³ “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

Ritualistic cleansing tempts the interpretation we might give this passage, but without merit, considering the context. The word “clean” occurs only in one other passage in the Gospel of John, namely 13:10-11 where Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. “Jesus said to [Peter], ‘He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.’ For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, ‘Not all of you are clean.’” There He declared eleven of the disciples clean, but not Judas. We surmise then that Jesus had “cleaned” the band of disciples of dead branches, getting them ready for the fruitfulness that would begin on the Day of Pentecost, about fifty days later.

In the previous verse, we saw two words being used to describe the process of a vinedresser making the plant more fruitful. First, there is the taking away or lifting up of the unproductive branches. Then, there is cleaning or pruning of the productive branches so that they would be even more productive. By analogy, God is concerned about both the whole body of believers (the vine) and with individual believers (the productive branches). In application to the disciples, though, the removing of a dead branch (Judas) had already taken place (John 13:30). The other disciples had had their feet washed, symbolic of the fruitful branches being pruned back for more productivity.

While the vinedresser uses physical mechanisms to prune back the vine, God uses spiritual pruning shears, that is, His Word, to clean out that which hinders fruitfulness in our lives. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (2 Tim 3:16). The pruning work of the Word of God is incisive, “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). In reference to the church, God uses His Word to “sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word” (Eph 5:26).

This is true for the body of Christ universal, the body of Christ local and the individual Christian. Without Christ physically present, the disciples and we have two things to equip us and make us useful for His mission: the Holy Spirit and the Word. The Spirit works through the Word to prune the dead, unproductive areas out of our lives.

Lord, thank You for Your Word that acts like pruning shears in my life. I want to be productive in helping the world know that You love the Father.