“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
“In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
“I command these things to you, that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they have seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
“When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1–27 1. I am the true Vine. The general meaning…
1. I am the true Vine. The general meaning of this comparison is, that we are, by nature, barren and dry, except in so far as we have been engrafted into Christ, and draw from him a power which is new, and which does not proceed from ourselves. I have followed other commentators in rendering ἄμπελος by vitis, (a vine,) and κλήματα by palmites, (branches.) Now, vitis (a vine) strictly denotes the plant itself, and not a field planted with vines, which the Latin writers call vinea, (a vineyard;) although it is sometimes taken for vinea a vineyard; as, for example, when Cicero mentions in the same breath, pauperum agellos et vlticulas, the small fields and small vineyards of the poor Palmites (branches) are what may be called the arms of the tree, which it sends out above the ground. But as the Greek word κλὢμα sometimes denotes a vine, and ἄμπελος, a vineyard, I am more disposed to adopt the opinion, that Christ compares himself to a field planted with vines, and compares us to the plants themselves. On that point, however, I will not enter into a debate with any person; only I wish to remind the reader, that he ought to adopt that view which appears to him to derive greater probability from the context.
First, let him remember the rule which ought to be observed in all parables; that we ought not to examine minutely every property of the vine, but only to take a general view of the object to which Christ applies that comparison. Now, there are three principal parts; first, that we have no power of doing good but what comes from himself; secondly, that we, having a root in him, are dressed and pruned by the Father; thirdly, that he removes the unfruitful branches, that they may be thrown into the fire and burned.
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There is scarcely any one who is ashamed to acknowledge that every thing good which he possesses comes from God; but, after making this acknowledgment, they imagine that universal grace has been given to them, as if it had been implanted in them by nature. But Christ dwells principally on this, that the vital sap — that is, all life and strength — proceeds from himself alone. Hence it follows, that the nature of man is unfruitful and destitute of everything good; because no man has the nature of a vine, till he be implanted in him. But this is given to the elect alone by special grace. So then, the Father is the first Author of all blessings, who plants us with his hand; but the commencement of life is in Christ, since we begin to take root in him. When he calls himself the true vine the meaning is, I am truly the vine, and therefore men toil to no purpose in seeking strength anywhere else, for from none will useful fruit proceed but from the branches which shall be produced by me.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 25, 26 We are of nature dry and fit for nothing…
We are of nature dry and fit for nothing but the fire: Therefore that we may live and be fruitful, we must first be grafted into Christ, as it were into a vine by the Father’s hand: and then be daily shred with a continual meditation of the word and the cross; otherwise it shall not avail any man at all to have been grafted, unless he cleave fast unto the vine, and so draw juice out of it.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–27 1 I am the true vine, and my Father…
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Ver. 1. I am the true vine, &c.] Our Saviour’s way lying (as it is thought) by the vineyards, he takes that occasion of comparing himself to a vine, as he doth elsewhere to many other creatures, everywhere obvious; that therein, as in so many optic glasses, we may see him, and be put in mind of him. Tam Christi meminisse opus est, quam respirare, saith a Father. A bee can suck honey out of a flower that a fly cannot. Fire will be aspiring; so will true grace.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–27 Chapter Introduction
Chapter Introduction
As our Saviour in the former chapter had chiefly spent his discourse for the relief of his disciples under their trouble for the want of his bodily presence, so he seemeth in this chiefly to bend his discourse for the comfort of them under their disturbance, for fear they should, together with the want of the comfort they had in his bodily presence, want also his spiritual influences; to prevent which, he compares himself to a vine, then to the branches; and showeth by that similitude the near union they had with him, and the influence he would and must have upon them, so long as they did abide with him. From Joh 15:18-27, he comforts them by a variety of arguments against that black storm of persecution, which he had so often told them would arise after his departure from them, from the hatred of the world, of wicked men, both Jews and Gentiles, that were enemies to the cross of Christ; as to which he comforts them by a variety of arguments to the end of the chapter, and counteth his discourse of that nature also in the following chapter.
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Christ had but newly come from his last supper, wherein he had sanctified the fruit of the vine, by setting it apart as one of the elements in that holy sacrament, and told them, that he would no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God should come, Luk 22:18. This (as some suppose) gave occasion to this parable, or discourse about the vine. Others think, that in this passage from the guest chamber to the Mount Olivet he saw a vine, which gave occasion to this discourse, it being with him very ordinary to graft spiritual discourses upon sensible objects occasionally occurring; as, Joh 4:1-39, he raised a discourse of living water upon the sight of the water at Jacob’s well, and the woman’s discourse about it; and, Joh 6:1-14, he founded another discourse concerning the bread of life, upon the loaves that were multiplied. Whatever the occasion was, (of which we can affirm nothing certainly), certain it is, that the notion of a vine, with respect to the root and body of it, (for he calls his disciples the branches) excellently agreeth to Christ, whether in respect of his present low condition, and mean appearance to the world, (as a vine hath less beauty than most plants), or in respect of its exceeding fruitfulness; or as it is the basis and foundation of the branches, in which they are, and thrive, and are fruitful; which seemeth here to be chiefly intended; as all the branches are united to the vine, in it they live, bud, bear fruit. There are three principal things which our Saviour teacheth us by this similitude:
1. That we have no ability to do good but from Christ.
2. That believers have a trite and real union with the Lord Jesus, which while they uphold by faith and holiness, they shall not want his influence upon them, nor his Father’s care over them, in purging them, that they may bring forth much fruit.
3. That if any professing him prove unfruitful, God will take them away; they shall wither, be cast into the fire, and burned.
He calls himself the true vine, to show them that their fruit was not in themselves, but must be found in him; or that their fruit could not proceed from Moses, the observance of the ritual or moral law given them by him; but it must flow from their spiritual union with him and that influence of grace which should flow from that union. Or else
true (as sometimes it doth in Scripture) may signify excellent. As he compares himself to
the true vine, by which he signifieth to us that he is the true root and support of our spiritual life and fruit; so he compares his Father to
the husbandman, to let us know, that his people are not only under his, but under his Father’s care; which he afterwards more particularly openeth. He also, Joh 15:2, compares believers, or members of the church, to branches in a vine.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 26 Observe here, How our blessed Saviour, under the metaphor…
Observe here, How our blessed Saviour, under the metaphor of a vine, elegantly sets forth himself in his relation to his visible church, shewing, under that similitude, what his Father meant to do with Judas, and with all unfruitful branches like unto him, even take them away, cut them off, and throw them into the fire: but such as are fruitful, he purges by his word and spirit, by ordinances and providences, by mercies and afflictions, that they may be more aboundingly and abidingly fruitful.
Learn hence, 1. That Jesus Christ in his offices for, and relation to, his people, doth most fitly resemble a vine. As the vine is weak, mean, and small, in outward appearance, not like the cedar for height, or like the oak for strength: so was Christ in his state of humiliation: there was no beauty in him, Isa 53:1
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As the vine is a fruitful plant, though it has little pomp, yet it has much plenty, and is only useful for fruit bearing, and brings forth both plenty and variety of sweet fruit to make glad the heart of man: thus the fruits of Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession are many and great, delightful and sweet.
In a word, as the fruit of the vine is pressed, that it may be drink unto men, so Christ submitted to be trod in the wine-press of God’s wrath, that thereby the sweetest fruit and benefit might redound to his people.
Finally, as the vine is the root from which all the branches derive their nourishment and fruitfulness, in like manner is Christ the stock into which all his members are ingrafted, the root in which they all subsist, and the fountain from whence their spiritual life and fruitfulness doth proceed and flow.
Learn, 2. That as Christ is the vine, so his Father is the husbandman: he ingrafts and implants all the branches into this vine: the plants of righteousness are of his own planting: he takes notice what store of fruti every branch doth bring forth: and it is his daily care to dress and dung, to purge and prune, to support and shelter, his vineyard, that it may bring forth fruit abundantly.
Learn, 3. That there are two sorts of branches in this vine, some fruitful, others unfruitful; some have the visibility, but not the reality, of branches; some are branches only by external profession, others are so by real implantation.
Learn, 4. That the true touch-stone whereby to discern one sort of branches from another, is not by the fair leaves of profession, but by the substantial proofs of an holy and righteous conversation.
Learn, 5. That in the most fruitful branches, in the best and holiest of christians, there remains much corruption to be purged out, in order to future and farther fruitfulness.
Learn, 6. That the husbandman’s hand (God the Father’s) manages the pruning knife of affliction, in order to his people’s improvement in grace and holiness: he had rather see his vine bleed, than see it barren.
Lastly, That such branches as, after all the husbandman’s care and cost, remain unfruitful, shall be finally cut off and cast away, as was Judas here; who, in this discourse of our Saviour, seems particularly and especially to be aimed at; he was a branch in him that bare no fruit, who was shortly after taken away, and went to his own place.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 9, 18, 26 Here Christ discourses concerning the fruit, the fruits of…
Here Christ discourses concerning the fruit, the fruits of the Spirit, which his disciples were to bring forth, under the similitude of a vine. Observe here,
I. The doctrine of this similitude; what notion we ought to have of it.
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1. That Jesus Christ is the vine, the true vine. It is an instance of the humility of Christ that he is pleased to speak of himself under low and humble comparisons. He that is the Sun of righteousness, and the bright and morning Star, compares himself to a vine. The church, which is Christ mystical, is a vine (Psa 80:8), so is Christ, who is the church seminal. Christ and his church are thus set forth. (1.) He is the vine, planted in the vineyard, and not a spontaneous product; planted in the earth, for his is the Word made flesh. The vine has an unsightly unpromising outside; and Christ had no form nor comeliness, Isa 53:2. The vine is a spreading plant, and Christ will be known as salvation to the ends of the earth. The fruit of the vine honours God and cheers man (Jdg 9:13), so does the fruit of Christ's mediation; it is better than gold, Pro 8:19. (2.) He is the true vine, as truth is opposed to pretence and counterfeit; he is really a fruitful plant, a plant of renown. He is not like that wild vine which deceived those who gathered of it (Kg2 4:39), but a true vine. Unfruitful trees are said to lie (Hab 3:17. marg.), but Christ is a vine that will not deceive. Whatever excellency there is in any creature, serviceable to man, it is but a shadow of that grace which is in Christ for his people's good. He is that true vine typified by Judah's vine, which enriched him with the blood of the grape (Gen 49:11), by Joseph's vine, the branches of which ran over the wall (Gen 49:22), by Israel's vine, under which he dwelt safely, Kg1 4:25.
2. That believers are branches of this vine, which supposes that Christ is the root of the vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree (Rom 11:18), diffuses sap to it, and is all in all to its flourishing and fruitfulness; and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, some on one side of the house or wall, others on the other side; yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all good Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, yet meet in Christ, the centre of their unity. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and insufficient to stand of themselves, but as they are borne up. See Eze 15:2.
3. That the Father is the husbandman, geōrgos - the land-worker. Though the earth is the Lord's, it yields him no fruit unless he work it. God has not only a propriety in, but a care of, the vine and all the branches. He hath planted, and watered, and gives the increase; for we are God's husbandry, Co1 3:9. See Isa 5:1, Isa 5:2; Isa 27:2, Isa 27:3. He had an eye upon Christ, the root, and upheld him, and made him to flourish out of a dry ground. He has an eye upon all the branches, and prunes them, and watches over them, that nothing hurt them. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must needs prosper.
II. The duty taught us by this similitude, which is to bring forth fruit, and, in order to this, to abide in Christ.
1. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes (Isa 5:2), and from a Christian we look for Christianity; this is the fruit, a Christian temper and disposition, a Christian life and conversation, Christian devotions and Christian designs. We must honour God, and do good, and exemplify the purity and power of the religion we profess; and this is bearing fruit. The disciples here must be fruitful, as Christians, in all the fruits of righteousness, and as apostles, in diffusing the savour of the knowledge of Christ. To persuade them to this, he urges,
(1.) The doom of the unfruitful (Joh 15:2): They are taken away. [1.] It is here intimated that there are many who pass for branches in Christ who yet do not bear fruit. Were they really united to Christ by faith, they would bear fruit; but being only tied to him by the thread of an outward profession, though they seem to be branches, they will soon be seen to be dry ones. Unfruitful professors are unfaithful professors; professors, and no more. It might be read, Every branch that beareth not fruit in me, and it comes much to one; for those that do not bear fruit in Christ, and in his Spirit and grace, are as if they bore no fruit at all, Hos 10:1. [2.] It is here threatened that they shall be taken away, in justice to them and in kindness to the rest of the branches. From him that has not real union with Christ, and fruit produced thereby, shall be taken away even that which he seemed to have, Luk 8:18. Some think this refers primarily to Judas.
(2.) The promise made to the fruitful: He purgeth them, that they may bring forth more fruit. Note, [1.] Further fruitfulness is the blessed reward of forward fruitfulness. The first blessing was, Be fruitful; and it is still a great blessing. [2.] Even fruitful branches, in order to their further fruitfulness, have need of purging or pruning; kathairei - he taketh away that which is superfluous and luxuriant, which hinders its growth and fruitfulness. The best have that in them which is peccant, aliquid amputandum - something which should be taken away; some notions, passions, or humours, that want to be purged away, which Christ has promised to do by his word, and Spirit, and providence; and these shall be taken off by degrees in the proper season. [3.] The purging of fruitful branches, in order to their greater fruitfulness, is the care and work of the great husbandman, for his own glory.
(3.) The benefits which believers have by the doctrine of Christ, the power of which they should labour to exemplify in a fruitful conversation: Now you are clean, Joh 15:3. [1.] Their society was clean, now that Judas was expelled by that word of Christ, What thou doest, do quickly; and till they were got clear of him they were not all clean. The word of Christ is a distinguishing word, and separates between the precious and the vile; it will purify the church of the first-born in the great dividing day. [2.] They were each of them clean, that is, sanctified, by the truth of Christ (Joh 17:17); that faith by which they received the word of Christ purified their hearts, Act 15:9. The Spirit of grace by the word refined them from the dross of the world and the flesh, and purged out of them the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees, from which, when they saw their inveterate rage and enmity against their Master, they were now pretty well cleansed. Apply it to all believers. The word of Christ is spoken to them; there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. It cleanses as fire cleanses the gold from its dross, and as physic cleanses the body from its disease. We then evidence that we are cleansed by the word when we bring forth fruit unto holiness. Perhaps here is an allusion to the law concerning vineyards in Canaan; the fruit of them was as unclean, and uncircumcised, the first three years after it was planted, and the fourth year it was to be holiness of praise unto the Lord; and then it was clean, Lev 19:23, Lev 19:24. The disciples had now been three years under Christ's instruction; and now you are clean.
(4.) The glory that will redound to God by our fruitfulness, with the comfort and honour that will come to ourselves by it, Joh 15:8. If we bear much fruit, [1.] Herein our Father will be glorified. The fruitfulness of the apostles, as such, in the diligent discharge of their office, would be to the glory of God in the conversion of souls, and the offering of them up to him, Rom 15:9, Rom 15:16. The fruitfulness of all Christians, in a lower or narrower sphere, is to the glory of God. By the eminent good works of Christians many are brought to glorify our Father who is in heaven. [2.] So shall we be Christ's disciples indeed, approving ourselves so, and making it to appear that we are really what we call ourselves. So shall we both evidence our discipleship and adorn it, and be to our Master for a name and a praise, and a glory, that is, disciples indeed, Jer 13:11. So shall we be owned by our Master in the great day, and have the reward of disciples, a share in the joy of our Lord. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in that which is good, the more he is glorified.
2. In order to our fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must keep up our union with him by faith, and do all we do in religion in the virtue of that union. Here is,
(1.) The duty enjoined (Joh 15:4): Abide in me, and I in you. Note, It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples constantly to keep up a dependence upon Christ and communion with him, habitually to adhere to him, and actually to derive supplies from him. Those that are come to Christ must abide in him: "Abide in me, by faith; and I in you, by my Spirit; abide in me, and then fear not but I will abide in you;" for the communion between Christ and believers never fails on his side. We must abide in Christ's word by a regard to it, and it in us as a light to our feet. We must abide in Christ's merit as our righteousness and plea, and it in us as our support and comfort. The knot of the branch abides in the vine, and the sap of the vine abides in the branch, and so there is a constant communication between them.
(2.) The necessity of our abiding in Christ, in order to our fruitfulness (Joh 15:4, Joh 15:5): "You cannot bring forth fruit, except you abide in me; but, if you do, you bring forth much fruit; for, in short, without me, or separate from me, you can do nothing." So necessary is it to our comfort and happiness that we be fruitful, that the best argument to engage us to abide in Christ is, that otherwise we cannot be fruitful. [1.] Abiding in Christ is necessary in order to our doing much good. He that is constant in the exercise of faith in Christ and love to him, that lives upon his promises and is led by his Spirit, bringeth forth much fruit, he is very serviceable to God's glory, and his own account in the great day. Note, Union with Christ is a noble principle, productive of all good. A life of faith in the Son of God is incomparably the most excellent life a man can live in this world; it is regular and even, pure and heavenly; it is useful and comfortable, and all that answers the end of life. [2.] It is necessary to our doing any good. It is not only a means of cultivating ad increasing what good there is already in us, but it is the root and spring of all good: "Without me you can do nothing: not only no great thing, heal the sick, or raise the dead, but nothing." Note, We have as necessary and constant a dependence upon the grace of the Mediator for all the actions of the spiritual and divine life as we have upon the providence of the Creator for all the actions of the natural life; for, as to both, it is in the divine power that we live, move, and have our being. Abstracted from the merit of Christ, we can do nothing towards our justification; and from the Spirit of Christ nothing towards our sanctification. Without Christ we can do nothing aright, nothing that will be fruit pleasing to God or profitable to ourselves, Co2 3:5. We depend upon Christ, not only as the vine upon the wall, for support; but, as the branch on the root, for sap.
(3.) The fatal consequences of forsaking Christ (Joh 15:6): If any man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch. This is a description of the fearful state of hypocrites that are not in Christ, and of apostates that abide not in Christ. [1.] They are cast forth as dry and withered branches, which are plucked off because they cumber the tree. It is just that those should have no benefit by Christ who think they have no need of him; and that those who reject him should be rejected by him. Those that abide not in Christ shall be abandoned by him; they are left to themselves, to fall into scandalous sin, and then are justly cast out of the communion of the faithful. [2.] They are withered, as a branch broken off from the tree. Those that abide not in Christ, though they may flourish awhile in a plausible, at least a passable profession, yet in a little time wither and come to nothing. Their parts and gifts wither; their zeal and devotion wither; their credit and reputation wither; their hopes and comforts wither, Job 8:11-13. Note, Those that bear no fruit, after while will bear no leaves. How soon is that fig-tree withered away which Christ has cursed! [3.] Men gather them. Satan's agents and emissaries pick them up, and make an easy prey of them. Those that fall off from Christ presently fall in with sinners; and the sheep that wander from Christ's fold, the devil stands ready to seize them for himself. When the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, an evil spirit possessed him. [4.] They cast them into the fire, that is, they are cast into the fire; and those who seduce them and draw them to sin do in effect cast them there; for they make them children of hell. Fire is the fittest place for withered branches, for they are good for nothing else, Eze 15:2-4. [5.] They are burned; this follows of course, but it is here added very emphatically, and makes the threatening very terrible. They will not be consumed in a moment, like thorns under a pot (Ecc 7:6), but kaietai, they are burning for ever in a fire, which not only cannot be quenched, but will never spend itself. This comes of quitting Christ, this is the end of barren trees. Apostates are twice dead (Jde 1:12), and when it is said, They are cast into the fire and are burned, it speaks as if they were twice damned. Some apply men's gathering them to the ministry of the angels in the great day, when they shall gather out of Christ's kingdom all things that offend, and shall bundle the tares for the fire.
(4.) The blessed privilege which those have that abide in Christ (Joh 15:7): If my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will of my Father in my name, and it shall be done. See here, [1.] How our union with Christ is maintained - by the word: If you abide in me; he had said before, and I in you; here he explains himself, and my words abide in you; for it is in the word that Christ is set before us, and offered to us, Rom 10:6-8. It is in the word that we receive and embrace him; and so where the word of Christ dwells richly there Christ dwells. If the word be our constant guide and monitor, if it be in us as at home, then we abide in Christ, and he in us. [2.] How our communion with Christ is maintained - by prayer: You shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you. And what can we desire more than to have what we will for the asking? Note, Those that abide in Christ as their heart's delight shall have, through Christ, their heart's desire. If we have Christ, we shall want nothing that is good for us. Two things are implied in this promise: - First, That if we abide in Christ, and his word in us, we shall not ask any thing but what is proper to be done for us. The promises abiding in us lie ready to be turned into prayers; and the prayers so regulated cannot but speed. Secondly, That if we abide in Christ and his word we shall have such an interest in God's favour and Christ's mediation that we shall have an answer of peace to all our prayers.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–24 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit,.... There…
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit,.... There are two sorts of branches in Christ the vine; the one sort are such who have only an historical faith in him, believe but for a time, and are removed; they are such who only profess to believe in him, as Simon Magus did; are in him by profession only; they submit to outward ordinances, become church members, and so are reckoned to be in Christ, being in a church state, as the churches of Judea and Thessalonica, and others, are said, in general, to he in Christ; though it is not to be thought that every individual person in these churches were truly and savingly in him. These branches are unfruitful ones; what fruit they seemed to have, withers away, and proves not to be genuine fruit; what fruit they bring forth is to themselves, and not to the glory of God, being none of the fruits of his Spirit and grace: and such branches the husbandman
taketh away; removes them from that sort of being which they had in Christ. By some means or another he discovers them to the saints to be what they are; sometimes he suffers persecution to arise because of the word, and these men are quickly offended, and depart of their own accord; or they fall into erroneous principles, and set up for themselves, and separate from the churches of Christ; or they become guilty of scandalous enormities, and so are removed from their fellowship by excommunication; or if neither of these should be the case, but these tares should grow together with the wheat till the harvest, the angels will be sent forth, who will gather out of the kingdom of God all that offend and do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire, as branches withered, and fit to be burnt.
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And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. These are the other sort of branches, who are truly and savingly in Christ; such as are rooted in him; to whom he is the green fir tree, from whom all their fruit is found; who are filled by him with all the fruits of his Spirit, grace, and righteousness. These are purged or pruned, chiefly by afflictions and temptations, which are as needful for their growth and fruitfulness, as the pruning and cutting of the vines are for theirs; and though these are sometimes sharp, and never joyous, but grievous, yet they are attended with the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and so the end of bringing forth more fruit is answered; for it is not enough that a believer exercise grace, and perform good works for the present, but these must remain; or he must be constant herein, and still bring forth fruit, and add one virtue to another, that it may appear he is not barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ, in whom he is implanted. These different acts of the vinedresser "taking away" some branches, and "purging" others, are expressed by the Misnic doctors (p) by and The former, the commentators (q) say, signifies to cut off the branches that are withered and perished, and are good for nothing; and the latter signifies the pruning of the vine when it has a superfluity of branches, or these extend themselves too far; when some are left, and others taken off.
(p) Misn. Sheviith, c, 2. sect. 3. (q) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26 I am the true vine - So the true…
I am the true vine - So the true bread, Chap. vi, 32; that is, the most excellent.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26 The union of Jesus Christ with his followers, represented…
CHAPTER XV.
The union of Jesus Christ with his followers, represented by the
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parable of a vine and its branches, 1-11.
He exhorts them to mutual love, 12.
Calls them his friends, and promises to lay down his life for
them, 13-15.
Appoints them their work, and promises them success in it, 16.
Renews the exhortation to mutual love, 17,
and foretells the opposition they would meet with from the
world, 18-21.
The sin of the Jews in rejecting Christ, 22-25.
The Holy Spirit is promised as a witness for Christ, and the
Comforter of the disciples, 26, 27.
NOTES ON CHAP. XV.
Verse 1. I am the true vine] Perhaps the vines which they met with, on their road from Bethany to Gethsemane, might have given rise to this discourse. Some of the disciples were probably making remarks on the different kinds of them, and our Lord took the opportunity of improving the conversation, according to his usual manner, to the instruction of their souls. He might here term himself the true vine, or vine of the right sort, in opposition to the wild and barren vine. Some MSS. and several of the fathers read the verse thus: I am the true vine, ye are the branches, and my Father is the husbandman. Some think that, as this discourse followed the celebration of the Eucharist, our Lord took occasion from the fruit of the vine, used in that ordinance, to introduce this similitude.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 22, 24 Joh 15:1. I am, &c. — Our Lord having…
Joh 15:1. I am, &c. — Our Lord having gone with his disciples to the mount of Olives, employed the remaining hours of his ministry in delivering to them a long and most excellent discourse, recorded in this and the following chapter. This discourse he began with the parable of the vine, taken probably from the vines that were growing around them on the mount of Olives. In this parable he shows them the excellence of his religion, and the nature of the relation in which they stood to him by the profession thereof. Moreover, he explains to them the advantages which would accrue to them from this relation. I am the true vine — I am to my church, and the real members thereof, what the vine is to its branches. As the branches of the vine draw nourishment from, and are made fruitful by, their union with the stock, and by the care of the dresser, so my disciples are made fruitful in all holiness and righteousness by faith in me, and in the truths and promises of my gospel, and by the influence of my Spirit. And my Father is the husbandman — Or, vine-dresser; he has planted this vine, his providence watches over it, and by him it is dressed and cultivated, and he views with peculiar delight the growth and fertility of its branches. In this passage our Lord seems to allude to Psa 80:8, &c.; Isa 5:3-7; where the Jewish Church is represented under the figure of a vine: and God’s peculiar care thereof is set forth by the care which a husbandman takes of his vineyard. Wherefore, by calling himself, on this occasion, the true vine, Jesus intimated, that whereas the Jewish Church and people had hitherto been the peculiar care of God, they were to be so no longer. From this time forth, all such as became real partakers of the Christian religion, and who, perhaps, in allusion to this parable, were called by the apostle the body of Christ, were to be the true church of God, and the objects of his care, whatever nation or country they were of. See Dr. Samuel Clarke, and Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 I am the true vine - Some have supposed…
I am the true vine - Some have supposed that this discourse was delivered in the room where the Lord’s Supper was instituted, and that, as they had made use of wine, Jesus took occasion from that to say that he was the true vine, and to intimate that his blood was the real wine that was to give strength to the soul. Others have supposed that it was delivered in the temple, the entrance to which was adorned with a golden vine (Josephus), and that Jesus took occasion thence to say that he was the true vine; but it is most probable that it was spoken while they were going from the paschal supper to the Mount of Olives. Whether it was suggested by the sight of vines by the way, or by the wine of which they had just partaken, cannot now be determined. The comparison was frequent among the Jews, for Palestine abounded in vineyards, and the illustration was very striking. Thus, the Jewish people are compared to a vine which God had planted, Isa 5:1-7; Psa 80:8-16; Joe 1:7; Jer 2:21; Eze 19:10. When Jesus says he was the true vine, perhaps allusion is had to Jer 2:21. The word “true,” here, is used in the sense of real, genuine. He really and truly gives what is emblematically represented by a vine. The point of the comparison or the meaning of the figure is this: A vine yields proper juice and nourishment to all the branches, whether these are large or small. All the nourishment of each branch and tendril passes through the main stalk, or the vine, that springs from the earth. So Jesus is the source of all real strength and grace to his disciples. He is their leader and teacher, and imparts to them, as they need, grace and strength to bear the fruits of holiness.
And my Father is the husbandman - The word “vine-dresser” more properly expresses the sense of the original word than husbandman. It means one who has the care of a vineyard; whose office it is to nurture, trim, and defend the vine, and who of course feels a deep interest in its growth and welfare. See the notes at Mat 21:33. The figure means that God gave, or appointed his Son to be, the source of blessings to man; that all grace descends through him; and that God takes care of all the branches of this vine - that is, of all who are by faith united to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus and all his church he feels the deepest interest, and it is an object of great solicitude that his church should receive these blessings and bear much fruit.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27 He here shews, that the virtuous themselves stand in…
He here shews, that the virtuous themselves stand in need of the help of the husbandman; therefore the Almighty sends them tribulations, and temptations, that they may be cleansed, and rendered firm, like the vine, which, the more it is pruned, the more vigorous are its shoots. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lxxv. in Joan.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain On v1 John Chapter 15
John Chapter 15
The beginning of this chapter, and that which relates to the vine, belongs to the earthly portion-to that which Jesus was on earth-to His relationship with His disciples as on the earth, and does not go beyond that position.
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“I am the true vine.” Jehovah had planted a vine brought out of Egypt (Psa 80:8). This is Israel after the flesh; but it was not the true Vine. The true Vine was His Son, whom He brought up out of Egypt-Jesus. [55] He presents Himself thus to His disciples. Here it is not that which He will be after His departure; He was this upon earth, and distinctively upon earth. We do not speak of planting vines in heaven, nor of pruning branches there.
The disciples would have considered Him as the most excellent branch of the Vine; but thus He would have been only a member of Israel, whereas He was Himself the vessel, the source of blessing, according to the promises of God. The true Vine, therefore, is not Israel; quite the contrary, it is Christ in contrast with Israel, but Christ planted on earth, taking Israel’s place, as the true Vine. The Father cultivates this plant, evidently on the earth. There is no need of a husbandman in heaven. Those who are attached to Christ, as the remnant of Israel, the disciples, need this culture. It is on the earth that fruit-bearing is looked for. The Lord therefore says to them, “Ye are clean already, through the word which I have spoken unto you”; “Ye are the branches.” Judas, perhaps it may be said, was taken away, so the disciples who walked no more with Him. The others should be proved and cleansed, that they might bear more fruit.
I do not doubt that this relationship, in principle and in a general analogy, still subsists. Those who make a profession, who attach themselves to Christ in order to follow Him, will, if there is life, be cleansed; if not, that which they have will be taken away. Observe therefore here, that the Lord speaks only of His word-that of the true prophet-and of judgment, whether in discipline or in cutting off. Consequently He speaks not of the power of God, but of the responsibility of man-a responsibility which man will certainly not be able to meet without grace; but which has nevertheless that character of personal responsibility here.
Jesus was the source of all their strength. They were to abide in Him; thus-for this is the order-He would abide in them. We have seen this in chapter 14. He does not speak here of the sovereign exercise of love in salvation, but of the government of children by their Father; so that blessing depends on walk (Joh 15:21; Joh 15:23). Here the husbandman seeks for fruit; but the instruction given presents entire dependence on the Vine as the means of producing it. And He shews the disciples that, walking on earth, they should be pruned by the Father, and a man (for inJohn 15:6 He carefully changes the expression, for He knew the disciples and had pronounced them already clean)-a man, any one who bore no fruit, would be cut off. For the subject here is not that relationship with Christ in heaven by the Holy Ghost, which cannot be broken, but of that link which even then was formed here below, which might be vital and eternal, or which might not. Fruit should be the proof.
In the former vine this was not necessary; they were Jews by birth, they were circumcised, they kept the ordinances, and abode in the vine as good branches, without bearing any fruit at all. They were only cut off from Israel for wilful violation of the law. Here it is not a relationship with Jehovah founded on the circumstance of being born of a certain family. That which is looked for is the glorifying the Father by fruit-bearing. It is this which will shew that they are the disciples of Him who has borne so much.
Christ, then, was the true Vine; the Father, the Husbandman; the eleven were the branches. They were to abide in Him, which is realised by not thinking to produce any fruit except as in Him, looking to Him first. Christ precedes fruit. It is dependence, practical habitual nearness of heart to Him, and trust in Him, being attached to Him through dependence on Him. In this way Christ in them would be a constant source of strength and of fruit. He would be in them. Out of Him they could do nothing. If, by abiding in Him, they had the strength of His presence, they should bear much fruit. Moreover, “if a man” (He does not say “they”; He knew them as true branches and clean) did not abide in Him, he should be cast forth to be burnt. Again, if they abode in Him (that is, if there was the constant dependence that draws from the source), and if the words of Christ abode in them, directing their hearts and thoughts, they should command the resources of divine power; they should ask what they would, and it should be done. But, further, the Father had loved the Son divinely while He dwelt on earth. Jesus did the same with regard to them. They were to abide in His love. In the former verses it was in Him, here it is in His love. [56] By keeping His Father’s commandments, He had abode in His love; by keeping the commandments of Jesus, they should abide in His. Dependence (which implies confidence, and reference to Him on whom we depend for strength, as unable to do anything without Him, and so clinging close to Him) and obedience, are the two great principles of practical life here below. Thus Jesus walked as man: He knew by experience the true path for His disciples. The commandments of His Father were the expression of what the Father was; by keeping them in the spirit of obedience, Jesus had ever walked in the communion of His love; had maintained communion with Himself. The commandments of Jesus when on earth were the expression of what He was, divinely perfect in the path of man. By walking in them, His disciples should be in the communion of His love. The Lord spoke these things to His disciples, in order that His joy [57] should abide in them, and that their joy should be full.
We see that it is not the salvation of a sinner that is the subject treated of here, but the path of a disciple, in order that he may fully enjoy the love of Christ, and that his heart may be unclouded in the place where joy is found.
Neither is the question entered on here, whether a real believer can be separated from God, because the Lord makes obedience the means of abiding in His love. Assuredly He could not lose the favour of His Father, or cease to be the object of His love. That was out of the question; and yet He says, “I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” But this was the divine path in which He enjoyed it. It is the walk and the strength of a disciple that is spoken of, and not the means of salvation.
AtJohn 15:12 another part of the subject begins. He wills (this is His commandment) that they should love one another, as He had loved them. Before, He had spoken of the Father’s love for Him, which flowed from heaven into His heart here below. [58] He had loved them in this same way; but He had also been a companion, a servant, in this love. Thus the disciples were to love one another with a love that rose above all the weaknesses of others, and which was at the same time brotherly, and caused the one who felt it to be the servant of his brother. It went so far as to lay down life itself for one’s friends. Now, to Jesus, he who obeyed Him was His friend. Observe,He does not say that He would be their friend. He was our friend when He gave His life for sinners: we are His friends when we enjoy His confidence, as He here expresses it-”I have told you all things that I have heard of my Father.” Men speak of their affairs, according to the necessity of doing so which may arise, to those who are concerned in them. I impart all my own thoughts to one who is my friend. “Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I will do?” and Abraham was called the “friend of God.” Now it was not things concerning Abraham himself that God then told Abraham (He had done so as God), but things concerning the world-Sodom. God does the same with respect to the assembly, practically with respect to the obedient disciple: such a one should be the depositary of His thoughts. Moreover, He had chosen them for this. It was not they who had chosen Him by the exercise of their own will. He had chosen them and ordained them to go and bring forth fruit, and fruit that should remain; so that, being thus chosen of Christ for the work, they should receive from the Father, who could not fail them in this case, whatsoever they should ask. Here the Lord comes to the source and certainty of grace, in order that the practical responsibility, under which He puts them, should not cloud the divine grace which acted towards them and placed them there.
They were therefore to love one another. [59] That the world should hate them was but the natural consequence of its hatred to Christ; it sealed their association with Him. The world loves that which is of the world: this is quite natural. The disciples were not of it; and, besides, the Jesus whom it had rejected had chosen them and separated them from the world: therefore it would hate them because so chosen in grace. There was, besides, the moral reason, namely, that they were not of it; but this demonstrated their relationship to Christ, and His sovereign rights, by which He had taken them to Himself out of a rebellious world. They should have the same portion as their Master: it should be for His name’s sake, because the world-and He speaks especially of the Jews, among whom He had laboured-knew not the Father who had sent Him in love. To make their boast of Jehovah, as their God, suited them very well. They would have received the Messiah on that footing. To know the Father, revealed in His true character by the Son, was quite a different thing. Nevertheless the Son had revealed Him, and, both by His words and His works, had manifested the Father and His perfections.
If Christ had not come and spoken unto them, God would not have had to reproach them with sin. They might still drag on, even if in an unpurged state, without any proof (though there was plenty of sin and transgression as men and as a people under the law) that they would not have God-would not even by mercy return. The fruit of a fallen nature was there, no doubt, but not the proof that that nature preferred sin to God, when God was there in mercy, not imputing it. Grace was dealing with them, not imputing sin to them. Mercy had been treating them as fallen, not as wilful creatures. God was not taking the ground of law, which imputes, or of judgment, but of grace in the revelation of the Father by the Son. The words and works of the Son revealing the Father in grace, rejected, left them without hope (compare Joh 16:9). Their real condition would otherwise not have been thoroughly tested, God would have had still a means to use; He loved Israel too much to condemn them while there was one left untried.
If the Lord had not done among them the works which no other man had done, they might have remained as they were, refused to believe in Him, and not have been guilty before God. They would have been still the object of Jehovah’s longsuffering; but in fact they had seen and hated both the Son and the Father. The Father had been fully manifested in the Son-in Jesus; and if, when God was fully manifested, and in grace, they rejected Him, what could be done except to leave them in sin, afar from God? If He had been manifested only in part, they would have had an excuse; they might have said, “Ah! if He had shewn grace, if we had known Him as He is, we would not have rejected Him.” They could not now say this. They had seen the Father and the Son in Jesus. Alas! they had seen and hated. [60] But this was only the fulfilment of that which was foretold of them in their law. As to the testimony borne to God by the people, and of a Messiah received by them, all was over. They had hated Him without a cause.
The Lord now turns to the subject of the Holy Ghost who should come to maintain His glory, which the people had cast down to the ground. The Jews had not known the Father manifested in the Son; the Holy Ghost should now come from the Father to bear witness of the Son. The Son should send Him from the Father. In chapter 14 the Father sends Him in Jesus’ name for the personal relationship of the disciples with Jesus. Here Jesus, gone on high, sends Him the witness of His exalted glory, His heavenly place. This was the new testimony, and was to be rendered unto Jesus, the Son of God, ascended up to heaven. The disciples also should bear witness of Him, because they had been with Him from the beginning. They were to testify with the help of the Holy Ghost, as eyewitnesses of His life on earth, of the manifestation of the Father in Him. The Holy Ghost, sent by Him, was the witness to His glory with the Father, whence He Himself had come.
Thus in Christ, the true Vine, we have the disciples, the branches, clean already, Christ being still present on the earth. After His departure they were to maintain this practical relationship. They should be in relationship with Him, as He, here below, had been with the Father. And they were to be with one another as He had been with them. Their position was outside the world. Now the Jews had hated both the Son and the Father; the Holy Ghost should bear witness to the Son as with the Father, and in the Father; and the disciples should testify also of that which He had been on earth.
The Holy Ghost, and, in a certain sense, the disciples take the place of Jesus, as well as of the old vine, on the earth.
The presence and the testimony of the Holy Ghost on earth are now developed.
It is well to notice the connection of the subjects in the passages we are considering. In chapter 14 we have the Person of the Son revealing the Father, and the Holy Ghost giving the knowledge of the Son’s being in the Father and the disciples in Jesus on high. This was the personal condition both of Christ and the disciples, and is all linked together; only first the Father, the Son being down here, and then the Holy Ghost sent by the Father. In chapters 15, 16 you get the distinct dispensations-Christ the true Vine on earth, and then the Comforter come on earth sent down by the exalted Christ. In chapter 14 Christ prays the Father, who sends the Spirit in Christ’s name. In chapter 15 Christ exalted sends the Spirit from the Father, a witness of His exaltation, as the disciples, led by the Spirit, were of His life of humiliation, but as Son on earth.
Nevertheless there is development as well as connection. In chapter 14 the Lord, although quitting the earth, speaks in connection with that which He was upon earth. It is (not Christ Himself) the Father who sends the Holy Ghost at His request. He goes from earth to heaven on their part as Mediator. He would pray the Father, and the Father would give them another Comforter, who should continue with them, not leaving them as He was doing. Their relationship to the Father depending on Him, it would be as believing in Him that He would be sent to them-not to the world-not upon Jews, as such. It should be in His name. Moreover the Holy Ghost would Himself teach them, and He would recall to their mind the commandments of Jesus-all that He had said unto them. For chapter 14 gives the whole position that resulted from the manifestation [61] of the Son, and that of the Father in Him, and from His departure (that is to say, its results with regard to the disciples).
Now, in chapter 15 He had exhausted the subject of commandments in connection with the life manifested in Himself here below; and at the close of this chapter He considers Himself as ascended, and He adds, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father.” He comes, indeed, from the Father; for our relationship is, and ought to be, immediate to Him. It is there that Christ has placed us. But in this verse it is not the Father who sends Him at the request of Jesus, and in His name. Christ has taken His place in glory as Son of man, and according to the glorious fruits of His work, and He sends Him. Consequently He bears witness to that which Christ is in heaven. No doubt He makes us perceive what Jesus was here below, where in infinite grace He manifested the Father, and perceive it much better than they did, who were with Him during His sojourn on earth. But this is in chapter 14. Nevertheless the Holy Ghost is sent by Christ from heaven, and He reveals to us the Son, whom now we know as having perfectly and divinely (albeit as man and amid sinful men) manifested the Father. We know, I repeat, the Son, as with the Father, and in the Father. From thence it is He has sent us the Holy Ghost.
Footnotes for John Chapter 15
55: Compare, for this substitution of Christ for Israel, Isa 49:1-26. He began Israel over again in blessing, as He did man.
56: There are the three exhortations: Abide in me; If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you ye shall ask what ye will; Abide in My love.
57: Some have thought that this means the joy of Christ in the faithful walk of a disciple: I do not think so. It is the joy He had down here, just as He left us His own peace, and will give us His own glory.
58: He does not say “loveth me,” but “hath loved me”; that is, He does not speak merely of the eternal love of the Father for the Son, but of the Father’s love displayed towards Him in His humanity here on earth.
59: By choosing them and setting them apart to enjoy together this relationship with Him outside the world, He had put them in a position of which mutual love was the natural consequence; and, in fact, the sense of this position and love go together.
60: Remark, that His word and His works are here again referred to.
