“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He [a]cleans it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already [b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”
(John 15:1-8 LSB)

What does it mean for God the Father to prune the branches? Some folks suggest that God’s pruning involves dishing out bad stuff like sickness or troubles to snip away flaws, such as a lustful or jealous heart.

When I hear this nonsense, I keep asking myself: “Why do Christians mix up God and Satan, as if confusing the two is easy?” “It’s not like they’re wearing matching jerseys at the cosmic family reunion!’” Why bother with the nitty-gritty of Christian apologetics or practical wisdom if you still can’t tell whether you are chatting with the Almighty or the devil?

Let me cut to the chase and jump straight to verses 7-8. We’re told that if Jesus’ words abide in you, then ask for whatever you desire, and boom—it’ll be given. This brings the Father (yep, the same one doing the pruning/cleaning) massive glory.

So, how on earth can the Father hand you a miscarriage or cancer when the same passage urges you to ask for whatever you want—like a healthy baby or robust health—and promises He will deliver? Defining the Father’s cleansing relationship as doling out sickness while simultaneously yanking it away? God is not running a cosmic bait-and-switch. That is a faithless sh#t pile. It’s man-made theology for the easily bamboozled.

To nail down the positive take, remember Jesus kicks off by saying His words are what already made the disciples pruned or cleansed. Boom—definition dropped. The terms “pruning” and “cleansing” are intertwined here, pointing to the same gig. Now, notice Jesus says if His “words” (the cleansers) abide in us, we can ask for anything and get it. The passage loops back to His “words” from start to finish.

With pruning pinned to Jesus’ words, the vine analogy is about yanking away the bad, not adding more junk. What is the bad getting the boot? Jesus’ words are pure gold. In John’s Gospel, the Apostle paints Jesus as the Son of God, calling us to believe in Him for eternal and abundant life. Our default human mindset? Straight-up trash. When we swap in Jesus’ golden doctrines, that’s the prune job.

So, if the Father wants to trim adulterous or jealous vibes from our hearts, how’s He swinging it? Jesus spells it out: His words cleanse the rotten thinking. Naturally, ditch the bad thoughts, and the bad behaviors bail too. A good tree bears good fruit, right? A good mind comes from faith in Jesus’ words.

What are some of these cleansing “words” Jesus dropped?
“…Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this…”

Let us ask for whatever we crave, snag it, and bring the Father great glory. We are called to be God-centered and gospel-focused. How can anyone claim the give great glory to God without boldly asking and receiving?

Tradition twists Jesus’ words into a masochistic sideshow. Somehow, the Father zaps us with sickness and setbacks “to teach us,” while Jesus commands we ask to ditch the sickness—and glorify God by getting healed. The very “cleansing” ailment is the one we are begging to remove? Fool’s gold theology, wrapped in self-flagellation. Pure nonsense.

Job didn’t level up from suffering; nope, he got schooled when God spoke revelation. Jesus teaches we learn and get cleansed by believing His revelation.

Finally, this mix-up is straight blasphemy. Jesus isn’t a dealer in sin any more than in sickness or misfortune. Jesus already finished the atonement and is now seated at the right hand of Power. From this position of authority, He is our living and active High Priest. We are not talking about ultimate level metaphysics or God’s sovereignty and decrees. God controls all things; however, in our “relationship” with Jesus it is established in a Contract made with His blood. He has promised to relate to us in certain ways and demands us to relate to Him in particular ways. This Contract makes us insiders and family members to our Father in Heaven.  The contract says God only gives us good. Jesus defines a good prayer as a fish for a fish. Jesus promises to take sin away, to take sickness away and to take poverty away. This is the only way He relates to us now. This makes us family insiders.

If you are a Christian and Jesus enables or causes or gives you sin, then He is an active minister of sin. This is blasphemy. However, the same is true for sickness and misfortune. If your relationship with Jesus as a Christian includes Jesus giving you sickness and misfortune, then Jesus would be an active minister of sickness and misfortune. I feel dirty having to type this out and explain it. Why do I need to explain this to adults?

There’s a spiritual entity who doles out sickness and woe (Acts 10:38), and his handle is Satan. Flipping roles between Satan and Jesus? Faithless error. When sickness hits you or yours, it’s Satan’s gig, not Jesus’. Satan peddles illness; Jesus dishes healing. Satan’s handing out sickness like it’s free candy at a parade, but Jesus is serving up healing like the ultimate divine smoothie.

The faithless are like people the police bring to a lineup to pick out the perpetrator of the crime. The line up includes God and Satan. And the faithless pick God as the one who hurt them, stole from them and tried to destroy them. Imagine being so stupid and confused you can’t tell the different between God and the devil. And yet, these people claim to be teachers and preachers. Sorry, if you are still unsure who is hurting you and giving you sickness and pain, you have no business teaching anyone anything. When God and Satan are interchangeable then we have a massive problem on our hands. They pick God out of the lineup because they are in line with Satan and are covering for him. The faithless cover for their Faithless god because they are wearing the same jersey.  They are not your friends.

Here is the deal. Jesus doesn’t pile on troubles—He clears them out. If the Father is pruning you, He will bring you toward Jesus’ words and amp your faith in His promises. And so, ask, receive, and glorify Him big time. If that is not your contract with Jesus, then double-check whose side you’re on.