ib. ver. 5, also Rom 11:17 ff. The Vine is the visible Church here, of which Christ is the inclusive Head: the Vine contains the branches; hence the unfruitful, as well as the fruitful, are ἐν ἐμοί.

Every such unfruitful branch (notice the μή in an hypothesis, not οὐ) the Father αἴρει,—pulls off and casts away: and every one that beareth fruit He καθαίρει (an allusion to αἴρει, but only in the Greek (?): “suavis rhythmus,” Bengel), prunes, by cleansing it of its worthless parts, and shortening its rank growth, that it may ripen and enlarge its fruit better. Cf. Æsch. in Ctes. (iii. 166, quoting Demosthenes), ἀμπελουργοῦσί τινες τὴν πόλιν ἀνατετμήκασί τινες τὰ κλήματα τοῦ δήμου.

The two, πᾶν κλ., καὶ πᾶν.…, are pendent nominatives, a construction usual with John in connexion with πᾶν, see ch. 6:39; 17:2.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. πᾶν κλῆμα κτλ Note the pendent nominative, as at 6:39, 17:2. κλῆμα is a word which does not appear again in the N.T.; but it is habitually used in the LXX for the “shoot” of a vine (e.g. Num 13:24, Eze 17:6), as distinct from the “branch” (κλάδος) of other trees.

ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπόν. Note that a κλῆμα or branch may be truly in Christ, and yet may not bear fruit. μή expresses a hypothetical possibility. This severe warning, coming so soon after the beginning of the allegory, was probably an allusion to the failure and doom of Judas, who had gone forth to his treachery just before, in the arrangement of chapters here adopted.

αἴρει αὐτό. “He takes it away.” So, too, the κλάδοι of the olive which represented Israel in Paul’s illustration, were of the true stock, but some of them were broken off by God (Rom 11:16, Rom 11:17). The action of the Great Husbandman in this is like that of every earthly γεωργός: inutilesque falce ramos amputans (Horace, Epod. ii. 13). Cf. Mat 3:10, Luk 3:9.

καὶ πᾶν τὸ καρπὸν φέρον, καθαίρει αὐτό The play on the words αἴρειν, καθαίρειν (suavis rhythmus, as Bengel says), cannot be reproduced in English.

καθαίρειν, to cleanse, occurs in the N.T. again only at Heb 10:2 (of religious cleansing), and is rare in the LXX. It is used here in the sense of “to cleanse by pruning,” as it is in Philo (de somn. ii. 9, cited by Cremer): “As superfluous shoots grow on plants, which are a great injury to the genuine shoots (τῶν γνησίων), and which the husbandmen (γεωργοῦντες) cleanse and prune (καθαίρουσι καὶ ἀποτέμνουσι), knowing what is necessary; so likewise the false and arrogant life grows up beside the true and humble life, of which to this day no husbandman (γεωργός) has been found to cut off by the roots the superfluous and injurious growth.” In this passage καθαίρειν, “to cleanse,” can hardly be distinguished from ἀποτέμνειν, “to prune.”

In the verse before us, however, the Great Husbandman does “cleanse” the fruitful branches by pruning off useless shoots, so that they may bear fruit more abundantly. It is not as if the branches were foul; on the contrary, they are already clean by virtue of their share in the life of the Vine (v. 3). But pruning may be good for them, none the less. Such pruning, according to Justin (Tryph. 110), illustrates God’s painful discipline for His true servants. The vine is a tree which specially needs attention, and it is essential to its fruitfulness that the already fruitful branches should be pruned regularly. Perhaps this is a warning anticipatory of the more explicit warning of vv. 20, 21.

ἵνα καρπὸν πλείονα φέρῃ. Cf. Mat 13:12. The order καρπὸν πλείονα is that of אBL latt.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Branch [κλημα] . Occurring only in this chapter. Both this and kladov, branch (see on Mt 24:32; Mr 11:8) are derived from klaw, to break. The word emphasizes the ideas of tenderness and flexibility.

Purgeth [καθαιρει] . Cleanseth, Rev.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.