61: Observe here the practical development, with respect to life, of this most deeply interesting subject, in 1Jn 1:1-10; 1Jn 2:1-29. The eternal life which was with the Father had been manifested (for in Him, in the Son, was life, He was also the Word of life, and God was light. Compare Joh 1:1-51). They were to keep His commandments (chap. 2: 3-5). It was an old commandment which they had had from the beginning-that is, from Jesus on earth, from Him whom their hands had handled. But now this commandment was true in Him and in them: that is to say, this life of love (of which these commandments were the expression) as well as that of righteousness reproduced itself in them, by virtue of their union with Him, through the Holy Ghost, according to Joh 14:20. They also abode in Jesus (1Jn 2:6). In Joh 1:1-51 we find the Son who is in the bosom of the Father, who declares Him. He reveals Him as He has thus known Him-as that which the Father was to Himself. And He has brought this love (of which He was the object) down into the bosom of humanity, and placed it in the heart of His disciples (see chapter 17: 26); and this is known now in perfection by God dwelling in us, and His love being perfect in us, while we dwell in brotherly love (1Jn 4:12; compare Joh 1:18). The manifestation of our having been thus loved will consist in our appearing in the same glory as Christ (chap. 17: 22, 23). Christ manifests this love by coming from the Father. His commandments teach it us; the life which we have in Him reproduces it. His precepts give form to this life, and guide it through the ways of the flesh, and the temptations in the midst of which He, without sin, lived by this life. The Holy Ghost is its strength, as being the mighty and living link with Him, and He by whom we are consciously in Him and He in us. (Union, as the body to the Head, is another thing, which is never the subject of John’s teaching.) Of His fulness we receive grace upon grace. Therefore it is that we ought to walk as He walked (not to be what He was); for we ought not to walk in the flesh, although it is in us and was not in Him.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1
III
GLORIFICATION OF THIS PRESENT WORLD. BROUGHT ABOUT BY MEANS OF JUDGMENT, BY THE CONTINUING OF THE DISCIPLES IN THE LOVE OF CHRIST, AND BY THEIR INFLUENCE UPON THE WORLD, IN ORDER TO WHICH HE WILL SEND THEM HIS SPIRIT. AMID THE BURNING VINEYARD-FIRES IN THE VALLEY OF KIDRON. CHRIST THE VINE. GLORIFICATION OF THE NOBLE PLANT, AND OF HUBANDRY. GLORIFICATION OF FRIENDSHIP AND JOY. THE HOLY EXCOMMUNICATEDNESS (BANISHMENT) OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. CONFIRMATION OF THEIR SPIRITUAL LIFE IN FACE OF THE HATRED OF THE WORLD. THE HOLY SPIRIT‘S VICTORY IN THEM OVER THE WORLD. DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT
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Joh_15:1–Joh_16:15
(Pericope for Exaudi Sunday Joh_15:26–Joh_16:4; Joh_16:5-15 Pericope for Cantate Sunday)
1. The love of Jesus as the source of love to Him (Joh_15:1-10)
1I am the true vine,1 and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away [αἴρει, cutteth off]: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth [χαθαιρει, cutteth partially, pruneth, cleanseth] it, that it may bring forth [bear] more fruit. 3Now ye are clean through [Ye are clean already because of, by reason of] the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more [so neither] can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth 6[beareth] much fruit; for without [apart from] me ye can do nothing. If a man [any one] abide not in me, he is cast forth as a [the] branch, and is withered; and men [they] gather them, and cast them into the fire,2 and they are burned [they burn (quickly and readily). 7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall [may]3 ask what [whatsoever] ye will, and it shall [will] be done unto you. 8Herein [Therein] is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be [and ye will become (thus for the first time truly)4] my disciples.
9As the Father hath loved me, so [thus also] have I loved you: continue [abide] ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall [will] abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
2. Joy (Joh_15:11-17)
11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain [may be]5 in you, and that your joy might be full [may be made full, filled up]. 12This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have [omit have] loved you. 13Greater love hath no man [no one] than this, that a man [he] lay down his life for his 14,15 friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever [what]6 I command you. Henceforth I call you not [No longer do I call you] servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of [which I heard from] my Father I have [omit have] made known unto you. 16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you [Ye did not choose me, but I chose you], and ordained [appointed] you, that ye should [may] go and bring forth [bear] fruit, and that your fruit should [may] remain; [in order] that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17These things I command you, [in order] that ye [may] love one another.
3. Steadfastness in view of the hatred of the world (Joh_15:18-25)
18If the world hate you, ye [omit ye] know that it [hath] hated me before it hated 19[omit it hated] you.7 If ye were of the world, the world would love his [its] own [in you]; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have [omit have] persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying [if they kept my word] they will keep yours also. 21But all these things will they do unto you8 for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin [would have no sin9]; but now they have no cloak [pretext, excuse] for their sin. 23He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24If I had not done among them the works which none [no] other man did,10 they had not had [they would have no] sin: but now have they [they have] 25both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that [But in order that] the word might [may] be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause (Psa_35:19; Psa_69:4).
4. Promise of the Holy Ghost as the strength of martyrdom (Joh_15:26 to Joh_16:6)
26But11 when the Comforter. [Paraclete] is come, whom I will [shall] send unto you from the Father, even [omit even] the Spirit of truth, which [who] proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify [will bear witness, μαρτυρήσει] of me: 27And ye also shall bear witness [But ye also bear witness, or, are witnesses, χαὶ ύμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε]12 Joh_16:1 because [for] ye have been [are] with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should [may] not be offended [fall 2through offence]. They shall [will] put you out of the synagogues [excommunicate you]: yea the time [hour] cometh, that whosoever [when every man that] killeth you will think that he doeth God service [a sacrificial service, or, that he is offering service to God]. 3And these things will they do unto you [omit unto you],13 because they have not known the Father, nor me [they neither know the Father nor me]. 4But these things have I told you [But I have spoken these things unto you], that when the time shall come [when the (their)14 hour cometh], ye may remember that I told you of them [ye may remember them as I told you, or, ye may remember that I myself told you of them].15 And these things I said not unto you [I told you not] at the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I go my way [ὑπάγω, see Joh_15:7] to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6But [Yet] because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
5. The Holy Ghost as the strength of the victory over the world (Joh_15:7-11)
7Nevertheless [But] I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away [depart, ἀπέλθω]; for if I go not away [do not depart], the Comforter [the Paraclete] will not come unto you; but if I depart [go, shall have gone, πορευθῶ],16 I will send him unto you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment [he will convince and convict the world, or, bring conviction to the world concerning, or, in regard to sin, and to righteousness, and to judgment, ἐλέγξει τὸν κόσμον περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ περὶ κρίσεως].17 9Of [In regard to] sin (that it is rooted and essentially consists in the fact), because 10[that18] they believe not on me; Of [In regard to] righteousness (that it becomes manifest in the fact), because [that] I (glorified) go to my [the] Father, and ye see 11me no more (whereby grace and judgment are indicated); Of [In regard to] judgment, because [that] the prince of this world is [hath been] judged (in the work of redemption).
6. Promise of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of the glorification of Christ, and the revelation of the future (Joh_15:12-15.)
12, 13I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. How beit [But] when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth [all the truth, or, the whole truth, εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν19]: for he shall [will] not speak of [from] himself; but whatsoever he shall hear [he heareth],20 that shall he speak [he will speak about]: and he will shew you [tell you, proclaim to you] things to 14come. He shall [will] glorify me: for he shall receive of mine [he will take of what is mine, ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λήμψεται], and shall shew [will tell, proclaim] it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I [for this cause I said], that he shall take of mine [he taketh of what is mine, ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ λαμβἀνει],21 and shall shew [will tell, proclaim] it unto you.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[The parabolic discourse or allegory of the Vine and the Branches is the second of the two παροιμίαι recorded in the Gospel of John; the other being the parable of the Good Shepherd, John 10. See the remarks p. 317 f. It illustrates, under the figure of the noblest of fruit-bearing plants, the precious truth of the organic life-union of Christ with believers: He is the only source of their spiritual life and fruitfulness; they live in Him and of Him; and apart from Him they must inevitably wither and die, like the branches cut off from the parent stem, although they may retain for a little while a deceitful greenness and appearance of life. The same truth is set forth by Paul under the similitude of the head and the members, Eph_5:30; Col_1:23; Col_2:19; Rom_12:5; 1Co_10:17; 1Co_12:20; 1Co_12:27. In Archbishop Trench’s Studies on the Gospels, pp. 273–286, there is a suggestive exegetical essay on Joh_15:1-6.—P. S.]
Joh_15:1. I am the true vine, etc. [Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός ἐστι].—The new meditation takes for granted a preceding pause; the figure chosen by the Lord presupposes a particular inducement to its selection. Various conjectures as to the inducement:
1. It was presented by the golden vine on the door of the temple (Josephus Ant. XV. 11, 3; De bello Jud. V. 5, 4), viewed during a stay in the temple (Jerome, Rosenmüller), or seen from a distance in the moonlight (Lampe). [This golden vine was one of the chief ornaments of Herod’s temple and no doubt a symbol of the theocracy which is called ‘a noble vine’ (Jer_2:21; comp. Isa_5:1 ff.; Eze_19:10 ff.; Psa_80:8-19); yet Christ would scarcely set Himself over against a dead image of man’s workmanship.—P. S.]
2. The sight of the wine-cup at the Lord’s supper (see Mat_26:28; Grotius, Nösselt, Meyer). [Ewald, Trench. The Communion wine, the γέννημα τοῦ ἀμπέλου (Mat_26:28), which He had declared to be the symbol of His blood shed for the remission of sins, presented undoubtedly the nearest motive for this discourse on the closest union between Christ and His people, which is embodied in the sacrament of union with Christ and His people. Yet this does not exclude an external occasion such as is suggested by Lange, sub 6.—P. S.]
3. A vine which, from the house, had shot its tendrils into the guest-chamber (Knapp, Tholuck).
4. The view of vineyards reposing outside in the full moon (Storr).
5. Only the mental recollection of the Old Testament figure (Isa_5:1; Jer_2:21; Eze_15:2; Eze_19:10; Psa_80:8; Lücke, Baumg. -Crusius. [Alford who, however, combines with this the second conjecture] considered as relating to Christ and the disciples who were about Him (Hofmann).
6. The walk down to Kedron through the vineyards (Lampe, Lange) [in his Leben Jesu, followed by Godet (II. 406), who supposes that Christ, seeing a vine with branches, stopped on the way, gathered His disciples around Him and spoke this parable.—P. S.]
We, however, in upholding this latter view, proceed from the supposition that there were burning along the sides of the valley of Kedron nocturnal vineyard-fires,—for the burning of the cut-off branches is a principal point of consideration. It was 1. the time of year for the vineyard-fires, 2. for the cleansing of the vine, 3. for the burning of the offal from the Paschal lamb; this last was strictly commanded (Exo_12:10; Num_9:12) and might easily have been performed in connection with the duties appertaining to vine-dressing (see Leben Jesu II. 3, p. 1425). The Easter-fires which the Gallic and British Churches caused to be kindled in the night following Maundy-Thursday, point to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper as obtaining in Asia Minor and, through this, back to the Jewish Paschal-fires.
Jesus’ discourse concerning the vine is neither an allegory nor a parable, but a parabolic discourse, and that a symbolical one (see chap. 10).
The essential Vine, not the “real.” [Comp. on ἀληθινός the first Textual Note.—P. S.] That which the earthly vine is figuratively as a symbol, that which the people of Israel was as a type (Psa_80:8; Jer. ii. 21), Christ is in radical essentiality; He is the trunk-root and stem of the kingdom of love, of its invigorating and inspiriting fruit and effect: festive joy doth the vine represent in an earthly figure, more a child of the heavenly sun than of earthly soil. [The comparison with the O. T. theocracy (defended also by Ebrard and Hengstenberg who find in ἀληθινή an antithesis to the unfruitful vine of the Jewish theocracy) is not so natural here, since Christ represents Himself, and not His Church, as the true Vine, i.e. the reality of the idea which is figuratively represented in the natural vine.—P.S.]
Ye the branches [ὑμεῖς τὰ κλήματα, Joh_15:5.—P. S.] 1. Christ the principle of discipleship, bearing and quickening all through His Spirit; 2. they an organic whole with Him, through the communion of His Spirit.
The husbandman. [γεωργοίς, the owner of the vineyard as well as the laborer, is a more dignified term than ἀμπελουργός, i.e. the vine dresser or actual cultivator of the vine. King Uzziah is called γεωργοίς, 2Ch_26:10, and the leaders of the Jewish theocracy γεωργοί, Mat_21:31-41. Trench: “Not that the γεωργοίς need be assumed to ‘purge’ or prune only by the hand of others. The labor of the vineyard is exactly of that lighter kind, in which the proprietor might be well pleased himself to take a share.” Wordsworth: “He tills our hearts with the ploughshare of His word, and scatters the seeds of His precepts there, and sends us the dew and rain of the Spirit, that He may reap the fruits of holiness.”—P. S.] God’s rule over the world Isaiah 1. a personal government; 2. a teleological government: establishment, culture, perfection of the kingdom of love; 3. a government exercised upon Christ as the centre of the world and upon His disciples as His organs; a strict and wise government corresponding with the noble nature of the Vine; a government realizing the destiny of the Vine, partly through a cutting off of the useless, partly through a pruning of the serviceable, branches (judgments and purifyings). [Arians used this passage, as implying that the Son was a creature and entirely subordinated to the Father. But Christ calls Himself the true Vine, not in His eternal divine nature, but in His historical mediatorial character and work. Augustine: Quamvis autem Christus vitis non esset, nisi homo esset, tamen istam gratiam palmitibus non præberet, nisi etiam Deus esset.—P. S.]
Joh_15:2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away [ΙΙᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μὴ φέρον καρπόν, αἳρει αὐτσ́].—In Me; namely in organic intimacy, ἐν ἐμοί.22 Antithesis of the non-fruit-bearing and fruit-bearing branches. The circumstance that the fruit-bearing branches are not placed in the fore-ground, is indicative of the occasion which suggested the figure: the view of the vineyard-fires. The ground of unfruitfulness is declared in the following, Joh_15:4. The natural degeneracy of the proud shoots (Luther) which are not governed by the noble impulse of the vine, but are common, useless wood, is made a figure of the moral misconduct of such of Christ’s members as stand in the external connection of discipleship, without, however, remaining internally connected with Him. [The fruits of the Spirit are enumerated Gal_5:22.—P. S.]
Every (branch) that beareth fruit, he pruneth (cleanseth) it [καθαίρει αὐτό].—Seeming to attack their lives also with the knife, as is indicated by the similarity of sound: αἴρει, καθαίρει.23 The purgings here mentioned are to be referred to the providences of the Father. Chrysostom calls them πειρασμοί; Augustine: castigationes dei (“sunt emendatoriæ, non interfectoriæ”). [Bengel: afflictiointerna et externa; Trench and others refer the purging to the whole process of sanctification which includes temptations and afflictions.—P. S.] The purging itself is not, indeed, accomplished without the co-operation of the internal judgment of the Spirit (Gal_2:19); here, however, Christ has in view those divine judgments, such as overtook the disciples in the Passion-night.—That it may bear more fruit [ἳνα καρπο͂ν πλείονα φέρῃ].—The relation between Christ and His disciples is here indicated in such general terms as to render it impossible for the branches to denote only the Apostles, or the fruits official fruits merely. The general fruits of spiritual fellowship with Christ, particularly as fruits of love, constitute the meaning. Such fruits were, doubtless, to make their first appearance as results of the ministry of the Apostles, there being, indeed no true official fruits independent of the fruits of their labors.
Joh_15:3. Ye are clean already [Ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε, clean by virtue of your connection with the root and stem, and yet in need of being cleansed as branches, Joh_15:2 (καθαίρει); mundi atque mundandi…quis enim in hac vita sic mundus, ut non sit magis magisque mundandus? (Augustine). Clean objectively, as being justified in Christ, in need of cleansing subjectively, as to sanctifieation.—P. S.]—See Joh_13:10. It is a question whether the idea presented is that of men already purified in antithesis to those whose purification is yet future (Meyer), or that of an internal principial purification, which they already possess, in antithesis to the external purification which they still lack and must now receive (Leben Jesu, Tholuck). We regard the latter antithesis as the one intended and agreeing with the context.—The noble vine-branch is clean in respect of its inward vitality, but, nevertheless, it must be purged from wild outgrowths, shoots and appendicles. The purifying word of Jesus that made the disciples clean from within (see Joh_6:57), must be supplemented from without by the Father’s school of suffering; the latter, however, was not to give them the principle of purity, but to strengthen it and free it from the danger of degeneration. In this school of suffering their purification must be rendered complete through their abiding in Him.
[By reason of the word which I have spoken to you, διὰ τὸν λόγον—διὰ indicates the ground or reason, as Joh_6:57. The living word of Christ received by faith into the heart and dwelling there (comp. Joh_15:7, τᾶ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνοντα) is the principle of regeneration and purification (Joh_17:17; Jam_1:18; 1Pe_1:23; Eph_5:26). It is not said by reason of baptism; the apostles were not baptized (except with the preparatory baptism of John), and regeneration is possible still without water baptism, which receives its force and efficacy only from the word and power of the Spirit present with it and working through it. Augustine who otherwise, as most of the fathers, has an exaggerated view of the efficacy and necessity of water baptism, remarks: “Why did Ho not say: ‘Ye are clean by baptism?’ Because it is the word which cleanses in the water. Take away the word, and what is the water? Add the word to the element, and it becomes a sacrament. Whence is this power of the water that it touches the body and the heart is cleansed? Whence, but because the word operates not merely in being spoken, but in being believed.”—P. S.]
Joh_15:4. Abide in Me and I in you [Μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν].—Not “on Me” (Meyer) but “in Me,” i e. in the true internal vital connection of spiritual communion with Christ. The abiding in Him is the condition whereon depends His ability to abide in them. The interpretation: “Take heed that I may abide in you” (Grotius), likewise converts the promise into a condition, and that the one already declared: “Abide in Me.” [Meyer supplies to κἀγὼ ε̇ν ὑμῖν, with Lange, μενῶ, I shall abide; but Bengel, Godet, Trench supply, with Grotius, μείνω, I abide. Bengel: Facite ut maneatis in me, et ut ego maneam in vobis. Trench: “Take heed that ye abide in Me, and that I abide in you.” This is supported by Joh_15:7 (μείνῃ), but it is grammatically less natural than the usual interpretation, which makes the second clause a promise.—P. S.]
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself [καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα οὐ δύναται καρπὸν φέρειν ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ].—The thing treated of here is, manifestly, the abiding of the branch as a noble branch in the vine, not merely as a shoot on the vine. This is the condition of fruit-bearing. The same law applies to the disciples: so neither can ye [οὔτως οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ μένητε].—It is no question here of the natural inability of the old man (Augustine), but of the simple organic dependence of the believer on Christ; though with this dependence, the effect of such inability, or the constant danger of turning into a proud shoot again, is taken for granted also. The sort of synergism expressed under the supposition of abiding in Christ is explained by the figure itself; nothing without Him, everything in connection with Him. This is fulfilled, in the case of the branch, in organic vitality; in the case of the disciples, in free personality.
Joh_15:5. I am the Vine, ye are the branches [Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος τὰ κλήματα].—The positive antithesis to the negative declaration Joh_15:4. At the same time, however, an emphasizing of the organic contrast: I the Vine=principle; ye the branches=organs entirely conditional upon the Vine and dependent upon it.—And I in him, abide, namely.—For apart from Me.—Without fellowship with Me [χωρὶς ἐμοῦ = χωρισθέντες ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, separate from Me, which is more than without Me.—P. S.]—Ye can do nothing [οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν].—Properly, ye cannot be productive and creative as vine-branches. Hence, Christ is speaking of specifically Christian labors and achievements. Christian vital activity is entirely dependent upon vital communion with Christ. Even such noble things as precede conversion are, so far as they are noble, done in the truth of the Logos (Olshausen); but it is only through communion with the Christ of history that a man attains to the performance of Christian acts, new works, deeds of faith, God-like deeds,—or, in fine, that a man brings forth fruit. Luther: “He doth not here speak of a natural or worldly life and conduct, but of fruits of the Gospel.”
[The passage plainly asserts the total spiritual inability and unfruitfulness of man without vital connection with Christ, and so far is a strong proof-text for Augustinian and against Pelagian views. Augustine says that Christ spoke thus “ut respondent futuro Pelagio.” Calvin: “Non tantum co-operantis suæ gratiæ auxilium hic commendat, sed nos penitus privat omni virtute nisi quam suppeditat ipse nobis.” Yet the passage has frequently been applied without proper discrimination. Christ speaks here not of natural morality and civil righteousness, which has nothing to do with man’s salvation, but of spiritual righteousness and fruits of the gospel; nor does He speak of unconverted men, but of Christians who even after their conversion are in constant need of His grace for the performance of any Christian work. Christ is the beginning, middle and end of spiritual life; we can do nothing without Him, but much, yea, every thing with Him. Trench says: “It is a poor and inadequate interpretation of the words ‘Without Me’ to make them to mean, ‘Ye can do nothing until ye are in Me and have My grace.’ It is rather, ‘After ye are in Me, ye can even then accomplish nothing except ye draw life and strength from Me. . . . From first to last it is I that must work in and through you.’ We have a warning here to the regenerate man that he never seek to do aught of himself; not a declaration that the unregenerate is unable to do aught.”—P. S.]
Joh_15:6. If any one abide not in Me [ἐὰν μή τις μένῃ ἐν ἐμοί].—Properly, shall not have abode.—He is cast forth [ἐβλήθη ἔξω ὡς τὸ κλῆμα καὶ ἐξαράνθη, καὶ συνάγουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ πῦρ βάλλουσιν, καὶ καίεται].—I.e. already cast forth (or cast out, ἔξω, viz. from the vineyard, i.e. the true Church), like the branch [τὸ κλη̇μα, sc. τὸ ἄχρηστον (Euthym.), the useless branch.—P. S.] The article, as well as what follows, very distinctly intimates that Jesus and His disciples are viewing the burning up of withered branches. He is cast forth and is withered, and is now, in company with other similar branches, gathered for the fire. Interpretations of the Aorists [ἐβλήθη and έξαράνθη]:
1. As is the custom (Grotius);
2. They have a Future signification (Kuinoel, Baumg.-Crusius);
3. They are expressive of what is immediately to happen: very soon, etc. (Beza, Lücke, etc.);24
4. The events described are things past as viewed in presence of the Last Day. The fire, therefore, meaning the fire of the final judgment (Meyer).25
But we should not permit our interpretation to be biased by this allusion tο the last fiery judgment, since fiery judgments manifold in their nature precede that final one, and every trial is directly converted into a fiery judgment to him who has not stood the test, Mal_3:3; Mat_3:12. Therefore the Aorists are indicative of time past, because the things which they denote are viewed from the stand-point of judgments already present in time. When we see branches gathered together and blazing up, we know that these were withered because they were cut off, and they were cut off because they had not abode in the vine. Jesus is induced to select this tense: 1. by the sight of the burning branches; 2. by proximate reference to Judas who but now is being gathered up together with the withered branches of the Sanhedrin. Hence the fire is, primarily, only a prelude to the fire of Gehenna, though, at the same time, it points towards it; and the gatherers26 are all divinely ordained instruments of judgment, and not merely the angels at the end of the world, Mat_13:41 (Mat_24:31; Rev. 19:24); see Psa_104:4. Similarly Tholuck in reference to Heb_6:8.
And they burn [καὶ καίεται, sc. τὰ κλήματα].—Emphatic. Like dry brush they flame up quickly and are speedily consumed. Indicative of the conspicuous, rapid and shocking ruin of apostates, or, in general, of dead members of Christ.
[They burn, is more graphic and terrible than the E. V., they are burned; comp. the Pass. part. καιόμενος, burning, flaming, and Eze_15:5, where it is said of the wood of the vine-tree:
‘Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel,
Its two ends have the fire eaten,
And its midst has been scorched!’
Bengel: “Magna vi positum eximia cum majestate.” Trench: “All which is here expressed or implied, of ‘the fire’ (Mat_3:10), ‘the flame’ (Luk_16:24), ‘the flaming fire’ (2Th_1:8), ‘the furnace of fire’ (Mat_13:42; Mat_13:50), ‘the gehenna of fire’ (Mat_5:22; Mar_9:43), ‘the lake of fire’ (Rev_20:15; Rev_21:8), ‘the everlasting fire’ (Mat_25:41; Judges 7), with all the secrets of anguish which words like these, if there be any truth in words, must involve, demands rather to be trembled at than needs to be expounded.”—P. S.]
Joh_15:7. If ye abide in Me, etc. [Ἐὰν μείνητε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ τὰ ῥήματά μου ἐν ὑμῖν μείνη, ὅ ἐὰν θέλητε αἰτήσασθε (imperative, which some MSS. have changed into the future tense καὶ γενήσεται ὑμῖν]. The shocking judgment of the withered branches inspires them with the ardent wish that they may be preserved from a like catastrophe. The Lord’s answer anticipates the expression of this wish. Ye shall not only be preserved, but the most glorious gain shall accrue to you; but ye must pray aright. Βut in order to pray aright, ye must retain my words within you,—and for this end, again, ye must steadfastly continue in the true fellowship of love with Me, 1Jn_5:14.—What ye will (ὅ ἐὰν θέλητε, emphatically put first).—I.e. not in the sense of arbitrary choice, but in the way of love and of Christ’s word [or “in the way of God’s will and as tending to πολὺν καρπὸν φέρειν” (Alford) ]. In this direction (in His name) no request which they may venture, can be too bold. How far did their deliverance and exaltation by means of the night of the Passion exceed all that they could ask or understand! [They who abide in Christ, can only pray in conformity or at least in entire submission to His will, and for things which tend to His glory and the salvation of souls. Such prayers must be heard, as to their true spiritual intent, although very often they are heard at a time and in a manner which differs widely from our short-sighted vision. God sometimes hears the substance of our prayers best by denying their form. On prayer in Christ’s name, see notes on Joh_14:13 f.—P. S.]
Joh_15:8. Therein is My Father glorified [Ἐν τούτῳ ἐδοξάσθη ὁ πατήρ μου).—We agree with Meyer in considering ἐν τούτῳ as relating not to the ἴνα following it (Lücke), but to the verse preceding it: “by this granting of prayer, conceded to the fulfilling of the condition,—the μένειν ἐν ἐμοί.”27 The first object to be accomplished by the granting of the disciples’ prayers is the glorification of the Father, in pursuance of the glorification of the Son,—the latter being accomplished subsequently to the effusion of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples. This, the Father’s glorification, should, however, react upon the disciples, causing them to bear much fruit and to become, more thoroughly than ever, the disciples of Jesus. The bearing of much fruit was not to be the means of their entering into new discipleship with Him; the two things were to appear simultaneously.—So shall ye grow up to be true disciples to Me.—[καὶ γενήσεσθε (Codd. Sin. and A., text. rec., Tischend. 8, Mey., etc.), or γένησθε (B. D., etc., Lachm., Treg., Alf., Westcott and Hort) ἐμοὶ μαθηταί.—P. S.]. It is most fitting to interpret γενήσεσθε as a consecutive promise, not as a further demand; hence it is independent of ἴνα. [This is preferable. Τεςήσεσθε expresses the results of πολύν καρπὸν (φέρειν) with the additional idea of a gradual process of growth. Discipleship of Christ is the beginning and the end, or, as Bengel has it, the foundation and top (fundamentum et fastigium), of Christianity. Μαθηταί here is, of course, pregnant, such as are worthy of Me and worthy of the name of Christians which means followers or imitators of Christ.—P. S.]
Joh_15:9. As My Father hath loved Me. [Kαθὼς ἠγάπησέν με ὁ πατήρ, κἀγὼ υμᾶς ἡγάπησα].—The apodosis commences, not at μείνατε (Grotius) but at κἀτώ, as is demonstrated by the distinction Joh_15:10. Aside from this fact, the construction of Grotius would certainly afford a good sense. According as My Father hath loved Me, i.e. in accordance with the mystery of the Trinity,—and as I have loved you, i.e. in accordance with the mystery of redemption. Continue in My love [μείνατε ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῆ]. Thus the whole weight would rest in the modification of the continuing. The continuing, however, has already been the subject of discourse; this continuing in Christ is modified here as a continuing in His love. It is a question whether the Aorists are employed because Jesus is standing upon the boundary of His life and looking back (Meyer), or whether the meaning of the expression is not: recognized in love, conceived a love for, as, similarly, the term πεπἰστευκα means: I have become a believer. We take the latter for granted; in this view of the case, the Aorists mark the love of God and Jesus as an accomplished fact, not simply from the boundary of Jesus’ life, but from the whole future of the disciples. In the glorification of Jesus they should contemplate the fact of the Father’s love to the Son; also, however, the measure of the Son’s love to them—a love which was analogously to glorify them. They must continue, must take root in the contemplation of this love; their regeneration, their fruits, their discipleship, shall all spring from their thus abiding (i.e. it shall be the source of their justification). The ἀγάπη ἡ ἐμή not love to Jesus (Grotius and others), though grammatically the expression might have this signification, but the love of Jesus to them, as is proved by the foregoing (Joh_15:11 ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμή). Love to Jesus is here, as throughout the section, expressed by the continuing in Him.
Joh_15:10. If ye keep My commandments.—The commandments of Jesus are, in this place as elsewhere, the provisions that He has made for the spiritual regulation of men’s lives: precepts, promises, instructions, consolations and warnings in a mass. The warmth and sincerity of vital communion is conditioned by fidelity in “will-oneness” (Tholuck). But, again, the singleness of our view of the life of Christ is conditioned by our faithful perception of His word in detail. True unity is conditioned by the plenitude of manifoldness, true synthesis by analysis, fidelity in great things by fidelity in small things.—Even as I have kept My Father’s commandments.—The obedience of Jesus even to the death upon the cross; the conservation of the love the Father bore His human form and conduct.
Joh_15:11. These things have I spoken unto you.—Now follows the section bearing upon the joy that the new life in brotherly love and friendship with Jesus brings. The discourse upon the love of Christ was to be the means of developing joy within them. Thus it is written of the fruit of the Spirit, Gal_5:22 : love, joy.—That My joy might be in you [ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ᾖ . Observe the collocation of ἡ ἐμή and ἐν ὑμῖν].—Interpretations:
1. My joy in you [mea de vobis lætitia] (χαίρειν ἐν; Augustine, Lampe: the joy inspired by His viewing their life as pictured in predestination,—which joy was always perfect). That I may rejoice in you,—that ye may be a cause and subject for my joy (Luthardt).
2. Your joy over Me [gaudium vestrum de me] (Euth. Zigab., Grotius, Piscator; over Christ’s merit).
3. That the joyfulness occasioned by Me may be in you (Calvin, De Wette).
4. The joy experienced by Christ Himself, the joy of His own Spirit (Cyril, Lücke, Meyer [Alford]). Doubtless this is the meaning of the passage. The holy joyfulness of Christ, the untrammeled, glad upsoaring of His soul in the midst of all His tribulations shall, through the Spirit, by means of the communication and awakening of love, devolve upon the disciples themselves (see 1Jn_3:21; 1Jn_4:17; Gosp. Joh_16:22; Php_2:17; Php_4:4 and many passages in the epistles of St. Paul). It is impossible to maintain the distinction of a joy that Christ tastes in Himself (Chrysostom, Bengel), and of one which He occasions (Calvin, Hofmann, Tholuck); for Christ communicates to, and occasions in, His people precisely that which He possesses in Himself. That, moreover, Christ’s joy itself was first made humanly complete in His exaltation and communication of salvation to the world, is certainly a fact to be insisted upon, in accordance with Chrysostom and Bengel, although they specialize individual considerations too much. From the following it also results that Christ’s joy in the redeemed is likewise particularly treated of. “And good pleasure in men.”—In you, i.e. as a new and resident vital principle. They have not this perfect joyfulness yet; it must come to them from Christ; and for this reason also the reading ῇ is better than [μέινη.—And your joy may be made perfect [καὶ ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν πληρωθῇ].—Man’s natural impulse to joy has, even in the disciples, already developed into the beginnings of a sacred joy; these beginnings are, however, as yet imperfect; through Christ’s joy, their joy shall be made complete [“uplifted and ennobled even to fulness—to the extreme of their capability and satisfaction” (Alford)]. And, again, the joy shall be theirs, existing under a peculiar phase in each one. For the dominion of Christ’s personality in the hearts of His people does not destroy, but quicken, develop and glorify their own personality, 1Jn_1:4; 2Jn_1:12.
Joh_15:12. This is My commandment, That ye love one another.—Christ does not here pass to another exhortation (Tholuck, Meyer); He does but declare the vital law whose aim is the perfection of their joy. It must be grounded on His love, developed in mutual brotherly love. As the 14th chapter is an exposition of the words Joh_13:33 : “whither I go, ye cannot come,”—i.e. an exposition of the heaven beyond this present world, so here the exposition of the saying Joh_13:34 appears as the full explanation of the heaven upon earth treated of in John 15 : that earthly heaven, with its heavenly joy, is to be revealed in mutual brotherly love. This ἐντολή is the sum of the ἐντολαί Joh_15:10; comp. Rom_13:8.—As I have loved you.—Ι. e. first qualitatively: as personalities destined for salvation they must love one another sub specie, æterni; for only such loving constitutes true love; thus doing, however, they will always be quantitatively approaching the true sacrificial joyfulness of His love.
Joh_15:13. Greater love hath no man than this, etc. [Μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην οὐδεὶς ἔχ̇ει, ἵνα τις τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αυ̇τοῦ],—Difficulty is here occasioned by the ἵνα, and the different construction of this leads to a different interpretation of the verse. The ordinary explanation considers it an exposition of ταύτης. This makes the whole verse a generalized description of the love of Christ. “A greater love than I bear to you hath no man, namely, that he layeth down his life for his friends.” Meyer, on the other hand, maintains that ἵνα is expressive of purpose even in this place; he interprets thus: Greater love than My love to you. hath no man: the divine purpose (ἴνα) which My love is destined to accomplish, is, that a man shall surrender his life for his friends. Opposed to this view is, however, the grammatical objection that ἴνα would then in reality be the beginning of a new sentence; another objection is the logical one that the love of Christ would then be cited merely as an example. Moreover, in the subsequent verse the Lord calls the disciples His friends, after having given utterance to the idea of a man’s dying for his friends. Hence we must doubtless assume, with De Wette, that ἀγάπη, in conjunction with its meaning of love, contains the idea of an impulse of the will, a law;28 and in like manner we must accept the supposition of Lücke, that the case of a sacrificing of life is put to express the ideal of love. The proper meaning of the saying is this: greater love hath no man than that which goes to the point of causing him to lay down his life for his friends. It is a picture of the love of Christ—generalized, however, because this love, after the pattern of Christ, should be to His people a law of their lives, and because foretokens of this love may make their appearance in the realm of the noble, even amongst the unchristianized of mankind.
Yet another interpretation were this: a love, great like this, hath no man beside,—in order that One there might be to give proof of such by laying down His life, etc. The dearth of love in all others renders the great love-sacrifice of the One necessary. Still, it is the intention of Christ to represent His self-sacrificing love as a pattern for the disciples, and therefore the usual interpretation seems advisable.
The passage Rom_5:6 is apparently acquainted with a still higher degree of love. But dying for men who have been sinners and enemies is a dying for men who shall be friends; Christ dies for sinners who are to be friends; or, again, He dies in a special sense for sinners who have already become friends, in a general sense for friends who are still sinners. Be it observed, moreover, that He is not delineating His death under its unique form of an expiatory death, but under its representative form as a death of self-sacrificing friendly love.
Joh_15:14. Ye are My friends [ὐ μεῖς φίλοι μου ἐστέ, ἐὰν ποιῆτε ἅ ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν],—Christ, with these words, applies the general proposition of the preceding verse to His relation to the disciples. I look upon you as friends for whom I die; but ye too must prove yourselves My friends by doing after My commandment, i.e. loving one another according to the degree set forth by My sacrificial love, in so far as that is designed as a pattern for you. And hence the idea of φίλοι is not merely that of “passive recipients of love”—and indeed the word must always, from the nature of the case, mean something more than that.
Joh_15:15. Now no more—servants.—Neither did He officially call them servants before, but they were such in accordance with the conception of Rabbinical discipleship, and but a short time previous to this He had expressly brought out this characteristic of their relation. This is now at an end; but their emancipation and conversion into freedmen does not estrange them from Him; on the contrary, it elevates them into the category of friends. As, however, the idea of disciple is connected with that of servant, so the condition of friends is implicative of that of apostles. What Christ understands by the term friends, He explains by the antithesis of servants. A distinction must undoubtedly be made between the stricter and the broader sense of friend as well as of servant. Friends though they were before (Luk_12:4; Joh_11:11), from this time forth they become such in a higher sense; and though now ceasing to be His servants in a legal sense, yet, in the sense of free obedience, they do now become servants of His more truly than ever (Joh_15:20; Act_4:29; Rom_1:1, etc.); just as the Son of God was, as such, also the Servant of God κατ’ ἐξοχγ́ν. In what respect, then, do they cease to be His servants in the former sense?
The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends, etc.—The servant executes the individual orders of his master but is not privy to the whole idea which informs his government; moreover he executes the individual order simply as under authority, without being in full unison with it, because it is not instilled into him as an idea and a motive,—and in respect of this fact, it is his master that does such and such things through him; still less does he understand what his master does personally, or through the medium of other servants. He, with his unfree individual performances, does not understand the free doings of his lord, Rom_7:15. The friend, on the other hand, is the confidant of the thought of his friend and exerts himself in harmony with him. And so the exaltation of the disciples from Christ’s service to friendship is accomplished by His confiding to them the fundamental idea of His life, His sacrificial death of love in accordance with the loving counsel of God; it was by this confidence that He sought to arouse them to a loving activity that should rejoice in sacrifice. They are initiated into His foundation of the personal kingdom of love and consecrated to assist in the extension of the same.—And in this respect He has made known to them all (πάντα) that He has heard from the Father,—not extensively (see Joh_16:12), but intensively; in the Father’s counsel of love all lies enfolded. Lücke makes this distinction: All that I have heard that was meant to be communicated to you; Meyer distinguishes the will of salvation and the further instructions connected with it. The distinction between a principle and its development is also intimated, Eph_1:17 ff. Be it observed that also in Luk_12:4 as well as in Joh_11:11, the name of friend is placed in connection with joyfulness in death. Friendship with Christ is co-partnery in His loving, self-sacrificing dying-courage in the strength of the thought of self-sacrificing love.
Joh_15:16. Ye did not choose Me, etc.[Οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἐξελέξασθε, ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην ὑμᾶς, κ. τ. λ. “A wholesome memento after the lofty things He had just said about their mutual indwelling, and the unreservedness of the friendship they had been admitted to” (David Brown).—P. S.]—Though sharers with Him in the perfect vital fellowship of joy, though placed on an equal footing with Him as friends, their relation is still not one of caprice and individual extravagance. For the principle of their friendship is not resident in them, but in His love. He has chosen them to be His friends,—not out of an abstract liking for their individuality, but in the light of the moral destiny of their personality. The election of Christ is not identical with the election to the kingdom on the part of God, in the Pauline sense (Augustine and others), though, in respect to these faithful disciples, the former election is pre-suppositive of the latter; the choosing spoken of by Christ is the election to the apostolic office (see Joh_6:70; Joh_13:18); in a more general sense it is here expressive of Christ’s election of any and all of His disciples to render friendly service to Him as co-workers in His kingdom of love (Euth. Zig., Luthardt).
And appointed you.—This ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς presents with greater distinctness the idea of the apostolic calling. The election to friendship is, viewed from the stand-point of their moral destiny, a now still more settled calling or ordination to apostolic labors (τιθέναι, 1Co_12:28; 1Ti_1:12, etc.) Hence not: I have planted you (Chrysostom and others); this interpretation does not correspond with the preceding figure of the branches and still less does it harmonize with the following ἴνα ὑπάγητε. To suit this interpretation of ἔθηκα, the latter words were constrained to mean the reaching forth of plants (Chrysostom and others). They are expressive of the forth-going of the disciples by virtue of their mission as apostles (Meyer, Tholuck); at the same time, however, they imply a personal laboring, carried on in independent life (Luther, Lücke, etc.)—Meyer, without grounds, denies that this is the case. The repetition of ὑμᾶς countenances the view we have just set forth. Hence it results, however, that an oxymoron is contained in the antithesis ἔθηκα ὑμᾶς, ἴνα ὑμεῖς ὑπάγητε. I have set you right firmly in your place, in order that ye might sally forth right independently and travel far and wide, knowing no bounds. In the farewell discourses the item of the ordination, like a series of similar Preterites, is expressive of the imminent sending of the Comforter as a fact already determined; and thus we may regard the whole matter of the farewell discourses as a, pre-celebration of the Pentecostal festival.
And that your fruit may remain.—Their institution into the fellowship of His love should result in their going forth under the impulse of love; this going forth should be followed by their bringing forth fruit, their work and ministry of love. This fruit, again, in its virtue of keeping and being propagated everlastingly, should be demonstrated to be a foundation imperishable, established by love. Undoubtedly the fruit is to remain unto eternal life (Joh_4:36; Tholuck, Meyer); but here the proximate idea is the remaining of the apostolic fruit in the world and in face of the world,—as results from the following.
That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father [ἴνα ὄ τι ἄν αἰτήσητε τὸν πατέρα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου, δῷ ὑμῖν].—The Lord having previously made the bearing of fruit in work dependent upon prayer (Joh_15:7-8), Lücke, Tholuck, Meyer, infer that the second ἵνα is here not co-ordinate with the first, but subordinate to it, whilst Chrysostom and others deem that the hearing of prayer is here declared to be the fruit of faithful activity. It is, however, possible that a good reason exists for the change in the succession of these two considerations. As prayer must precede work, so work, again, must become the basis of a more extended, bolder asking. This is what Christ has in view, He being upon the point of setting His disciples, with their work of love and fellowship of love, in array against the entire hatred of the whole world.
Joh_15:17. That ye may love one another [ἴνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους].—With these words the Lord sums up the fundamental thought presented Joh_15:11-17 in one concluding utterance. Everything that He has told them of His perfect joy, His friendship, His election and their calling, is intended to become to them a vital law of mutual love. Brotherly love, concord, unity—are to form the close-banded fellowship of the disciples of Jesus, in which fellowship they may confront the hatred of the world and vanquish it.
