XLII.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 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. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." JOHN XV. 1-8.

UR Lord had taught his disciples much by means of parables; especially just before, in those which we find in the 24th and 25th chapters of St. Matthew. But now, at the end of the long discourse, of which this parable of the vine forms part, he said, "These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs; but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father." By proverbs he seems to have meant every kind of proverbial and figurative teaching, including parables. He had then just spoken to them this parable of the vine; he would teach them no more in that way.

From its nature and subject, this parable is well fitted

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to be the last. Many of the others, especially those spoken just before, relate to the Church of Christ at large, but this is more personal. Before he was taken from them, our Lord would lead his disciples seriously to consider what part they had in him, lest they should deceive themselves by taking it for granted that they belonged to that kingdom of heaven of which he had told them so much, while yet they had but an outward union with him. The case of Judas might well be a warning to them. He had been one of the apostles, and so had seemed to belong to Christ. But he was but a fruitless branch, and as such he had been taken away. At the time when our Lord spoke, he had already left the little band of disciples, and had gone out to betray his Master. Yet up to that very night he had seemed to belong to Christ, as a branch to the vine. Let them take warning by so sad a case. Let them not trust in any seeming union. Let them abide in Christ indeed.

Whatever it was that led our Lord to choose the vine as the figure in this parable, there is a special force and meaning in it. The vine is a humble tree, not great and tall like the cedar or the oak. So our Lord came in a humble way, as it was foretold of him ; "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Again, the vine is valuable only for its fruit; the wood is of no use. This represents the fruitfulness that is required in Christians. Mere profession is nothing. tree therefore would have answered the

While any purpose of

showing the union between Christ and his people, as

between tree and branch, there is a peculiar fitness in the vine, a humble, yet fruit-bearing tree.

"I am the true vine," says our Lord. Perhaps he means, the natural vine is but a figure, I am what the figure represents. Or he may mean to teach us that, though there may be other pretended sources of spiritual life and growth, he is the only true source. Therefore he says, not merely, "I am the vine," but "I am the true vine." It is not even doctrines, however right, that will give us life; doctrines, forms, ceremonies, ordinances, all have their proper use, but they cannot give life; Christ is the true vine, and we must be joined to him as branches, or there is no life in us.

"And my Father is the husbandman"; the owner and cultivator of the vineyard, and the dresser of the vine. It is God who deals with the branches. Every one who bears the name of Christian is under his continual observation. He knows the spiritual state of each, and comes seeking fruit. The work of a husbandman, especially in a vineyard, requires constant watchfulness and care: God never forgets or overlooks even one branch.

The manner of his dealing with the branches is described very particularly by our Lord.

"Every

How can

First he mentions the fruitless branch. branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away." These words have been a difficulty to some. any one be in Christ, and yet be unfruitful? But our Lord means those who are in him by profession and in appearance only. Judas was so till he was taken away. Nominal Christians are so. True, the figure and the lesson do not exactly agree here, for in nature the

fruitless branch is as much joined to the vine as the fruitful; but this is often the case in our Lord's parables.

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away." Every vine-dresser does so, and the Heavenly Husbandman does so too. Even in the natural vine, though the branch grows out of the tree, yet being fruitless it is treated as if it did not belong to it in the case of the spiritual vine, there is no real union at all. The husbandman takes away such a branch as useless. God also, in his own time, takes away the mere nominal Christian, and will not suffer him any longer even to seem to belong to Christ. If nothing else does so, death puts an end to this seeming union, and takes away the fruitless branch. But often, before death, God in his providence takes such a one away from the means of grace. He did not profit by them while he had them; he shall now have them no

more.

Next we learn how the husbandman deals with the fruitful branches. "And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Even the fruit-bearing branches are not left to themselves. The knife is used to them also. But only the pruning-knife. They are not cut off, but purged. Every one is treated so, for there is not one but may become more fruitful still. Thus God deals with his

children, the true branches.

All the fruit they bear

already is of his grace; he will deal with them in grace still, that they may bear more fruit.

But how?

Chiefly in the way of affliction and chastisement. These form his pruning-knife.

Wisely and gently

does he use it; not to hurt the branch, but to do it

good; not to cut it off, but to rid it of that which is doing it harm, and to make it more fruitful. Sometimes God's dealings with his children seem surprising; when trouble after trouble befalls them, and one comfort after another is taken away. But this is only the gentle care of the Husbandman, pruning the branch. The knife may be sharp, but it will not cut too deep, for it is in the hand of perfect wisdom and love. Every true Christian experiences this treatment more or less. Indeed, chastisement is one of the marks of God's children. "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." As an old writer says, "God would rather see his vine bleed, than see it barren." Let it be our comfort under chastisement, that it is he who is dealing with us, and that he is dealing with us for our good and for our fruitfulness.

“Now ye are clean," our Lord continues, “through the word which I have spoken unto you." It has been thought by some that our Lord here alludes to the traitor Judas. He had been, as it were, a blight and stain upon the band of apostles. That blight was now removed by his being gone; and now, as a body, they were clean. But it seems more simple and natural, and more in agreement with the rest of the parable, to take the words in another sense. The word "purgeth," just before, and this word "clean," have the same meaning. Chastisement is not the only way by which God prunes and cleanses: he does so also by his word. Now the disciples had just been listening to the words of Jesus, and those words had had a deep effect on them. Their hearts were full of love to their Lord,