I recently heard a friend talk about the poem Footprints. Some might know it as Footprints in the Sand – the poem about Jesus carrying us during certain hard seasons that we can’t seem to walk through on our own. I can completely relate, but I can also relate to how my friend described it: drag marks behind the footprints because we can’t even hold on properly.
As I’ve been reading and studying through a few different parables – parables that once caused me to fear – I’m seeing God’s grace and goodness in a whole new light. Last week I shared about the parable of the ten virgins and their oil (or lack of) that’s found in Matthew 25:1-13 (Faithful Oil) and this week we’re going to be going over another passage but in John 15.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” John 15:1-8 NLT
I used to feel fear and confusion clamp down on me when I would read or hear this passage. While this is not widely recognized as a parable, it spoke to the people of that day with its use of the familiar… and I always understood it to be a parable.
I would hear or read this passage and start inspecting myself, find that I was lacking in an area – or all areas – and would believe that God was going to cut me off and throw me into the fire. I was saved by grace, but if my performance wasn’t hitting the mark, then I was doomed. Anyone else ever feel that way?
But what if I told you that we’ve been reading this incorrectly? What if I told you that God cutting us off and throwing us into the fire actually contradicts other passages of scripture?
In John 15:2, the verse of this passage I’m focusing in on, we read something like …He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit… That can be terrifying! But the word we get cuts off from is airó and it has multiple meanings. Most of those meanings have nothing to do with cutting off, but rather of lifting up.
The people that Jesus was speaking to would have understood that a vinedresser – or the gardener – would take branches that were hanging low to the ground, getting dirty, not getting enough sunlight to produce good fruit (or any fruit), and would have lifted it from the ground and tying it closer to the vine and maybe even to a trellis for support. It was still attached to the vine… but it needed a little help for a time.
Airó (Strongs G142) is the Greek word in this passage that means to raise up, to elevate, to lift up, to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised up, to move from its place, and to bear. Further down the line of possible definitions is where we get cut off.
Have you ever found yourself in a season? Maybe you’ve experienced loss and it’s taking you a bit of time to feel the sun shining on your face. You’ve been there… I’ve been there. I’ve been depressed to the point of not having an appetite, not wanting to be around people, just wanting to sleep, and instead of standing to my feet when worship music plays in my home, I simply lie on the floor and let the tears flow.
God knows. He sees you… He sees me. And He will lift us up, carry us, and bear us. Maybe you’re in a dry season – a season of struggle – but you’re still attached to the Vine. You still belong to Jesus.
“For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:38-40 NLT
Isn’t it just like Jesus to not leave us where we are? He sees us in every season of life – the good seasons and the not-so-great seasons – and encourages us to continue growing in Him. Sometimes, like the popular poem, He lifts us up and carries us, bearing our full weight for a time. Other times, we may feel as though we’re barely holding on, but Jesus won’t lose a single one of His kids.
Maybe you’re wondering about the branches that did wither up and get thrown into the fire (John 15:6). Notice that Jesus repeatedly brings the focus back to Himself. He says things like …remain in Me… I’m the Vine… remain in Me… apart from Me you can do nothing… Jesus is establishing Himself as the only way to the Father, the only way to abundant life, and the only way to overflowing joy (John 15:11).
Those branches that withered up and were thrown into the fire are the branches that refused the Vine. They were the branches that looked to their own abilities to bear fruit… but found they could do nothing apart from the Vine. They rejected grace and chose self-effort.
The passage in John 15, parable or not, is shared to show us the heart of the Father. It is not about punishment or rejection, but rather it’s about intentional, tender love and restoration. When we read this passage through the lens of grace – the truth of the New Covenant – we understand that we can only be fruitful because of God’s care with tending to us. We can only be fruitful when we remain in Him.
It was never meant to be a warning to believers to bear fruit or else, but it’s an invitation to let God lift and position us the right way so that He can bear fruit through us. We are always being called to a closer, more intimate relationship with our Savior. He’s not discarding us when we’re going through seasons of struggle. No, He’s lifting us up and bringing us back into His light.