Joh_15:18. If the world hate you [Εἰ ὁ κόσμος ὑμᾶς μισεῖ.]—Saying concerning the hatred of the world and their defensive attitude towards it, reaching from Joh_15:18-27, in its more extended bearing, to Joh_16:6.—Know that it hath hated Me before you [γινώσκετε—imperative, not indicative—ὄτι ἐμὲ πρῶτον ὐμῶν μεμίσηκεν].—Me as the first, in advance of you. Before (above) you all. Together with its reference to time, the expression is indicative of causality and comparison: Me first, Me most; Me as the predecessor for whose sake it hateth you. Tholuck: “The superlative comprehends the comparative” (see Joh_13:16; Mat_10:24; 1Pe_2:21; 1Pe_4:12; 1Jn_3:13-14).
Joh_15:19. If ye were of the world [Εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ῆ̓τε].—“The five times repeated κόσμος is solemn” (Meyer). It is at the same time a strong emphasizing of the idea. Mankind is a world in its sympathy in sin, in the ungodly tendency in which individuals, as personalities, are dissolved. As a world, they hate believers; their individual antipathy to Christianity results from that sympathy with ungodliness wherein they stand.
Joh_15:20. The servant is not greater, etc.—Joh_13:16; comp. Mat_10:24.
If they persecuted Me.—The hypothetical el is εἰexceedingly apodictical here. It expresses in a concrete manner the certainty of the fact that they, as disciples of Christ, must experience the same treatment at the hands of the world which Christ has met with. They must, therefore, be able to see by Christ what fate is awaiting them, since the life of Christ is the same in Christ and in them, and since the world, for its part, continues the same, as world. The first “if,” then, reveals to them the positive prospect of persecution; the second tells them how scant a hope they need entertain of a contrary course of proceeding. It is inadmissible to apprehend τηρεῖν, as do Bengel and others, in the sense of: to lurk for. That, on the other hand, it contains an element of irony (Grotius), is not inconsistent with the gravity of the discourse; and neither is it inconsistent with the strength of the negation, that the second clause leaves them a ray of hope in regard to some with whom they may have to do (Olshausen, Baumg.-Crusius), since the subject here is not the world, but individual men.
Joh_15:21. But all these things will they do unto you, etc.—The reference is to the first clause, that prophetic of persecution. Consolatory explanation of persecution: Worldly men persecute the disciples for Christ’s name’s sake, just as they persecute Christ because they have turned away from God who sent Him. Hence it follows that the persecuted have their Christ and God Himself on their side (see Joh_8:19; Joh_16:3). The name of Christ, in accordance with the full extent of its meaning, is the confession of the disciples. Now this name is odious to the children of the world for the reason that the originator of it, the Father, is unknown to them. The first clause is declarative of the world’s guilt, the second of at least so much palliation of its guilt as to leave hope for its conversion; yet but in part.
Joh_15:22. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they would have no sin [comparatively]. [Εἰ μὴ ῆ̓λθον καὶ ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς, ἀμαρτίαν οὐκ εἴχοσαν (Alexandrian form for εἶχον)].—This is expressive of the depth of His origin, the glory of His being, the holiness of His mission.—And spoken to them (ἐλάλησα). This is expressive of the perfect familiarity, clearness, fulness, warmth and condescension appertaining to the revelation He has made of Himself and of God. They would not have sin. i.e. in respect to this sin, they would be relatively sinless, guiltless. Unbelief, “the new and deeper fall,” Joh_3:16. Meyer seeks in vain to put a distinction between unbelief (Bengel and others) and hatred of the name of Jesus.
No pretext or excuse [νῦν δὲ πρόφασιν οὐκ ἔχουσιν περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν].—I.e. every attempt at an apology comes to nought. It melts away in face of the revelations of judgment. Had Jesus not come, or not yet come, they would still be under the πάρεσις (Rom_3:25) of the olden time; now their sin has become guilt, has become a new παράβασις. The objection to this view, urged by De Wette: As a matter of course they would not have fallen into this sin without the coming of Christ, overlooks the indicated graduation of sin; in changing the hatred of Christ into a hatred of the divine cause, he mistakes the spirit of this Gospel in particular,—John’s special characteristic being the merging of things in persons. As little is Tholuck (with Meyer) in the right in contesting that this new guilt is not the sin of unbelief in specie (in opposition to Augustine: hoc est peccatum quo tenentur cuncta peccata, quod unusquisque, si non habet, dimittuntur ei peccata; similarly Zwingli, Luther, Stier, Luthardt). The citations Joh_8:21; Joh_8:34; Joh_9:41 also speak of sins of self-blinding, which are identical with unbelief.—But now they have no pretext.—It can not be inferred from this that the heathen, to whom Christ has not yet spoken, are guiltless; such a supposition is the less tenable from the fact that the crucifixion perpetrated upon Christ by the Jews must be regarded as an act of the whole world. What does result from the passage is, not that they incur a lesser (damnation) punishment (Augustine), but that decision in regard to them is still reserved until the time of their own decision. If damnation be made dependent upon the antithesis to a revelatio universalis, facta ab initio mundi (Cyril, Melanchthon), the natural inference must be that that revelatio might have been sufficient even for salvation.
Joh_15:23. He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also.—In the face of Christ, want of knowledge of the unknown God who sent Him (Joh_15:21) develops into hatred of the Father whom they do know. The unbelieving Jew, like the unbelieving Gentile, turns in hostility against the idea of the living, personal God of revelation,—and that in the face of Christ’s works, though they be referred in a special manner to the Father.
Joh_15:24. Not done among them the works.—Climactic gradation of the guilt of unbelievers in accordance with the distinction of degrees of faith: Joh_5:36; Joh_10:37; Joh_14:11.
Joh_15:25. The word that is written.—The frequently recurring exaltation of Christ’s spirit to a state of calm acquiescence in the providence of God (particularly that exercised over the Messiah), as portrayed centuries before in Holy Writ. The word is found Psa_35:19; Psa_69:4; in neither case as a verbal prophecy, but as a mental type. They have cast (חִנָּם) their hatred upon Me without a reason, without a cause. I.e. not ironically: they faithfully follow what is in their law (De Wette), but: as a judgment upon them, there must be a fulfilment of what is written in their Law,—i.e. in their Holy Scriptures which they read with blinded eyes,—concerning their hatred of Messianic piety. The broader sense of νόμος is the one intended, as Joh_10:34. Αὐτῶν as Joh_8:17; Joh_10:34; it upbraids them with the fact that the same Scripture wherein they do continually read, as in their own, has sketched their portraits with so sure a touch (see Joh_5:45; 2Co_3:13).
Joh_15:26. But when the Paraclete is come, etc. [Ὅ ταν (δὲ) ἔλθῃ ὁ παράκλητος].29—Promise of the Holy Ghost as the strength of their martyrdom in the world, Joh_15:26 to Joh_16:6 :—If left to their own resources, they would succumb to the hatred of the world and be overcome of evil; but the Holy Ghost shall victoriously meet this hatred and, unmoved, bear testimony to Christ. Repeated promise of the Holy Ghost. Joh_14:16 ff. He is first promised as the Spirit of faith and of the living knowledge of Christ. (See Joh_15:26). Here He is promised as the Spirit of steadfast testimony for Christ. Joh_16:7 as the Spirit of the world-overcoming strength of the gospel. Joh_16:13 as the Spirit of Christ’s glorification and of the future until the consummation. It is declared in the promise that the Son asks the Father, and the Father sends the Spirit; whilst here the Son sends [ὅν ἐγὼ πέμψω] the Spirit who proceedeth from the Father [ὁ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπ ορεύεται]. For it is only through the intercession of the Son that they receive the Spirit as the Spirit of prayer, and they then know that not only the Father sends the Spirit, but the Son sends Him too. Moreover, the glorification of Christ in the knowledge of believers is pre-eminently a work of the Father; the maintenance of the witness of Christ in the world is a work that He, the faithful Witness (Rev_3:14), continues through the Holy Ghost.
Upon the disagreement of the Greek and Latin Churches in respect to the procession of the Spirit, comp. the history of doctrinal theology and the notes upon Joh_14:16. To the Father, doubtless, belongs the honor of being the first ἀρχή from which the Son Himself proceeds; but since the Holy Ghost is at the same time the Spirit of the Son, unto whom (the Son) it is also given to have life in Himself, the διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ (ἐκ τοῦ πατρός) of the Greek theology is not sufficient.
As it regards the ἐκπορεύεται, most of the Lutheran [and Greek] exegetes (also Lücke, Olshausen) understand it as having a theological reference to the trinitarian relations of the Spirit; Beza, Cocceius, Lampe, etc., apprehend it soteriologically as identical with the being sent.30 But if we decline to assume the existence of any tautology in our passage, the soteriological πέμπεσθαι may be referred to its theological basis, the proceeding from the Father; though the proceeding from the Father is also practically designed as an intimation of the Holy Ghost’s invincible power of truth and witness.31 Hence emphatically ἐκεῖνος [as opposed to the world, which hates Christ. Observe also the masculine, though τὸ πνεῦμα …ὅ is neuter. An additional indication of the personality of the Holy Ghost, as distinct from a mere power or influence. His testimony is personal, and distinguished from the personal testimony of the disciples, ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε.—P. S.]
Will bear witness of Me [μαρτυρήσει περὶ ἐμοῦ].—“Of My person, My work,” [Meyer]; according to the context, however, more particularly of Him as the Vine, of the personal life of love, and of His love.
[This is one of the principal proof-texts for the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Both the essential identity and the personal distinction of the Father (παρὰ τοῦ πατρός), of the Son (ἐγὼ πέμψω—περὶ εμοῦ), and of the Holy Spirit (ἔλθῃ ο̇ παράκλητος … ἐκπορεύεται … ἐκεῖνος μαρτυρήσει) are very clearly stated, especially when compared with Joh_14:16; Joh_14:18; Joh_14:26; Joh_16:7; Joh_16:13; Joh_20:22. Our passage is also the locus classicus for the technical word “procession” of the Holy Ghost. The noun ἐκπόρευσις, processio, nowhere occurs in the New Testament, and belongs to the ecclesiastical language, but it is legitimately formed from the verb ἐκπορεύομαι, which is here (and here alone) used of the Holy Ghost and denotes the characteristic individuality (ἰδιότης, proprietas, character hypostaticus) of the person (not the essence, which is the same in all Persons) of the Holy Spirit, as Sonship or eternal Generation γεννησία, γέυνησις, generatio, filiatio) is the propriety of the Son, unbegotten Paternity (paternitas, ἀγεννησία) the propriety of the Father. The Nicene orthodoxy refers the procession of the Spirit to the eternal, metaphysical procession from the Father. Christ speaks here no doubt mainly of the Trinity of revelation and of the historic mission of the Holy Ghost in the Christian Church and in believers (comp. Joh_20:22; Rom_8:9; 1Co_2:10-11; 2Co_3:17, etc.). Yet it is significant that while He speaks of His sending of the Spirit in the future tense (πέμψω), He speaks of the procession of the Spirit from the Father in the present (ἐκπορεύεται), as if He intended to intimate a permanent relation of the Spirit to the Father. The effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost is the historic manifestation of His eternal procession from the Father, and bears a similar relation to the latter as the incarnation of Christ does to the eternal generation. At all events we have a right to deduce the œconomical Trinity from the ontological or immanent Trinity; the former is the revelation of the latter; for God manifests Himself as He is (or, as Godet, II. 514, well expresses it: “Les faits de la révélation reposent sur les relations trinitaires. Ils en sont comme les reflets.”). Comp. Lange above.—As to the difference between the Greek and Latin churches on the subject of the procession of the Spirit, Beza, Meyer, Alford and others deny that our passage can be used either in favor of the Greek formula διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, or the Latin clause filioque; Godet maintains that the passage teaches both the homoousia and the subordination of the Son. Dr. Lange briefly intimates the true view. The original Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed affirms the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father not with an exclusive intent, but rather in opposition to the Pneumatomachi; and in this sense it is that Athanasius, Basil, the two Gregories maintain it; some Greek fathers, as Epiphanius, Cyril of Alexandria, expressly teach the procession of the Spirit from the Son as well as the Father, while Theodore of Mopsueste, Theodoret and the later Greek church maintain the exclusive procession from the Father alone. The Latin doctrine of the procession of the Spirit from the Son as well as the Father, is logically derived from the dogma of the homoousia, or the essential unity of the Father and the Son, and is exegetically based on the words ὅν ἐγὼ πέμψω in our passage, and πέμψω Joh_16:7, compared with Joh_16:26 ὅ πέμψει ὁ πατήρ ἐν τῷ ὀ νάματὶ μου. Augustine refers also to Joh_20:22, where Christ breathes the Holy Ghost on His disciples (De trinit. IV., c. 20; Tract. in Joh. 99, § 9); but after all he makes the Spirit proceed mainly from the Father (de patre principaliter, see De trinit. XV. 26; Serm. 71, c. 16; comp. Gangauf: Des h. Aug. specul. Lehre von Gott dem Dreieinigen, Augsb., 1866, p. 371). Dr. Waterland (Works, vol. III. p. 237 f.) thus briefly and clearly sums up this controversy: “The Greeks and Latins have had many and tedious disputes about the procession. One thing is observable, that though the ancients appealed to by both parties, have often said that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, without mentioning the Son, yet they never said that He proceeded from the Father alone; so that the modern Greeks have certainly innovated in that article in expression at least, if not in real sense and meaning. As to the Latins, they have this to plead, that none of the ancients ever condemned their doctrine; that many of them have expressly asserted it; that the oriental churches themselves rather condemn their taking upon them to add anything to a creed formed in a general Council, than the doctrine itself; that those Greek churches that charge their doctrine as heresy, yet are forced to admit much the same thing, only in different words; and that Scripture itself is plain, that the Holy Ghost proceeds at least by the Son, if not from Him; which yet amounts to the same thing.”—P. S.]
Joh_15:27. But ye also bear witness [or are witnesses, καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε,—the present indicating their past and present experience, as the foundation of their future testimony; hence not ye shall bear (μαρτυρήσετε), E. V. Hofmann takes μαρτυρεῖτε in the imperative, which is abrupt and contrary to καὶ—δέ, vos etiam.—P. S.].—It is their constant duty to testify of Him from this time forth, i.e. to the same degree in which the coming of the Spirit, an event which is to take place after a little while, is realized in this anticipatory festival. The reason:—for—because ye are with Me from the beginning [ὄτι .ἀπ̓ α̇ρχῆς μετ̓ ἐμοῦ ἐστέ,—the present ἐστέ indicates the relation as continuing; hence not have been, E. V. ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς, relatively, from the beginning of the Lord’s ministry,—an important qualification of the apostles as witnesses (comp. Act_1:21-22; Act_10:40-41; Act_13:31), which in the case of Paul was made up by a direct call of the exalted Saviour.—P. S.].—Comp. Act_1:21. How are the testimony of the Holy Ghost and the testimony of the disciples distinguished?
1. The Holy Ghost shall testify by miracles, in particular by the Pentecostal miracle, by the conversion of the masses; the Apostles by the word (Theod., Mopsueste, Gerhard, al.).
2. The two sides of the unitous testimony of the Apostles are mentioned in company with one another (Augustine; see Act_5:32; Act_15:28). Similarly
3. The testimony borne by the Holy Ghost within the Apostles and designed especially for them; the testimony of the Apostles through the Holy Ghost—a testimony addressed to the world (Luthardt).
4. The testimonium divinum, through the power of the divine word, and the testimonium historicum, founded upon the fact that the Apostles were eye-witnesses of Jesus (Luk_1:1; Act_1:8; Lücke, p. 646). Meyer [p. 545]: “One testimony; with a distinction, however, in respect of its two actual factors (comp. Act_1:8; Rom_8:16; Rom_9:1) as Act_5:32; comp. also Act_15:28.” [Similarly Webster and Wilkinson: “The Spirit’s testimony, as distinguished from theirs, consisted in their inspired utterances concerning the nature, office, and work of Christ, attested by the miracles which the Spirit enabled them to perform (Mat_10:20; Joh_16:8; Joh_16:14); also in His action upon others besides themselves. Their additional testimony—‘and moreover ye’—consisted in their attestation of the facts of His life, death, and resurrection.” Alford: “The witness is one and the same—the Spirit will witness in and by them.” The historical witness of the apostles forms “the human side of this great testimony of the Spirit of truth, and of which our inspired gospels are the summary; the divine side being His own indwelling testimony in the life and heart of every believer in all time. But both are given by the self-same Spirit;—neither of them inconsistent with, nor superseding the other.”—P.S.]
Along with the last-mentioned interpretation, in particular, the following thought demands our consideration: the personality of the Holy Ghost is not, in the Montanistic sense, to convert the disciples into involuntary, mechanical organs; on the contrary, under His influence their personal life shall attain its full development, so that they too do now stand forth as personal witnesses (μάρτυρες) in accordance with their own peculiar historical and spiritual experience. [Godet makes a similar remark.—P. S.]. Μαρτυρεῖτε is not the Imperative (Hofmann), but the Indicative, for the entire passage bears the character of a sure promise.
See Joh_16:1 ff for DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL and HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL.
Footnotes:
[1]Joh_15:1.—[Dr. Lange translates ὴ ἅ μ π ε λ ο ς ἡ ἀ λ η θ ι ν ή, “der wesentliche Weinstock” the essential vine, and inserts the gloss: “Wurzel und Stamm des persönlichen Liebesreichs,” root and stem of the personal love-kingdom. We have no precise equivalent in English for ἀληθινός, wahrhaftig, veritable, to distinguish it from ἀ λ η θ ή ς, true. Ἀληθιν́ός, verus, is true in the sense of true to the idea, genuine, primitive, essential, as distinct from what is derived, copied, typical, shadowy and more or less imperfect: while ἀληθής, verax, is true in opposition to false. Christ is the true, veritable, perfect Light, Bread, Shepherd, Vine, in distinction from all reflected light, etc., as well as in opposition to false light, etc. See the remarks on Joh_1:9; Joh_6:32, and Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament, § 8. Our true has both meanings and is therefore retained by most translators.—P. S.]
[2]Joh_15:6.—With the article τὸ πῦρ, in accordance with Codd. A. G. K. Sin., etc., Tischendorf; the Recepta and Lachmann, in accordance with B. D., etc., have πῦρ without the article. The passage is not, as Meyer thinks, to he estimated in accordance with Mar_9:22, as here a particular fire is in view. See the exegesis.
[3]Joh_15:7.—The Aorist αίτήσασθε, in accordance with A. B. D., etc., Lachmann, Tischendorf, instead of the Future αἰτήσασθε. [Codd. א. E. G. H., etc., have the latter reading].
[4]Joh_15:8.—The reading γενήσεσθε [אּ] A. E. G., etc., Tischendorf, was probably changed into γένησθε (Codd. B. D. L., etc., Lachmann) on account of the strangeness of the expression. Also in accordance with the φέρητε (Meyer).
[5]Joh_15:11.—In accordance with Codd. A. B. D., etc, Vulgate, Lachmann, Tischendorf, ᾗ instead of μείνῃ. [Cod. א. gives the latter. Tregelles, Tischend., ed. 8th, Alford, Westcott and Hort, following A. B. D., agree in reading ᾗ.—P. S.]
[6]Joh_15:14.—The 15th verse seems to favor the Recepta ὅσα (Cod. A., etc.) more than the ἅ (Codd. B. D. Sin., etc.) received by Lachmann and Tischendorf. [Tischendorf, in ed. 1859, gives ὅ, in accordance with what he declares to be the reading of B.; in ed. 8, he gives ἅ.]
[7]Joh_15:18.—[Tischendorf, Ed. 8, in accordance with א.* D., etc., reads: γινώσκετε ὅτι ἐμὲ πρῶτον (without ὑμῶν) μεμί σηκεν, but Tregelles, Alford, Westcott and Hort retain ὑμῶν, which is sufficiently supported by א.c A. B. L. N. X., etc.—P. S.]
[8]Joh_15:21.—In accordance with Codd. [א.a] B. D.* L., etc., Lachmann, Tischendorf [Alford, etc.], we should read εἰς ὑμᾶς instead of ὑμῖν [text. rec].
[9]Joh_15:22.—[Or lit.: would not have sin, ἁ μ α ρ τ ί α ν ο ὐ κ ε ἵ χ ο σ α ν. The Alexandrian form εἴχοσαν or εἷχον is sustained by א. B. L. N.* II. Orig., Cyr., and adopted by Lachm., Tischend., Treg., Alf., Westc. and H. So also in Joh_15:24. Meyer (p. 530) objects for the reason that the Alexandrian form is established only in one passage, Rom_3:13, in a quotation from the Sept. (ἐδολιοῦσαν). Buttmann (as quoted by Meyer) conjectures that εἴχοσαν arose from the original εἷχον ἄν, but of ἄν there is no trace in the critical authorities, nor is it necessary.—P. S.]
[10]Joh_15:24.—[Lange, Lachm., Tischend., ed. 8, Alf., Treg., read ἐποίησεν did, in accordance with א. A. B. D., etc., instead of the lect. rec. π ε π ο ί η κ ε ν, has done—P. S.]
[11]Joh_15:26.—[Tischendorf, Ed. 8, omits δὲ, in accordance with א. B. Δ., etc. Alford brackets it.—P. S.]
[12]Joh_15:27.—[δέ after ὐμεῖς is omitted by D., Vulg., Syr., but retained by Tischend., Alf., etc.—μαρτυρεῖτε, on account of καί … δέ, and the reason ὅτι κ. τ. λ., must be taken as indicative, not as imperative, which is too abrupt.—P. S.]
[13] Joh_16:3.—̔Υμῖν is omitted in accordance with decisive authorities. [Codd. A. B. T. Δ., etc., omit; א. D. L., etc., give it.]
[14]Joh_16:4.—The ἠ ὥρα αὐτῶν [their hour] in Lachmann in accordance with A. B., etc., seems to be occasioned by the second αὐτῶν, which probably originally stood before μνημονεύητε (Meyer). [א. D., etc., Tischend., ed. 8, omit αὐτῶν, Alford, Westcott and Hort retain it.—P. S.]
[15]Joh_16:4.—[Some MSS. omit the second αὐτῶν, others ὐμῖν. See the apparatus in Tischend., ed. 8, who reads μνημονεύητε αὐτῶν, ὅτι ἐγώ εἷπον ὑμῖν.—P. S.]
[16]Joh_16:7.—[The E. V. reverses the distinction between ἀπέλθω, to depart (from earth), and πορεύομαι, to go (to heaven). The one here signifies the starting point, the other the goal, of Christ’s journey; as Bengel, with his usual sagacity, suggests: “ἀπέλθω, πορευθῶ, abiero, profectus ero. Differunt verba; illud terminum a quo, hoc terminum ad quem magis spectat.” In German the difference is well rendered by De Wette and Lange: weggehen, hingehen.—P. S.]
[17]Joh_16:8.—[The E. V. reprove is certainly too weak for ἐλέξει, which implies both a convincing unto salvation and a convicting unto condemnation. See the Exeg. Notes, and the remarks of Meyer (p. 551), who likewise ascribes to the ἔλεγξις the double aim of conversion (1Co_14:24 f.) and condemnation (Act_24:25; Rom_11:7 ff.), in opposition to Erasmus, De Wette, etc., who confine it to the latter. The first example of the ἔλεγξις of the Spirit as effected through the apostles, is the pentecostal sermon of Peter, Acts 2 and its double effect. Webster and Wilkinson: “ἐλέγξει means (1) convince by proof, (2) convict, (3) reprove or rebuke … The passage is to be interpreted by the preaching of the apostles, or rather, of the Spirit by them (Mat_10:20). In their discourses, recorded in the Acts, these three objects are the most prominent: (1) Christ the only Saviour, and rejection of Him fatal and damning sin. (2) Righteousness or justification, through the exaltation and intercession of Christ. (3) The kingdom of Christ, instead of Satan’s, now, and to be perfected in the final judgment.”—P. S.]
[18]Joh_16:8.—[I have given in this verse the translation of Lange with his explanatory insertions. He takes ὅτι in the demonstrative sense (=τοῦτο ὅ, τι), as pointing out the object of the preceding words. Alford and Noyes retain the A. V. because (ὅτι, causal=διὰ τοῦτο ὅ, τι). It can also be rendered “in that,” or “inasmuch as” (ὅτι=εἰς ἐκεῖνο ὅτι on, Joh_2:18; Joh_9:17; Joh_11:51). See the Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]
[19]Joh_16:13—The reading εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν in Codd. A. B., Origen, etc., Lachmann. [Tischendorf reads ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ (which is more common after ὁδηγέω), in accordance with א. D. L., Bas., Epiph., Tert., Nov., Hil. The text. rec: εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Tregelles, Alford, Westc. and Hort agree with Lachm. and Lange in reading εἰς τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν.—P. S.]
[20]Joh_16:13. [The text; rec. reads ἀκούσῃ; Tischendorf, ed. of 1859, Tregelles, Alford, Westc. and H., give ἀκούσει in accordance with B. D. E*.; Tischend., in ed. 8, gives ἀκούει with א. L. Lange translates: hath heard (historical transmission.)—P. S.]
[21]Joh_16:15. In accordance with Codd. A. B., Lachmann, Tischendorf λαμβάνει instead of the Recepta λήψεται. [א.c A. have the latter reading (or rather λήμψεταί), but λαμβάνει is better supported, and adopted by Tischend., ed. 8th, Treg., Alf., Westc. and H.—P. S.]
[22][Trench emphasizes the ἐν ἐμοί. “All infants baptized into Christ are in Him; planted together in the likeness of His death, but it remains for themselves to determine whether by believing and obeying they shall make the potential blessings of this position actually their own; whether that fellowship with Christ, which has been so freely given to them, shall unfold itself into the new creation.”—P. S.]
[23][Bengel: “suavis rhythmus.” Yet no more than a rhythm, for καθαίρω is not derived from αἵρω (which would require καταίρω), but is a technical term for pruning or cleansing a vine or tree of useless branches. But there is a connection between καθαίρειν and καθαρός: we are purified by being pruned. “Cleanliness and fruitfulness,” says Bengel, “mutually assist one another.” The two πάν κλῆμα are absolute nominatives emphatically placed first, as Joh_1:12; Joh_6:39; Joh_17:2.—P. S.]
[24][So also Winer, Tholuck, De Wette, Luthardt, Hengstenberg, Wordsworth.—P. S.]
[25][Meyer (p. 535) refers to Heb_6:8; Heb_10:27. So also Alford: “The aorists I take with Meyer as a consequence of the whole being spoken by our Lord as if the great day were come: hence also the presents, βάλλουσιν and καίεται.” Alford regards this verse as “a most important testimony against supra-lapsarian error, showing us that falling from grace is possible, and pointing out the steps of the fall.”—P. S.]
[26][The subjects in συνάγουσιν and βάλλουσιν. In the image they are the servants of the vineyard, in the application the instruments of God generally in the execution of His judgments, but especially the angel reapers.—P. S.]
[27][Comp. ἐν τούτῳ, Joh_4:37; Joh_16:30, where it likewise has a retrospective reference, while Joh_6:39 may be quoted for the prospective reference, which is also adopted by Alford and Barnes. But Lange and Meyer are right, for ἵνα is not=ὅτι, and in its proper teleological sense it would here convey the wrong idea that God is glorified by the intention (instead of the actual fact) of bearing fruit.—P. S.]
[28][Similarly Godet: “ἵνα conserve la notion de but: ‘le plus haut point auquel puisse aspirer l’amour dans cette relation, est,’ ” etc. Alford rejects the idea of will and takes ἵνα. Simply=scilicet ut.—P. S.]
[29][Lange translates παράκλ. throughout Vertreter Representative. See the Exeg. Notes on Joh_14:16, p. 140 f.—P. S.]
[30][So also Luthardt, Alford, Webster and Wilkinson, who understand the whole of the œconomical Trinity, or the Trinity of revelation. Luthardt (II. 335): “The words must be understood historically, and not metaphysically, of the immanent relation of subsistence, or in the sense of Gnostic emanation. For the expression, παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται, is parallel to the other, ὅν ἐγὼ πέμψω παρὰ τοῦ πατρός. He is with the Father, and comes from the Father. The present tense (πορεύεται) does not express the timeless nature of the Spirit, but is determined by πέμψω.” So also Meyer (p. 545): “The Spirit proceeds if He is sent.”—P. S.]
[31][Stier likewise regards the first clause (ὃν ἐγω πἑμψω) as spoken œconomically of the office of the Spirit in the Church, the second clause (ἐκπορεύεται) as referring to the ontological or essential relation of the Spirit to the Holy Trinity. Godet entirely agrees with Lange (II. 513), and emphasizes the difference in the future, πέμψω, and the present, ἐκπορεύεται.—P. S.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit .…
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit . . . every branch that beareth fruit--As in a fruit tree, some branches may be fruitful, others quite barren, according as there is a vital connection between the branch and the stock, or no vital connection; so the disciples of Christ may be spiritually fruitful or the reverse, according as they are vitally and spiritually connected with Christ, or but externally and mechanically attached to Him. The fruitless He "taketh away" (see on Joh 15:6); the fruitful He "purgeth" (cleanseth, pruneth)--stripping it, as the husbandman does, of what is rank (Mar 4:19), "that it may bring forth more fruit"; a process often painful, but no less needful and beneficial than in the natural husbandry.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–27 The vine and branches; or caution against apostacy from…
The vine and branches; or caution against apostacy from Christ, Joh_15:1-5.
1. The true vine—The only TRUE vine, of which all material vines are but the shadow. In the divine alone is the essential reality; all sublunary things are comparatively but phenomena, appearances.
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Father is the husbandman—God is the divine planter, who has planted the Redeemer in the soil of this probationary world.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–27 1. I am the true vine] We have here…
1. I am the true vine] We have here the same word for ‘true’ as in Joh_1:9, Joh_6:32; Rev_3:14. Christ is the true, the genuine, the ideal, the perfect Vine, as He is the perfect Light, the perfect Bread, and the perfect Witness (see on Joh_1:9). “The material creations of God are only inferior examples of that finer spiritual life and organism in which the creature is raised up to partake of the Divine nature” (Alford). Whether the allegory was suggested by anything external,—vineyards, or the vine of the Temple visible in the moonlight, a vine creeping in at the window, the ‘fruit of the vine’ (Mat_26:29) on the table which they had just left,—it is impossible to say. Of these the last is far the most probable, as referring to the Eucharist just instituted as a special means of union with Him and with one another. But the allegory may easily have been chosen for its own merits and its O.T. associations (Psa_80:8-19; Isa_5:1-7; Jer_2:21; &c.) without any suggestion from without. The vine was a national emblem under the Maccabees and appears on their coins.
the husbandman] The Owner of the soil Who tends His Vine Himself and establishes the relation between the Vine and the branches. There is therefore a good deal of difference between the form of this allegory and the parable of the Vineyard (Mar_12:1) or that of the Fruitless Fig-tree (Luk_13:6). The word ‘husbandman’ occurs nowhere else in the Gospels except of the wicked husbandmen in the parable of the Vineyard.
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1–11. The Union of the Disciples with Christ
The Allegory of the Vine
The allegory of the Vine is similar in kind to that of the Door and of the Good Shepherd in chap. 10 (see introductory note there): this sets forth union from within, the other union from without.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–27 (1) I am the true vine.—For the word “true,”…
(1) I am the true vine.—For the word “true,” comp. Note on Joh_1:9. The ideal truth, of which the natural vine is a figure, is fulfilled in Him. The thought is introduced suddenly, and with nothing in the context to lead up to it. The natural explanation of this is, that here, as in other instances, it was suggested by some external object which met the eye. If we suppose (comp. Note on Joh_14:31) that they were crossing the valley on the way to Gethsemane, there is reason for the idea that they passed a vineyard, that supplied the form in which our Lord’s thoughts are expressed; but the journey itself, during the discourse, is improbable; and the sight of a vineyard is the less likely, as it was night. On the supposition that they were still in the room where they had eaten supper, a vine whose tendrils grew into the room, or the vine carved on the doors of the Temple (Jos. Wars, v. 5, § 4; Ant. xv. 11, § 3), or the vineyards seen in the distance by moonlight, or the vine suggested by “the fruit of the vine” of which they had drunk, have been suggested. Of these the last has most probability, as bound up with the significance of the cup of which they had drunk that night. We cannot say more than this. The imagery may have followed from some incident, or custom, or remark, now wholly unknown to us. It was, as in the case of the Good Shepherd, familiar to them from the Old Testament, and would have come to their minds from any slight suggestion. (See, e.g., the following passages: Psa_80:8-19; Isa_5:1 et seq.; Jer_2:21; Eze_19:10.) It seems to have been expressed also in Rabbinic precepts, e.g., “Whosoever dreameth of a vine-branch shall see the Messiah.” (Berachoth, fol. 89.)
And my Father is the husbandman.—Comp. Mat_21:33 et seq.; Mar_12:1 et seq.; Luk_20:9 et seq. The thought here is of the owner of the vine, who himself cultivates and trains it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–26 Vers. 1-10. (7) The parable of the vine and…
Vers. 1-10. (7) The parable of the vine and its branches. Incorporation of the disciples into one personality with himself. The image of the vine may have been suggested by some visible object. Either of the hypotheses of place would furnish a reminder of the nature and culture of the vine. Thus around the windows of the guest-chamber the vine may have thrown its tendrils, or on the slopes of Olivet the vineyards may have been prominent objects, or the burning heaps of vine-prunings may have suggested the idea. Again, if they were pausing in some apartments of the temple-court, the golden vine, the image of Israel, upon the gates may have supplied the point of departure. But our Lord needed no such help to his imagination, and it is by no means necessary to find an occasion for his imagery. The fact that he had the fruit of the vine before him, and had already made it symbolic of his sacrificial death, may have brought the thought nearer to the disciples. But the most simple explanation is that the vine was the image of Israel. The prophets and psalms abound with this reference, (Isa_5:1, etc.; Eze_19:10 Psa_80:8-19) so that our Lord was giving a new meaning to a familiar figure. "The vine" was the beautiful image of that theocratic and sacramental community, which had its center in the altar and ark of testimony and the holy place; and the fruit of the vine was conspicuous in all the symbolic relations which, through priesthood and ritual enactments, brought individual Israelites into relation with the reconciled God. Here Christ says, "I;" but we see from Ver. 5 that the branches, which by reason of relation to him have and draw their life from him (or, to use his own words, "I and the branches," and "the branches in me"), constitute the veritable "vine" of the covenant.
The vine of the Lord of hosts (Ps 80) brought forth wild grapes; (Isa 5 Eze_19:10) Israel became an empty vine". (Hos_10:1) The failure of Israel to realize the ideal leads our Lord, as the true Israel of God, to say, I am the veritable (or, ideal) vine, including (as the context shows) in the idea of his complete Personality all the branches that derive their life from him. I with the branches, I involving my relation to the branches, and theirs to me I as the Life-principle of humanity, together with those who are living in me constitute and are the veritable vine of prophecy, the true Israel of God. So that this passage, from Vers. 1-10, denotes and expounds with all detail the idea elsewhere expressed by the head and the members of a body. Sometimes the idea of the parts predominates over the idea of the unity, and sometimes the unity triumphs over the parts; but in the relation between Christ and the people of his love they are often lost sight of in him, and he becomes the only Personality. The "I" of this passage is not that of the eternal Loges, nor is it the mere humanity, nor is it simply the Divine-human Personality, but the new existence which, by union with him, formed one personage with him, the believer being united to him as he to the Father. My Father is the Husbandman, not simply the ampelourgov , or vinedresser, but also gewrgov , the owner of the land as well. It is a term applied in connection with the traditional significance of the vine to the head of the theocratic family. In Isaiah 5 it is the "Lord of hosts;" in 2Ch_26:10 and in the parable of the vinedressers it is applied to the rulers of the people. The Arians were wrong in concluding from this a difference of essence between the Father and Son. The vine dearly includes the branches; and the owner of the vineyard, who is also the dresser of the vine, deals here with the whole reality. All, however, which the Husbandman is said in Ver. 2 to effect is the taking away of the fruitless though proud branch, and the cleansing and gentle pruning of the branch that beareth fruit. Now, Christ, as the Son, has all judgment committed to him, and, as the great Organ of Divine providence and rule in the Church, he is the Administrator of discipline. Christ is not disclaiming the operations which he in other places assumes, nor representing his own Personality as perfectly passive in the matter, but he is claiming for Jehovah of hosts the same relation to the true Vine as he sustained to the degenerate vine of the old covenant; but he calls him "my Father." Alford says, "The material creations of God are only inferior examples of that finer spiritual life and organism in which the creature is raised up to partake of the Divine nature" (see Hugh Macmillan, D.D., "The True Vine").
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Vers. 1-8. The vine and the branches.
This discourse of our Lord had relation to the new position of the disciples that would be created by his departure.
I THE NATURE OF THE NEW SITUATION CREATED BY PENTECOST. "I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman.
1. Christ is the true and essential Life of his people. He lives in his people by his Spirit. He is at once the Root and the Stock from which the branches derive their sap and nourishment.
2. The Father is the Husbandman, at once Proprietor and Cultivator. He engrafts the plants into the vine, as he supports and guards the vine itself, that it may bring forth fruit abundantly. Christ is "the Plant of renown;" "the Branch thou madest strong for thyself.
3. The operations of the Husbandman.
(1) He cuts off the unfruitful branch. "Every branch that beareth not fruit in me he taketh away." This refers to seeming members of the Church, for none are in Christ but such as are "new creatures.
(a) God knows the inner character of every man.
(b) Fruit, as the result of growth, is the end of the plant. Therefore a fruitless man has lost the end of his being.
(c) God takes away the fruitless man
(i) by death,
(ii) by judgment.
(2) He purges the fruitful branch, so as to concentrate the sap in the cluster that is preparing the fruit. So true members of Christ are purged
(a) by afflictions and
(b) temptations, that they may not be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of Christ.
4. The instrumentality of this purging process. "As for you, ye are clean already because of the Word which I have spoken unto you? The Word of Christ is sharper than any two-edged sword for this severe discipline; it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It thus enables the believer to see the plague of his own heart.
II THE NECESSITY OF A PERMANENT FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. "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.
1. The union of the branch with the vine is the very law of its life and fruitfulness. "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me". (Gal_2:20)
2. The union is continuously sustained in the believers soul by constant acts of faith and love.
3. The absolute dependence of the believer upon Christ for all his power. Apart from me ye can do nothing.
III THE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF LIVING OUTSIDE THIS FELLOWSHIP. "If a mall 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 burn.
1. The man who rejects Christ is himself rejected.
2. The faculty that is disused loses its vitality, and is ultimately extirpated.
3. There is final judgment which ends in unquenchable fire.
IV THE GLORIOUS PRIVILEGE OF THOSE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
1. The privilege is the abundant answer to prayer. Those who abide in Christ receive of his fullness; for all that is in Christ Jesus is theirs, through federal relationship and vital identification with him.
2. The condition of the privilege.
(1) The believer must continue in the fellowship of Christ.
(2) The Word of Christ is at once the means and the evidence of this fellowship.
V THE RESULT OF THIS CHRISTIAN FRUITFULLNESS. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and ye shall become my disciples.
1. The Fathers glory is identified with the fruit-bearing vitality of the believer. It displays the glory of his power, grace, and mercy. All the fruits of righteousness are by Christ, to the praise and glory of God.
2. Christ is honored by a fruitful discipleship.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 1-8. The vine and the branches.
If these words were spoken in the house, they may have been suggested by a creeping, Clinging vine trained against the wall; if upon the footpath, by the vineyards on the slope of Olivet; if in the temple, by the golden vine wrought upon the gates.
I THE VINE IN ITSELF IS A SUITABLE EMBLEM OF CHRIST. Its beauty, as planted, trained, or trellised; its grateful shade; its fruit, whether fresh and luscious or dried; its wine," that maketh glad the heart of man; all render it not only interesting, but suitable to set forth in symbol the excellence of the Redeemer, his nobility, beauty, preciousness, and use to man. Palestine was a land of vineyards: witness the grapes of Eshcol; Judah binding his foal to the vine, etc. Hence most naturally the vine was used in Old Testament Scripture as an emblem of the chosen nation, and hence Jesus in his parables put the noble plant to the same use. No wonder that our Lord applied to himself and to his people a designation so instructive.
II THE VINE IS AN EMBLEM OF CHRIST, ESPECIALLY AS THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE.
1. He is the divinely appointed Root and Stem upon which the branches depend; the Superior with which they, the inferior, are related in dependence. The vine-stock survives even if the branch be cut off and left to die. We are dependent upon Christ; he is not dependent upon us.
2. A close and vital union joins the branches to the vine, and Christians to their Lord. The life which is naturally Christ"s becomes ours through our union by faith with him.
3. Yet it is a mutual indwelling. As Jesus himself has said, "I in you; you in me." What condescension and kindness in this marvelous provision of Divine wisdom!
III THE BRANCHES ARE INDEBTED TO THE VINE FOR THEIR FRUITFULLNESS; SO ARE CHRISTIANS TO THEIR LORD. The branches of the living vine evince the life and health of the plant first by their vigor, their verdure, their luxuriance, their comeliness; signs of spiritual life are manifested in the Church of God by the peace, the cheerfulness, the spiritual prosperity, of its members. But the great aim of the husbandman"s care and culture is that fruit may be yielded in abundance. What shall we understand by spiritual fruit, the fruits of the Spirit?
1. Perfection of Christian character.
2. Abundance in Christian usefulness.
IV THE TREATMENT OF UNFRUITFUL AND FRUITFUL BRANCHES FIGURES THAT OF THE NOMINAL AND THE REAL DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
1. The cause of unfruitfulness is stated. "Severed from me ye can do nothing.
2. The doom of unfruitfulness is anticipated. To be cast out and burnt, like the vine-parings in the Kedron valley.
3. The condition of fruitfulness is mentioned. Close union with Christ.
4. The means of increased fruitfulness is also explained. Divine pruning and discipline, i.e. affliction and trouble tending to spiritual strength and fertility.
V THE MOTIVES TO CHRIST-ABIDING AND FRUIT-BEARING ARE URGED. Stress is laid here upon two.
1. Thus the heavenly Husbandman, the Divine Father, is glorified.
2. Thus Jesus secures for himself true and worthy disciples. What powerful motives to induce Christians to be "neither barren nor unfruitful"! T.
