When is a Church not a Church?

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 Isaiah 5:1-7 John 15:1-10

When is a Church not a Church?

In English, we have a saying: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. What we mean when we use this saying is that something can be identified by observing its characteristics. Stated negatively, the saying would indicate that something may not be what it appears or claims to be. In other words, the duck that claims to be a duck, but does not look like a duck, does not swim like a duck, or does not quack like a duck, may not be a duck after all. 

Jesus, however, did not use the image of a duck. He used the image of a Vine, radically reinterpreting a well-known Old Testament symbol of God’s covenant community. Jesus might have said something like this: If it looks like a vine, grows like a vine, and produces fruit like a vine, then it is more than likely because it is a vine. Again stated negatively, this might mean that a vine that does not look like a vine, grow like a vine, or produce fruit like a vine may not be a vine after all.

The cultivation of vines is first mentioned in the Scriptures in Genesis 9:20 where we are told that Noah planted a vine and made wine from the grapes. The fact that Noah knew about the process involved in winemaking suggests that the technology more than likely predates the flood. 

Ancient Near Eastern vineyards were surrounded with protective stone walls to keep out would be thieves and destructive animals (Numbers 22:24; Psalm 80:8-13 etc). There was also a watchtower for a watchman, a winepress, vats, and new goatskin bags or large pottery containers to store the juice for fermentation. Some vineyards were terraced, with the vine branches trailing on the ground and tumbling over the raised terraces, while other vines were elevated with supportive poles. 

Preparing and maintaining a vineyard was hard work. The ground had to be prepared, a wall, a tower, and a winepress needed to be built, the best vines had to be acquired and planted, and the vine itself needed to be tended and nurtured constantly. The branches were pruned every spring and the cut-off branches were gathered to be used for fuel in fires. The harvest season was a happy occasion with singing and dancing and general merrymaking activities. Every seventh year, the vineyards were to be left to lie fallow for the year according to the law (Ex 23:11; Lev 25:3). 

Now, the three texts we read from today all tell us about the preparatory work, the labour-intensive cultivation of the plants, and the clear expectation of the farmer. Digging, clearing, building, planting…all with a view to receiving a good crop. In Jesus’ parable in Mark 12:1-12, where he used the image of a vineyard to describe Israel and the leaseholders as their leaders, Jesus said the owner of the vineyard sent servants to the tenants to collect some of the anticipated fruit…all of whom were either beaten or killed, including the owner’s only son and heir. But my point here is that the goal of planting the vines, or any other sort of fruit or seed-bearing plant for that matter, was to harvest a crop. 

It is interesting to note that just before Isaiah sang his song of judgement regarding the vineyard representing Israel, he spoke about a “Branch of the Lord” that would come in the future to cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and fire. Jeremiah said something similar in chapter 23 verse 5, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Now, keep in mind that John the Baptist announced that Jesus would baptize (no doubt referring to baptism as an act of cleansing as would have been understood by his 1st Century audience) with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to examine these prophecies and others like them in the light of what happened with the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and the coming of God’s judgement on apostate Israel at the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70…but I would encourage you to be like the Bereans and go study the Word to see how beautifully all these things fit together.

In Isaiah the blame of the bad harvest appears to have fallen on the vine itself. It was the vine that yielded bad fruit. Hosea echoed this focus on Israel as an apostate nation in chapter 10 verses 1-2a: “Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stone. Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt.” 

In similar vein, Jesus also used the image of a fig tree bearing no fruit…once in a word parable and another time in an acted-out parable where the fig tree was cursed…in both cases he clearly linked the judgement with the Temple and Jerusalem as a whole. 

Be that as it may, in all these prophetic utterances, the consequence of the vine’s bad yield is destruction…walls are broken down, the vineyard is trampled, and the land is left desolate. I hope you can recall Jesus’ words of judgement in the Gospels describing the destruction of Jerusalem…not one stone of the walls would be left upon another, the city would be left desolate, and would be trampled upon by the Gentiles…using the same words as the propets. Just by the by, the fulfilment of these prophetic statements is described in horrifying detail by an eyewitness of the event, the 1st Century historian, Flavius Josephus. 