Vers. 1, 2. The Divine Vinedresser.
This is one of several passages in our Lord"s discourses in which he designates his Father a Husbandman, a Householder, a Vine-dresser. Such similitudes are helpful to us in arriving at an understanding of the relations of the Father both to our Savior and to ourselves.
I THE DIVINE HUSBANDMAN"S CARE OF THE VINE AND THE VINEYARD.
1. He plants the Vine. That is to say, he appoints that his own beloved Son shall assume our human nature, and shall introduce into this world the principle of spiritual life, with all its fruitful and blessed results.
2. He watches over the Vine which he plants. "I the Lord do keep the vineyard; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day". (Isa_27:3) As Jehovah cared for and tended the vine which was brought out of Egypt, for which he prepared room, and which he caused to take deep root, so that it filled the land; so he watched over and blessed "the true Vine" which he with his right hand planted in the soil of earth.
II THE DIVINE HUSBANDMAN"S TREATMENT OF THE VINEBRANCHES.
1. Of those which are unfruitful. As the worthless branches of the vine are removed, cast into the fire, and burned, so is it with the lifeless and only apparent members of the organism constituted in the Person and ministry of Jesus Christ. The fate of the Jews is the best illustration of our Lord"s meaning; they were like a branch that brings forth wild grapes, bitter clusters.
2. Of those which are fruitful. It might be supposed that for such, seeing that they are the occasion of satisfaction, there can be no severity. But as the vine is always carefully, closely, and unsparingly pruned by the skilful gardener, so is it with the faithful and fruitful Christian. Divine discipline is a fact, and it is the best and indeed the only explanation of much of human suffering. Religion does not make the sorrows of life, but it explains them, and it gives strength to bear them, and wisdom to profit by them.
III THE DIVINE HUSBANDMAN"S ULTIMATE PURPOSES.
1. The fruitfulness of all the living branches of the living Vine.
2. The promotion of his own glory; for the result is such as to bring out clearly the wisdom and the power of the Lord of all. T.
HOMILIES BY B. THOMAS Ver. 1. The Vine and the Husbandman.
I CHRIST AS THE TRUE VINE. We have here:
1. The idea of an importation. It is a foreign vine, and not indigenous to this soil; for it is the "true Vine," and whatever is absolutely true must come from the other side, from the sphere where all is absolutely true and real. This world lost its truth when it severed itself by sin from heaven. Then this plant withered, and would not grow; but God left not the earth, but opened a new communication between it and heaven, and proceeded to create a new earth and a new heaven, and make all things new, a new life, a new vine, a new man the germ of a new and true vegetation altogether. Jesus. as the true Vine, is evidently not entirely the produce of this world, but the produce of another clime and a Diviner Soil; but still the produce of a Diviner soil is transplanted and wedded to this, so as to make it most natural and real. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." The Divine vine was planted in the soil of humanity, so as to make it true, whether looked upon from the Divine or human point of view.
2. The fulfillment era natural symbol.
(1) Nature is full of Divine symbolism. In the mineral kingdom there are the pearl, the rock, and the stone; in the animal kingdom there are the lion and the lamb; in the material kingdom there are the stars and the sun: and in the vegetable kingdom there are the rose, the lily, and the vine. Judaism was a system of Divine symbolism, and shadows of good things to come; but there is an older, more original and permanent system of Divine symbolism than this the system of nature, which is full and vital of Divine ideas, images, and shadows.
(2) Christ is the Fulfillment of all this. He is the Pearl of great price, the precious Stone, and the Rock of ages. He is the Star of Jacob and the Sun of Righteousness; the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb of God; the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valleys, and the true Vine. He is the Truth of everything in nature which has in it the shadow of truth. He is the Truth of the vine. In him the natural vine finds the fulfillment of its prophecies its highest meaning and Divinest significance.
(3) He is the real, and the only real, Fulfillment of this. Others tried, but failed. Israel, under the great Husbandman, had a trial. It was a vine, but failed to interpret and embody the vine-ideal failed to speak the vine-language, and failed to live the vine-life. The vine still cried for a truer fulfillment and interpretation. Christ came and said, "I am the true Vine," and his Person, life, and history fully confirm his claim. The vine is satisfied and highly honored.
3. Fruitfulness.
(1) This was his most distinguishing feature. The vine is a most fruitful plant. Its wood is not of much value. Apart from its fruition, it is insignificant; but its fruitfulness is marvelous. Think of Christ as Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter"s Son; he appears as a. root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness. But his glory was in his fruitfulness. He lived, not for himself, but for others for God, for man, and for the universe.
(2) Fruitfulness of the highest kind and most satisfying nature. His fruit was Divine and spiritual, satisfying the spiritual nature of man. In this the natural vine is incomplete, and, compared with Christ, false; for nothing is absolutely true in relation to man which does not supply and satisfy the whole of his being. The vine can only partly supply and satisfy man"s physical nature and wants; but Christ, in his vicarious life and death, satisfies his spiritual nature, and develops it into final perfection.
(3) Fruitfulness of the highest kind and most satisfying nature in abundance. Think of his earthly life in relation to God; in it was perfectly manifested obedience, filial love, and submission to the Divine will in all things. Think of his life in relation to men with whom he had to do; his. whole human life, from the cradle to the grave, was full of grace and truth full of gracious words and mighty and benevolent deeds. Think of his representative and official life as the Author of salvation. As a Prophet, he shed Divine light on all subjects pertaining to God and man which are essential to his spiritual advancement and happiness. As a King, he reigned with authority, yet with equity and mercy within and in perfect harmony with the laws of the soul and those of God. And as a High Priest, he offered himself as an infinite atoning Sacrifice for the sins of the world. With this justice was satisfied, the Law honored, and all the Divine attributes crowned with glory and harmony; while the vilest of sinners plucked from the branches of the true Vine rich clusters of pardon, justification, sanctification, spiritual life, as well as every reviving and comforting grace. And there is abundance for all.
(4) Fruitfulness which makes all connected with him fruitful. The vine is a propagating and diffusive plant, and sends its branches forth on the right and left. It is difficult to know how many branches even a single stalk, by proper dressing and cultivation, is capable of supporting and making fruitful. Jesus, the true Vine, has sufficient life and sap to incorporate in himself, by faith, all the human family, and make them spiritually alive and fruitful. He sends forth his branches to every part of the globe; and they climb up and creep even over the wails of the heavenly city, and drop there their rich clusters of fruit.
II THE FATHER AS THE HUSBANDMAN. "And my Father," etc. We have here:
1. Divine ownership. The husbandman is not always the owner of the vine; but in this case he is. He is the Owner and the Husbandman. Christ, the true Vine, confesses this with delight. The Vine owns the branches and the fruit; but the Divine Husbandman owns the Vine altogether. "We are Christ"s but Christ is God"s.
2. Divine and closest relationship. "My Father," etc. There is more than mere ownership here the closest and dearest relationship. The Son and the Father are one, in nature, essence, life, purposes, and will; so that between Jesus as the Vine and his Father as the Husbandman there is the closest unity, and a relationship which cannot exist in any other "husbandry.
3. Divine cultivation. Much depends upon proper cultivation with regard to the prosperity and fruition of the vine. This requires a good husbandman. If left to itself, undressed and uncultivated, deterioration and even barrenness will soon follow. The "true Vine" will not suffer on this account; it has not been left to strangers and to the fortunes of mere self-interest, but is under the constant and tender and most efficient care of the Divine Father. No one knows but Christ himself what he owes, in his mediatorial life and work, to the Father; to him he attributes his all his life, his success, his support, triumph, and glory. He refers here to his union with the Father as a most important fact. "My Father is the Husbandman." The true Vine has a true Husbandman; this will ensure for the Vine and the branches the highest cultivation and the most glorious results. B.T.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 1-6. The vine and the branches.
I THE STATEMENT OF CONNECTION BETWEEN JESUS AND HIS PEOPLE. The connection is neither nominal nor artificial; it is a living union. The life of our Lord goes out to us every day. He is full of the noblest life that which is nourished and developed by Divine love; and because he lives, we are to live also. There is to be the most entire community of life between Jesus and us; his affairs are our affairs, and our affairs are his affairs. He is interested in all of us. No step we take but he regards it with anxious eye; no true success we gain but what gladdens him as much as it gladdens us. He loves us all, the worst as well as the best. The true mother has a tender heart for all her children; for the stubborn, headstrong boy as much as the docile and yielding one; for the vain and giddy daughter as much as the quiet and gentle. All are in the family, and so are we. Sometimes we play sad havoc with the profession of believers in Christ Jesus. Some very sour grapes appear on our particular branch. But Christ will be very patient with us. He who is long-suffering with the fruitless fig tree will be long-suffering with the fruitless branch.
II WE MUST LABOR TO CONTINUE IN THIS CONNECTION.
1. We are to receive Jesus altogether. It will not do to take what we like and reject what we like. We must receive him in every relation which he declares himself to sustain to us. We are not to say, when we come across any hard saying, that it must be practically expunged because we cannot understand it. The real hardness is not in the sayings; it is in our own heart. Time and a change of experience make a difference in many of our impressions; and we alter, while Jesus and the Scriptures remain the same. There is a softening of the stony heart, a susceptibility to the powers of the world to come. When we feel the need of Jesus, there is no difficulty about taking him just as be is.
2. There must be constant communion. The first act of real prayer makes the first step towards this. A prayerless life means a life without Christ, without faith, without work, without consistency. On such a branch the husbandman looks with suspicion. Christ wants to shine out in the life, so that people may say the branch is worthy of the trunk. He cannot bless us without our consent, or without our active approach to him.
III THE ULTIMATE RESULT OF THIS UNION. The more we abide in Christ the more he abides in us, and then the constant and powerful influx of his energy causes a great putting out of fruit. Just as the sap from the trunk makes every day a difference in the branch, causing it to shoot forth twigs, and buds, and leaves, and flowers, so the presence of Christ in our souls makes us to grow and to manifest the fruit of that presence. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 26, 27 I am the True Vine
Joh_15:1
I am the True Vine
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The origin of the allusion
Most of our Lords figurative discourses were obviously suggested by some outward thing.
What was the visible object here? It could hardly have originated in a thought about the fruit of the vine, represented by what He had been pouring from the cup; nor is it satisfactory to say that He pointed to a vine in the garden; for the garden was not a vineyard. You will notice that although the words, Arise, let us go hence, occur in Joh_14:31, the words that fill up chapters 15, 16, and 17, were spoken before we come to the entrance into the garden. Now, for these long utterances to have been spoken in this walk is to me inconceivable. Some think however, that when Christ said, Arise, let us go hence, they rose, and that the words filling the next three chapters were spoken while they were still standing, just as a leader, after he has signified that the meeting is over, may say at the door, Stop, a new thought strikes me, and may then linger to utter unpremeditated things. But it is inconceivable that Christ should leave His longest and most important parting instructions until the audience had, at His own request, all risen to go. My own opinion is that Jesus on His way to the garden went to take a farewell glance at the Temple, and that for the purpose of teaching the disciples lessons founded on its golden vine. Nations have often taken certain plants or flowers for their heraldic devices, such as the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock. If not as a matter of heraldry, as a matter of fact, the vine appeared to be the device on the shield of Israel. Striking passages might be quoted in proof, from the prophets (Isa_27:6; JeEze 15:2; 17:8; Psa_80:8-11). The Master then took the scholars up to the famous national emblem displayed over the porch of the sanctuary, and with that before them, prepared them to understand that now the sacred nation was about to lose its ancient place, and to be superseded and fulfilled by the nation of saved souls; teaching them to withdraw their trust in that vine, and to place their trust in Him alone, henceforth to be one with Him, as are branches with the tree they spring from. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
The True Vine
I. THE VINE.
1. The method of Christs teaching seems to have depended largely on chances and occasions. Seeds of truth were blown from Him who is the Truth by every breeze of circumstance, like thistledown by the wind. This allegory was suggested, perhaps, by a portion of a trellised vine outside, peeping in through the latticed window, rustling in the evening breeze, or showing through its veined, transparent leaves the golden light of the setting sun; or, more probably still, the wine cup before Him on the supper table.
2. But while the form of Christs teaching was determined by the accident of the moment, it fell in with the general analogy of Scripture teaching. The vine is one of the most familiar images in the Old Testament. No less than five of our Lords parables refer to it.
3. The Land of Promise was a land of vineyards; and Juaea especially, with its temperate climate, and elevated rocky slopes, was admirably adapted for the culture of the vine. A vineyard on a terrace or brow of a hill is the first object that strikes the eye of the traveller when he approaches Judaea from the desert. A vineyard on a hill, fenced and cleared of stones, was the natural emblem of the kingdom of Judah; and this heraldic symbol was engraved on the coins of the Maccabees, on the ornaments of the Temple, and on the tombstones of the Jews. It is not without significance that the vine should be thus peculiar to Judaea. One of the most perfect of plants, it belongs to one of the most perfect of countries as regards its physical structure. Contrast the grapes of Eshcol with the variegated scenery of that valley, and its geological conformation, with the hard dry woody fruits of the parched plains of Australia: a low type of fruit with a low type of country. There is a close typical relation between the character of a country and the character of its productions; and this relation ascends even into the world of man. As the monotonous plains and innutritious fruits of Australia reared the lowest savages; so the picturesque mountain scenery, and the rich nutritious grapes, pomegranates and olives of Palestine developed the noblest of the human races.
II. THE FITNESS OF THE VINE FOR OUR LORDS PURPOSE.
1. He wished to represent
(1) The permanent spiritual union of His disciples with Himself; and therefore a perennial and not an annual plant must be selected, a dicotyledonous tree with branches, and not a monocotyledonous tree without branches. The image of the lily suited Him when His own personal loveliness, purity, and fragrance, and His own short-lived single life on earth were intended to be shadowed forth; and the image of the palm tree, which has no branches, suited the disciples when their own individual excellence was portrayed.
(2) The fruitfulness of Christ and of believers in Him; and hence the plant that can do this adequately must be a cultivated one--not a mere herb of the field, like corn, yielding fruit only on the top of a stalk, but a tree yielding fruit on every branch.
(3) The subordinate relation to and dependence of Christ upon His Father in the days of His flesh; and this idea manifestly excludes all fruit trees that are capable of standing alone and unsupported, such as the apple--the pomegranate, or the fig tree.
(4) Believers exhibit, with general features of resemblance, considerable personal differences; and the plant which is to represent this quality must admit of considerable variability within certain distinct and well-recognized limits. All these qualifications meet in the vine, and in the vine alone.
2. The vine belongs peculiarly to the human period, and was planted in the earth shortly before its occupancy by man. It came into the world along with the beautiful rose, and the fruitful apple, and the fragrant mint, and the honey-laden bee, to make an Eden of nature for mans use and enjoyment. The former ages were flowerless; green, monotonous tree ferns and tree mosses, destined to become fuel for man, alone covered the land. Prophesied by all previous vegetable forms, whose structure approached nearer and nearer to its type, the vine appeared in the fulness of the earths time; just as He whom it shadowed forth was announced in type and prophecy from the foundation of the world, and appeared in the fulness of human history when the world was ready for His reception. And thus the symbol and the Person symbolized belong peculiarly to the human world, and were destined specially for human nourishment and satisfaction.
3. A strict correlation exists between the culture of the vine and the intellectual and spiritual development of humanity. Wherever the grape ripens, there flourish all the arts that chiefly tend to make life nobler and more enjoyable. The spread of the Christian religion, as a general rule, has been co-extensive and synchronous with that of the vine, so that wherever the allegory of our Saviour is read, there the natural object may be seen to illustrate it.
4. In the symbol of the vine our Lord recognizes the prefiguration in plants of animal forms and functions. In the stem, branches, and foliage of the vine, we discern the ideal plan on which our own bodies are constructed: the stem being the spinal column; the branches the ribs and members: the leaves the lungs; while the sap vessels, filled with their nourishing fluid, correspond with the veins and their circulating blood. The functions, too, which all these parts and organs in the vine perform are precisely analogous to those which similar parts and organs perform in the economy of man.
III. CHRIST THE TRUE VINE.
1. St. Johns Gospel has several peculiar terms--such as the Word, the Light, the Life, the Truth, the World, Glory, Grace--which, perhaps more than all others, bear upon them the clear stamp of the Divine signet. To these may be added the word true, which occurs no less than twenty-two times in this Gospel, as against five times in all the rest of the New Testament. By us the word is commonly employed to represent, and so confound, two distinct ideas; viz., the true as opposed to the false, and as distinguished from the typical or subordinate realization. Our forefathers recognized this distinction, and expressed the former idea by true, and the latter by very. The man who fulfilled the promise of his lips was a true man; but the man who fulfilled the wider promise of his name was a very man, a man indeed. God is the true God, in the sense that He cannot lie; but He is the true God, inasmuch as He is all that the name of God implies, in contradistinction to false gods. The phrase is still retained in the Nicene creed, very God of very God. In Greek the distinction is clearly indicated by the use of two words, ale?the?s true, and ale?thinos very, which are never used indiscriminately. The word here is ale?thinos, and should be rendered very, for it indicates the contrast, not between the true and the false, but between the imperfect and the perfect--between the shadowy and the substantial, the type and the archetype, the highest ideal and a subordinate realization or partial anticipation. And in this connection it is interesting to notice that the Saxon word tree is etymologically cognate with true, signifying that which is firm, strong, or well-established.
5. Israel was a vine, but not the true vine of God. Though not altogether false and fraudulent, it was an inferior and subordinate realization, a partial and imperfect anticipation of the truth. It did not come up to Gods ideal of a vine. But Christ was the True Vine of God; He fulfilled to the utmost the purposes of His existence. The vineyard of Israel was to be taken from the wicked husbandmen. But out of this Jewish vineyard was to grow one Vine, which should endure when all the peculiar institutions of Judaism had perished, and become the starting point of a new and higher religious growth. While the Law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
3. Christ is also the True Vine, as distinguished from the false or counterfeit vine. There are many species of vine, but there is only one grapevine; so error is multiform, but truth is one. And just as the wheat is imitated by the tares--the poisonous darnel--which closely resemble it in every respect; so the True Vine is imitated by the vine of Sodom, with its poisonous fruit.
4. But there is another aspect still in which the phrase may be viewed. It is as if Christ had said, I am the unconcealed Vine.
(1) Israel was a concealed vine. Its full significance was not known until Christ, the True Vine, revealed it. And
(2) The natural vine is a concealed vine. Men could not understand its symbolical meaning, they misinterpreted its lessons; they thought that it had no higher uses than the mere material, utilitarian ones. It was only when Christ appeared that the parable was explained, and the mystery, hid from ages and generations, revealed. Our Lords first miracle at Cana was effected by the direct and immediate agency of the True Vine. It revealed the power which enables the natural vine in the vineyard to change the rains and dews of every summer into wine in its grapes. And what is thus asserted of the vine is equally applicable to bread, to light, to water--to every natural object. They all had a concealed meaning--a reference to Christ--from the beginning. Our Lord does not say, I am like the vine. That would have been to use a mere metaphor, or figure of speech. But He says, I am the True Vine; and this declares that the vine is the actual shadow of His substance.
IV. THE QUALITIES IN CHRIST WHICH ARE ADUMBRATED BY THE VINE?
1. The vine is the most perfect of plants.
(1) Some plants possess one part, or one quality, more highly developed; but for the harmonious development of every part and quality--for perfect balance of loveliness and usefulness, there are none to equal the vine. It belongs to the highest order of the vegetable kingdom. Painters tell us that to study the perfection of form, colour, light, and shade, united in one object, we must place before us a bunch of grapes. It is perfectly innocent, being one of the few climbing plants that do not injure the object of their support. It has no thorns--no noxious qualities; all its parts are useful. Its foliage affords a refreshing shade from the scorching sunshine. Its fruit was one of the first oblations to the Divinity, and, along with bread, is one of the primary and essential elements of human food. In common with other plants, it purifies the air--feeding upon what we reject as poison, and returning it to us as wine that maketh glad the heart, and in the process maintaining the atmosphere in a fit condition for our breathing.
(2) In all these aspects the vine is the shadow of Him who is altogether lovely--who unites in Himself the extremes of perfection--who is continually doing good--who beautified our fallen world by His presence, changed its wilderness into an Eden, and made the polluted atmosphere of our life purer by breathing it, and is now transforming our evil into good, and our sorrow into a fruitful and strengthening joy.
2. The words distinguish between nature and that which is above it. To Pantheism nature is God. The pronoun I in it leads us up to the Personal Origin of all creation, shows to us that creation is not eternal, but springs from a Person. How, then, can anyone expect to be able to interpret the meaning of the vine, without the personal knowledge of the Living Being who is working and speaking to us through its instrumentality? Without the knowledge of His person we cannot have the knowledge of His work in its fulness. But once united to Him by a living and loving faith, we have the proper view point of the universe. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The True Vine
Christ selected this metaphor because of
I. THE ABUNDANCE OF ITS FRUIT; for which reason it is used by David to express great fertility (Psa_128:3). Hence this tree is especially appropriate as a type of Christ, through whose life and passion the abundant fruits of holiness are brought forth by believers.
II. THE PLEASANTNESS AND THE GRATEFUL CHARACTER OF ITS FRUIT, as the fruits produced by the indwelling of Christ are those which are accordant with and pleasing to mans highest nature.
III. THE STRENGTH AND JOY WHICH WINE PRODUCES within the heart of Jdg_9:13; Psa_104:15; Pro_31:6-7).
IV. THE WIDE EXTENT OF THE BRANCHES stretching on all sides, and furnishing a striking figure of the growth and expansion of the Church, which is the body of Christ (Psa_80:11).
V. ITS TYPICAL CHARACTER, wine symbolizing the blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. (W. Denton, M. A.)
The True Vine
I. THE VINE IN THE VITAL UNITY OF ALL ITS PARTS. We shall best understand this thought if we recur to some of those great vines in royal conservatories, where, for hundreds of yards, the pliant branches stretch along the espaliers, and yet one life pervades the whole, from the root, through the crooked stem, right away to the last leaf at the top of the furthest branch, and reddens and mellows every cluster. This great thought of the unity of life between Jesus Christ and all that believe upon Him is the familiar teaching of Scripture, and is set forth also by the metaphor of the body and its members. Personality remains, but across the awful gulf of the individual consciousness, which parts us from one another, Jesus Christ assumes the Divine prerogative of passing and joining Himself to each of us. A oneness of life, which is the sole cause of fruitfulness and growth, is taught us here. This is a oneness which results
1. In a oneness of relation to God. In this relation He is the Son, and we in Him receive the standing of sons. He has access ever into the Fathers presence, and we through Him and in Him have access with confidence and are accepted in the Beloved.
2. In relation to men, if He be Light, we touched with His light, are also, in our measure and degree, the lights of the world; and in the proportion in which we receive the power of His Spirit, we, too, become Gods anointed--As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.
3. In regard of character, this union results in a similarity of character, and with His righteousness we are clothed.
4. In regard to the future, we can look forward and be sure that we are so closely joined with Him, that it is impossible but that where He is, there shall also His servants be. And as He sits on the Fathers throne, His children must needs sit with Him on His throne.
5. Therefore the name of the collective whole is Christ. And, as in the great Old Testament prophecy of the servant of the Lord, the figure fluctuates between that which is the collective Israel and the personal Messiah; so the Christ is not only the individual Redeemer, but the whole of that redeemed Church, of which it is said, it is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
II. THE HUSBANDMAN AND THE DRESSING OF THE VINE. The one tool that a vinedresser needs is a knife, and the one kind of husbandry spoken of here is pruning--not manuring, not digging, but simply the hacking away of all that is rank and dead.
1. Fruitless branches mean all those who have a mere superficial adherence to the true vine. If there be any real union, there will be some life, and therefore some fruit. And so the application is to those nominal adherents to Christianity, who, if you ask them to put down in the census paper what they are, will say that they are Christians, Churchmen, or Dissenters, as the case may be, but who have no real hold upon Jesus Christ, and no real reception of anything from Him; and the taking away is simply that God makes visible, what is a fact, that they do not belong to Him with whom they have this nominal connection. The longer Christianity continues in any country, the more does the Church get weighted and lowered in its temperature by the aggregation round about it of people of that sort. And one sometimes longs and prays for a storm to come, of some sort or other, to blow the dead wood out of the tree, and to get rid of all this oppressive and stifling weight of sham Christians that has come round every one of our churches.
2. The pruning of the fruitful branches. We all, in our Christian life, carry with us the two sources--our own poor, miserable self, and the better life of Jesus Christ within us. The one flourishes at the expense of the other; and it is the Husbandmans merciful, though painful work, to cut back unsparingly the rank shoots that come from self, in order that all the force of our lives may be flung into the growing of the cluster which is acceptable to Him.
III. THE BRANCHES ABIDING IN THE VINE AND THEREFORE FRUITFUL.
1. Union with Christ is the condition of all fruitfulness. There may be plenty of activity and yet barrenness. Works are not fruit. We can bring forth a great deal of ourselves, and because it is of ourselves it is naught.
2. There is the great glory and distinctive blessedness of the gospel. Other teachers come to us and tell us how we ought to live, and give us laws, examples, reasons, motives. The gospel comes and gives us life, and unfolds itself in us into all the virtues that we have to possess. What is the use of giving a man a copy if he cannot copy it? Morality comes and stands over the cripple, and says to him, Look here! This is how you ought to walk. But Christianity comes and bends over Him, and lays hold of his hand, and says, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
3. Our reception of that power depends upon our own efforts. Abide in Me and I in you. Suppress yourselves, and empty your lives of self, that the life of Christ may come in. A lock upon a canal, if it is empty, will have its gates pressed open by the water in the canal and will be filled. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
False vines
There are strange vines which bring forth wild grapes in perilous abundance, planted in the soil of our human nature by an enemy. Their nature is deadly, their grapes, however luscious and inviting, are noxious; their very shadow and foliage, like the fabled Upas tree, are redolent of destruction and death. There are grapes of gold, for which the grower sells his soul, and Mammon is the spirit that drives the ruinous bargain. There are the grapes which being pressed into the goblet do sparkle and coruscate, and Pleasures fascinating beauties are reflected in the flowing cup; but a serpent lies coiled below the ruby draught and stingeth like an adder the victim she allures. There are grapes of which the smooth-tongued vine dresser says that they are much to be desired to make one wise. Eat, quoth he, and ye shall be as gods. Yes. There are vines, vineyards, vine dressers, and wine vats in this deluded and deluding world. Pleasant is their shadow, graceful and winsome their festoonings, attractive are their supplies either from the cluster or the flagon, and, alas! those who are deluded by them know not that the dead are there, and that the shaded and enticing paths that lead men thither are steps that take hold on hell. Their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, etc. It was a wild vine which produced the fruit gathered in mistake by the servant of Elisha, so that there came to be death in the pot into which the deceptive grapes were shed; and so with all the false trusts and hopes of humanity. (J. JacksonWray.)
Christ the true Vine in His Divine humanity
It is in His manhood that Christ is the true Vine. It was of the essence of His Mediatorial work, of the Daysman, who should lay His hands upon both, that as on the one side He could say, I and My Father are one, so upon the other, I and My brethren are one; but while the vine and the vine branches must thus both be partakers of the same nature (Heb_2:11), He will presently challenge for Himself a share in the work of the husbandman. He, too, has power to purge or cleanse through His word (Joh_15:3). His humanity was a Divine humanity, for so only could it have become a life-giving humanity to the world. (Archbishop Trench.)
Union with Christ
I. ITS NATURE.
1. An actual joining of each branch to the vine. When Madame Guyon was ten years old, she learned that Madame de Chantal had written the characters of the holy name of Jesus upon her bosom with a red-hot iron. She sought to imitate, so she sewed on her breast a piece of stiff paper containing the name of Christ. Never has there been good in such folly. Union to the Saviour does not consist in tacking on a badge of mere profession of love for Him. You might as well nail a branch to a trellis, and call that grafting.
2. A living joining of each branch to this Vine. We have often seen flowers bound to sticks with a bit of wire, so that they seemed growing on long stems; but there was no life in the merely mechanical contact.
3. The reciprocal joining of every branch to the vine, and of the vine to every branch.
II. ITS PURPOSES. That it may produce after its kind for the enrichment of the husbandman the fruits he loves. These fruits are
1. Good views. It never profits anyone to sneer at creeds, and cry out for deeds instead; for no good deed was ever done unless there was a good thought behind it. The shallowness of much of our modern piety is owing to want of real conviction. Our religion has always been a faith, and so has had an intellectual basis.
2. Good deeds. For all genuine ideas force themselves out into conduct. Mere admiration for the character, or mystic affection for the person, of a Saviour like ours would not be enough. A pretty little honeysuckle in the garden might as well twine itself up around a trellis, and try for a whole season to look like a vine; grape time would show the sham.
3. Good feelings. Some people doubt the power of a religious duty to start the enthusiasm of a large soul. And yet many of the finest minds and purest hearts have drawn their inspirations from the spiritual intercourse they kept with the life and the words of Jesus. While Claudius Buchanan was missionary in India, he translated and issued the Syriac Testament. Macaulay says that once in his presence he stopped and suddenly burst into tears. When he recovered himself the great man said, Do not be alarmed, I am not ill; but I was completely overcome with the recollections of the delight I have enjoyed in this exercise. It is thus that good Christians have often gone to the stake for the love they bore for this Redeemer of men.
4. Good graces. Vines feel no shame for being beautiful. Excellencies of character are what the Lord loves (Gal_5:22-23).
III. CHRISTS CARE FOR IT. The Husbandman is God the Father. He cleanses the vines. In the East dressers wash the leaves and shoots and tendrils and clusters, each by itself in turn, so as to clear off the dust and mould. They cut away, also, the dead branches, and keep the whole vine under discipline.
1. The branch may be too feeble in its growth. Then, of course, it must be made to draw more strength from the vine which supports it. In the union of Christ to each soul these quickenings are efficaciously wrought by the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. The believer seeks them by prayer, and openly welcomes them with thanksgiving and trust. A female teacher in Persia was seated on a mat in the middle of the earthen floor of the church greatly fatigued, and as she was endeavouring to catch a moments rest, one of the native women seated herself directly behind on the same mat. In a quiet whisper she begged her to lean back. The missionary just suffered her weight to fall against her knee; but the generous Christian drew her nearer and then whispered again, If you love me, lean hard. Never was a truer imitation of Christ. Those who are weal: show more love by leaning harder.
2. The branch may be too perverse in its growth. Sometimes it appears as if it had become wilful. It thrusts its rings and tendrils off as if a petulant rebelliousness against the trellis had awakened its spite, and it had determined to grow out of order. It will lay hold of twigs below it in the grass, and trees above it in the orchard, always endeavouring to defeat the husbandmans purpose. For this there is no remedy but one: the knife comes suddenly, and now remains only the fire. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Union with Christ
I. THIS UNION.
1. It is compared
(1) By Peter (1Pe_2:5-6) to the connection between the foundation stone and the building, and the relation thus suggested is one of dependence.
(2) By the Lord Himself to the union between the branches and the vine, the connection is seen to be one of life.
(3) By Paul (Eph_4:15-16) to the union between the head and the members, where the connection is one of subjection.
(4) By the same Apostle (Eph_5:22-23) to the union between husband and wife; and there the idea of affection is the predominating one. Now, putting all these together, we get this result, that believers are one with Christ, as represented by Him, dependent upon Him, living in Him, subject to Him, and loving Him with tenderest affection. But in the figure of our text there is further suggested the idea that believers are supported by Christ. The branches are sustained by the sap, which the vine supplies; and so His people are animated by the Spirit which Christ bestows.
2. How this union is entered into. The analogy of the vine does not help us here. The branches are in the vine, whether they will or no. But men have wills; and so this union is, on their part, a voluntary thing.
3. Then, when we are thus united to Him, His strength and grace flow into us. When the car is coupled to the engine, the motion of the engine is communicated to, and shared with, the car; and when we are one with Christ in love and trust, His Spirit comes into our hearts and makes us more responsive to Himself.
II. THE END FOR WHICH THE UNION EXISTS (Joh_15:2; Joh_15:8). Fruit, the character of which may be gathered from Eph_5:9; Gal_5:22-23; 2Pe_1:6-8. Then this fruit is
1. A personal thing. It is not the effect on others of some effort which we put forth, but the appearance in ourselves of the graces of holiness.
2. Not a single grace, but a whole circle. The spiritual vine, like the natural, brings forth its fruit in a cluster, and only when each of the members of that cluster is fairly and symmetrically developed is there true fruitfulness. (Christian Age.)
Union with Christ
The fruitful source of all the Christians blessings. Constantly felt and remembered tends to dignify and fructify his life. Leads to
(1) Purity.
(2) Safety. In Christ.
(3) Glory.
I. UNION IN ITS NATURE.
1. Mysterious.
2. Mutually agreed.
3. Spiritual.
4. Living.
II. PERMANENCE OF THE UNION.
III. FRUITFULNESS OF THE UNION. Bear much fruit.
1. Expected. It is a vine--a vineyard under care. Father is the husbandman.
2. Only possible in union. Human nature. No fruit of itself, for without Me ye can do nothing. Linked to Christ by faith. Much fruit.
3. To the highest end. Heavenward. Glory to God (Joh_15:8). Earthward. So shall ye be My disciples (Joh_15:8). The great want of earth--true disciples. God claims the glory.
4. Sign of life. Bringeth forth--out of--grow--result of the Divine life within. (E. Wickliffe Davies.)
The true spiritual life in man is
I. DERIVED FROM CHRIST. Religion is not a mere creed or form; it is a life, and the life is a branch of Christs life. It grows out of Him. There is no true spiritual life where Christs spirit is not the inspiration.
II. DEVELOPED IN FRUITFULNESS. The production of fruit is what is required; it is not to pass off in foliage and blossom. Unless we yield fruit we are worthless and doomed to destruction. What is the fruit? Love, joy peace, etc.
III. THE JOINT AGENCY OF GOD AND MAN.
1. Man must seek an abiding connection with Christ. Cut the branch from the tree, it will wither and rot.
2. God must act the part of the Great Husbandman. The mere abiding in Christ will not do of itself. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27 1. I am the true vine. The scene must…
1. I am the true vine. The scene must be kept in mind. The Lord and his disciples had just eaten the last supper. He had said, “Arise, let us go hence” (14:31). They had risen, but were still standing in the room. On the table, from whence they had just risen, was the “fruit of the vine,” and the Lord had said he would never drink it again upon the earth. In the Old Testament, the Vine is often used as the type of Israel, planted and tended by the Almighty as the husbandman. See Isa. 5:1; Psa 80:8–16; Jer. 2:21. Israel, however, had proved a wild and fruitless Vine. Instead of it, therefore, Christ had now been planted by the Father as the True Vine.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 18 Joh_15:1. True vine.—Christ and the disciples were now on…
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
Joh_15:1. True vine.—Christ and the disciples were now on the way to Gethsemane. Their passing through the vineyards, etc., surrounding the city may have suggested this image: others think it may have been called up by a vine in the courtyard, or on the roof, of the house where the supper was instituted; others, by the golden vine which adorned one of the temple gates; and others still, by the fires of the vine-prunings along the valley of the Kidron. The first seems the most likely origin of the figure, combined perhaps with the last. I am the true (ideal, veritable) vine, etc.—Israel was the vine of Jehovah; but they failed to bring about that living unity and fellowship between God and men that has been effected in Christ. Christ is the true centre of unity, the source of true vine-life, uniting the branches to Himself as one complete whole. The husbandman.—Christ is the true vine as the incarnate Son. It is as the Son of man that He enters into this close relationship with humanity. Christ is the life of the complex organism, and over this living whole the Father watches with providential care. The husbandman is the owner and cultivator.
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Joh_15:2. Every branch in Me, etc.—There is a being in Christ which is yet not a living, vital union (Mat_3:10; Mat_21:19, etc.). These fruitless branches the divine husbandman “takes away.” The mode itself is not stated. “Death breaks the connection between the unfaithful Christian and Christ” (Westcott). Purgeth.—Cleanses or prunes. The word καθαίρει has here a spiritual significance. Everything that would retard fruit-bearing is removed. Bring forth.—Bear. This is the end of disciplinary training, as it is the end of pruning.
Joh_15:3. Now ye are clean, etc.—Pruned or cleansed. The Word is the whole revelation of Himself—the Λόγος. This Word has a cleansing power (Heb_4:12). When it is believed it exercises this power in the soul (see Joh_5:24; Joh_8:31-32; Joh_12:48; Joh_17:6; Joh_17:17).
Joh_15:4. Abide in Me, and let Me abide in you.—Both clauses are imperative. The indwelling is mutual; but the let Me abide, etc., signifies the source of the gracious spiritual life for the dependent branches.
Joh_15:5. Without Me.—Apart from or severed from Me, etc. All the branch’s fruitfulness depends on its living union with Christ. Let any seek to live apart from Him, without His divine strength, and the result will be speedily apparent.
Joh_15:6. He is cast forth, etc.—Whenever the vital connection ceases then separation has in reality begun. The branch Is already “cast forth,” though it may remain for a time in outward union apparently with the stem. And is withered.—The reality of the separation will show itself. And men gather, etc.—And their ultimate fate is to be destroyed. This image may have been suggested by the fires of vine-prunings (see Joh_15:1). Judgment now and hereafter.
Joh_15:7-8. The end of answered prayer, as of every Christian grace and blessing, is spiritual fruit-bearing.
Joh_15:9. Even as the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you.—In these words our Lord recalls the disciples to that which is the source and foundation of this union—the eternal love of God. As the Father loves Him with this perfect eternal love, so He loves His disciples (Joh_17:24; Joh_17:26). My love (ἡ ἀγάπη ἡ ἐμή) is that love which is His very nature. “Thy nature and Thy name is love.” Abiding in that love means in its deepest sense to abide in the Spirit and life of Christ.
Joh_15:10. If ye keep, etc. (Joh_14:15).—“Let no one deceive himself by saying that he loves Christ, when he does not obey Christ. We love Christ exactly in the proportion in which we keep His commandments” (Augustine in Wordsworth’s Greek Testament).
Joh_15:11. My joy.—The joy that is Mine. Just as He gives them His peace (Joh_14:27), He gives them His joy, the joy of self-sacrificing love.
Joh_15:13. Greater love, etc.—This shows the contents of the conception, “As I have loved you.” This is the loftiest ideal of love. Here He is speaking to His disciples, and of His self-sacrificing love in reference to them (Joh_10:11). In Rom_5:6-8 St. Paul is viewing that love from the point of view of perishing humanity.
Joh_15:14. Command you, etc.—This friendship is not, of course, on a footing of equality. Our friends do not command us. Our heavenly Friend must do so in virtue of His position.
Joh_15:15. I call you no longer servants, etc.—Servants = δούλους, slaves. But the apostles rejoiced in His service (Rom_1:1; 2Pe_1:1, etc.). It was, however, a free service, not that of a slave. The slave’s position admits but of one mode of action, unthinking obedience. It is far otherwise with Christ’s disciples and friends. He takes them into confidence, reveals Himself and His work to them, makes them fellow-labourers in His vineyard. There were truths still to be revealed, but the Comforter would make these known unto them also.
Joh_15:16. Ye have not chosen Me, etc. (Joh_6:70; Joh_13:18; Luk_6:13).—High was the honour to which those fishermen of Galilee had been called. They had not chosen Him as disciples choose a teacher, but He had called them and ordained or appointed them to His work (1Co_12:28; 1Ti_1:12, etc.), to go forth (when He had gone to the Father), still in unity with Him, to bring forth fruit, to sow and reap in the harvest field of the world (Joh_4:36-38), to labour for Him, and their labour would endure (1Co_3:11-15). To such the Father will give all needed gifts in answer to prayer in Christ’s name. The true disciple will come “boldly” to the throne of grace, as Christ did whilst He was on earth (see Joh_15:7-8).
Joh_15:17. These things, etc.—I.e. all contained in His words just-recorded (Joh_15:12-16). The outcome of obedience to Me will be love one to another.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Joh_15:1-17
Joh_15:1-3. The true Vine and the Husbandman.—What guidance for the spiritual life, what calm in the midst of trial, what comfort and even cheerfulness in the hour of dissolution, have these words of our Lord given to the saints in all ages since they were spoken! It is touchingly related of the great Scottish reformer that when within an hour or two of his death he said to his wife, “Go, read where I cast my first anchor,” upon which she read the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel (McCrie’s Knox, p. 276). And how many since this discourse was uttered (in which Christ speaks of that unity of Himself and His people in God which He prays for in chap. 17) have cast an anchor there!—“an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil” (Heb_6:19). The first truth that meets us here is Christ’s declaration that He is—
I. The true Vine.—
1. The meaning of the word true here is not simply true as opposed to false, but true in an absolute sense—the ideal, the veritable Vine; the only root and stem to which the branches can be vitally united, and from which they can draw their life.
2. The vine of humanity had, through sin, withered and died away spiritually, severed from the source of true spiritual life. Even when God “brought a vine out of Egypt,” etc. (Psalms 80), sin was able to interpose. It was necessary that there should be a closer bond of union with the source of all true life, ere the vine of humanity could bring forth fruit to the divine glory.
3. Thus God sent the Son, and the Son came to earth to be the true centre of union between the human and divine. The true Vine is rooted in the divine and eternal; but its stem comes forth toward men in the world—“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Humanity, united to Him in His incarnation through faith, becomes fruitful spiritually.
4. Men, the branches, become one with the Stem. “One life fills the plant from root through stem, and reddens and mellows each cluster. So His life pervades all His true followers; and that one life results in oneness of relation to God, of character, and of destiny” (Maclaren).
II. The Husbandman.—
1. It is the Husbandman who plants the Vine. The term includes here proprietorship. The Father is in a true sense the owner of the Vine. Christ’s disciples are His as branches of the Vine. But Vine and branches are both the Father’s—“Ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1Co_3:23). The Father sent the Son into the world to assume our nature, so that He might become the medium of spiritual life for men, through their union with Him.
2. But the Vine is more than a possession of the Father. Christ is the eternal Son of the Father, and is the same in nature and essence as the Father. Jesus is the true Vine because of the double relation in which He stands toward God and toward man in virtue of His having become incarnate.
3. He thus “took upon Him the form of a servant”—in infinite love and condescension willingly came to earth to stand between God and men, and to become the means of spiritual life for men, and of union between them and the Father. But the Father is not only the owner—He is the Cultivator, he is—
III. The Vine-dresser.—
1. The vine needs special attention and care. A skilful cultivator is necessary. Left to itself, a vineyard would speedily degenerate and become comparatively fruitless.
2. So God watches over and cares for the spiritual Vine. He tended carefully the vine brought out of Egypt. Much more will He specially care for this true Vine—the centre and source of life and fruitfulness for men.
3. The heavenly Vine-dresser is active in His treatment of the branches in the true Vine.
(1) He cuts off all the fruitless twigs and branches which, through some cause, have been severed already from the source of life (see on Joh_15:6). But
(2) “Every branch that beareth fruit,” etc. The vine-branches need pruning lest the sap should run to leaves only. So does the Lord deal with His “people.” He cuts away what would hinder fruitfulness in the life.
4. This is a process that goes on both in the inner and outer life. In the best lives there remains some remnant of the old nature, which rebels against the “new man.” Hence such exhortations as this: “Die unto sin, live unto righteousness,” etc. Even a St. Paul had to struggle against the law in his members, etc., and cry, “O wretched man that I am,” etc. (Rom_7:23). But he could also thank God for victory through Christ. So Christ says to the disciples, “Now ye are clean,” etc. The light of His truth penetrates to the inner recesses of our being; the Word shows us to ourselves, and leads us through grace to put away evil and “cleave to that which is good” (Joh_13:10),
5. But pruning goes on in the outward life also. There are things lying around us and connected with us that engross us too much and chain us to the world. Men set up as gods some of those gifts entrusted to them oftentimes. This tends to weaken spiritual communion, and to check fruitfulness. Therefore God in mercy and love removes such things sometimes. The pruning-knife of trial, affliction, bereavement, cuts sharply down. It is hard sometimes to have to give up this or that at the call of conscience or duty. But the heavenly Vine-dresser sees it to be good for those who thus suffer. “Before I was afflicted I went astray,” etc. (Psa_119:67; Psa_119:71). The pruning results in fruitfulness.
Application.—See to it that this is the result; for if not the knife may again require to descend, cutting even more closely than before. And there may come a time when, after repeated trials, all is found to be vain, and the branch left until it becomes profitless. Of this what shall be the end?
Joh_15:4-5. The living union of Christ and His people.—How precious are those words, spoken under the soft springtide Syrian sky, among the vineyards and gardens clustering around Jerusalem! The closing words of the preceding chapter are most significant. “Arise, let us go hence,” the Saviour had said. And this going hence meant more than simply quitting the upper room (or the terrace) where, since the traitor’s departure, there had been so much peaceful fellowship, and such deep heart-converse regarding highest realities. For the disciples it was a going hence into a new set of experiences, the continuance of their life-journey without the blessed presence of their Master and Lord. He had spoken to the disciples of His own relationship to the Father, and of all the grace for them which that relationship afforded. But now, in view of what was coming, and to comfort them and sustain them during the conflict, He spoke of their close union with Himself under this figure of the vine and the branches.
I. The vine is a fit emblem of our Lord.—
1. The prophet wrote of Christ, “He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see Him there is no beauty,” etc. (Isa_53:2). And the vine has no apparent graceful beauty as, from its short, knotted stem, it sends out its branches on the terraced hillside.
2. And yet it has a beauty and nobility all its own, possessed not by the stately cedar or other wonders of the vegetable kingdom. Its fertility, its vital richness, the excellency of its products and their wide and varied usefulness, cause it to be prized worldwide.
3. Thus, as Jesus, in reference to the spiritual nourishment of men, called Himself the bread of life, so here, in special reference to Himself as the source and channel of spiritual life, He called Himself the true vine.
4. In this emblematic description of Himself He fulfills the ancient prophecy which foretold that God would raise up for His people “a plant for renown” (Eze_34:29). And lo! there is none in excellency and preciousness like unto Him.
5. Israel had been called by God a fruitful vine—it took deep root, it filled the land, “the hills were covered with the shadow of it,” etc. (Psalms 80). But the nation of Israel, the theocracy, was but a shadow of good things to come. And in Christ all that those shadows and types symbolised was found in reality and divine fulness. But there is a further truth revealed in this emblem. “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” There is here set forth—
II. The oneness of Christ and His Church.—
1. A vine is not only a stem. The branches are part of the vine and in the vine. Through them the vine sends forth its fruit. Both are mutually dependent, although the branches are far more dependent on the stem. Still the one needs the other.
2. How grand is this thought as applied to the relationship of Christ and His Church! What a clear and definite idea it gives of the oneness of believers with Him, their organic unity with Him, the centre and source of life. And how should it lead us to lively gratitude, unbounded love, and adoring praise.
3. In Christ much more fully and vitally the Church becomes one in God than it had ever been before His coming. All the incomplete, imperfect, and shadowy types of the Jewish economy found their completion in Christ. “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts was the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant: and He looked for judgment,” etc. (Isa_5:7). The highest natural and spiritual advantages failed to keep the vine of the ancient Church in living oneness with God. Something from the world or the power of evil ever interposed, and the branches withered, the fruit failed. And only those branches which drew through the channels of promise a true though sometimes feeble nourishment became fruitful. There could not be thus for humanity abiding oneness with God.
4. But that is made possible through Christ in His divine-human personality. His essential nature is rooted in the divine. He is one with God. “The Word was God.” But through His incarnation He was revealed among men in the world as the centre and source of divine life for them. His people become one with Him, as the branches are one with the vine, as the members are one with the body. The most vital, intimate, and necessary relationship subsists between the living branches and the stem. The vine stock is essential to the vine branch; so is Christ to the believer—a close uninterrupted union must subsist between them.
III. How is this union effected and sustained?—
1. It is effected through faith. “He that believeth on Me,” etc. (Joh_6:47). That life which is in Christ through faith flows into the souls of believers.
2. This faith which is so essential implies a living trust in a present, living Lord, with whom we can hold communion, who is not far from us, but has promised to be with us “even unto the end of the world,” and whose life flows into and through us by faith. “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live,” etc. (Gal_2:20). He has entered the believer’s heart when it was opened to Him by faith, and entering has become guest and provider. How close and real is this union between Christ and His people, the Vine and the branches!
3. And this union is maintained through believers abiding in Christ, and becoming stronger and more assured in their faith. Christ then gives Himself in all His fulness unto them, for this abiding becomes mutual. “Abide in Me, and I in you.” “Jesus is the ‘true Vine’ … of which Israel had failed to be the spiritual emblem which it was meant to be” (Maclaren). His people live in Him, and the fulness of His life is communicated to them. “We are sons of God in Him, lights of the world by Him, clothed with His righteousness, sanctified by His Spirit, and at last with Him and glorified with His glory” (Maclaren).
4. But there is implied in this the consciousness of dependence of the branches on the vine stock. If the branches are severed, new branches will grow, or may be grafted on the stem. So whilst the Church is “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph_1:23), yet it must never be forgotten that it owes its life to Him, and apart from Him can have no true life. So individuals may fall away, but others will take their place.
5. When this union is vital and real it is also enduring. “He gives His own eternal life, and they shall never perish.” His Church will endure; it cannot perish. Storms, etc., may come and tear away withered branches; but the true Vine, as an organic whole, will abide.
Joh_15:5. Much fruit.—These words were spoken when the ordinance of the supper was instituted. Thus they come specially home to those who are seated at the Lord’s table. There are words of encouragement and warning. This unity between Christ and His disciples, which is so close, is effected, through faith, by the “drawing” of the Father (Joh_6:65; Joh_10:29). It is not a merely external union if real; but is inward, spiritual. “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in Me.” In spite of our weakness and unworthiness, God will not willingly cut us off from union with Christ. Christians are in Christ, and are therefore able to draw from His divine fulness all they need to enable them to bring forth fruit.
I. Fruit.—That is what is expected as the result of union with Christ. What is this fruit? The fruit of faithfulness in the work given us to do, in our daily toil, etc.; the denial of ourselves to all ungodliness, etc.; steadfastness and endurance in trial and temptation, etc.; the fruit of the Spirit (Gal_5:22).
II. No fruit apart from Christ.—In the world and in the life of sin men may be active enough. But the fruits they bear are ever vanity, i.e. nothingness. The fruits and results of sin shall all perish. Only that which bears the stamp of eternity can really be called fruit. Therefore it is ever true: apart from Christ, nothing—nothing for our own higher good, nothing for the advancement of the divine kingdom, nothing for the higher life of our fellow-men.
III. In Christ infinite possibilities of fruit-bearing.—
1. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me” (Php_4:13). Here are the negative and positive descriptions of the spiritual life: without Christ, nothing; in Christ, all things possible. There is given in Him divine strength, because there is given divine life. Thus boasting is excluded. I can through Christ. He alone is the source of spiritual life and strength for fruit-bearing. All true disciples need this. Their own strength is but weakness. But in Christ the weak and feeble have brought forth much fruit—even at the stake or on the scaffold.
2. How shall this power to bear fruit be attained? Learn of Him, of His word (Joh_15:3); come into vital union with Him through faith, and thus be strengthened to do and bear.
3. In the case of some the fruit is brought forth in enduring. Dr. Norman MacLeod relates a touching incident regarding a boy of eleven who for years had not a day’s rest from pain, and could not move. The night before he died, in response to some words of sympathy by Dr. MacLeod, the boy said, “I am strong in Him.” For the case of those to whom strength and opportunity are given, the fruit comes also in the form of doing.
4. And in every case the fruitfulness will be evidence of the hidden spiritual power. A great building is filled with mighty machinery, driven apparently by an invisible power. There is no sound of hissing steam, etc.; nothing but the “whir” of the belted wheels. There is no visible source of energy, but switch-handles manipulated by the engineers. Underground, however, and hidden, are the cables of wires connecting the machinery with the water power, perhaps many miles away, which is the source of the electric energy. So by hidden channels of communication and means of grace faith draws divine energy and strength for fruit-bearing.
Questions.—What are you doing? Dare you glory in that poor sheaf of blighted ears, or are you bringing only tares to perfection? Do not let any say, What can I do? I am poor, weak, etc. If Christ’s, you can draw drafts on the bank of faith—faith in the divine promises. And it is because Christians do not present their drafts, do not make the promises their own, that there is such poor fruit-bearing.
Joh_15:6. The end of separation from Christ.—Whilst the union of Christ and His Church endures—is close and abiding—there may be and are Churches and individuals who lose touch with Christ, and finally are cut off. Some branches are here spoken of as having been in the Vine, which are yet finally cut off from it and destroyed. However difficult this may be to understand, the history of the Christian Church testifies to the truth of it. Christ says that His sheep will not perish, and yet we read of lost sheep, who have strayed from the fold.
I. Apart from Christ there can be no true spiritual life.—
1. Although it may appear outwardly one with the tree, a branch which is not naturally and healthily connected with the stem soon becomes withered and falls, or is cut away. Something has interposed between it and the stem, or its organs of nutrition have become weakened and unable to fulfil their functions, and no vivifying sap flows through it to twig and leaf.
2. So it is with Churches. Instructive examples for all time are given among the seven Churches in Asia: Ephesus, “losing its first love”; Sardis, true emblem of a dying branch, “having a name to live, yet dead”; Laodicea, lukewarm in spiritual things, yet puffed up with spiritual pride; Pergamos, threatened with the influx of erroneous doctrine; and Thyatira, with corruptness of life. These are warning examples.
3. And to-day the old errors are ever ready to creep in and destroy the Church’s spiritual life; lukewarmness, scepticism, spiritual pride, were not confined to the early Christian centuries.
4. So is it with individuals. There may be men and women who were baptized into the name of Christ, have seemed true members of the Church, have been touched by His word, influenced by His Spirit, and have even prophesied in His name; and yet something or other has interposed to prevent a living union, and they are severed from the Vine.
II. Apart from Christ men abide in death.—
1. Here we seem to be in sight of the awful possibility spoken of by the apostle: “For as touching those who were once enlightened,” etc. (Heb_6:6).
2. We may not comprehend this thoroughly. What is called “the perseverance of the saints” is not known to us from the heavenly point of view—cannot yet, at least, be thus known. But from what is revealed we know that God in saving men does not override human freedom. And as a man by resistance can prevent himself from coming into saving union with Christ (Joh_5:40), so is abiding in Christ not against but with the will of the believer.
3. “Abide in Me.” Had not this union with Him been in some measure dependent on the mutual action of the believer, such words would never have been spoken, nor would exhortations and warnings “to watch,” “to take heed lest we fall,” etc., have been given. But this is a region of divine mysteries; and in view of this possibility—
III. We must learn to rest with entire dependence on Christ.—
1. This is the true secret of abiding in Him. The more healthily and unimpededly the branch draws its nourishment from the Vine, the stronger will it become, the more firmly and naturally united to the stem.
2. Thus the more Churches and individuals rely on their divine Head, the more healthy and vigorous will be their life.
3. Apart from Him there is no life. “Those who will live from themselves, not from the eternal truth and love of God, shall be cast forth and regarded as amongst the withered things whose end is to be burned” (Marshall Lang).
Joh_15:7-11. The results of living union with the true Vine.—Where true union with Christ exists—where the branch abides in the Vine—there will be clear evidence of the fact. The branches are united to the Vine for a purpose—to bear fruit. For that same purpose the sap circulates through the whole plant. One life is present in it all. From Christ comes the spiritual life and power and stimulus that lead to the spiritual life in the members of His Church being manifested in the fruits of the Spirit.
I. Living union with Christ leads to fruitfulness.—
1. Just as the branch which is living and draws its vigour from the living vine stock rejoices in the green freshness of its summer dress, and in the vintage season in its luscious clusters, so should it be with the branches of the true Vine. “He that abideth,” etc. (Joh_15:5); “Herein is My Father glorified,” etc. (Joh_15:8).
2. Christians evidence the presence of the spiritual life of Christ in them by bearing appropriate fruit. Christ’s spiritual life flows into their being, and bourgeons, blossoms, ripens in the daily life. Prayer will become habitual, love will fill the heart, deeds of mercy and kindness will be done spontaneously.
3. All the gifts, talents, powers of the nature will be employed in Christ on the high level of the divine service. The believer will love what Christ loves, hate what He hates, do what He commands.
4. And for this end (looking now from the point of view of the branches, and not of the divine Husbandman, whose action also is necessary—Joh_15:2), the channels through which grace and power flow must be kept open. Prayer must be constant and fervent; the word and all other means of grace must be diligently and reverently used. Above all, faith and trust must lead to close and constant communion.
II. Abiding in Christ, and having His words abiding in us, leads to blessedness.—
1. Every needed gift is supplied.—“Ye shall ask what ye will,” etc. (Joh_15:7). What a blessed promise this is to those who can fully appropriate it! And yet it is only what might be expected from abiding in Christ. “It pleased the Father that in Him all fulness should dwell.” “In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And to living branches in Him—to living members of His body—will be given “every good and perfect gift.” But notice the condition: “If ye abide,” etc. It is only then that this promise holds good. For when we truly abide in Him, then are our wills in accord with His will, as His was with the Father’s. If we ask thus “it shall be done unto us.”
2. The more we receive from His fulness, grace after grace, the more shall we bring forth much fruit and approve ourselves to be His disciples.—Only those who are bringing forth much fruit to God—living for the divine glory—have reached the true end of life, and attained its highest bliss. None else indeed can truly understand life, none else do so much for men’s highest interests. It is a noble life, full of devout aspiration and noble endeavour; it implies the leaving behind of what is mean and petty and uncharitable, the growing up evermore toward permanent discipleship; sitting at Christ’s feet, learning daily of Him, rising ever nearer to that blessed height when “the disciple shall be as his Master,” when “we shall be like Him, seeing Him as He is.”
3. The more we approve ourselves His disciples, the more shall we keep His commandments and abide in His love.—The more intimate the relation of believers with Christ, the more constant will be their obedience and fervent their love. To know Him truly is to obey Him. Is He not highest wisdom, truth, love? “To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (Joh_6:68). And when through obedience and following we become more closely united to Him, then we shall realise ever more perfectly that “His nature and His name is love.” To be the object of a pure affection is to taste of the highest blessedness earth can give. To be the object of Christ’s love—not only His love of compassion for fallen man, but His love of satisfaction—is the earnest of that blessedness which awaits His disciples in the Father’s house. In view of all this, then, we understand what Jesus means when He says—
4. “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you,” etc. (Joh_15:11).—Just as He spoke of His peace even when in view of Gethsemane and Calvary, so the Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief spoke of His joy. As the patriot has joy even in the midst of trial and sorrow endured for fatherland and home, just as the artist has joy in the toil expended on his masterpiece, etc. (Joh_16:21), so had the Saviour joy in carrying out the divine purpose in man’s redemption, in enduring that men might be saved, in travailing to bring to light “a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle,” etc. (Eph_5:27). And that joy will be ours if we devote ourselves to the divine service in Him. The chief end of life is to glorify God (Joh_15:8), that we may enjoy Him for ever. Obedience to Christ ever leads to joy here and hereafter. Whatever waters of tribulation the soul united truly to Christ may have to pass through, whatever dark valleys of trial and sorrow, whatever conflict of temptation it may have to endure, yet in obedience to Christ, as to Him in obedience to His Father, there will be given amid all an ever-increasing joy, which even though imperfect here shall be an earnest of the perfect bliss of heaven.
Joh_15:11. Spiritual joy.—It is strange that our Saviour should speak of joy—His joy—when the way of sorrow lay before Him. But that which was accompanied with such deep sorrow (“Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow!”) yet led to highest joy—joy to the Saviour “in bringing many sons to glory”—joy to His people in the blessedness of redemption.
I. The Saviour’s joy was that of harmony with the will of the Father.—
1. This is the true source of Christian joy. It comes through self-surrender to God and submission to His will. There can be no true joy in a man’s life till he has learned to say, “Thy will, O God, be done.”
2. For this reason joy and gratitude go together in the Christian life. Gratitude leads believers to surrender themselves to God in Christ. But to do this is to become sharers in Christ’s peace and partakers in His joy.
II. The nature of Christian joy.—
1. The term “Christian joy” seems to many to involve a paradox. Many believe that joy and religion are not associates—that where the one is the other is not.
2. Some good people truly contrive to make their religion somewhat unattractive. Even good men have been fallible here, and extreme austerity has hindered their power for good.
3. Why should religion—especially the religion of Jesus—be thought incompatible with joy? The belief or unbelief of the materialist, etc., might well be joyless, but not belief in the gospel.
4. Such mistaken ideas arise from wrong conceptions of the true nature of joy. What is joy? Not the excitement arising from material pleasures, from what men call pleasure. That is on the surface merely. Joy is a deep-seated emotion, arising from the possession of some good or the contemplation of it. Unmixed joy is a pure emotion, and cannot be called forth by what is sinful. Its outward manifestations are therefore often different from what might be expected. The eyes may be filled with tears, whilst the heart may be throbbing with joy. “The noisy laughter of the fool” has no affinity with true joy, nor has the effervescing excitement caused by the world’s pleasures. It is not like a winter torrent, but like a gentle, perennial spring. “Joy comes gently upon us as the evening dew, and does not patter down like a hailstorm” (Richter).
III. The way to true joy.—
1. It is the way of Christ. To attain to joy men do not need to live lives of inaction, etc. It is not to be found in some “Castle of Indolence” or “Lotos-easers’ Island.”
2. Men seek in the life of action, adventure, danger, the joy they could not find in luxurious living. The great statesman, e.g., does not spend laborious days and nights merely for fortune or fame. The first most of our legislators have. The second might be attained in other and easier fashion. The joy of the true statesman is the joy of service for people and country. There are times also when the noble mind finds that suffering and enduring bring truest joy.
3. True joy is from within. The world’s joy is adventitious, dependent on changing external things, which alter and leave only a sad memory of what has been. It is the life of selfishness that is destitute of true joy. When the heart is surrendered to God, and the life is given into His care for guidance, there is given to believers that peace and gladness at which the world wonders, but which it cannot understand. Such was the joy of Jesus.
Application.—Christians have many causes for joy.
1. God’s dealings, His gifts, deliverances, etc., in the past.
2. His mercies in the present.
3. The assured hope He gives in Jesus for the future. “Therefore rejoice evermore.”
Joh_15:12-14. Not servants, but friends.—Friendship that is sincere and lasting is much esteemed even among men. Cicero said well that it “improves happiness and abates misery by doubling our joy and dividing our grief.” It is a voluntary and reciprocal relationship. It is the most disinterested of all human relationships. It is our pride and happiness to be able to call any of the truly great and good on earth our friends; and that any of these should call us their friends is esteemed by us as a great honour.
I. Notice the greatness of the friendship spoken of here.—
1. It is no earthly potentate, king or Cæsar, no earthly sage however honoured or great, who calls these humble men His friends. It is He who is King of kings and Lord of lords who says to these humble Galileans, “Ye are My friends.”
2. This is indeed astonishing when we think of the vast distance that separates us by nature from this heavenly Friend. But for this very end Christ was “made flesh,” so that we being “made partakers of the divine nature” in Him might rise to this high estate.
3. It is wonderful, marvellous. Yet He delights in this name. He was called the friend of sinners (Mat_11:19). But more especially is He the friend of His chosen. What a theme for praise and gratitude!
II. Notice the closeness and intimacy of this friendship.—
1. The disciples of Jesus might well rejoice in being called to His service, and count this a great honour. But Christ here raised them above that condition, though they still remained servants.
2. It often happens that a faithful servant of a great business house rises from the foot of the ladder to be the faithful friend and helper of the principals of the firm. But the wonderful thing here is that Christ raised these men to this high position.
3. The merely subordinate servant simply obeys without always knowing. But it is different with a servant-friend. He does knowingly and willingly what falls to be done. The mere servant is not taken into counsel. The true friend is.
4. Yet this friendship between Christ and His people has its distinguishing features. “Ye are My friends, if ye do,” etc. It is the friendship of the great and wise elder Brother, who is all-wise, and in whose love and friendship we can trust. And we are Jesus’ disciples and friends without ceasing to be His servants. It is a unique relationship.
5. Still it is a close friendship. “Henceforth I call you not servants,” etc. He is one with the Father. The Father makes known all things to Him; and He reveals the deep things of God to His true disciples. The closer our fellowship with Him, the more are the divine purposes of mercy and love revealed. His word becomes to Christ’s friends as a light in a dark place until the day dawn (2Pe_1:19). His Spirit leads into all truth, and enlightens us so that we can understand the heavenly speech, and daily communications shall flow unto us from the divine presence. He gives of His Spirit; and the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
6. These tender words of the Saviour are surely the words of a friend. How may we be assured that these words may be appropriated by us?
III. This friendship shows itself in mutual love and offices.—
1. Christ showed His love toward us in unmistakable fashion. “He gave His life for us” (Rom_5:8). How much higher this than any of the commonly recognised tokens of friendship, the sacrificing of time, wealth, etc.! The greatness of Christ’s friendship is evinced in that while we were enemies He died for us.
2. How are we to show our love to Him? That love of His should constrain us no longer to-live to ourselves, but unto Him (2Co_5:14). We should do what this heavenly Friend commands us. As He denied Himself for us, we should deny ourselves for His sake. Our feeling ought to be: Lord, Thy love and friendship are so great that we will do all things, give all things, endure all things, for Thy sake. Our feet shall be swift for Thee, our hands quick to labour for Thee, our lips diligent to sing thy praise, not in the spirit of slaves, but as those whom Thou callest friends, bound to Thee by the cords of love.
Joh_15:14. The friendship of Jesus.—Christ is all things to the Christian: a Saviour mighty to save—a human friend and brother, entering in sympathy into all life’s circumstances, raising all His own nearer to Himself, shedding into the atmosphere of earth an aroma of heaven. He might have chosen to come in some other way, in greater outward pomp and glory. But He came a man among men. Men need friendship; and therefore Christ assumes this relationship toward His chosen. It is the most disinterested of earthly relationships. Note some of the characteristics of a true friend, and see how all are exemplified in Jesus.
I. Willingness to sympathise.—
1. All men are more or less dependent. None except those with a twist in their nature can be hermits. All need social intercourse—even our Lord did. This desire for friendship arises in part from the need of sympathy. Even joy we must impart, much more sorrow. Nothing relieves more a stricken heart than true sympathy.
2. There are times when human sympathy avails not. We may press the hand, speak the kindly word, but cannot reach with healing touch the deep wounds of human sorrow.
3. Christ can do so.
“In every pang that rends the heart
The Man of sorrows had a part.”
Believers need no laboured argument to prove to them the sympathy of Jesus. It is no figure of speech. It is a glorious reality. Have we experienced it?
II. Readiness to counsel and aid.—
1. A true friend will be willing to help in time of need. Those cannot be called friends who are always ready to aid us when we are quite able to help ourselves, but who, when the pinch comes, put us off with a little cheap sympathy. Nor are they true friends who do kind offices that they may receive the same.
2. The true friend is he who loves us for what we are, who is willing to help us for our own sakes. This is not the world’s way. Many who have fallen through misfortune have been driven to despair by the coldness of false friends. How many also have been sent on their way rejoicing by wise directions and aid in time of need!
3. Yet, after all, however willing our friends may be to aid, they may not be able. But the Friend who speaks here is not only willing but able to help unto the uttermost. His power is almighty. He who sits on the throne of the universe stoops down to help His chosen in their time of need.
III. Constancy.—
1. Adversity is a great test of friendship. The true friend is one who loves me whatever misfortunes befall me: yes, and, even when my own folly has brought harm and loss, who will help me when repentant, or seek to bring me to repentance—who will inflict those wounds of a friend that are “faithful”—who turns a deaf ear to those “whispering tongues that poison truth.”
2. But where are such friends to be found? Is it not well written—
“Constancy lives in realms above”?
Yes. But even among men there are bright examples—Jonathan and David, Pelopidas and Epaminondas, etc.
3. But such examples are prominent because of their rarity. Many can recall the memory of some friends with whom they took sweet counsel who have turned against them. But here is One who “sticketh closer than a brother”—who is ever the same—in whom all true friendships and relationships endure.
“One family we dwell in Him,
One Church above, beneath.”
IV. This relationship between believers and Christ is higher than earthly friendship.—
1. There is not an entire equality in the relationship. We cannot render help or guidance to Him or any adequate return for His kindness and love.
2. Our friends do not command us. Christ does, and has a right to do so.
3. But we need never fear to trust ourselves into His hands. For He is all-wise and all-loving.
4. Keeping His commandments does not procure us His friendship. This is a proof of our love to Him, in which His friendship has its being. Is this a reality to us? It is because we do not realise it sufficiently that our lives fail so much.
Joh_15:15. The love of Christ to His disciples.—The superlative love of Christ appears in the several degrees of His kindness to man, before man was created, when he had been created, and when he had fallen. And not only did He spare fallen men, but from the number of subjects took some into the retinue of His servants, and further advanced them to the privilege of being friends. The difference between these two appellations is this:—
I. The servants.—In those ages servants occupied a different position than they now do. They were generally slaves. And for these reasons Christ waived the appellation:
1. Because the servant is utterly unacquainted with the Master’s designs.
2. The name of servant imports a slavish and degenerous awe of mind, as it is in Rom_8:5.
3. The appellation of servant imports a mercenary temper and disposition, and denotes such an one as makes his rewards both the sole motive and measure of his obedience.
II. The friends.—That great character and privilege which Christ was pleased to vouchsafe to the disciples includes the following things:
1. Freedom of access. Home and heart and all are open for the reception of a friend. We need no mediator to bring us to Christ; for He has condescended to a cognation and consanguinity with us, that He might subdue His glories to a possibility of human converse. He that denies himself an immediate access to Christ affronts Him in the great relation of a friend.
2. A favourable construction of all passages between friends.
3. Sympathy in joy and grief.
4. The communication of secrets. God maintained intimacy with them whom He loved under the law (Gen_18:17, etc.); much more will He under the Gospel (Mat_13:17, etc.).
5. Counsel and advice.
6. Constancy.
Learn.—
1. The excellency and value of friendship—especially of the friendship of Christ.
2. The advantage of becoming truly pious and religious. “He who will give up his name to Christ in faith unfeigned, and a sincere obedience to all His righteous laws, will be sure to find love for love and friendship for friendship.”—Dr. Robert South.
Joh_15:16. Chosen and appointed.—Jesus chose His disciples from among the multitudes of the people whom He came to save, for a special purpose and a divine end. And no doubt the words of our Lord referred especially to these disciples—to His choice of them as appointed instruments in doing His work in the world. But the words were not recorded for an historical purpose merely. They were spoken to the disciples as representing the whole Church as already constituted and yet to be extended, just as the promise of the Comforter was not confined to the eleven, but was meant for all the members of the Church. Thus the words apply to all true disciples, to all living branches of the true Vine.
I. The divine choice.—
1. From a human point of view the choice of His disciples by our Lord was not what men would have looked for—at least, so it seems at first view. He passed by the men in position, the learned, the rich, the influential, and chose those fishermen of Galilee. He did not regard their humble position, their want of culture, and even their spiritual obtuseness; but called them graciously and freely to be His ministers and disciples, nay, to be His friends.
2. This choice was of grace; and yet when we consider it, it will be found to have been dictated by highest wisdom. The divine choice does not entirely ignore fitness for service. God chooses the instruments best fitted for His purpose, even when He takes the weak things of the world to confound the mighty (1Co_1:27). And certainly some of those men were weak in faith, and in the hour of trial “all forsook Him and fled.” And yet through grace they were made foundation-stones in the great spiritual building (Eph_2:20).
3. And how graciously did the Saviour, when He had chosen, prepare those men for their work and ministry. How patiently He bore with their faults and follies, never wearying in instructing them, comforting them, strengthening their faith. And how tenderly in this parting discourse did He speak to them, further fitting them for their work by showing His confidence in them, in that He desired that they should no longer regard Him with the spirit of the servant or slave, but should rise into fellowship with Him as His friends! He had won them to Himself and His service. He had chosen them not only in the outward call, but had won their hearts to Himself.
4. To all true disciples Jesus can say, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” The beginning of true discipleship and friendship is with Christ. By nature men are not attracted to Him. But there are those who, when His grace touches them, respond to the call and “follow Him.” It is first from Him; it is to His call that the soul responds. But here is the mystery of divine grace, that the call and the response of His chosen are, so to speak, simultaneous. The divine choice is met by the human response. The divine inworking is met by the human effort. His chosen choose Him.
II. The divine appointment and its purpose.—
1. The divine choice and appointment are not without a special end. It may be said of all men indeed that God works out His purposes in their lives.
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we will.”
Shakespeare.
But in the special appointment by Jesus of His disciples there was a definite and blessed purpose in view.
2. They were to obey and serve. It is here that the divine wisdom of the choice of Jesus is seen. Those disciples had consecrated themselves to Him, to do His will and finish His work. They were resolved—although they did not know how weak they were then—to follow Him. In this resolve they would be strengthened. Such is the character of true ministers of Christ: they “go forth” gladly, as His friends, when He calls and where He appoints.
3. We know how the apostles “went forth”: the missionary labours of the apostolic Church have here their spring. And so too all true disciples who realise that Christ has laid His hand on them and appointed them to membership in His Church feel the call in some way to “go forth” for Him, as His servants and friends, into the highways and byways of the world.
4. “That ye should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” It is not to be a fruitless activity or “going forth,” but a fruitful. Although the reference is to fruit of effort, yet it must not be forgotten that personal fruit-bearing, the growing of the character and life spiritually toward Christ, is essential to the fruit of effort. First character, then fruitful effort. And those disciples did “bring forth fruit,” and their fruit remains. It is the product of the “incorruptible seed” sown in their own hearts, and by them through the Spirit’s power in the hearts of others.
5. So too now, the only “fruit” that remains, the only work that bears the stamp of eternity, is work done in and for Christ.
III. The promise to those going forth as Christ’s chosen and appointed ones.—
1. Christ does not send His disciples on a warfare “at their own charges.” The divine grace and blessing are ever needed, and therefore our Lord repeats the blessed promise already given, that to His chosen the infinite, divine fulness is opened to believing prayer.
2. His friends will have free access to the source of all grace; limitless riches are open to them (Rom_8:28; 1Co_3:21).
2. There is but one condition as to the asking. We are to ask in Christ’s name, i.e. we are to ask as His friends, as filled with His Spirit. Therefore we shall ask in accordance with His will, guided by His Spirit. And surely this is reasonable. Our heavenly Friend is infinitely wise, good, gracious. And when we learn to desire what is in accordance with His will, nothing that is good will be withheld from us.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Joh_15:1-2. The union of believers with Christ.—Look but into thy garden or orchard, and see the vine, or any other fruit-bearing tree, how it grows and fructifies. The branches are loaden with increase: whence is this, but that they are one with the stock, and the stock one with the root? Were either of these severed the branch were barren and dead. The branch hath not sap enough to maintain life in itself, unless it receive it from the body of the tree; nor that unless it derived it from the root; nor that unless it were cherished by the earth. Lo, “I am the vine,” saith our Saviour, “ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.… If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered” (Joh_15:5-6). Were the branch and the body of the tree of different substances, and only closed together in some artificial contiguity, no fruit could be expected from it; it is only the abiding in the tree as a living limb of that plant which yields it the benefit and issue of vegetation. No otherwise is it betwixt Christ and His Church; the bough and the tree are not more of one piece than we are of one substance with our Saviour; and branching out from Him, and receiving the sap of heavenly virtue from His precious root, we cannot but be acceptably fruitful. But if the analogy seem not to be so full, for that the branch issues naturally from the tree and the fruit from the branch, whereas we by nature have no part in the Son of God, take that resemblance which the apostle fetches from the stock and the branch or scion. The branches of the wild olive (Romans 11) are cut off, and are graffed with choice scions of the good olive. These imps grow, and are now, by this incision, no less embodied in that stock than if they had sprouted out by a natural propagation, neither can be any more separated from it than the strongest bough that nature puts forth. In the meantime that scion alters the nature of that stock; and while the root gives fatness to the stock, and the stock yields juice to the scion, the scion gives goodness to the plant and a specification to the fruit: so as while the imp is now the same thing with the stock, the tree is different from what it was. So it is betwixt Christ and the believing soul. Old Adam is our wild stock: what could that have yielded but either none or sour fruit? We are imped with the new man, Christ, that is now incorporated into us. We are become one with Him. Our nature is not more ours than He is ours by grace. Now we bear His fruit and not our own; our old stock is forgotten, all things are become new. Our natural life we receive from Adam; our spiritual life and growth from Christ, from whom, after the improvement of this blessed incision, we can no more be severed than He can be severed from Himself.… To wind up all: if ever thou look for sound comfort on earth and salvation in heaven, unglue thyself from the world and the vanities of it: put thyself upon thy Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ: leave not till thou findest thyself firmly united to Him; so as thou art become a limb of that body whereof He is head, a spouse of that husband, a branch of that stem, a stone laid upon that foundation. Look not, therefore, for any blessing out of Him; and in, and by, and from Him, look for all blessings. Let Him be thy life; and wish not to live longer than thou art quickened by Him.—Bishop Hall.
Joh_15:3. Self-pruning.—Sometimes there is a nearer (though still distant) approach toward the glorious example before us—and the loss is not only suffered, not only endured and acquiesced in, but in some sense self-inflicted, at the bidding of duty, of religion, of conscience, and of the soul. The very fact that a particular possession is inestimably precious has been felt ere now—and felt not by the morbidly scrupulous, but by the honest and straightforward Christian—as a reason why it should be sacrificed Again and again, in the secret histories of human life, offerings have been made, on God’s altar, of affections and attachments not sinful but perilous, perilous by reason of their strength. Connections which would bring the world too much into the life, or which would too probably thwart and choke the growth of grace in the soul, or which would too often present the embarrassment of “walking together without being agreed,” or would involve the risk of perpetual compromise in the daily arrangements of society or of worship, have again and again been renounced, on the eve of formation, by the one party or by the other, at a cost of present, sometimes of abiding distress, which can have no compensation in the world of time and of the living. Faith has been found equal to the trial, but it must carry the scar of it to the grave.—C. J. Vaughan, D.D.
Joh_15:4-5. The indispensableness of Christ to believers.—This is one of the most precious and richest similitudes in which Christ represents the relationship between Himself and His disciples. Whilst He calls His Father the husbandman, He brings back the origin of the union between Himself and the disciples who believe on Him to God as its author and founder in conformity with the utterances in Joh_6:37; Joh_6:44-45. The indispensableness of the vine-stock to the branches, the entire dependence of the latter on the vine, and the depth and closeness of the union between both—these are the chief points of resemblance which meet us here. If we consider the humble appearance of the vine-stock (when it is not covered with leafage), this may be taken by us as an image of the low estate—the form of a servant—of the Redeemer. The worth and splendour of the vine, on the other hand, may stand as a figure of the glory of Christ and His faithful people. Still these references lie outside of the three principal and natural points of resemblance just given, and may conveniently be left out of view. The Redeemer calls Himself a true vine, i.e. He is in truth the all in the spiritual province in relation to His disciples that the actual vine-stock is to the branches. The vine gives and the branches receive from it the sap which contributes to their growth, prosperity, blossoming, and fruit-bearing; so those who believe in Christ receive the divine vital sap. Through inner canals, hidden from the bodily eye, the life-sap flows from the vine-stock into the branches. Thus unseen do the influences of the Holy Spirit from Christ flow in and upon those who are united with Him in faith as branches adhere in the vine. Without these influences men can have no true, divine, and blessed life in them; without them they cannot truly do good, cannot bring forth fruit. The branch cut off from the vine-stock withers away, becomes dry and ripe for the fire. So when through unbelief fellowship with Christ is relinquished, then the stream of life gradually dries up, and the man, as long as this continues, fades away and finally dies spiritually. The fruit-bearing branches are “cleansed” by the husbandman for their own good, so that they may be enabled to bring forth fruit ever more richly. The faithful need thus that grace which cleanses and purifies them inwardly. It is the pruning-knife of affliction by means of which God seeks to effect our correction, our sanctification, and our glorification.—Translated from F. G. Lisco.
Joh_15:5. Without Christ, nothing; in Him, all things.—These gracious words of our Lord, “I am the vine, ye are the branches,” afford us above all things the greatest comfort, and the assurance that we shall not on account of our sins be cast out or severed from Him as we well deserve to be. The faithful Saviour does not depart from us because of our unworthiness, but acknowledges us, and speaks with us out of the fulness of His love, as a head, could we think of it speaking, would speak with the members of the body. We are called into Christ’s kingdom, and not merely called, but admitted and welcomed. “Jesus receiveth sinners: He hath received me.” We are branches of the Vine. We have often experienced the truth of this. For the Holy Spirit has continually shed forth on us His blessed sunshine and showered His fructifying rain on our souls. We can ever hear the word of God, may ever pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, and in times of trial have tasted of heavenly consolation.—Translated from Lecher.
Joh_15:5. Seasons of the spiritual year.—There are four seasons in thy spiritual year: the winter of desolation; the buds of spring, which tell of hope; the warmth of summer, which bespeaks the fulness of the heart; and the ingathering of autumn, which is the time for life’s practical fruits. Each season has its fruit, and the fruit is in its turn golden. Do not seek to change the order of God’s spiritual year; do not seek to put the fruits of one season into the lap of another. Thou must not expect the buds of spring from the desolation of winter, for desolation is the fruit of winter; thou, like Nicodemus, must begin thy journey in the sense of night—night without a star. Thou must not expect the warmth of summer from the buds of spring, for the fruit of spring is not fruition, but hope; thou, like Peter, must be content for a time to live on aspiration alone. Thou must not expect the practical ingathering of autumn from the warmth of summer, for the fruit of summer is not action, but emotion; thou, like John, must be content to lie on the Master’s bosom until thy time to work for Him shall come. O Thou that hast revealed the order of Thine acceptable year, reveal in my experience the stages of that year! Help me to gather the fruits of each season as good and perfect gifts from Thee! When I feel the sense of night, let me accept it as the token that, like Nicodemus, I am coming to Thee. When I feel the sense of hope, let me accept it as the sign that, like Peter, I am called by Thee. When I feel the sense of warmth, let me accept it as the evidence that, like John, I rest on Thee. When I feel the sense of power and am inspired to gather in the fruits, let me accept it as the pledge that I am bidden, like Paul, to work for Thee. So shall my year be rounded, hallowed, perfected. So shall my life be girt about with Thee. The snows of its winter shall be sanctified, the buds of its spring shall be fostered, the foliage of its summer shall be blest, the firstfruits of its autumn shall be hailed with joy; they shall proclaim that within my soul the year of the Lord has come.—Dr. Geo. Matheson.
Joh_15:5-6. Causes of separation, and fruitlessness.—When we walk abroad on a beautiful day and survey a landscape lit up by the beams of a summer sun, our eye catches a variety of colours lying on the surface of the landscape: there is the yellow of the golden grain, the green of the pasture-land, the dark brown of those thick-planted copses, the silver gleam of the stream which winds through them, the faint blue of distant hills seen in perspective, the more intense blue of the sky, the purple tinge of yonder sheet of water; but none of these colours resides in the landscape, they are not the properties of the material objects on which they rest. All colours are wrapped up in the sunlight, which, as is well known, may be seen resolved into its elementary colours in the prism or the rainbow. Apart from the sunlight no object has any colour—as is shown by the fact that, as soon as light is withdrawn from the landscape, the colours fade from the robe of nature. The difference of colour in different objects, while the sun is shining, is produced by some subtle difference of texture or superficies, which makes each object absorb certain rays, and reflect certain other rays, in different proportions. Now Christ is the Sun of righteousness, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, the fair colour of every grace and Christian virtue. When Christ is shining upon the heart, then these virtues are manifested there—by one Christian graces of one description, by another of another, according to their different receptivity and natural temperament, just as when the sun is shining colours are thrown upon a landscape and reflected by the different objects in different proportions. But as no part of the landscape has any colour in the absence of the sun, so Christians have no grace except from Christ, nor hold any virtue independently of Him.—Goulburn.