Now, Jesus’ statements in John’s Gospel, appeared to change Isaiah’s prophecy somewhat, laying the blame of fruitlessness on the vine branches for neglecting to abide in the True Vine. In other words, it was the branches that did not bear fruit that were removed…cut off from the vine as surely those who did not obey God were cut off from Israel in Old Testament terminology. There is a slight variation on the theme of judgement here in that in this case it is not the entire vineyard that is destroyed, but only individual non-fruit-bearing branches. Of course, it might be argued that the True Vine was, in fact, judged on the cross, and that he emerged from destruction unscathed because of the absence of sin. What remained therefore was not for the whole vine to be destroyed but only those parts of the vine that were not connected to it.

But in singling out the non-fruit-bearing branches for judgement, Jesus was echoing the prophetic statement of Jeremiah. In chapter 12 verses 10-11, Jeremiah said, “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares.” In this prophecy, it was the leaders of Israel who were singled out for judgment. 

But in as much as the people followed their leaders despite the warnings of the prophets and the Early Church, they too would share in their leaders’ demise. Ezekiel said clearly in chapter 15 verses 6 -8, “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I have set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.” Jesus clearly warned the Sanhedrin at his trial – that they would see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power (as Judge) and coming on the clouds of heaven (in judgement)…or as John later stated in the Revelation, every eye would see him coming in judgment, even those who pierced him. 

But by calling himself the True Vine in the context of devastating and destructive judgment on Israel and, more particularly, the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, and by calling his followers, those who were ‘in’ Him, the branches abiding in this True Vine, Jesus was unequivocally stating that he and those in him were the true Israel of God. Paul would develop this later in his Epistle to the Romans with yet another agricultural image – this time of an Olive Tree…as well as in his Epistle to the Galatians where he stated that all who are united in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile alike, are the true Israel of God (see Galatians 6:16).

Therefore, what Jesus was saying in John was that he was not simply part of the vine, but, more specifically, he was the one and only true Vine. The implication is that in contrast to unfaithful Israel, Jesus remained faithful and thus fulfilled Israel's calling to be the vine of God. Consequently, all who are in him and abide in him, bear fruit because of that connection…because they are in the True Vine. 

Here Jesus might have been alluding to a more positive statement of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 27 verses 2-6. “In that day, “Sing about a fruitful vineyard; I the Lord watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it…in days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit.”

Now, there are two things I would like to address here as part of an application. The first is not what most folks want to hear in these days since all they really desire is to have their itching ears tickled. Nevertheless, I believe it must be said. 

If God was that concerned with the state of the vine in Israel’s day, would, or indeed should, he not be concerned today? If we who say we are the followers of Jesus do not look like Jesus, walk like Jesus, or talk like Jesus, are we truly followers of Jesus? When is a Church not a Church? If we deny the basic tenets of the faith…if we reinterpret the Word of God and reshape it to fit in with the post-modern and post-Christian ideologies of the world…if we speak words contrary to what the Scriptures teach…are we not liable to be cut-off as non-fruit-bearing branches? This may sound harsh, but think of the damage being done today by the revisionist leaders of churches who blatantly contradict the teaching of the Scriptures by both word and deed? Should God not judge us for the sake of and for the life of the world? Or has God ceased to be God?

The second thing I would like to say is more positive. In spite of an all-out attack on the Church from within the Church as well as from outside the Church, there are still many fruitful vineyards throughout the world who faithfully bud and blossom and bear fruit in abundance. Wherever the word of God is clearly taught…wherever branches loyally abide in the True Vine, the Lord watches over it, waters it continually, guards it day and night so that no one may harm it. And this is our calling as followers of Jesus…as branches in the True Vine…as members of the Israel of God. In Jesus, through the powerful “sap” of the Holy Spirit flowing in and through us, we are to bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit to the glory of the Father.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl August 2022