Joh_15:7-8. Conditions of spiritual fruitfulness.—Our blessed Lord said not only “Abide in Me,” but also “Let Me, or take heed that I, abide in you.” He thus teaches us that ordinance, as well as faith, forms part of the system of His religion, and especially that ordinance, in which indeed all others are included, by which He communicates Himself to the faithful soul. In order to the fruitfulness of the vine branch, two conditions have to be fulfilled: the first that the branch shall adhere closely to the stem, and offer an open tube for the passage of the sap—this is the abiding of the branch in the vine; the second, that the sap shall rise ever and anon from the vine-stock, and pass into the branch—this the abiding of the vine in the branch. Similarly in the case of the Christian. The first condition of his spiritual fruitfulness is that he shall adhere by a close trust to Christ, and keep open towards Him the avenues of faith, hope, and expectation. This is, “Abide in Me.” The second is, that Christ shall continually send up into his heart a current of holy inspirations, new loves, good impulses, devout hopes. Or, more accurately, that He shall communicate Himself to the soul by the continual influx of the Holy Ghost. This is, “And I in you.” And this communication of Himself is made specially (where that sacrament may be had) in the supper of the Lord: He comes at those seasons into the opened avenue of the faithful communicant’s soul—comes to cement by His own passage into the inner man the union in which our faith cleaves to Him; and the result is “the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies are by the bread and wine.”—Idem.
Joh_15:8-11. The fruit of the spiritual vine branch.—Let us give diligent heed to the saying of our Lord: “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” We may notice the honour which He puts on discipleship. The sentence is not, “So shall ye be My apostles.” Apostles and all must, before and above everything else, be learners. That is the summit as well as the beginning of the Christian life. And the learning advances in the measure in which the fruit-bearing increases. For, in that measure, our sympathy with the Lord, the union of our wills with Him, and therefore our knowledge of Him, is deepened and confirmed. Herein is Jesus’ Father glorified. He desires the glory of His Son—that is the Father’s glory. He is regarding this in all the discipline of His love. “Whoso knows that the gardener’s arm is not set on work by anger, but by skill, will not conclude that he hates the tree he wounds, but that he has a mind to have it fruitful, and judges these harsh means the fittest to produce that effect.” Always let us say this to ourselves: The mind of my Father in all His dealings with me is to enlarge the capacity of discipleship, of learning the sonship of His Son, of bearing much fruit. Fruit is, so to speak, the concentrated juice or blood of the tree. It is the result and sign of the life which is in that blood. The fruit to which Christ refers is the character, with all its influence, which expresses the cleansing efficacy of His blood, which is the necessary manifestation of the spirit of a son. “Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance”—thus St. Paul describes “the fruit of the Spirit.” How solemn the reminder, “Much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples.” Ah, to what must we trace the reason of our spiritual poverty and powerlessness but to this, that we are not abiding in Christ, making Him truly our home, understanding that the order is, first, in Him, the inner life fed out of Him, and, second, for Him, the outer life His witness to men. Some of us, I dare say, feel that we do not attend sufficiently to the springs of action. We are so busy, so engaged in work of one kind or another, that the private, personal communion with the Lord suffers. Oh, for all right service the need is, Christ at the centre of the being, Christ Himself the being’s centre. Mrs. Stowe has beautifully interpreted the longing of the true disciple:—
“The soul alone, like a neglected harp,
Grows out of tune, and needs that hand divine;
Dwell Thou within it, tune and touch the chords,
Till every note and string shall answer Thine.
“Abide in me, there have been moments pure
When I have seen Thy face and felt Thy power;
Then evil lost its charm, and passion hushed,
Owned the divine enchantment of the hour.
“These were but seasons beautiful and rare;
Abide in me and they shall ever be.
I ask Thee now fulfil my earnest prayer—
Come and abide in me and I in Thee.”
Dr. Marshall Lang.
Joh_15:11. In what does man’s happiness consist?—Man’s happiness consists not in any earthly abundance, taken from this consideration,—that the greatest happiness which this life is capable of, may be, and actually has been, enjoyed without this abundance; and consequently cannot depend upon it. Now that undoubtedly is the chief happiness of life, for the attainment of which all other things are designed but as the means and subservient instruments. And what else can this be, but the content, quiet, and inward satisfaction of a man’s mind? For why, or for what other imaginable reason, are riches, power, and honour so much valued by men, but because they promise themselves that content and satisfaction of mind from them, which, they fully believe, cannot otherwise be had? This, no doubt, is the inward reasoning of men’s minds in the present case. But the experience of thousands (against which all arguments signify nothing) irrefragably evinces the contrary. For was there not a sort of men, whom we read of in the former ages of the world, called the ancient philosophers, who, even while they lived in the world, lived above it, and in a manner without it; and yet all the while accounted themselves the happiest men in it? And from these, if we pass to the professors and practisers of an higher philosophy, the apostles and primitive Christians, who ever so overflowed with spiritual joy as they did?—“a joy unspeakable and full of glory,” as St. Peter terms it; a joy not to be forced or ravished from the heart once possessed of it, as our Saviour Himself, the great giver of it, has assured us. Hear St. Paul and Silas singing out this joy aloud in the dismal prison, where they sat expecting death every moment. And from hence to proceed to the next ages of the Church: who could be fuller of and more transported with a joyous sense of their condition, than the martyrs of those primitive times, who were so far from any of the accommodations of this world, that their only portion in it was to live in hunger, nakedness, and want, and stripped of everything but the bodies, in and through which they suffered all these afflictions? And as this internal, spiritual comfort is doubtless the highest that human nature is capable of, and may serve instead of all others, so it descends even to those of the lowest condition.—South.
Joh_15:11. Earthly joy not secured to men so that they may seek heavenly joy.—The providence of God has not thought it worth while to secure and protect the very best of men in their rights to any enjoyment under heaven; and all this to depress and vilify these things in their thoughts; that so they may every day find a necessity of placing them above, and of bestowing their pains upon that which, if they pursue, they shall certainly obtain; and if they obtain, they shall impregnably keep. My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you,” says our Saviour; “not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” Why? What was the difference? He tells us in Joh_16:22, “Your joy no man taketh from you.” It was such a joy or peace as was to be above the reach of either fraud or force, artifice or assault: which can never be said of any earthly enjoyment whatsoever, either as to the acquisition or possession of it; God having made no man any promise, that by all his virtue and innocence, all his skill and industry, he shall be able to continue in health, wealth, or honour; but that, after his utmost endeavour to preserve those desirable things, he may in the issue lose them all. But God has promised and engaged to mankind that whosoever shall faithfully and constantly persevere in the duties of a pious Christian life, shall obtain “an eternal crown of glory,” and an “inheritance that fadeth not away.” A man cannot indeed by all his piety secure his estate, but he may “make his calling and election sure”; which is infinitely and unspeakably more valuable than all the estates, pleasures, and greatness of the world. For all these are without him, and consequently may be taken from him, and, which is yet worse, may do him no good, even while they stay with him. But the conscience is a sure repository for a man to lodge and preserve his treasure in, and the chest of his own heart can never be forced open.—South.
Joh_15:11. Some afraid of joy in religion.—Some people are afraid of anything like joy in religion. They have none themselves, and they do not love to see it in others. Their religion is something like the stars, very high and very clear, but very cold. When they see tears of anxiety, or tears of joy, they cry out, Enthusiasm, enthusiasm! “I sat down under His shadow with great delight.” Is this enthusiasm? “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.” If it be really in sitting under the shadow of Christ, let there be no bounds to our joy. Oh! if God would but open our eyes and give us simple childlike faith to look to Jesus, to sit under His shadow, then would songs of joy arise from all our dwellings. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice.”—M’Cheyne.
Joh_15:11. True joy not on the surface.—The passion of joy was not that which now often usurps this name; that trivial, vanishing, superficial thing, that only gilds the apprehension, and plays upon the surface of the soul. It was not the mere crackling of thorns, a sudden blaze of the spirits, the exultation of a tickled fancy or a pleased appetite. Joy was then a masculine and a severe thing; the recreation of the judgment, the jubilee of reason. It was the result of a real good, suitably applied. It commenced upon the solidities of truth, and the substance of fruition. It did not run out in voice, or undecent eruptions; but filled the soul, as God does the universe, silently and without noise. It was refreshing, but composed; like the pleasantness of youth tempered with the gravity of age; or the mirth of a festival managed with the silence of contemplation.—South.
Joh_15:11. Christians are commanded to rejoice in the Lord.—We are not only allowed indeed, but we are commanded to rejoice in the Lord. No joy has so good and firm a foundation as that which is to be found in the Lord, who has bought us, and with whom we are blessed with all spiritual blessings. But whoever wishes to rejoice in the blessings purchased for us by Jesus Christ, must be in Him, intimately united to Him by faith, renouncing sin, and all the false pleasures of the world. This true union and communion with Christ is the source of joy, the only source. Hence will follow a willingness to love, obey, and glorify Him as long as we live. But if, instead of trusting in Christ and in His consummate atonement, we rely on our own virtue, and consequently try to stand upon our own foundation, we shall never enjoy one moment’s peace of mind. Our virtue and holiness are, and ever will be, imperfect; we shall, therefore, always have reason to confess before God, “If Thou wilt mark what is amiss, Lord, who shall stand before Thee?” Let us therefore seek for pardon, peace, and joy in Jesus; and having found, then let us be grateful and obedient. But though we should be as holy as any of the apostles, let us beware lest we put our confidence in anything except the sufferings and atoning death of Jesus Christ.—Swartz.
Joh_15:12-14. The friendship of the Redeemer.—It was certainly a circle containing but a few to which the Redeemer spoke these words. They were not only as regards their number an inconsiderable selection from the whole of the people, among whom and for whom He lived, but from the whole human race, to whom He had been sent. And on those few He set His hopes. Ah! therefore He must have felt a special, inward relation to them. Therefore He could give them no name which could more sweetly and tenderly express this than the name of brethren and friends, in contradistinction to the whole race of men, who had misunderstood Him, and would in no wise receive Him. But now we who confess Him include a great multitude of the peoples, a considerable portion of the human race. Innumerable are those who stand toward Him, fundamentally and in deepest truth, in the same relation of love and confession. Can we indeed appropriate these words as spoken to us also, that each can be His friend and He ours? Let us for the moment, my friends, give space to our diffidence which excites a doubt on this point. It will, of itself, lead us to another point of view, from which the similarity between ourselves and those disciples will come more clearly into view. Is this mass of Christian people from so many lands and zones, among whom His name is made known in so many tongues, entirely one? No! It is divided into many communities, whose members hold more closely to one another than they do with the others. In part it is divided by the same circumstances which in other relations divide and separate men from each other; in part it is divided in a peculiar manner, not so much from difference of view in regard to Christ’s person and His aim, as rather by the different manner and fashion of expressing and explaining what, in its inner spirit, is one and the same. Well then, let us think of these different bodies of Christians instead of the innumerable individuals composing the mass. Each such group may be regarded as one; and thus we arrive at a number which is less diverse from the small body of the disciples to whom the Lord spoke this great word. Now shall not each of those communities occupy a similar position to the disciples? Is not each such community of Christians, in so far as they are one in faithfulness to Him, like one of the disciples, and in a measure in the same condition? Well then, let us first so state our claim to the Redeemer’s friendship, as that we shall regard ourselves as His friends, not as individuals, but as members of a Christian community to which we belong, when these love each other as the Saviour commanded. Each one of these communities, though they may differ from us, and may deviate from our practice, yet makes Him known and directs men to Him. And with each of them, however much may be the differences that separate us, we should feel ourselves bound in that same love which He commanded to His disciples, since they too are the instruments of His glory. If, therefore, those communities recognised and cherished in each other the same hunger and thirst after righteousness, and their susceptibility for the same fulness of spiritual gifts which proceed from Christ, then Christendom would truly deserve to be called His spiritual body. And are we as individuals so engrafted into that whole with which we are more nearly connected, and do we seek to animate it with this love, and extend this love in every way possible toward the various communities of Christendom, oh! then truly may we have a right to consider that we may appropriate this claim to ourselves personally, that the Redeemer will call such disciples His friends! For then truly it will be evident that we have understood His Spirit, that we are in sympathy with His love, which goes forth to all the race of men without being turned aside by those differences, or caring more for the one than the others. Then in such a case we also are received into His confidence, and He makes known to us fully that unity of the Spirit in the bonds of love and peace which should unite together all those among whom His name is known. Then we also are bound together with Him as fellow-workers in freedom and power. And in such community we again truly find ourselves, and are not lost as a single individual in the great mass. Each of us can contribute to the quickening of this spirit evermore in the community to which he belongs. Each can influence the others mightily in this spirit, and receive from them a like influence in return. And thus we also shall be entitled to appropriate this to ourselves—that we are friends of the Lord when we do what He commands us.—Translated from Fr. Schleiermacher.
Joh_15:14. The inward blessedness of the friends of Christ.—Now if God maintained such intimacies with those whom He loved under the law (which was a dispensation of greater distance), we may be sure that under the Gospel (the very nature of which imports condescension and compliance) there must needs be the same, with much greater advantage. And therefore, when God had manifested Himself in the flesh, how sacredly did He preserve this privilege! How freely did Christ unbosom Himself to His disciples (Luk_8:10)! “Unto you,” says He, “it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but unto others in parables; that seeing they might not see”; such shall be permitted to cast an eye into the ark, and to look into the very holy of holies. And again (Mat_13:17), “Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Neither did He treat them with these peculiarities of favour in the extraordinary discoveries of the Gospel only, but also of those incommunicable revelations of the divine love, in reference to their own personal interest in it. In Rev_2:17, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Assurance is a rarity covered from the inspection of the world—a secret that none can know but God, and the person that is blessed with it. It is writ in a private character, not to be read nor understood but by the conscience, to which the Spirit of God has vouchsafed to decipher it. Every believer lives upon an inward provision of comfort, that the world is a stranger to.—South.
Joh_15:14. The sympathy of our divine Friend.—Friendship is one of the greatest boons God can bestow on man. It is a union of our finest feelings; an uninterested binding of hearts, and a sympathy between two souls. It is an indefinable trust we repose in one another, a constant communication between two minds, and an unremitting anxiety for each other’s souls. What, then, is the root, the cause of friendship? Sympathy. Sympathy conceives friendship; friendship, love. Love is friendship. The tree that bears love, bears also friendship. Where friendship exists between two persons, there is also, always, hope; in adversity there is always a support, a refuge, a knowledge of there still remaining some succour; and as a babe cries for its mother for nourishment, so do we in adversity run to friendship for advice, fully relying on some means by which it may release us from the troubles of the world. And in true friendship there is cultivated such a love of God, such a devotion for the Creator of the world, that the chains become adamant. Friendship having thus a righteous appreciation of the Almighty’s goodness and power, and a knowledge of His injunctions to the righteous, and the reward they may expect hereafter, it spreads around, everywhere, joy and happiness, causing not only fresh unions, but, with praiseworthy Christian exertion and love, rendering them inflexible.—J. Hill.
Joh_15:14. The Friend above all others.
One there is, above all others,
Well deserves the name of Friend:
His is love beyond a brother’s,
Costly, free, and knows no end.
They who once His kindness prove
Find it everlasting love.
Which of all our friends, to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in Him to God.
This was boundless love indeed.
Jesus is a Friend in need.
When He lived on earth abasèd,
Friend of sinners was His name;
Now, above all glory raisèd,
He rejoices in the same:
Still He calls them brethren, friends,
And to all their wants attends.
Could we bear from one another
What He daily bears from us!
Yet this glorious Friend and Brother
Loves us though we treat Him thus.
Though for good we render ill,
He accounts us brethren still.
Oh for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love:
We, alas! forget too often
What a Friend we have above:
But when home our souls are brought,
We will love Thee as we ought.
John Newton.
Joh_15:15. The grand leading affection of all is love.—This is the great instrument and engine of nature, the bond and cement of society, the spring and spirit of the universe. Love is such an affection, as cannot so properly be said to be in the soul, as the soul to be in that. It is the whole man wrapt up into one desire; all the powers, vigour, and faculties of the soul abridged into one inclination. And it is of that active, restless nature, that it must of necessity exert itself; and like the fire to which it is so often compared, it is not a free agent, to choose whether it will heat or no, but it streams forth by natural results and unavoidable emanations. So that it will fasten upon an inferior, unsuitable object, rather than none at all. The soul may sooner leave off to subsist, than to love; and like the vine, it withers and dies if it has nothing to embrace. Now this affection, in the state of innocence, was happily pitched upon its right object; it flamed up in direct fervours of devotion to God, and in collateral emissions of charity to its neighbour. It was not then only another and more cleanly name for lust. It had none of those impure heats, that both represent and deserve hell. It was a vestal, and a virgin fire, and differed as much from that which usually passes by this names nowadays, as the vital heat from the burning of a fever. Then, for the contrary passion of hatred. This we know is the passion of defiance, and there is a kind of aversation and hostility included in its very essence and being. But then (if there could have been hatred in the world, when there was scarce anything odious), it would have acted within the compass of its proper object. Like aloes, bitter indeed, but wholesome. There would have been no rancour, no hatred of our brother: an innocent nature could hate nothing that was innocent. In a word, so great is the commutation, that the soul then hated only that which now only it loves, that is, sin.—South.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v1 John 14-16. Now that the Passover meal has been…
CHAPTER 23
THE VALEDICTORY SERMON
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John 14-16. Now that the Passover meal has been enjoyed, and that celebrated Mosaic institution totally eclipsed by bloody Calvary, normally verified and abolished forever, and the Eucharist instituted, our Lord proceeds to preach His Valedictory Sermon to the Eleven, poor Judas no longer in his place. As this is our Savior’s Farewell, our appreciation is certainly intensified to the very utmost. “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” They are all flooded with trouble over what Jesus has told them about immediately going away from them, thus upsetting their sanguine anticipations of His eternal perpetuity with them, as they believe Christ will abide forever (Dan 7:14), applying the prophecies appertaining to the second coming to the first, really thinking the Messiah would come but once.
“In the house of My Father are many mansions.” The Father’s house includes the vast celestial universe. Astronomy has revealed one hundred and seventeen millions of suns. Our sun is attended by ten great worlds, most of them much larger than this. Hence, you see, the conclusion follows that one billion one hundred and seventy millions of worlds have proximately been reached by telescopic observation. So rest assured there are many mansions. Our earth, originally one of those mansions, but much out of kelter by reason of Satanic invasion, is even now being refitted, and will erelong be restored, shine with a luster eclipsing Eden, and become one of those bright celestial mansions, occupied by saints and angels to shine and shout forever.
“But if not, I would have told you; because I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” O blessed thought, to abide with Jesus forever! “And whither I go, ye know the way.” He is now introducing a beautiful and glorious truth, which solves the problem, over which they were so much troubled, as to His departure and the possibility of following Him. “Thomas says to Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how do we know the way?” Thomas was the chronic doubter, always taking the dark side of every picture; slow, but sure; the very opposite of Peter. Both of them, however, were all right after the fires of Pentecost consumed the doubts of the one and the cowardice of the other.
“Jesus says to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” O what a comprehensive affirmation! If you want to know the way to heaven, just take Jesus for your Paragon. He had no sin, and He says that we shall be like Him. Therefore get Him to take all your sin away, so you can live and die like Him, and you are all right. You want the truth, and can not be saved without it. You have nothing to do but to take Jesus Himself, the blessed Bible being your constant companion. Do not trouble yourself with creeds, nor human dogmatism of any kind, looking to mortal guides. You are going to an immortal heaven. None but the Immortal Jesus can lead you. You want life eternal. Jesus Himself is that Life. If you have Him in your heart, you already have the Life which can never die.
“No one cometh to the Father but through Me. If you have known Me, you shall know My Father also; and henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. Philip says to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”
St. Paul’s Church in London, occupying a whole square, is the largest in the Protestant world. When Dr. Fisk was preaching in it, endeavoring to tell his audience about their Heavenly Father, his eye, dropping on a superscription in large letters in the rear of the orchestra, read these words:
“Christopher Wren, architect, of this city and church, who lived more than ninety years, not for himself, but for the public. Reader, would you see his monument? Look around.” Then, proceeding, he said to his audience:
“Would you see the monument of your Heavenly Father? Just look around upon the glittering stars, the blazing sun, the queenly moon, moving amid the dazzling constellations; the verdant earth, with her majestic mountains, mighty oceans, and thundering seas, — and you see His monument.”
“Jesus says to him, Am I with you so long a time, Philip, and you do not know Me? The one having seen Me, has seen the Father; how do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words which I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself; but the Father abiding in Me doeth His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; and if not, believe Me on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that believeth in Me, the works which I do, he shall do also; and greater works than these; because I go to My Father. And whatsoever you may ask in My name, this I will do, in order that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you may ask anything in My name, I will do it.” This prophecy was signally verified during the great Pentecostal revivals, when three thousand were converted in a day, and eight thousand within three days; when all Jerusalem was moved as never during the ministry of Jesus. Signal verifications of this prophecy mark the roll of ages down to the present day. Francis Xavier reports ten thousand converted in a day under his own ministry. Great multitudes pursued Jesus in His peregrinations, actuated by a diversity of motives — e. g., curiosity, criticism, and the loaves and fishes; while a few actually yielded to His interior spirit, gladly forsaking all for Him. You remember how that wonderful sermon, going down to the deep things of God, expounding bottom-rock sanctification, which He preached in the synagogue in Capernaum about the close of His second year, alienated a great host of His disciples, so that it seemed that He would almost be left alone?
“If you love Me with Divine love, keep My commandments.” This is the grand confirmation of discipleship — interior love, imparted in regeneration and perfected in sanctification, with a life of exemplary obedience to all of His commandments, constitute the sine qua non of New Testament Christianity.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” Parakletos, “Comforter,” is from para, “by your side,” and kaleo, “to call.” Hence it means one called by your side. O how blessed the reality to have the Omnipotent Comforter called down from heaven to walk by your side whithersoever you go! “The Spirit of truth,” because He is the Revelator of all truth, and as He alone understands it; consequently the Exponent of all truth. “Whom the world is not able to receive.” Consequently you must get out of the world before you can receive the Holy Comforter. Hence you see that the Zinzendorfian heresy, teaching that we get sanctified — i. e., receive the Holy Ghost as an indwelling Comforter — in conversion, flatly contradicts the Savior, who says the world can not receive Him. Ekklesia, “Church,” means “the called out;” i. e., those who have heard the call of the Holy Ghost and come out of the world, identifying themselves with God, constitute the Church. Hence the Comforter is given to the Church, and not to the world; i. e., sanctification is for Christians, and not for sinners. “Because it does not see Him, nor know Him.” Here you see that Jesus certifies that the unregenerate are utterly blind to the very existence of the Holy Ghost. “You know Him, because He abideth with you, and shall be in you.” Here you see plainly specified the difference between the regenerated and the sanctified, the Holy Ghost abiding with the former as an Illuminator, Teacher, Guide, and Protector; while in the case of the sanctified, He is actually dwelling in them, having taken up His abode in the heart, there to abide a blessed, Heavenly Guest, filling the soul with perennial sunshine, your life with constant victory, and your mind with glorious anticipations of the heavenly triumph the moment your work for Jesus is done. You see these facts illustrated in the case of the apostles, the Holy Ghost being with them from their conversion; but moving in and filling them in their Pentecostal experience, forever afterward dwelling in them, qualifying them all to enjoy a perpetual victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, and go up to heaven wearing a martyr’s crown.
“I will not leave you orphans: I come to you. Yet a little while, the world sees Me no more; but you see Me: because I live, you shall live also.” He returned to them after His resurrection, putting an end to their bereavement; also, in the person of the Holy Ghost, coming on the day of Pentecost to abide with them. “In that day you shall know that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” In the day of their Pentecostal experience the blessed witness of the Spirit revealed to them the Father and the Son, inundating them with the full assurance of their personal salvation.
“The one having My commandments, and keeping them, he is the one loving Me with Divine love; he that loveth Me with Divine love shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and manifest Myself to him.” You see, the great problem of salvation is solved in the Divine agape, which the Holy Ghost alone can pour into your heart, and which is made perfect in the full sanctification, eliminating all antagonism, and giving it the undisputed dominion of soul, mind, and body.
“Judas, not Iscariot, says to Him, Lord, what was it that You are about to manifest Yourself unto us, and not unto the world?” You will find in the apostolical catalogue by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, an apostle by the name of Judas, who was also called Lebbeus and Thaddeus. This apostle is the author of the Epistle of Jude, his name being changed from Judas to Jude in order to clearly distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. You observe, also, that the brothers of our Lord were James, Judas, Simon, and Joses. It is claimed that James and Judas became apostles about the time of our Lord’s resurrection.
“Jesus responded, and said to him, If any one loves Me with Divine love, he will keep My words; and the Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.” Our Savior gives a very plain specification here — the person loving Him with Divine love will keep His commandments, and the Father and the Son will make their abode with him, the Holy Spirit revealing to him the blessed, loving Father and the precious, Omnipotent Savior, the permanent, abiding Guests of his home, however humble it may be. With this description before you, you can not fail to identify the disciple of our Lord wherever you may see him.
“And he that loveth Me, keepeth My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but that of the Father who sent Me.” The specifications here are plain and unmistakable. Human love has no place in it. It is the holy agape, the very essence of God (1 John 4), which nothing but the Holy Ghost can impart, and which invariably verifies itself by a life of holy obedience.
“I have spoken these things unto you, abiding with you; but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things which I spoke to you.” O how infinitely precious the illumination of the indwelling Comforter, lighting up the intellect, quickening the apprehension, vivifying the diagnosis, invigorating the memory, pouring light on the blessed words of Jesus, and sending heavenly irradiations to interpenetrate every fiber of mind, soul, and spirit, thus making the precious words of Jesus a perpetual banquet to the appreciative heart!
“My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is an affectionate adieu He bids them, as the mob is already astir and everything in commotion, getting ready to come and lay violent hands on Him, to take His life.
“You heard that I said to you, I go, and I come to you. If you love Me, you would rejoice because I go to the Father; because the Father is greater than I.” Love always rejoices in the Divine administration, being in perfect harmony with it. You have frequently seen the identity of the Father and the Son certified, as even in this chapter. Then, how is the Father greater than the Son if they are identical, and of course equal? He is greater in position, being in heaven at that time, and the Son down on the earth, His enemies gritting their teeth with rage and thirsting for His blood.
“Now I have told you before it takes place, in order that when it may occur, you may believe.” Of course. His prophecy in reference to the treason of Judas, the denial of Peter, His own arrest, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, would prove to them an overwhelming confirmation of His Divinity after they had seen it all fulfilled, and thus become a mighty inspiration to their faith.
“I will no longer speak many things with you; for the ruler of this world cometh, and He hath nothing in Me.” That is a positive proof of our Lord’s perfectly pure humanity, as Satan really had nothing in Him. This is the standard of New Testament Christianity which all who go to heaven must reach, as Jesus says that we are to be like Him. There is but one way for us to be like Him, and that is for us to consecrate ourselves fully to Jesus, and trust Him to take everything out of us which Satan ever puts in us; and in what case we will be like Him. You also here see that Jesus pronounces Satan the “ruler of this world.” O how we see the Satanic administration in all the affairs of this world, even in the State, and so largely in the Church, multitudes of people in all countries actually worshipping Satan, believing him to be God!
“But in order that the world may know that I love the Father with Divine love, and as the Father sent Me, so do I.” The Father had sent Him into the world to redeem it by His vicarious death. O the depths of the Father’s love! “Arise, let us go hence.” Thus far our Lord has been sitting at the table, the supper having. taken place and the Eucharist having been administered. He is going away into Gethsemane, over the brook Kidron, on the slope of Mount Olivet. Now they rise up; but His heart is so flooded with these tremendous truths, and this is His last opportunity to speak to His disciples before He passes through the dark valley of death, consequently He proceeds, speaking on through Chapters fourteen and fifteen.
“I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me not bearing fruit, He taketh it away; and every one bearing fruit, He cleanseth it, in order that it may bear more fruit.” This is very plain. God takes away all backsliders — i.e., non-fruit-bearing branches — lest they encumber the Vine; meanwhile He sanctifies the regenerated — i.e., the fruit-bearing branches — in order that they may bear more fruit.
“Now, you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” This is in the present tense, denoting an existing fact, setting forth the Word as the constituted medium of spiritual purity. While the Holy Ghost is the efficient cause of sanctification, the blood is the Divine elixir, the Word the medium, and faith the condition. While this states a general truth, universally applicable, the apostles at that tithe being clean so far as the pollutions of actual transgression were concerned; yet, as the Word abundantly reveals, they needed a deeper purgation, which they received at Pentecost.
“As the branch is not able to bear fruit of itself unless it may abide in the vine, so you are not unless you abide in Me.” John Wesley says: “It is impossible for us to lay up a stock of holiness, as we really have no holiness except as we abide in Christ.” The moment we are separated from Him, our holiness evanesces, and we have nothing left but unholiness.
“I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” The Church of God is the body of Christ; i.e., all the people in the world who are really in Christ by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost. Hence the idea that religious denominations are branches of the Church of Christ is incorrect, that Church being an indivisible unit, including all the children of God; as you see here the Church is the vine, and the individual members the branches. “He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; because without Me you are not able to do anything.” Millions of Church members, who are in the world and not in Christ, vainly think they are working for God, when the devil in hell is chuckling over it, knowing that they are working for him, and actually worshipping him, believing him to be God, and delighted with him, because he puts his full approval on their sinning religion.
“If any one may not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather it, and east it into the fire, and it is burned.” The demons from the bottomless pit throng the atmosphere, gathering up the dry, withered branches, which the pruning-knife of the Holy Ghost has amputated from the Vine, and casting them into the lake of fire, where they are burned.
“If you may abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever you may wish , and it shall be done unto you.” Unutterably blessed promise! O how wonderfully consolatory! The soul abiding in Christ and Christ in him has nothing to do but ask everything he wants, and it is granted. The carnally-minded can not understand this, as they would ask for a thousand things detrimental to their spiritual good and heavenly hope. The soul blessed with this mutual abiding, desires nothing but God’s will as revealed by His Word, Spirit, and providence. This soul, lost in God’s will and blessed with the mutual abiding, actually does ask and receive constantly in the full realization of this precious promise.
“In this My Father is glorified, that you may bear much fruit, and shall be My disciples.” This blessed, spiritual fruit is the grand end for which God sent us into this world. Therefore He is more anxious to answer our prayers, and load us with the luscious grapes, like the vines of Eshcol, than we are to receive. Rest assured, He is neither poor nor stingy.
“As the Father loved Me, I indeed loved you; abide ye in My love.” This is the Divine agape all the time, here so copiously emphasized, the fruit of the Spirit, the essence and quintessence of the Christian religion, simple and plain. You seek, with radical repentance, confession, and faith, till the Holy Ghost pours into your heart the heavenly agape, and then go on till He makes that same love perfect by the complete purification of your heart from original sin.
“If you may keep My commandments, abide in My love; as I have kept the commandments of My Father, and I abide in His love.” Our Lord, as you see, makes no provision for sin. When you get this holy love, you can only abide in it by faithfully keeping His commandments, as otherwise you sever your connection with Christ, and forfeit this Divine love. You receive first- love in regeneration, which must abide till swallowed up by perfect love in sanctification, otherwise you become a backslider.
“I have spoken these things unto you, in order that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.” Here we see that we are to have our Savior’s joy. N. B — He never had the joy of pardon, because He never had any sins to be pardoned; but He always had the joy of purity, from the simple fact that He was always pure. Hence, you see, you must be sanctified wholly in order to receive the Savior’s joy.
“This is My commandment, That you may love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no one than that he may lay down his life for his friends.” You see here that our Lord lays a climacteric emphasis on the Divine agape, which is indigenous in Him and exotic in us, poured out into our hearts by the Holy Ghost. (Rom 5:5.) You see the Lord hangs the issues of time and eternity, heaven and hell, on “love.” Wholesale delusions sweep over the Churches like withering siroccos, Satan especially, through carnal preachers, manipulating the people into the dreamy hallucination that this is carnal human love, such as the natural man exercises toward his wife, children, comrades, and friends. The word our Savior uses constantly is not native in the fallen human heart, but in God, and can only be received when imparted by the Holy Spirit. Churches are filled up with members on a profession that they love the Lord and the brethren, which is true; but it is only carnal love, and no salvation in it. How can I know that I have the genuine Divine agape, on which the Savior here lays such tremendous emphasis? That problem is easily solved. If you have the same love which actuated Jesus to come down and die for a guilty world, who are not only aliens, but implacable enemies who conspired against Him and took His life, then you will love your enemies sufficiently to die for them. The human philia will love your friends, but allow you to hate your enemies; while the Divine agape loves friends and enemies indiscriminately.
However, in the latter case the love assumes the form of pity and sympathy, while in the former it assumes that of admiration and appreciation.
“You are My friends, if you may do whatsoever I command you.” Hence you see from this affirmation that the people who claim to love Jesus and commit sin are all liars. If they really loved Him, they would die rather than commit a known and willing sin, which you know to be the very opposite of obedience.
“I no longer call you servants, because the servant does not know what his lord doeth; I have called you friends, because I made known to you all things which I heard with My Father.” The Bible is a most wonderful book, revealing the deep things of God and the heavenly state. The very fact that it is appreciated, loved, and enjoyed by so few people, is demonstrative proof that the multitudes of this world are not traveling to heaven, as in that case they would be searching diligently day and night to ascertain the character of God in heaven,
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” This is a beautiful affirmation of the prevenient grace, administered by the Holy Spirit to God’s elect, calling and wooing them before they have even thought about seeking the Lord. While the election is mutual, yet grace leads the way, making the first overtures, which we have only to reciprocate in order to make our calling and election sure. “And have put you forth, in order that you may go and bear fruit, and your fruit may abide; in order that whatsoever you may ask the Father in My name, He may give unto you.” This is one of the passages on which. Church ordination is founded, as E. V. translates etheka humas, “I have... ordained you,” which is a simple effort off the part of the translators to defend Church authority, etheka having no such a meaning as ordain.
You will find the same fact true in every case where the E. V. uses the word ordain, there being no such an institution as ecclesiastical ordination in the New Testament. The only example we have is the case of the Church at Antioch, gathering around Paul and Barnabas, praying, laying hands on them, and invoking the enduement of the Holy Ghost to qualify them for the arduous and perilous evangelistic tour they were about to enter upon. This is all right, and cannot be too highly appreciated, there being no New Testament authority for the pompous, papistical, prelatical, and clerical ordination, which was foisted upon the Church during the Dark Ages, and around which a world of superstition has accumulated, and out of which have developed terrible tyranny, autocracy, ostracism, and persecution. The Lord’s people should certainly follow the example of the Antiochian saints in the consecration of brothers and sisters who feel called by the Holy Ghost to preach the living Word.
“I command these things to you, in order that you may love one another with Divine love.” This memorable farewell sermon of our Savior emphasizes, echoes, and reverberates this superlative commandment, that we shall all exercise the very love toward one another which brought Him down from heaven to die for a guilty world.
“If the world hate you, know that it first hated Me.” The love of the world has proved Satan’s chief battering-ram, demolishing the walls of Zion in all ages.
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out from the world, on this account the world hates you.” The world hated Jesus enough to kill Him, and in a similar manner hates all of His elect. So beware of the friendship of the world, lest it prove Satan’s trap-door, dropping you into hell.
“Remember the word which I spoke to you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept My word, they will also keep yours.” You here see the counterfeit of all popular religion, which goes with the world; as in the case of the true there never can be any harmony, but eternal antagonism, similar to that between Jesus and Satan, who is the god of this world. (2Co 4:4.)
“But they will do all of these things to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One sending Me.” Our Lord is here forewarning His disciples of the implacable hostility, persecution, and martyrdom which will most assuredly characterize all of their contact with the world.
“If I did not come and speak to them, they had not sinned; but now they have no apology for their sin.” Responsibility is tremendously augmented by opportunity. Infinitely better for people never to hear the gospel, and take chances for God’s uncovenanted mercies, than to hear it and reject it.
“He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also.” Those preachers and Church officers who killed Him, were so deluded by Satan as to believe that they loved God, when they hated Jesus with the very venom of the bottomless pit, thus demonstrating their implacable hatred to God. And yet they stood at the head of the Church, paragon illustrations of Satanic hallucination. N.B. — The same thing is going on now.
“If I had not done the works among them which no other one did, they had not had sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father.”
The holiness movement this day is piling mountains of responsibility on the professors of Christianity in all lands.
“But in order that the word having been written in their law may be fulfilled. They hated Me without a cause. When the Comforter, whom I shall send unto you from the Father may come, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, He will testify concerning Me.” The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Jesus, His great work being to reveal, magnify, and glorify the Son of God in the salvation of the world. “And you also testify, because you are with Me from the beginning.” The Lord’s true disciples, like the Holy Ghost, are always magnifying Jesus and witnessing to His glory.
“I have spoken these things unto you, that you may not be offended.” He knew the world, the flesh, and the devil would combine against His disciples, consequently He predicts the bloody ordeals that await them, thus putting them on their guard, lest they be jostled and their faith shaken.
“They will put you out of the synagogues;” i.e., turn you out of the Church, as we nowadays see so frequently in the case of the holiness people. Therefore you must fully consecrate your Church membership with everything else, and not be surprised, upset, nor in any way disturbed, if they turn you out of the Church simply because you are true to God. Jesus must be first, and everything else secondary and subordinate. When you are thus persecuted, ostracized, and excommunicated, Jesus says, “Leap for joy.” ( Luk 4:23.) “But the hour cometh when every one killing you may think that he is offering a sacrifice to God.” How signally has this prophecy of our Savior been verified! The pagan emperors in the ensuing three centuries killing a hundred millions, and the Romanists a hundred millions more. If this sounds extravagant, count in the Moslem martyrdoms, and they will make up all apprehended deficiency.
“They will do these things because they do not know the Father nor Me.” These martyrdoms, here predicted by our Lord, were all perpetrated by people claiming to be the true saints of God, thus illustrating the wonderful potency of Satanic delusion and intrigue.
“But I have spoken these things unto you, in order that when the hour may come, you may remember that I said them to you.” Prophecies are invaluable guarantees against surprise, unsettlement, and the delusions of the enemy in a general sense, who so adroitly tells the persecuted saints that their troubles are Divine castigations for their sins, showing that they are not right. The priest used to walk out to the burning stake with the martyr, holding up his Bible, begging her to recant and live, and at the same time assuring her that the flames of martyrdom are but the prelude of hell’s devouring fires, into which she will go down from the consuming flame. If we only know the blessed Word of the Lord, we are amply fortified at every point of the diabolical compass.
“I did not speak these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.” While He was with them, they suffered no persecution, because it was all concentrated on Jesus. But since her Divine Spouse, who protected her so heroically while with her, has ascended up to heaven, the widowed Church is awfully persecuted by the devil.
“Now I go to Him that sent Me, and no one of you asks Me, Whither are you going? But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” They were flooded with grief because He had told them that He was going away to leave them. “But I speak the truth to you, that it is profitable to you that I may depart.” His ascension to heaven marked a grand epoch in the development of the redemptive scheme, illustrating incontestably His Messiahship, and becoming the grand fulcrum on which the lever of justifying and sanctifying faith rests through all subsequent ages.
“For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send Him to you.” The Holy Ghost had been in the world in all ages, convicting, illuminating, regenerating, sanctifying, and edifying the people. Yet the ascension and glorious coronation of Jesus marked an epoch in the history of redemption so decisive and exceedingly prominent as to bring in a new era in the execution of the redemptive economy, and actually to superinduce the new cognomen of Comforter. He comforted Abel in his dying hour; Enoch in a three-hundred-years’ walk with God; Noah, while warning the antediluvians of the coming flood, one hundred and twenty years; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Moses, and all the prophets and Old Testament saints. Yet in their case He could only comfort them by lighting up the Messianic prophecies, pointing to the coming Savior. Now, since these prophecies have all become matter-of-fact history, O what wonderful leverage has the Holy Ghost acquired, flooding the soul with the blessed assurance that the atonement is made, the world redeemed, hell defeated, Satan cast down, God reconciled, the redemptive scheme fully accepted in heaven, Jesus, our King, enthroned at the right hand of the Heavenly Majesty, pleading for us in glory, and coming back to sweep sin and misery from the globe, imprison the prince of darkness in the bottomless pit, envelop the globe in millennial glory, populating heaven with the countless millions of the Abrahamic covenant, and finally expurgating the earth with the sanctifying fires, speaking into glorious victory the new heaven and new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness, thus restoring this fallen world to its long-vacated place in the Celestial Empire, the soldiers’ bounty of the sainted heroes, to shine and shout with unfallen angels forever! Such are the wonderful facilities of consolation, pertinent to all the children of God, that the Holy Ghost, illuminating and appropriating these tremendous realities and unutterably inspiring the human spirit, is appropriately and significantly denominated the Comforter.
“And having come, He will convict, the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.” Elenchsei, “will convict,” is a very strong word, literally meaning the arrest and prosecution of a criminal before a civil court. “Reprove,” E. V., is entirely too weak a translation of this verb, which really describes the Holy Ghost as going out, like the sheriff, arresting every criminal, and bringing him to trial. The fact revealed is really grand and glorious. When, like the Pentecostians in their ten-days’ prayer- meeting, we hold on to God with the pertinacity of unwavering faith till he pours down His Spirit on the Church in this extraordinary enduement, the result is that He goes out, arrests sinners, and brings them to trial before the tribunal of their own guilty consciences, now quickened and electrified with heavenly dynamite, thus superinducing that awful state of conviction which reveals an open hell, and the devil roaring like a lion ready to devour them without mercy, till the people fall like dead men, as on the day of Pentecost. Satan keeps the Church blinded to her wonderful availability, thus sleeping on, unconscious of her power, while the people all around are dropping into hell. You see from this statement of Jesus that the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Church, in His sanctifying power, is the normal antecedent of mighty convictions on the sinners.
“Concerning sin, indeed, because they believed no on Me.” The exegesis of this is obvious. If the sinners believed on Jesus, their sins would all be taken away. Consequently they bear their own blood and seal their own perdition, as Jesus has settled the whole matter, and they have nothing to do but abandon all sin and put their trust in Him, thus becoming the happy recipients of His free, pardoning mercy.
“And concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you see Me no more.” Dikaiosune, “righteousness,” is the regular word for justification. Now, we must remember that the ascension of Jesus to His Father is the positive and unequivocal confirmation of His Christhood, thus becoming the fulcrum on which the mighty lever of justification and sanctification must rest, while we actually pry up and tilt forever away the great mountains of sin which have accumulated on us during years of black drudgery in the devil’s kingdom. When Archimedes, the illustrious Greek philosopher, discovered the wonderful lever, the greatest mechanical power, such was his assurance of its reliable efficiency that he gave himself notoriety for the bold maxim, Dos pou sto, kai ton kosmon kineso, “Give me a place where I may stand, and I will move the world,” which is literally true of the lever power. But O how significantly real do we find it in the plan of salvation, when we take the lever of sanctifying faith and toss the world out of our own heart!
“And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” Until Jesus died on the cross, Satan browbeat every sinner, either telling him his sins were too small for God to notice them, or too great to be forgiven. Consequently, in either case, the conclusion is, “Enjoy the world while you can.” While Satan thought if he could kill Jesus his dominion over the world would be settled and fixed forever, as he would then have nothing to do but reign without a rival, yet really that bloody tragedy satisfied the violated law, expiated the guilt of a lost world, consummated the redemption from under the curse of the law, and demolished Satan’s usurped claim forever, thus superinducing that preliminary fall which exposes him to signal defeat through the rolling centuries, and will culminate in his final arrest, ejectment, and incarceration in the dark pandemonium when our Lord returns in the effulgence of His glory.
“I yet have many things to say to you; but you are not able to bear them now .” Before the full salvation baptism of Pentecost they were comparatively weak, being yet in spiritual minority. “But when He may come, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you into all truth for He will not speak of Himself, but so many things as He hears He will speak, and will proclaim to you those things which are coming.” The Holy Ghost, after His descension on the day of Pentecost continued the revelation of truth which Jesus had begun giving us Acts of the Apostles and all of the wonderful epistles, winding up with that glorious book of prophecies revealed to His servant John in the Apocalyptic visions. “He will glorify Me; because He will take from Mine, and proclaim unto you” i.e., the grand office of the Holy Ghost is to reveal to us the things of Christ, which He has done in all the subsequent New Testament Scriptures, and is still doing by illuminating, expounding, and revealing the deep things of God.
“All things, so many as the Father has, are Mine; therefore I said, He takes of Mine, and proclaims to you.” You see that the office of the Holy Ghost is to reveal the wonders of the Christhood, the stupendous latitude, longitude, and altitude of redeeming love, shining down into the deep interior of the human spirit, irradiating the mind, interpenetrating the entire spiritual being, gloriously flooding us with light from heaven, and empowering us, lost in contemplation of the Divine majesty and glory, to sink away into God, the world, with all its vanities, follies, and vices, waning into total eclipse.
“A little while, and you see Me no more; and again, a little while, and you shall see Me; because I go to the Father. Then some of His disciples were saying to one another, What is this which He says to us, A little while, and you shall see Me, and that I go to the Father? Then they said, What is this little while of which He speaks? We know not what He says. Jesus knew that they wished to ask Him, and said to them, You are seeking with one another concerning this, because I said, A little while, and you see Me not; and again, a little while, and you see Me? Truly, truly, I say unto you, That you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will mourn, but your mourning shall be turned into joy.” Though He had repeatedly predicted to them His death, resurrection, and ascension, down to this date they had no light on it, and no apprehension of it. It must be predicted, in order to the completion of the prophetical curriculum, which becomes the basis of faith for all future generations. Yet is said that is was held from them. This was really necessary to prevent a popular revolution, as the disciples and hosts of others would have fought in His defense, thus precipitating on the country a bloody revolution. You see here from His talk that He is simply alluding to His interment in the sepulcher, when they will see Him no more for a little while, followed by the resurrection, rendering Him again conspicuous to their vision.
“When a woman may bring forth, she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when the little child may be born, she remembers her suffering no more, on account of her joy because a man is born into the world.” This is a very comprehensive metaphor, not only applying to Christian experience, when the agonizing penitent sweeps gloriously into life, but its application to the history of the Church is quite extensive. Terrible was the suffering of the drowning antediluvians, out of whose death-pang was born the new, postdiluvian world. Awful was the suffering amid the plagues of Egypt, the destroying angel hewing down the first-born in every home, and Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea; yet out of these death-pangs the great nation of Israel was born. Awful was the suffering: when Jerusalem was destroyed, a million slain by sword, pestilence, and famine, and a million more sold into slavery; yet out of those death-pangs was born the Gentile Gospel Church. Awful will be the suffering when the bloody billows of Armageddon shall roll over this world, putting an end to the present age; yet out of the death-pangs of the Gentile dispensation will be born the glorious millennium. How awful when this world will be all wrapped in fire, cremating out of it not only all sin, but all the effects of sin; yet out of those purgatorial fires will be born a new heaven and a new earth!
“Therefore you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one taketh your joy from you.” The joy following the resurrection was permanent and abiding, as death had no more dominion over Him. “And in that day you will not ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I say unto you, that whatsoever you may ask the Father He will give unto you in My name. Hitherto you have asked nothing in My name; ask, and you shall receive in order that your joy may be complete.” Before Jesus ascended up to heaven, the people of God did not ask in His name, because they were not certain that He was the Christ. Of course, in all bygone ages they offered their petitions in the name of the Redeemer God had promised to send into the world. But now, since they knew that this Jesus is the Christ, they all ask in His name specifically and personally.
“I have spoken these things to you in parables. But the hour cometh when I will no longer speak to you in parables, but openly will I proclaim to you concerning the Father.” The Old Testament is symbolic; the gospel of our Savior parabolic, by way of accommodation to our finite capacities, as the plan of salvation was not yet ostensibly perfected and the history of redemption complete. You see no parables in Acts, Epistles, and Revelation, but straight truth, enunciated categorically.
“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father concerning you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” While, of course, Jesus intercedes for us, as He here says, the Father will answer and bless us, because of His own love for us, as well as that of Christ.
“I came forth from the Father, and I have come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. His disciples say, Behold, now Thou art talking openly, and speaking no parable. Now we know that Thou knowest all things, and that Thou hast no need that any one may ask Thee; in this we believe that Thou hast, come forth from God. Jesus responded to them, Do you now believe? Behold, the hour has come when you may be scattered abroad, each one into his own place, and leave Me alone; and I am not alone, because My Father is with Me.” N.B. — They are yet in that upper chamber on Mount Zion, where they ate the Passover meal and celebrated the Eucharist. In a few minutes they go away to Gethsemane, where they all take fright, escape for their lives, and leave Him alone, literally fulfilling His prophecy here enunciated.
“I have spoken these things to you, in order that you may have peace.” The prophecies including all the perils which awaited them, of course, in due time illustrated the verity of all these wonderful, consecutive events, enabling them intelligently to apprehend and acquiesce joyfully, seeing that everything is in its place. Consequently faith has the victory. “In the world you have, tribulation but take courage; I have conquered the world.” This winds up our Savior’s valedictory sermon, following the Last Supper, the very night of His betrayal.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Good Works
Joh 15:2
Good Works
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I. All that Christ did on the earth and said and suffered, and all that He now is in heaven, and all that He says in heaven, and all for which He has appointed and instituted His Church, is to establish and manifest truth. Truth is communicated to us that it may beget faith, and faith is given to us that we may find peace; and we have peace that we may enjoy the sweetness of communion with God; and we have sweetness of communion with God that we may take root and grow in the fruit of holiness. The very next thing to the glory of God, and only second to it, is holiness, because holiness is God’s image.
II. What is fruit? Let us analyse it. We were all once poor, helpless, lifeless, dead branches. We could not raise ourselves up. God took us off the vine and joined us to Jesus Christ. The fruit depends upon the depth of the graft. If you are a graft indeed, then a spirit, a sure influence, and an empowering, vigorating, propagating principle has flown, and is always flowing, from the Father through the Son into your heart, just as the sap from the root through the stem into the little branches. If that secret process is going on, fruit is always being formed upon you. The sap must run when the spring-time comes; grace must flow in its season, and when the sap runs, it must deposit itself and the deposit must become fruit, and so grace must turn itself into good works.
III. God will have, and God must have, faithfulness in life, personal holiness, and that holiness going forth to extend itself in the world. No, God will look on nothing where He does not see, what He saw in Eden, His own reflection. Hence, in all this present life, you have not yet the clue to read life’s mysteries if you are not looking upon life as the probation and the discipline and the school for another state. It is God deepening the features of the resemblance of His children to Himself. And when in another world we shall look back on all the sufferings of this lower state, and learn to connect the great preparative process that has been carried on here, with that higher being where the real fruits of glory shall be always shedding themselves over the fields of immensity; we shall understand better than we can read it here what our Lord means in the words of this text.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 211.
I. The main and direct application of such is of course to individual Christians, to whom indeed it was spoken. The branch bears fruit by virtue of the healthy and generous sap which flows into it from the vine. Without union with the vine it were not a living branch at all; without this fertilising sap flowing, and flowing rightly, in proper measure through it, it could bring forth no fruit. But, as in the operations of husbandry, the sap requires directing, the branch must be trained and pruned, and stopped from rambling out into unfruitful exuberance. So it is with God’s spiritual husbandry likewise. The fruit-bearing branches of Christ are liable to become exuberant and unprofitable—to cover a vast space without a correspondent yield for the Master’s use. All afflictions of believers are but the knife of the great Husbandman, the purging that they may bring forth more fruit.
II. The same parable which describes individuals, describes nations. If Christian believers are the smaller twigs of the great vine, each in Christ and Christ in them, the greater limbs of the vine may figure forth to us Christian nations, including families, as they include individuals, but existing and bearing fruit by the same power and under the same conditions. And the heavenly Husbandman purifies us that we may bring forth more fruit. Let us then be watchful; not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is; not surprised nor cast down because we receive evil at His hand as well as good, but examining our fruit, and enquiring what the heavenly Husbandman expects of us, and sparing neither ourselves nor our substance—but diligent in seeking His grace, that we may show ourselves mindful of His great mercies, and fulfil the end of His chastisement.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii., p. 247.
References: Joh 15:2.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 774; J. Armstrong, Parochial Sermons, p. 293; Archbishop Maclagan, Church of England Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 41.
Joh 15:4
I. If there is any lesson which experience forces on the heart, which lays a deeper hold on the soul, as the soul gets a better knowledge of itself, which sinks into us in proportion to our endeavour to rise above ourselves, it is that the source of all spiritual life and health is in the thought of God, and that without that thought we cannot really live. We look back at last and feel that cur progress is really nothing, that we have to do all over again, that we have not yet even begun, that what we fancied was generosity was but high spirits and good humour, that what we thought was unselfishness was but the surrender of what we did not greatly value, that what we thought was our sweetness and kindness was but a love of popularity, that we have only been successful when we have never really been tried. And we come back at last to the love of God as the one thing that can keep the soul alive, the one thing that saves us from falling back into utter hardness, the one power that still renews us when our own strength fails, that love of God which we read in the Cross of Christ.
II. If God’s patience be infinite, so is His forgiveness absolute. There is no question of great or of little sins when we clasp the Cross. It is this fulness of patience, this fulness of forgiveness, which brings the Christian back to the Cross of Christ at last, as the one spring and source of all Christian life. All else is proved to be, however useful, yet still insufficient; all else, whatever good it may do, yet seems somehow to fall short of that one thing that the soul cannot spare, the smile on the face of God. Somehow, when we fail elsewhere, we seem to know that it was natural that we should fail. We are not much surprised, however much we may be pained, by finding that our own strength of will has proved too weak, or by finding that long maintained habits have given way to the presence of new temptation, or by seeing that clearer knowledge by no means implies greater purity or more spiritual life. But when we come to the Cross of Christ, to the love which stands unparalleled by anything else that we know, we feel that it cannot fail, for the fountain is supplied by the inexhaustible waters of heaven itself.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, 2nd series, p. 146.
Union with God
The root of all true spiritual life must be in God Himself. Isolated, independent life in each individual man is conceivable in thought, but revelation and experience concur in teaching us that it is never found, and in fact cannot exist. There is but one real source of good. And if there be any good in us, it must have come and must continue to come from that source. In being united to God through Christ consists, according to the revelation of the New Testament, the true life of man.
I. If we leave out of our lives all that is wrong in them, and think only of what is unreproved by our conscience, we see in the first place that a large proportion of all that we do is in a sense mechanical, and has no conscious principle or purpose. If this part of a man’s life is on the whole good, and such as becomes a true man and a servant of God, it would be absurd to say that this was not a great blessing to himself and to those with whom he lives. But, on the other hand, this taken by itself does not imply true spiritual life. It may probably be the result of careful discipline and of nothing more.
II. If we rise a step higher, we find a good deal of what our consciences would not only not censure, but positively approve, due to good impulses and instincts. Though good gifts in themselves these do not constitute the Christian character. This is proved by the fact that very often these gifts are found in men who are not living or trying to live good lives. We cannot call these impulses, however useful, however attractive, however beautiful—spiritual life.
III. We rise one step higher, and we come to what must be called the life, not of impulse, but of principle. I do not think there can be any doubt that the conscientious life, even if it be nothing more, is, as far as it is conscientious, true spiritual life. But yet it is not the highest. I do not say that men are never branches of the True Vine without being themselves aware of it. But far, far more blessed are those who not only derive from God the true strength of their life, but who know from whom that strength comes. How much fuller is his blessing, how much greater his strength, who not only is upheld by God’s Almighty hand, but knows the hand which upholds him and knows that it can never fail.
Bishop Temple, Rugby Sermons, 3rd series, p. 244.
References: Joh 15:4.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 318; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 69; A. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 190. Joh 15:4, Joh 15:5.—Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv., p. 65; E. M. Goulburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion, p. 19; G. Salmon, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 133.
Joh 15:5
Jesus, the Source of Spiritual Blessing to men
I. When men speak, as they do now, so much of Jesus Christ as only one amongst the many great teachers and benefactors of our race, does it not occur to them as strange and unaccountable that He alone—He alone of all those whose names have come down to us with this honour attached to them—should, in the midst of this advanced and enlightened age, possess a living power and a devoted and loving following. The writings of many of the great thinkers of antiquity are still in our hands. We value them for what we think they are worth. But, I ask, over whom do they rule? By whom are their authors reverenced and worshipped? We may delight our intellects with the hard, keen reasoning of an Aristotle, or delight our souls with the sublime conceptions and dulcet words of a Plato; but what man in his senses would now profess himself an Aristotelian or a Platonist? Their power has long since passed away; their sceptre is broken; and to most men, even in civilised countries, they are nothing but a name. But Jesus Christ is still in the midst of us as a living power. Men believe in Him, receive His teachings, confide their highest interests into His hands, love Him with an all-mastering love, and if need be, are ready to sacrifice even life itself for His sake. And if we have yet to expect a further development of thought which is to supersede Christianity, why has it been so long in coming? Centuries have passed, and yet no sign of its approach is to be seen. Is not the world’s last hope in Christ? Is not our last alternative this: Jesus Christ for all, or a dark, dreary, and hopeless nothing.
II. The moral judgments and the spiritual wants of men are the same now as they were when Christianity was first preached, as they have ever been during the whole period that Christian truth has been the object of thought. Why should men wish to change what has already been found to meet the end it was designed to reach in satisfying the intellectual, the moral, and the spiritual wants of men? Let search be made by men into their spiritual necessities, let them survey and catalogue their spiritual wants, let them gather into one sum all their needs and all their longings as moral, accountable, and immortal beings, and then let them come unto Jesus Christ and see whether He is not ready and sufficient to do for them all they need. He alone who came forth from the bosom of the Father can reveal God to men.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Penny Pulpit, No. 699, new series.
References: Joh 15:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 345; vol. xxvii., No. 1625; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 348; Church of England Pulpit, vol. v., p. 201; Homilist, vol. vi., p. 145; Ibid., 3rd series, vol. x., p. 277; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 267; vol. xv., p. 101; R. Tuck, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 213; H. W. Beecher, Plymouth Pulpit, 5th series, p. 293; W. Page Roberts, Liberalism in Religion, p. 137. Joh 15:5-8.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., pp. 85, 224. Joh 15:7.—A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, pp. 156, 164; J. Keble, Sermons from Ascension Day to Trinity, p. 474. Joh 15:7-11.—W. Roberts, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 237.
Joh 15:8
Note:—
I. The relation between doctrine and practice. Our text sets this before us shortly, but most admirably. We have in it Christian precept springing out of Christian doctrine. "Herein is My Father glorified, if ye are influenced and dwelt in henceforth by the Holy Spirit, the life-giving sap of that vine; if ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples"—the disciples of the Son of God, who came to suffer for us, that we might live before God, and to teach us, that we might obey God. Christian practice then springs out of Christian doctrine, but by no means as a matter of course. Those who preach only doctrine are not justified in taking for granted that correct Christian practice will spring out of doctrinal teaching, however correct. As, on the one hand, we have no right to infer that a man who lives correctly and purely will be right in doctrine, so, on the other hand, we have no right to infer that he who believes strictly and exactly the true doctrines of the faith will be right in practice.
II. Note some of the principal points connected with Christian practice. (1) The first is reality. We are not called upon to make a show in the Church, or to make a show in the world; but we are called upon to be godly men, walking in the sight of God, and the sunshine of an enlightened conscience; and this we cannot be unless our religion is real. (2) Note the paramount importance of Christian love. That there is in the present day a great want of this grace, I surely need not remind you. The Christian Church is broken up into parties, and those parties distinguished from one another in many cases by so very thin a line of either belief or practice, that it would be exceedingly difficult for even their leaders on meeting together to define to one another what it is that keeps them apart. It is impossible to differ from a man conscientiously, in a Christian point of view, otherwise than in a spirit of love, unless you have banished from your minds all those asperities and prejudices which will constantly come in to interfere with conscientious holding of opinion when that love does not exist. (3) Hold fast reality and simplicity in Christ. Freedom in action to God consists in having the loins girt about with truth. Be not afraid of being that which you seem, and seem to be that which you are conscious of being.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. vii., p. 325.
The great teaching of these words is this: Man’s greatest power for glorifying God is a life of Christ-like action.
I. The inward life in union with Christ must show itself outwardly in Christ-like action. (1) All profound emotions must display themselves in action. (2) The inner Christian life has a power to overcome the hindrances to its manifestation.
II. That life of Christ-like action is man’s greatest power of glorifying God. We may trace this in two ways: (1) A Christ-like life is the strongest manifestation of God to the world. (2) A Christ-like life is the greatest human influence to bring men near God.
E. L. Hull, Sermons, vol. i., p. 58.
References: Joh 15:8.—H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxix., p. 355. Joh 15:9.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 78; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 259. Joh 15:9, Joh 15:10.—J. Lockhart, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 88. Joh 15:10-16.—R. Thomas, Ibid., vol. iii., p. 357.
Joh 15:11
I. It is written "Rejoice in the Lord." And what is joy in the Lord? Is it merely the joy of the child, a flash of meteoric light, without permanence, without a fixed source within, or an abiding effect without? No, indeed. Joy in the Lord has for its ground, knowledge of the Lord. In order to rejoice in the Lord, you must know the Lord not as you know a mere fact, but as you know a dear friend, a loving father, One who is the source of your life, the fountain of your good, the hope of your soul, the desire of your heart. Men are always tempted to rejoice, not in Him, but in themselves and the world; in their strength, their comforts, their advantages. But He shakes our security in these things, that we may live nearer to Him; that we may learn when and where only is the joy that remains; not written in the sand and washed out by every tide, but graven on the everlasting rock; and that by personal experience we may each one rejoice in Him alone—in Him whatever betide—in Him for ever and ever.
II. And these things He does with us, that our joy may be full. If He had left us to ourselves, we should be filling the cup with strange ingredients, which we mistake for joy. We should rise in our national exclusiveness, our earthly pride, our carnal security, and thus when the cup of joy seemed to be full, and we lifted it to our lips to drink, it would be part joy and part bitterness; but now He casts out the bitterness, and though in His own way and not in ours, He is filling the cup with true unmixed joy—joy which will abide with us and refresh us and stand every trial—joy which will be joy on the bed of sickness and in the prospect of death—yea, and when death is past, in His heavenly kingdom.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii., p. 280.
The fellowship of Christ’s joy the source of true blessedness
I. What was the blessedness of Christ? As the first step in this inquiry we must ascertain how far His blessedness is to be understood by man. We begin, therefore, by laying down the truth: (1) That the blessedness of the Infinite God is essentially incomprehensible. We can only conceive blessedness as increasing; therefore we must think of Him as more blessed as the ages roll on, and because those two thoughts can never be reconciled, the blessedness of God is for ever incomprehensible. But in God revealed in Christ the mystery is yet deeper. Whether Jesus, during the years of His humanity, did enter into the unchanging bliss of the Father we cannot tell. (2) Regarding Christ purely from the human side of His being, we observe that His blessedness as the God-man must be in some measure comprehensible. We see how His joy rose through all His sorrow. He tells us it came by keeping His Father’s commandments and abiding in His love. We have the two elements combined to form it—the giving up of Himself to work the will of God, and the consciousness that the Infinite Love was resting on Him through it all. (3) But can that joy be communicated? To enter into Christ’s joy we must become Christ-like. Ours must be that utter surrender of self in doing and bearing God’s will, and then will the sense of infinite love dawn upon us, and we shall know something of the lofty gladness which filled the Saviour’s heart while he was moving to the garden and the Cross.
II. The fellowship of Christ’s blessedness is the only source of perfect joy. Perfect joy has two conditions which all men practically recognise. In its source it must be self-surrender to the highest love, and in its action it must be independent of outward changes. The longing to attain a state of life superior to the accidents of time and change shows this. The wisest men have spoken of following the right in the face of all consequences, as the source of the highest and purest joy of man. The fellowship of Christ’s joy gives this. It is a joy undisturbed by sorrows; it may seem to be weakened, but it is in reality strengthened by suffering. And even death itself, which damps out the joy of all other men, consummates the blessedness of those who, through fellowship of life, are partakers of the joy of Christ.
E. L. Hull, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 46.
References: Joh 15:11.—H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii., p. 280; Homilist, 4th series, vol. i., p. 321; R. Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 357; A. Mackennal, Ibid., vol. viii., p. 235; J. T. Stannard, Ibid., vol. xiv., p. 168; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 131; vol. xi., p. 270; W. G. Blaikie, Glimpses of the Inner Life of our Lord, p. 202. Joh 15:12.—Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iv., p. 687. Joh 15:12, Joh 15:13.—G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Marlborough College, p. 502. Joh 15:12-16.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 278. Joh 15:12-17.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 269.
Joh 15:13
The Death of Christ, our only Stay. If the thoughts of sin, death, and judgment be so terrible, as in truth they are to every soul of man, on what shall we stay ourselves when our time is at hand?
I. First, upon the love of God, in giving His Son to die for us. This is our first foundation, that God loves the world; that He looks upon the works of His hands with an eternal and stedfast love, with a tender, yearning compassion. Whatever is doubtful, this is sure. Light does not pour forth from the sun with a fuller and directer ray, than does perfect and eternal love overflow from the bosom of God upon all the works that He has made. God’s creative love alone would be enough to still our fears, and to show us that, if any perish, it is not because He is austere, but because they are evil. The whole will and Kingdom of God is love; and to Him, in that Kingdom, we may come with boldness of hope and trust.
II. We have, as a second foundation on which to build our trust, the love of the Son in giving Himself for us. Being in the form of God, He emptied Himself of His glory. His Godhead He could not lay aside for us; but He took to Himself something—the dearest and most precious to the soul of man—He took our nature, and therein a life, the most loved and priceless of all the gifts of God. There is nothing to be compared with life. We cherish it as our very self; it is the centre of every care; the end of all our labours. Such He took unto Himself, and thereby He possessed Himself of something He might give for us.
III. In Christ’s death were united the oblation of a Divine person, and the sanctity of a sinless man; the perfection of a holy will, and the fulfilment of a spotless life; the willing sacrifice of the sinless for the sinful, of the shepherd for the sheep that was lost, of life for the dead. How this wrought atonement for the sin of the world, we cannot say further than is revealed. How the guiltless could take the place of the guilty—how the penalty, due to our sin, could be laid on any but ourselves, above all, on One who was sinless—must, at least in this our wayfaring on earth, be a mystery unsearchable, and a depth past finding out. In this life it is enough for us to know that He hath "tasted death for every man"; that "there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 331.
References: Joh 15:13.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1128; H. R. Haweis, Church Sermons, vol. i., p. 81.
Joh 15:13-14
Friendship with Christ
Observe:—
I. That the overtures of this friendship came first from Christ Himself, had their spring in considerations which could have originated with the Divine mind alone, whilst the proof of His own earnest desire to bring about such friendship is the very strongest that could be given. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Who are Christ’s friends? And the answer returned by our text is significant—"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." Friends, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, do not give commands at all. The relation commonly supposes something of equality, with no allowed subjection on either side, but maintained chiefly by offices of reciprocated kindness. But Christ had towards His disciples a prior relationship of Lord and Master, and therefore He is anxious to show that in receiving them into His friendship He does not thereby cancel their previous obligation to obedience and service. The friendship, then, which Christ has towards His disciples is manifestly only that of a sovereign towards certain subjects whom He admits to approach Him on some footing of condescending intimacy and confidence.
II. Assuming that we understand the nature of friendship with Christ, and in heart and purpose desire to comply with the required terms of it, let us see, in the next place, how this friendship is reciprocated by Christ, by considering some of the ways in which He shows Himself friendly to us. (1) He will be a counsellor to us in difficulties. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor." (2) He is a friend that giveth gifts; enhancing the value of His advice by supplying the means to follow it. Two things always go together in the Gospel—Repentance and Faith. These are Christ’s gifts to His chosen ones. (3) The Lord shows Himself friendly in the methods and extent of His forgiveness. His forgiveness is as full as it is free, and as free as it is full. (4) It is a part of true friendship to be with us in the hour when health and strength are failing, when body and soul are parting, when the dust is returning to the earth as it was, and the spirit is returning to God who gave it. The proofs of the power of the friendship of our Divine Master increase with the exigency of the occasion, are most comforting when all other friendships fail.
D. Moore, Penny Pulpit, No. 3141.
References: Joh 15:14.—W. Anderson, Discourses, p. 214; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1552; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 132; E. Johnson, Ibid., vol. xv., p. 357. Joh 15:14, Joh 15:15.—Ibid., vol. xxv., p. 299; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., vol. xxvi., p. 251. Joh 15:15.—E. L. Hull, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 141; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 111; vol. xv., p. 26; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., pp. 123, 376; J. Ker, Ibid., vol. xxviii., p. 220; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., p. 339; vol. xxx., p. 372; Bishop Thorold, The Yoke of Christ, p. 103; E. Paxton Hood, Dark Sayings on a Harp, p. 295; T. M. Herbert, Sketches of Sermons, p. 306. Joh 15:16.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 61; A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p. 172; W. P. Lockhart, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 136.
Joh 15:17
(with 1Pe 2:17; Heb 13:1)
I. Look at the words in which the message is delivered: "That ye love one another," that ye "love the brotherhood," that this "brotherly love continue." It is clear that in the first instance it is Christians, as such, who are spoken to and spoken of. The brotherhood is the body of Christians, then a little company, now a great multitude that no man can number. They stand out from the rest of the world. The hatred of the outside world is taken for granted, and as it were, discounted. This "world," so far as these chapters are concerned, is neither to be loved nor hated. It is to be reasoned with, to be convinced of sin, in the end to be overcome. And the great spell that is to overcome it, is the φιλαδελφία the love which binds each brother who owns the common bond of the Christian communion. I will not stay to inquire how far this "world" of scripture, this mass of hostile or indifferent outsiders, has a real and formidable existence for us in this nineteenth century of a Christianity which is pledged and destined to overcome it. As regards my present subject, I may forego this inquiry, and assume that the brotherhood is a society far more extended. "Love the brotherhood" cannot now mean less than this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." No man who has caught anything of the spirit of Christ’s teaching as a whole, and still more the spirit of Christ’s example, can doubt that to an enlightened Christian the whole world is ideally the brotherhood. Let a large part of your religion always look to the "brotherhood" in its aim. Let Christian private devotion be always fused with Christian public spirit.
II. There is a danger that our religion may be centred either on our own souls, or on the doctrines and watchwords dear to our religious friends, or on some too limited portion of the brotherhood; in fact, that the very conception of brotherhood may be so narrowed as to be degraded and almost unchristianised. We should recognise alike from the Gospel, from history, "from the signs of this most portentous time" that God meant all to be unselfish—nations, churches, classes, sexes—to work and to live and to die, not for themselves, but for each other, the strong for the weak, the rich for the poor, the educated for the ignorant.
H. M. Butler, Oxford and Cambridge Review, Nov. 1st, 1883.
References: Joh 15:17.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 80. Joh 15:17-27. Ibid., p. 165.
Joh 15:18-19
The World we have Renounced
Perhaps there is no word more commonly in our mouths than "the world," and yet hardly any to which we attach less clear and certain meaning—indeed, the sense intended by it varies according to the character of the person that uses it. Let us therefore endeavour to come at something better than mere floating notions about it. The world out of which the disciples were taken was not the Gentile world, but the disobedience of the visible Church.
I. First, it is true to distinguish between the Church and the world, as between things antagonistic and irreconcilable; for the Son of God, by His incarnation and atonement, and by the calling and mission of His Apostles, has founded and built up in the earth a visible kingdom, which has no other head but Him alone. That visible kingdom is so taken out of the world that a man must either be in it or out of it, and must, therefore, either be in the Church or in the world. In the visible kingdom of Christ are all the graces and promises of life; in the world are the powers and traditions of death. We know of no revealed salvation out of that visible kingdom; we can point to no other way to life. There is but one Saviour, one Mediator, one Sacrifice for the sin of the world, one baptism for the remission of sins, one rule of faith, one law of holiness. There can be no real fellowship or intercourse between those that are of the body of Christ, and those that are not. The only intercourse the Church has ever held with the heathen has been either such as St. Paul permitted to the Christians in Corinth, who might still maintain the relations of outward kindliness with unbelievers, or direct missions for the conversion of unbelievers. There could be no closer fellowship; for there was a moral and formal contrariety between the rules of conduct and aim on both sides, which held the Church and the world apart.
II. But farther, it is no less true to say, that the world, which in the beginning was visibly without the Church, is now invisibly within it. So long as the world was heathen, it warred against the Church, in bitter and relentless persecutions. It was when the conversion of individuals drew after it, at last, the whole civil state—when the secular powers, with all their courts, pomps, institutions, laws, judicatures, and the entire political order of the world, came into the precinct of the Church—then it was that the great tradition of human thought, passion, belief, prejudice, and custom, mingled itself with the unwritten usages of the Church. The world is now inside the fold, baptized, catechised, subdued, specious, and worshipping. This is a far more dangerous antagonist. There is but one safeguard for Christ’s servants; to be like Him, in whom the prince of this world in the hour of temptation had nothing he could make his own. Our safety is not so much where as what we are.
H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. ii., p. 239.
References: Joh 15:18-27.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 429; W. Roberts, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 318. Joh 15:18 -xvi. 15—W. Milligan, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., p. 370.
Joh 15:19
I. Note the peculiar characteristic of God’s people; they are not of the world, but are chosen out of the world. Our Lord resolves the distinction into the positive purpose of God. Our text says not only "Ye are not of the world," but explains why: "because ye are chosen out of the world." If they are not of the world, the essential and fundamental reason is because they were chosen in God’s purpose, and given to Christ in that purpose, and subsequently given to Him in fact.
II. The result: "Therefore the world hateth you." That is true as a fact—the whole history of the world proves it. The text does not say that it is because God’s people testify of the acts of the world that they are wicked, that therefore the world hates them. It says, whereas the people of God are not of the world, but chosen out of the world, on that account it is that the world hates them. A man of an unworldly spirit, such as the Lord’s people are supposed to be, it is that that condemns the world. A heavenly-minded, spiritual, holy man, granting that character to exist, and to come in its practical bearing in reference to the world, the world would hate it. Is it not obvious? What is the world’s idol? The world! The world will love its own; the worldly man idolises the world; it is his life, it is all that he cares about. Touch the world, practically condemn the world, and the whole of that man’s life, and his pleasures, and recreations, and joys, and delights are all wrapped up in that word "world." The worldly man dislikes the man of God. He feels that his whole life and character strikes a blow at that which he himself delights in, and he is conscious, moreover, of the superiority of that man, and has a deep conviction that he is right. The lesson is that we should show by practice that a man of God is not a man of the world. Seek the things of God, but not the things of time and sense. Be true to your vocation, your hopes, expectations, and prospects; for so will you glorify God, and you will have increasing meet-ness for heaven’s glory.
C. Molyneux, Penny Pulpit, Nos. 421-22.
References: Joh 15:19.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 302. Joh 15:22.—Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. vi., p. 270.
Joh 15:20
(with Mat 10:24; Luk 6:40; Joh 13:19)
I. "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord," etc. This saying is used for the purpose of preparing Christ’s followers for the world’s enmity. In this application it has a double aspect. You may not, or you may, be persecuted. If you are not, there is room for inquiry. If you are, there is ground of comfort and strength.
II. The maxim or proverb of the text is applied, further, to the mission or function of the Lord’s followers as witnesses and prophets to the world. You are now addressed, not as the Lord’s disciples and servants, but as yourselves invested with the character, and called to discharge the office, of masters and teachers. The Lord is here speaking of the duty which, as being yourselves enlightened, you owe to your fellowmen; and of the necessity of your being duly qualified and fully prepared for the performance of that duty. And the particular qualification, the special preparation, on which He insists is this, that you make sure of your own possession of the attainment or endowment, whatever it be, which you wish to be instrumental in conveying or imparting to your brother.
III. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him" (Joh 13:16). This third use or application of the maxim should be very precious to us. It binds us more closely than the other two in living and loving union of the tenderest sort with Christ. It is as one with Jesus that I must wash the feet of my brother. It must be because I am of one mind with Jesus in caring, not merely generally, for my brother’s deliverance from eternal death, and his ultimate attainment of eternal life, but in the least and lowest of the incidents that may affect his comfortable ability to realise on the one hand, his present standing, or to press on to his future hope. We must apprehend and feel the washing of the feet to be inseparably connected with the atoning death symbolised, and the self-sacrificing life foreshadowed; and as implying, in that connection, the tenderest concern about a brother’s most susceptible point, his weakest part.
R. S. Candlish, The Gospel of Forgiveness, p. 82.
References: Joh 15:22.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 194; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 215; J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, part ii., p. 385. Joh 15:25.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 89.
Joh 15:26-27
The Promise of the Spirit witnessing of Christ in the world
I. There is to be a testifying of the Spirit in the world, corresponding to our testifying to the world. His testifying is an internal subjective influence or operation in the world, to which your testifying is an external objective address. For what is the Spirit’s testifying work? What is His mode of witness-bearing? Of what sort is it? It is a work of reproof, or of conviction. "He shall reprove, or convince." What an awful issue is thus made to turn of your witness-bearing! When you speak to men about Christ, your own speech affects their present state and future prospects. They cannot go away from you, or send you away from them, without something left behind by you with them that must tell on them for weal or woe. That is a serious thought. But that is not all. In speaking to them, you ask in prayer for them that, in terms of this promise of the Lord, the Holy Spirit may apply and endorse what you say, by a work of His own in those to whom you speak.
II. Along with the powerful working of the Spirit in the world to which we testify, there is a gracious working in ourselves. The Spirit deals inwardly with those to whom we speak outwardly; so as to make our speaking tell on them. But more than that, He deals with us; with ourselves directly; so as to make our speaking to others tell for good on our own souls. His dealing is still in the line of discovery and enlightenment. In the course of our witnessing for Christ and of Christ, and in connection with our witnessing for Christ and of Christ, the Spirit enlarges our capacity of apprehending Christ, and enables us to receive more abundantly out of His abundance of grace and truth, "even grace for grace." This may be regarded as a sort of personal acknowledgment and recompense of our fidelity in witness-bearing. Like the "quality of mercy when not strained," that fidelity is twice blessed. A large increase of spiritual insight and sympathy, as regards Christ and all His fulness, is the appropriate recognition and reward of a full and faithful testifying for Christ.
R. S. Candlish, The Sonship and Brotherhood of Believers, p. 239.
The Two Witnesses to Christ
I. Consider first the witness of the Apostles. The Lord speaks of the Apostles as being His witnesses because they had been with Him from the beginning; in other words, they knew what Christ had said and what He had done, and they were able therefore to report the same to the world. They were witnesses; their great work, in life or in death, was still to shout in the ears of an unbelieving world the good news that Jesus Christ had come, and that He had died and risen again. As long as they lived, they had no other ambition than to tell their tale and persuade men to believe it; and if they died, they considered that nothing could be more joyful and blessed and honourable than the martyr’s or witness’s crown.
II. Nothing can be more simple than the words of the Lord in the second verse of the text, when taken alone. But the Lord has not put them alone. On the other hand, He has put them in very striking connection with the words of the first verse. There is to be another witness beside the Apostles, and one differing from them in most essential particulars. This witness is called emphatically the Spirit of Truth, by which I suppose we may understand not merely the Spirit who loves and speaks truth, to whom all hypocrisy and lies are an abomination, but the Spirit who spreads and propagates truth, who makes men love it, moves their hearts towards it, carries it into their minds, writes it upon their consciences. We may alone conclude from the fact of the Spirit of Truth being sent from the Father to testify of Christ, that His mission was absolutely necessary; that witness could not be borne to Christ to any good purpose without Him; that mankind would never come to an unanimous verdict, unless this witness were sent direct from heaven to give evidence in the court of men’s hearts. Christ thus taught us that in the work of preaching His Gospel to the world, and converting men from the power of Satan unto God, there are two agents who must labour together; and that therefore it is neither wise nor right to disparage the part which has to be performed by one, in comparison of that which has to be performed by the other. There is the human work and the Divine work; the witness of man without, the witness of the Spirit within.
Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, 5th series, p. 217.
References: Joh 15:27.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 32; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 272. Joh 16:1-4.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 434. Joh 16:1-7.—W. Roberts, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 26. Joh 16:5.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xviii., p. 227. Joh 16:5-14.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 196. Joh 16:5-15.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 228; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 437. Joh 16:6, Joh 16:7.—Bishop Browne, The Anglican Pulpit of To-day, p. 35. Joh 16:6-22.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 226.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On vv1, 17 Section 4. (Joh 15:1-16.)
Section 4. (Joh 15:1-16.)
The incoming change from Judaism to Christianity, and the test of profession in practical walk.
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Christ is then leaving the world, and His own, who are still in it, are yet not of it. As a consequence, Judaism is given up, and part with Christ takes the place of part with the nation of Israel. This is, most evidently, the meaning of the Lord now proclaiming Himself the true Vine, and His disciples "branches" in this. The vine was the Lord’s figure of Israel in Isaiah (Isa 5:1-30). It is as evident also that the vine is the symbol of what is looked to for bearing fruit, and that it is for bearing wild fruit that Israel is rooted out of her vineyard. In the Christianity which takes the place of Judaism on the earth, much more then is fruit the necessary requisite. And that is plainly what is insisted on here.
1. First, we see what is alone sufficiency for the fruit required. It is what is implied in the very nature of a branch, -to abide in the vine: apart from Christ we can do nothing. If the branch abide not in the vine, the vine -the vine-sap -cannot abide in the branch; and this is the reason of the connection and order which the Lord’s words indicate: "Abide in Me, and I in you." "Abide Me," -that is the command, -the responsibility; "and I in you," -that will be the assured result. But let us look in detail at what is here before us.
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman." We are looking evidently, at what has to do with the earth: and as evidently, the true Vine is in contrast with Israel, as already said. Christ now openly takes the place which was ever His, of the real Source of all fruitfulness for God. The legal system would have made Christ the topmost Branch of the national tree, but no more: for if man could have stood under it, he would have needed no Saviour: his fruitfulness would have been of himself. But this was a means of probation only: God giving abundant testimony of what He intended by it in plain words as to the issue, as well as in that sacrificial and typical ritual which accompanied it and pointed beyond it. It was to be by a new covenant that blessing was to come to the nation, and not by the old, Sinaitic one; which testified ever by its vail dropped over the face of God that none could on that ground see or stand before Him.
The vine too is the natural figure of dependence, and needs constantly the labor of the husbandman; and into such a dependent condition did the Son of God come down, that He might be the Producer of fruit for God, such as yet had never been, as well as the Pattern of fruitfulness also, wherever found. In Him was the life of faith seen in its perfection. If the branches are in Him, and so He in them, as the productive life-sap, -so does He speak also of being in the Father, and of the Father in Him: -"The Father who abideth in Me, He doeth the works." We see thus how the figure of the vine underlies all these expressions. The dependent Man, in whom the Father abides reproduces Himself in His believing people who abide in Him. He is the Vine, they are the branches: He is in them, not personally, but as life and nature: and they are in Him as products of His life, abiding in Him by that faith which is characteristic of it.
The Life is the Divine Life; and thus we hear in the Son’s prayer which follows His request, "that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may be one in Us;" and so also the apostle who so closely follows Him, declares: "If that which ye heard in the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father."
But there is a never to be forgotten difference between the believer and His Lord, which these very words imply: if he can be said, as the apostle here affirms, to be "in the Father," and that seem to even him too much with the Son of God Himself, the preceding "in the Son" shows the way of it to be only through the Father’s own love -the gift of His Son for men. We are in the Son, and thus in the Father: for us that is mediatorial wholly, which for Him was the necessary prerogative of His glorious Person. Only the Son Himself could be in this way in the Father; and thus His declaration of this as to Himself was the necessary claim of Deity.
Life, as we have it, is in the Son (1Jn 5:11). He is the Eternal Life itself, -the Source of it for men; thus the "Last Adam" of the new creation. And here is the foundation of Paul’s doctrine as to Christian position, as already said. John’s is not position: for the Son’s position cannot be ours; and John says "in the Father," as well as "in the Son;" where position cannot be thought of.
The figure of the vine and its branches thus clearly illustrates the truth of that vital connection between Christ and His people which is what in Christianity has replaced the formal and sacramental connection which obtained in Judaism. It is quite true that there is here supposed however a possibility of a connection which is still formal merely. There is the necessity dwelt upon of abiding in the vine. The one that abides not is cast forth as a branch, and is withered and burnt. In this case, of course, the one who comes to his end in such a way could never have been a branch in vital union with Christ; or the whole doctrine as to life in Scripture would be violated. But in what branch of a vine, it will be asked, has the sap never circulated? and in what other than vital connection could one speak of a branch in the vine?
The question is not answered here; and to answer it one must appeal to similar images elsewhere. We are most naturally reminded of the broken off branches of the olive, of which the apostle speaks in Rom 11:1-36. Here, without raising question as to the meaning of the olive itself, the branches are distinctly said to be broken off for unbelief, and those who stand to "stand by faith." The interpretation of the vine is so far confirmed, that those broken off are those who have no spiritual life at all. The principle of continuance is that of faith.
Nor only so; for the Gentile had no part in the olive at the beginning; he is not a natural branch, but grafted in -as the apostle is careful to tell us, "contrary to nature" -into the good olive, out of the wild olive to which he naturally belonged. This "grafting" is common to all Gentiles; but where, as in the vine here, Christ is the stock, it is clearly true that there are no natural branches, -that every one must be grafted in. Now here it is plain that every graft does not abide, or, as we say, strike." The "abiding" is just striking: it is the rooting itself in the stock, -a vivid image of faith’s laying hold, which, looking at things from the human side of responsibility insisted upon in the exhortation in this case, makes us partakers in the preciousness of Christ our life.
"My Father is the husbandman," -although it has been applied by some to the divine dealing with Christ Himself, -is applied by the Lord evidently to His dealing with His people. "Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bear more fruit."
The vine, as already said, is the ideal of a fruit-bearer. It is fit for nothing else. "Shall wood be taken thereof, to do any work?" asks the Lord by the prophet; or will men take a pin of it, to hang any vessel thereon?" (Eze 15:3). "I looked for it to bring forth grapes," He says again of Israel as His vine (Isa 5:2). This is what still the Father looks for from us. And notice that it is not works, of which the vine speaks. Works may be fruit, assuredly, and blessed fruit; still, works are acts, which may have a certain character; fruit speaks more properly of the character itself. Thus "the fruit of the Spirit," says the apostle in Galatians (Gal 5:22-23), "is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance." These are things which show the life in the branch; in activities, no doubt; but they belong more to the person than do the activities. Moreover, the apostle speaks of them as fruit, not fruits: he dwells more upon the unity exhibited than the variety. And this is a blessed character of the Spirit’s workmanship, that it is a complete harmonious development, in which every part is in evident relationship with the rest. Love that "seeketh not her own" shines out along the line of these jewels, pervading them all, and not merely stringing them together.
If, therefore, there is no fruit, there is manifestly no life: the branch that bears no fruit has no title to the vine; it can only be taken away. If it bear fruit, then comes the "purging" that it may bear more fruit. Whatever this may include beside, the Lord’s words that follow show certainly that the Word is the effectual means by which this purging is accomplished. Purged," -or "clean," -He says, "ye are already, by reason of the word that I have spoken unto you." The Word is that which judges all that is impure in God’s sight, while by its sweet encouraging grace, it wins and divorces the heart from it. Any one who is in the least acquainted with vine-culture knows how much pruning it requires, to make a vine bear proper fruit. It is most instructive to realize that this pruning is not necessarily the taking away of what is merely, or in itself evil: leaves and branches, -even if fruitless branches, do not naturally speak of this. The injury that they do lies in squandering the precious sap; which again does not so much lessen the quantity of the fruit produced, as it affects the quality. The things by which Christian fruitfulness are most seriously affected are apt to be, not so much things positively evil: these bear their brand upon their face, for the most part: and the conscience, if it be not dull indeed, is roused against them. It is rather the negative than the positive quality which is dangerous. It is occupation with that which simply has not Christ in it, which (tolerated for its very harmlessness) insensibly steals away the vigor of spiritual life. Lawful things, as the apostle reminds us, may bring us thus under their power; and even the name of "duty" may be invoked to cover with its sanction what is in reality only the slipping of the heart away from its first duty to Him who has redeemed and purchased us with His blood.
The lesson of the vine is here that of the need of concentration: of which Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians, gives us so pregnant an example. His "one thing I do" is the only principle for Christian progress, or happiness either. It ensures both. The knowledge of the new man teaches him that "Christ is ALL:" and we cannot broaden or brighten the spiritual life by adding anything to Him.
"Abide in Me" is therefore what He exhorts to: -to realize our dependence, and cultivate that faith which is the acknowledgement of it, and which brought us to Him at first, as the Only-sufficient and All-sufficient Saviour in that hour of supreme distress. Saviour He is still, and all through; not least from our own will and way: -the principle of sin, and the sure road to disaster. To be true to what was our first happiness is to make permanent that happiness; to abide in Him is to find Him in His fulness abiding in us, and all His promises interpreted to us by their fulfilment in the experiences of a blessed and fruitful life. It is only, as has been already said, what is implied in our very Christianity itself: for he who does not abide in Christ in some true sense, is not a Christian. But, alas! we need the exhortation: who will say that Christians do not need to be exhorted to be Christians? "He that abideth in Me, and I in Him, the same beareth much fruit." We only need to be fully what we really are: -not to be untrue to our God, our Saviour, and ourselves.
Now comes the warning: "If any one abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered:" that is the spiritual result, as the words "as a branch," indicate: but there follows the final judgment, in that figurative language in which it is so commonly described: "and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." The change has been often noted in this place from "ye" to "any one." The Lord would not have it supposed that it might be possible for those who are truly His to be thus cast forth and to perish: therefore His altered speech. He returns, however, immediately now to His former direct address: "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Here is a further condition, and which certifies, in the same manner as we have seen His language do elsewhere, the character of the prayer to which He pledges success. If His words abide in us, they will give shape to our desires and requests, so that He can answer them without injuring us or contradicting His own character. But if we thus drank in His words, what wondrous power would our prayers possess! Why do we not know more of it? There can be but one reply: we too little yield ourselves to be possessed by these precious words, -care often. too little to face them. They demand too much of us. We would sooner pursue our own wills, giving Him what we may consider a fair proportion of what is His, and hoping He will not expect too much from such as we are. Of how much we rob ourselves, in thus robbing Him, we shall learn, it may be when it cannot be righted.
He would touch our hearts with another thought, that His Father will be glorified in our bearing much fruit: and we shall become such as He can count true disciples of His own. A precious inducement! in which He appeals to our hearts, and expects them to respond to affection so well proved. Have we not dropped out a good deal out of that term so full of meaning, except as applying it to these men of a by-gone day? Is it not perhaps significant, if we have done so?
2. The Lord goes on to speak of the new position in which, as delivered from the law, they were placed, -no longer servants, but friends, -and of the communion in love implied in this. The disciples of Moses were bondsmen of the law under which they were placed, and had even no access to God, -the way into the holiest not being yet manifested (Heb 9:8). Grace was now changing all. They had looked upon the glory of the Word made flesh, -the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father, in whom the Father Himself was declared and seen. God had come nigh: and now, if He who declared Him were going back to heaven, heaven could not be closed by this, but rather opened. God come nigh, for those who welcomed this, could be no transient vision. But, for one near God, bond-service is no more possible: communion in love must take the place of the former distance: and this is the subject here.
As Christ on earth had been the Object of His Father’s love, so now were His people that of His. As to Him it was a love of complacent delight: walking as He did in His Father’s commandments, the One Man answering, to the heart of God; He would have them answering similarly to His own heart, walking in His commandments, so as to be partakers of the joy which He had tasted, even amid all the sorrow of His path. He desired for them fulness of this joy. And as He had loved them, even to the laying down His life for them, so was it His commandment that they should love one another: and so they would be still in fellowship with His love.
He was layingHis life for them, -His friends: how could they have greater proof that such they were indeed? Friends! and no longer servants: no more did He call them that: for, instead of mere messages of their duty, He had been opening to them all the truth as to those purposes of the Father with which He had been entrusted. And such is Scripture for us now: with a length and breadth and depth and height in it which befits such a communication from the Father to the Son as that of which the Son here speaks.
This love was at the foundation of all for them: and to it they owed,. and we owe, that choice which was on His side, not on ours. "Ye have not chosen Me," He says, "but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye should ask the Father in My Name, He may give it you." Thus in conscious weakness the power of God is with us: and as He sought us when lost, -when there was nothing but our misery to awaken His compassion, so we may count assuredly upon Him, whatever our helplessness, to perfect the work He has begun. What comfort lies for us in that royal word, "I have chosen you!"
But grace enables us to fulfill the conditions necessarily imposed by the holiness of the divine nature: -and cannot set these aside: therefore the closing words. They are in the same line with others that we have lately heard: which they emphasize only in a somewhat different way. Fruit that abides is that which alone satisfies God. How much that looks well has not that quality in it which ensures permanence. How much that seems truly of God reveals its character by its decay! This "abiding" connects itself, in the Gospel of John, with the divine side of things which is seen all through.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 9, 11, 12, 14, 18, 21, 26
John
CHRIST’S FRIENDS
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THE TRUE VINE
Joh 15:1 - Joh 15:4.
WHAT suggested this lovely parable of the vine and the branches is equally unimportant and undiscoverable. Many guesses have been made, and, no doubt, as was the case with almost all our Lord’s parables, some external object gave occasion for it. It is a significant token of our Lord’s calm collectedness, even at that supreme and heart-shaking moment, that He should have been at leisure to observe, and to use for His purposes of teaching, something that was present at the instant. The deep and solemn lessons which He draws, perhaps from some vine by the wayside, are the richest and sweetest clusters that the vine has ever grown. The great truth in this chapter, applied in manifold directions, and viewed in many aspects, is that of the living union between Christ and those who believe on Him, and the parable of the vine and the branches affords the foundation for all which follows.
We take the first half of that parable now. It is somewhat difficult to trace the course of thought in it, but there seems to be, first of all, the similitude set forth, without explanation or interpretation, in its most general terms, and then various aspects in which its applications to Christian duty are taken up and reiterated, I simply follow the words which I have read for my text.
I. We have then, first, the Vine in the vital unity of all its parts.
‘I am the True Vine,’ of which the material one to which He perhaps points, is but a shadow and an emblem. The reality lies in Him. We shall best understand the deep significance and beauty of this thought if we recur in imagination to some of those great vines which we sometimes see in royal conservatories, where for hundred of yards the pliant branches stretch along the espaliers, and yet one life pervades the whole, from the root, through the crooked stem, right away to the last leaf at the top of the farthest branch, and reddens and mellows every cluster, ‘So,’ says Christ, ‘between Me and the totality of them that hold by Me in faith there is one life, passing ever from root through branches, and ever bearing fruit.’
Let me remind you that this great thought of the unity of life between Jesus Christ and all that believe upon Him is the familiar teaching of Scripture, and is set forth by other emblems besides that of the vine, the queen of the vegetable world; for we have it in the metaphor of the body and its members, where not only are the many members declared to be parts of one body, but the name of the collective body, made up of many members, is Christ. ‘So also is’-not as we might expect, ‘the Church,’ but-’Christ,’ the whole bearing the name of Him who is the Source of life to every part. Personality remains, individuality remains: I am I, and He is He, and thou art thou; but across the awful gulf of individual consciousness which parts us from one another, Jesus Christ assumes the Divine prerogative of passing and joining Himself to each of us, if we love Him and trust Him, in a union so close, and with a communication of life so real, that every other union which we know is but a faint and far-off adumbration of it. A oneness of life from root to branch, which is the sole cause of fruitfulness and growth, is taught us here.
And then let me remind you that that living unity between Jesus Christ and all who love Him is a oneness which necessarily results in oneness of relation to God and men, in oneness of character, and in oneness of destiny. In relation to God, He is the Son, and we in Him receive the standing of sons. He has access ever into the Father’s presence, and we through Him and in Him have access with confidence and are accepted in the Beloved. In relation to men, since He is Light, we, touched with His light, are also, in our measure and degree, the lights of the world; and in the proportion in which we receive into our souls, by patient abiding in Jesus Christ, the very power of His Spirit, we, too, become God’s anointed, subordinately but truly His messiahs, for He Himself says: ‘As the Father hath sent Me, even so I send you.’
In regard to character, the living union between Christ and His members results in a similarity if not identity of character, and with His righteousness we are clothed, and by that righteousness we are justified, and by that righteousness we are sanctified. The oneness between Christ and His children is the ground at once of their forgiveness and acceptance, and of all virtue and nobleness of life and conduct that can ever be theirs.
And, in like manner, we can look forward and be sure that we are so closely joined with Him, if we love Him and trust Him, that it is impossible but that where He is there shall also His servants be; and that what He is that shall also His servants be. For the oneness of life, by which we are delivered from the bondage of corruption and the law of sin and death here, will never halt nor cease until it brings us into the unity of His glory, ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ And as He sits on the Father’s throne, His children must needs sit with Him, on His throne.
Therefore the name of the collective whole, of which the individual Christian is part, is Christ. And as in the great Old Testament prophecy of the Servant of the Lord, the figure that rises before Isaiah’s vision fluctuates between that which is clearly the collective Israel and that which is, as clearly, the personal Messiah; so the ‘Christ’ is not only the individual Redeemer who bears the body of the flesh literally here upon earth, but the whole of that redeemed Church, of which it is said, ‘It is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.’
II. Now note, secondly, the Husbandman, and the dressing of the vine.
The one tool that a vinedresser needs is a knife. The chief secret of culture is merciless pruning. And so says my text, ‘The Father is the Husbandman.’ Our Lord assumes that office in other of His parables. But here the exigencies of the parabolic form require that the office of Cultivator should be assigned only to the Father; although we are not to forget that the Father, in that office, works through and in His Son.
But we should note that the one kind of husbandry spoken of here is pruning-not manuring, not digging, but simply the hacking away of all that is rank and all that is dead.
Were you ever in a greenhouse or in a vineyard at the season of cutting back the vines? What flagitious waste it would seem to an ignorant person to see scattered on the floor the bright green leaves and the incipient clusters, and to look up at the bare stem, bleeding at a hundred points from the sharp steel. Yes! But there was not a random stroke in it all, and there was nothing cut away which it was not loss to keep and gain to lose; and it was all done artistically, scientifically, for a set purpose-that the plant might bring forth more fruit.
Thus, says Christ, the main thing that is needed-not, indeed, to improve the life in the branches, but to improve the branches in which the life is-is excision. There are two forms of it given here-absolutely dead wood has to be cut out; wood that has life in it, but which has also rank shoots, that do not come from the all-pervading and hallowed life, has to be pruned back and deprived of its shoots.
It seems to me that the very language of the metaphor before us requires us to interpret the fruitless branches as meaning all those who have a mere superficial, external adherence to the True Vine. For, according to the whole teaching of the parable, if there be any real union, there will be some life, and if there be any life, there will be some fruit, and, therefore, the branch that has no fruit has no life, because it has no real union. And so the application, as I take it, is necessarily to those professing Christians, nominal adherents to Christianity or to Christ’s Church, people that come to church and chapel, and if you ask them to put down in the census paper what they are, will say that they are Christians-Churchmen or Dissenters, as the case may be-but who have no real hold upon Jesus Christ, and no real reception of anything from Him; and the ‘taking away’ is simply that, somehow or other, God makes visible, what is a fact, that they do not belong to Him with whom they have this nominal connection.
The longer Christianity continues in any country, the more does the Church get weighted and lowered in its temperature by the aggregation round about it of people of that sort. And one sometimes longs and prays for a storm to come, of some sort or other, to blow the dead wood out of the tree, and to get rid of all this oppressive and stifling weight of sham Christians that has come round every one of our churches. ‘His fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor,’ and every man that has any reality of Christian life in him should pray that this pruning and cutting out of the dead wood may be done, and that He would ‘come as a refiner’s fire and purify’ His priesthood.
Then there is the other side, the pruning of the fruitful branches. We all, in our Christian life, carry with us the two natures-our own poor miserable selves, and the better life of Jesus Christ within us. The one flourishes at the expense of the other; and it is the Husbandman’s merciful, though painful work, to cut back unsparingly the rank shoots that come from self, in order that all the force of our lives may be flung into the growing of the cluster which is acceptable to Him.
So, dear friends, let us understand the meaning of all that comes to us. The knife is sharp and the tendrils bleed, and things that seem very beautiful and very precious are unsparingly shorn away, and we are left bare, and, as it seems to ourselves, impoverished. But Oh! it is all sent that we may fling our force into the production of fruit unto God. And no stroke will be a stroke too many or too deep if it helps us to that. Only let us take care that we do not let regrets for the vanished good harm us just as much as joy in the present good did, and let us rather, in humble submission of will to His merciful knife, say to Him, ‘Cut to the quick, Lord, if only thereby my fruit unto Thee may increase.’
III. Lastly, we have here the branches abiding in the Vine, and therefore fruitful.
Our Lord deals with the little group of His disciples as incipiently and imperfectly, but really, cleansed through ‘the word which He has spoken to them,’ and gives them His exhortation towards that conduct through which the cleansing and the union and the fruitfulness will all be secured. ‘Now ye are clean: 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.’
Union with Christ is the condition of all fruitfulness. There may be plenty of activity and yet barrenness. Works are not fruit. We can bring forth a great deal ‘of ourselves,’ and because it is of ourselves it is nought. Fruit is possible only on condition of union with Him. He is the productive source of it all.
There is the great glory and distinctive blessedness of the Gospel. Other teachers come to us and tell us how we ought to live, and give us laws, patterns and examples, reasons and motives for pure and noble lives. The Gospel comes and gives us life, if we will take it, and unfolds itself in us into all the virtues that we have to possess. What is the use of giving a man a copy if he cannot copy it? Morality comes and stands over the cripple, and says to him, ‘Look here! This is how you ought to walk,’ and he lies there, paralysed and crippled, after as before the exhibition of what graceful progression is. But Christianity comes and bends over him, and lays hold of his hand, and says, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,’ and his feet and ankle bones receive strength, and ‘he leaps, and walks, and praises God.’ Christ gives more than commandments, patterns, motives; He gives the power to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and in Him alone is that power to be found.
Then note that our reception of that power depends upon our own efforts. ‘Abide in Me and I in you.’ Is that last clause a commandment as well as the first? How can His abiding in us be a duty incumbent upon us? But it is. And we might paraphrase the intention of this imperative in its two halves, by-Do you take care that you abide in Christ, and that Christ abides in you. The two ideas are but two sides of the one great sphere; they complement and do not contradict each other. We dwell in Him as the part does in the whole, as the branch does in the vine, recipient of its life and fruit-bearing energy. He dwells in us as the whole does in the part, as the vine dwells in the branch, communicating its energy to every part; or as the soul does in the body, being alive equally in every part, though it be sight in the eyeball, and hearing in the ear, and colour in the cheek, and strength in the hand, and swiftness in the foot.
‘Abide in Me and I in you.’ So we come down to very plain, practical exhortations. Dear brethren, suppress yourselves, and empty your lives of self, that the life of Christ may come in. A lock upon a canal, if it is empty, will have its gates pressed open by the water in the canal and will be filled. Empty the heart and Christ will come in. ‘Abide in Him’ by continual direction of thought, love, desire to Him; by continual and reiterated submission of the will to Him, as commanding and as appointing; by the honest reference to Him of daily life and all petty duties which otherwise distract us and draw us away from Him. Then, dwelling in Him we shall share in His life, and shall bring forth fruit to His praise.
Here is encouragement for us all. To all of us, sometimes, our lives seem barren and poor; and we feel as if we had brought forth no fruit to perfection. Let us get nearer to Him and He will see to the fruit. Some poor stranded sea-creature on the beach, vainly floundering in the pools, is at the point of death; but the great tide comes, leaping and rushing over the sands, and bears it away out into the middle deeps for renewed activity and joyous life. Let the flood of Christ’s life bear you on its bosom, and you will rejoice and expatiate therein.
Here is a lesson of solemn warning to professing Christians. The lofty mysticism and inward life in Jesus Christ all terminate at last in simple, practical obedience; and the fruit is the test of the life. ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you, ye that work iniquity.’
And here is a lesson of solemn appeal to us all. Our only opportunity of bearing any fruit worthy of our natures and of God’s purpose concerning us is by vital union with Jesus Christ. If we have not that, there may be plenty of activity and mountains of work in our lives, but there will be no fruit. Only that is fruit which pleases God and is conformed to His purpose concerning us, and all the rest of our busy doings is no more the fruit a man should bear than cankers are roses, or than oak-galls are acorns. They are but the work of a creeping grub, and diseased excrescences that suck into themselves the juices that should swell the fruit. Open your hearts to Christ and let His life and His Spirit come into you, and then you will have ‘your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The True Yine. The Witness of the Comforter and…
The True Yine. The Witness of the Comforter and of the Apostles
1-17. The allegory of the True Vine and its interpretation. The metaphor of 'the vine' was suggested by 'the fruit of the vine' which had just been consecrated in the Holy Supper (Mat_26:29), and the allegory was intended to illustrate the main idea underlying that holy rite, viz. union with Christ. It sets forth Christ as the sole source of spiritual life, and of Christian sanctity. As long as the spiritual union between Christ and the believer, which (ideally and normally, at any rate) begins with Baptism, is maintained by faith love and prayer, the believer's soul is nourished by constant supplies of grace, just as truly as the branches of a vine are nourished by the sap that flows into them from the stem. Nourished by the life of Christ, the believer's soul is cleansed, sanctified, and made fruitful in all good works. Neglect of prayer, the holy sacraments and the other means of grace is punished by interruption of this union, and, finally, by its complete severance, resulting in spiritual death, and inability to perform works acceptable to God.
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1. The true vine] i.e. the ideally perfect vine. 'The vine was the symbol of Israel, not in their national but in their church capacity' (Edersheim): cp. Psa_80:8; Isa_5:1; Jer_2:21; Hos_10:1. It was also a symbol of the Messiah (Delitzsch). Accordingly Christ here affirms, (1) that He is the true Messiah; (2) that His Church is the true Israel of God, and His followers the true Israelites (cp. 1Co_10:18; Gal_6:16; 1Pe_2:9; Rev_2:9; Rev_3:9, etc.); but, above all, (3) that He is the one fountain of spiritual life, supplying all needful grace to believers. The figure of the vine and the branches corresponds to that of the body and the members, used first by Christ at the institution of the Holy Supper (Mat_26:26) and often afterwards by St. Paul, to express the mysterious, but real and vital union which subsists between Christ and individual believers, and between Christ and His Church (Rom_12:5; 1Co_10:17; 1Co_12:12-31; Eph_1:3; Eph_3:6; Eph_4:4; Eph_5:30; Col_1:18-24; Col_2:19; Col_3:15). As the vine sends sap into every branch, causing the grapes to grow and ripen, so Christ communicates spiritual life and grace to every soul that is effectively 'in Him,' causing it to bring forth 'the fruits of the Spirit' (Gal_5:22), to be 'fruitful in every good work' (Col_1:10), and—greatest gift of all—to be 'partaker of the divine nature' (2Pe_1:4). Union with Christ is normally begun in Baptism (1Co_12:13; Gal_3:27; Rom_6:3, etc.), and maintained by constant faith (Eph_3:17), obedience (Joh_14:23; Rev_3:20), love (1Jn_4:12), Holy Communion (Joh_6:56; 1Co_10:16). The husbandman] cp. Mar_12:1; Luk_13:6.
2. Every branch] refers primarily to individual Christians; yet what is said applies also to Churches (Rev_2:5; Rev_3:16). Taketh away] yet not finally till the Last Judgment. Purgeth] RV 'cleanseth,' or, still better, 'pruneth.' The reference is (1) to the disciphne of sorrow, disappointment, temptation, and trial, by which the saints are perfected (Heb_12:6; Rev_3:19 cp. Heb_5:8); (2) to the cutting off of the superfluities, ambitions, luxuries, and worldly pleasures and lusts, which hinder the Christian life (Gal_5:24; Gal_6:14; Jam_1:21).
3. Through the word] The 'word' is the whole training of the Twelve, including the admonitions and severe rebukes with which He strove to correct their faults, and make them 'clean,' i.e. 'pruned,' and in a fruit-bearing state.
4. 'See that ye abide in Me by diligently using the means of grace, and I will abide in you.'
6. As a branch] i.e. as a useless branch.
Men (RV 'they') gather them] The angels gather the useless branches (i.e. persons who are not in Christ), and cast them into the fire (of future punishment in Hades or Gehenna), and they are burned (punished).
11, 12. The Saviour now resolves His commands into perfect self-forgetting love.
11. My joy] i.e. the joy which I have in loving the Father, and being loved by Him (Joh_15:10). This joy Christ imparts to the disciples, thereby fiilfilling (i.e. perfecting) their imperfect joy: cp. Joh_16:24; Joh_17:13; 1Jn_1:4; 2Jn_1:12.
12. See Joh_13:34.
13. Lay down] see Joh_10:11, and cp. 1Jn_3:16. The Saviour regards the offering up of life, and that for friends, as the highest expression of love, and expects the disciples to prove themselves capable of similar self-sacrifice.
15. All things] This apparently contradicts Joh_16:12; (cp. Joh_14:26), but only apparently. Christ's teaching during His ministry was complete in the sense that it set forth all the principles of Christianity. Yet there was required the subsequent illumination of the Spirit, (1) to interpret the deeper meaning of those principles, and (2) to apply them practically to the needs of the Church.
16. Ordained] RV 'appointed.' Bring forth fruit] This mainly refers to the conversion of the world, which was the fruit of the spiritual labours of the Apostles. Should remain] Their work has lasted nearly 2,000 years, and the vitality of Christian missionary work is still unimpaired. Whatsoever] see on Joh_14:13
In my name] 'in accordance with My spirit and character.
17. I command you to abide in Me, that by so doing you may have the power to love one another.'
18-25. The world's hatred] cp. the similar predictions, Mat_10:16-28; Mat_24:9; Luk_21:12, Luk_21:16 cp. also 1Pe_4:12, 1Pe_4:13.
18. Cp. 1Jn_3:13. The world is mankind regarded as alienated from God.
20. The word] see Mat_10:24. The reference is not to Joh_13:16.
25. Their law] i.e. their Scriptures (see Joh_10:34). The passage alluded to is Psa_69:4 : cp. Psa_35:11. David is the person hated, but David's case is typical of Christ's.
26, 27. The Witness of the Holy Spirit and of the Apostles to Christ.
26. The Comforter] see on Joh_14:16. Whom I will send] According to Joh_14:17, Joh_14:26, it is the Father who sends the Spirit; now it is Christ Himself, showing clearly that 'what things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise' (Joh_5:19). Cp. Luk_24:49; Act_2:33, and see on Joh_16:7. Which proceedeth from the Father] The Eastern Church uses this text to prove the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father alone, but the preposition used shows that not the eternal origin, but the temporal mission of the Comforter is meant. He (the masculine pronoun emphasises the Spirit's personality: cp. Joh_14:26) shall testify of me] by His whole working in the Church from Pentecost onward: see on Joh_16:8.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v1 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXI. Farewell Discourse].
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXI. Farewell Discourse].
CXXI. FAREWELL DISCOURSE TO DISCIPLES. (Jerusalem. Evening before the crucifixion.) dJOHN XIV.-XVI.
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d1 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. [That one should betray him and one should deny him, that all should be offended, and that the Lord should depart, raised anxieties which Jesus here seeks to quiet. That they should go out as homeless wanderers without the presence of their Lord and be subjected to persecution, was also in their thoughts. But Jesus sustains their spirits by appealing to them to trust in the unseen Father, and his yet present self. As to the two verbs "believe," both may be either indicatives or imperatives.] 2 In my Father's house are many mansions [Many abiding places or homes. They were not to be homeless always]; if it were not so, I would have told you [That is to say, if heaven had been of such limited capacity that there was little or no hope that you could follow me, I should have dealt plainly with you, and should have disabused your mind of all vain hopes. But there is room ( Luk_14:22), and you may follow-- Joh_13:36]; for I go to prepare a place for you. [We are familiar with the thought that the going, or death, of Jesus prepared a way for [660] us by providing a fountain for the cleansing of our sin, and by rending the veil of the temple, "thus signifying that the way into heaven is now open." But the thought here is different. Jesus departed to prepare places for his own in the Father's house.] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am, i there ye may be also. [The cause for the departure becomes the assurance of the return.] 4 And whither I go, ye know the way. [My manner of life leads to the Father's house, and as ye know that manner of life, ye know the way.] 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; how know we the way? [Thomas looked for a way wherein one might walk with his feet.] 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. [God is not approached by physical motion. Being spirit, we must draw near to him by spiritual simplicity, and this is revealed to us fully in the person of Christ, and an energizing power is imparted by Christ to enable us to attain unto it.] 7 If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also [the unity of nature and of character is so perfect that to know the Son is to know the Father also]: from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. [This saying is the outgrowth of what is said in the Joh_14:6. Since we can only come to the Father's likeness by the imitation of Jesus, then the truth here uttered follows; viz.: that to see Jesus is to see the Father.] 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? [As Thomas asked for a physical instead of a spiritual approach to God, so Philip asked for a physical instead of a spiritual revelation of him. The answer of Jesus tenderly rebukes Philip. The excellency of God is not physical, but spiritual. Righteousness, truth, love, holiness, etc. are all spiritual. A physical revelation of God, if such a [661] thing had been practicable or even possible, would have been of little or no benefit to the apostles. All the physical demonstrations at Mt. Sinai did not prevent the manufacture and worship of the golden calf.] 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works. [The question of Jesus is a mild rebuke because Philip had been so slow to learn and to believe what the Lord had taught; viz.: his unity with the Father ( Joh_16:24). God would glorify himself through Christ by answering prayer thus made.] 15 If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, 17 i even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you. [The third token of Christ's union with the Father would be the sending of the Holy Spirit ( Act_2:33). Since, however, the worldly-minded could neither receive nor behold the Spirit, the promise to send him to the disciples is prefaced by an appeal to them to keep his commandments, and thus avoid a worldly spirit such as would be compatible with the reception of the Holy Spirit. The word "Comforter" does not fully translate the Greek word Paraklete; no English word does. The word "Advocate" may be used, and "Helper" is as good if not better than "Comforter." He is called the Spirit of truth because of his many relationships to the truth ( Joh_17:19, 1Co_2:4, 1Th_1:5, Act_2:4, Act_5:32, Heb_2:4). That the gift of the Holy Spirit is conditioned upon belief and obedience is also taught elsewhere ( Joh_7:38, Act_2:38, Act_5:32). We should observe that by the use of the word "another" Jesus shows that he himself had been and would be a Paraklete. But earthly fellowship with him was about to be cut short, and therefore the Holy Spirit would come, with whom fellowship would never be interrupted. We should note, too, the distinction between the present "abideth with you," and the future "shall be in you." The Spirit, being present in the person of Christ, had been abiding with the apostles who followed him. Hereafter the intimacy of the relation would be increased, and the Spirit should abide within them.] 18 I will not leave you desolate [Literally, orphans. The expression breathes the spirit of a father, as at Joh_13:33]: [663] I come unto you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more [the next day the world crucified him and sealed him in the tomb, and since then has seen him no more]; but ye behold me [the present tense here indicates a continued vision; it can not therefore refer to the appearances of Christ after the resurrection, for the terminated at the end of forty days]: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 In that day [we may take this either as the day of Pentecost, or the period which began on that day] ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. [The fourth and all-convincing token of Jesus' union with the Father would be his return in the spirit which is here described. It was not his temporary return after the resurrection, as is shown Joh_14:25 stands in contrast with the word "teach" of the Joh_14:26. Jesus had uttered the truth, but because of the divine plan of salvation through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord was yet incomplete, all the words which he had spoken were but dimly understood, since they were related to and founded upon this incompleted plan. When the plan was completed the Holy Spirit would reveal or teach the meaning of the words by bringing them to remembrance after full comprehension of the plan to which they related.] 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. [This legacy of peace is by no means to be confined to the period of doubt and fear which accompanied the crucifixion; in fact, it seems to overstep that period, and to begin after it, and continue throughout all the trouble ministry of the apostles. The breadth of the legacy also to be noted: 1. The quality of it; it was not the absolute unshaken peace of God, but the peace which Jesus himself possessed while upon the earth--peace with all things save the devil and his powers. 2. The nature of it; it was not peace from without, but from within. It was not such as promised to pacify and quell the persecutors, but a promise of [665] inner calm amidst the storm. 3. The manner of it; it was no stinted, measured store such as the world bestows, but a full, free gift from the overflowing bounty of God.] 28 Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I. [The departure of Jesus was not wholly a humiliation, as it might appear to them; but a real exaltation at which they might well rejoice, and that the more readily and freely since it would not mean to them the total separation which they anticipated, because he would return in the spirit. The word "greater" as here used does not refer to any difference in the nature or essence of the Son as related to the Father. It may well be true that there has been a certain subordination of the will of the Son to the will of the Father from all eternity, but even that, if it exists, is not referred to here. Jesus has in mind the utter humiliation to which his mediatorial office had brought him, and to even lower depths to which it was about to bring him. From all this his departure to the Father would in a large measure free him, restoring him in some degree to that state of equilibrium in glory, power and authority from which he had descended-- Phi_2:6.] 29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe. [Jesus had told them fully of his return to the Father, that when they received the subsequent manifestation of it they might firmly believe it.] 30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me; 31 but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. [In a few hours the earthly teaching of Jesus would be interrupted by the coming of Satan and would never be resumed save in occasional fragments. Satan would come in the persons of his servants and emissaries, but he would find nothing in Christ which would give him either right or reason to exercise power over him. The sorrows and sufferings of Christ would be entered upon of his own free will because by [666] enduring them for our sakes he would please the Father and carry out his commandments, and thus manifest to the world the love which he bore the Father.] Arise, let us go hence. [Some think that Jesus then left the room, and that the next three chapters of John's Gospel contain matters spoken on the way to Gethsemane. But it is likely that the words of these chapters were spoken in the upper room after they had risen from the table and prepared to depart, and that Joh_18:1 marks the leaving of the upper room as well as the crossing of the Kidron.]
XV. 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every i branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it [by pruning], that it may bear more fruit. [The use of the word "true" shows that Jesus refers to a typical vine. The Jewish people had been such a vine ( Isa_5:1, Psa_80:8-16, Jer_2:21). Yet it was but "a figure of the true" ( Heb_9:24). God had now in Christ planted the true vine, and would dissever and cast off all that did not derive life from him, and would prune all that did. This vital connection with Christ is set forth by Paul under the figure of a body and its head ( Eph_5:23, Col_2:19). The fact that Jesus had just given them the fruit of the vine to drink as the symbol of his blood made the transition to this figure easy and natural, for the branches derive their juices from the vine.] 3 Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. [It is God in Christ who cleanseth the soul, but this cleansing is effected through hearing, believing and obeying the Word. The Word tells us what to do that we may be cleansed and saved-- Eph_5:26, Jam_1:18.] 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide [667] not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. [The whole parable is intended to teach us Christ's relationships. 1. Toward the Father--Husbandman and Vine. 2. Toward man--Vine and branches. 3. Toward good works--Vine, branches, and fruit. 4. The negative condition, or lack of relationship--the Vine, the dissevered branches, the fire.] 7 If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also: from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. [Though this verse stands somewhat in contrast to the warning in Joh_15:6, it is rather a statement of causation than a promise of reward. If by communion and the study of the word we abide in Christ, our prayers will be of such a nature that it will fully accord with the divine counsel to answer them, for they will be prayers tending toward fruitfulness.] 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and i so shall ye be my disciples. [The spirit of Christ leads to those deeds which cause men to glorify God ( Mat_9:8, Luk_17:15), and whoso does those deeds causes such glorification ( Mat_5:16). Moreover, the spirit of Christ leads to abundant fruitfulness, and he who has it, not only performs charitable deeds, but converts the sinner and begets a spirit of goodness in those about him ( Mat_13:8-26, Phi_4:17); and this fruitfulness becomes an evidence or demonstration of true discipleship.] 9 Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you: abide ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. [From the outward evidence of union with Christ, shown by the fruit, Jesus now turns to that inward bond of union which is the cause of fruitfulness. That bond is love. Love is, as it were, the sap which passes back and forth between the Vine and branch, and that love is kept active and vital by the most practical of means--obedience to commandments, a means which the Lord himself does not hesitate to describe as efficient between himself and the Father, only claiming for [668] himself the love of the Father because of a like obedience to that which he prescribed. "And our obedience must be impartial," says Jay; "we must do 'whatsoever' he commands us."] 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and i that your joy may be made full. [He had spoken the words of this discourse that the disciples might have a joy corresponding to his own. By perfect obedience he enjoyed a consciousness of the Father's presence and approval. By a like obedience the disciples might have a like sense of his presence and approval, and hence a like joy.] 12 This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [Jesus gives, as his supreme commandment, this law of love. The disciples are to love one another as intensely as Jesus loved them, and the measure of the intensity of his love is prophetically set forth by an allusion to his death on their behalf. But he died for his enemies as well as for his friends-- Rom_5:6.] 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known unto you. [The commandments of Jesus were not to be obeyed in the spirit of bondmen, but in that of friends. Jesus had shown his friendship by receiving his apostles into confidence as to the things which he had heard from his Father.] 16 Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and i that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. [Jesus shows the stability of the friendship existing between him and the disciples in that origin of it lies in himself and not in them. For he chose them as friends before they chose him, gave them their high places as apostles without their solicitation, prepared them to bring forth lasting fruits, and gave them the privilege of supplementing their [669] personal deficiencies by prayer made effective through his name.] 17 These things I command you [this includes all the precepts from the beginning of the Joh_1-15:16], that ye may love one another. 18 If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before i it hated you. [While teaching the fullness and richness of love which is to exist within the circle of discipleship, Jesus warns them that in opposition to it the outer circle of unconverted and sensual--that circle known as the world--would manifest a spirit of hatred. Since this world-spirit hated him, the disciples need not be surprised to find that it hated them when manifesting his spirit.] 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. [ Joh_13:16.] If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. [The apostles could rest assured that the messengers would receive like treatment with him who sent them. When, therefore, they found the world rejecting their message they could cheer themselves with the expectation that a few at least would receive it, since a few had always received the words of the Master.] 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. [Christians in the early ages were persecuted for bearing the name of Christ by those who were ignorant of God. But this name, hateful to the world, was sweet to the disciples. For opposition to the name, see Act_5:28, 1Pe_4:14, Rev_3:8. For joy in it see Act_5:41, 2Co_12:10, Gal_6:17.] 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But i this cometh to pass, that the word [670] may be fulfilled that is written in their law [ Psa_35:19, Psa_69:4], They hated me without a cause. [Though the great proof of the hatred of Christ was yet to come, it is spoken of as if it had passed. Jesus does not mean to say that the world would have committed no sin at all if he had kept away from it. The meaning is that it would not have been guilty of the sin of rejecting Jesus. They would have been excusable.] 26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, i even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: 27 and ye also bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. [One of the principal offices of the Spirit is to testify of Christ ( Joh_16:13-15). The Spirit testified through the apostles and other messengers ( Act_2:4), so that in a sense the apostles were double witnesses. They themselves could testify as to what they had seen and heard. The Spirit could aid them to testify accurately, and with a full intelligence as to the real meaning of things. The Spirit also gave attention to apostolic testimony by enabling the apostles to work miracles.]
XVI. 1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be caused to stumble. [Jesus warned his disciples of coming persecutions in order that those persecutions might not shake their faith.] 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues [see Act_26:9, Gal_1:13, Gal_1:14.] 3 And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you. And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. [The disciples being but few, and finding the vast majority of the nation against them, and being but unlearned [671] Galilæans, and finding the leaders--the wise, the cultured, the mighty--against them, would be tempted to doubt the correctness of their course, and to ask, "May we not, after all, be mistaken: may not those who know more be better judges in this matter than we who are so ignorant?" To forestall and prevent such questioning, Jesus asserts that the ignorance is with the rulers. Knowledge of himself and of his Father is the great and supreme knowledge, and the apostles having this were wiser than those with all other learning. It would also strengthen their faith to remember that the Lord's divine wisdom had foreseen all this trouble.] And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. [While he was with his disciples they were in no danger, for he himself bore the brunt of persecution. In the beginning, therefore, of his ministry he did not deem it expedient to dishearten his disciples by foretelling trials which were then remote. When he began to announce his approaching death, then he also began to declare that the disciple must be willing to lose his life if he would find it. See Mat_5:10-12 forms a contradiction to our Lord's statement here. While the words in Matthew were spoken early enough to be classified as "from the beginning," their import is to general to permit of their being brought into contrast with this direct and personal prediction of persecution.] 5 But now I go unto him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6 But because I have spoken these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. [The disciples had asked the Lord whither he was going ( Joh_13:36, Joh_14:5), but their question had a very different meaning from that which Jesus here suggests to them. They asked it to ascertain whether his departure would involve a separation or whether it would be a withdrawal from the world in which they could accompany him. The question which he suggests [672] has reference to the place to which he was about to journey, that place being the home and presence of his Father. The question asked was selfish, as if the apostles had asked, "What will your departure mean to us?" The question suggested was generous, intimating that the apostles should have asked, "What will this departure mean to you?" Viewing his departure from a selfish standpoint filled their hearts with sorrow; but viewing it from a generous standpoint would have filled them with sympathetic joy, because of the supreme happiness which it would bring to their Master ( Joh_14:28). But even from a selfish standpoint the apostles would have had reason to rejoice because of the advantage which would accrue to them through the Lord's departure, for that departure would result in the advent of the Holy Spirit. Space does not permit us to discuss why the Spirit could not come until the Lord had departed, but the verses which follow give us one good and sufficient reason, for they show that his work had to do with the conviction of human hearts through the preaching of a completed gospel, and the ascension or return of Christ to heaven, and his enthronement in glory there, are essential parts of that completed gospel.] 8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment [It would be the work of the Holy Spirit to take the truths respecting Christ, and, using the apostles as mouthpieces ( Act_2:1-37), to convince the world as to these truths. This convincing work was entirely in relation to Christ, the sin of disbelieving him, the righteousness revealed in him, and the power of judgment conferred upon him]: 9 of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; 11 of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged. [Sin, righteousness, and a day of judgment with its reward upon one and its punishment upon the other, are three cardinal doctrines of the gospel. The Spirit convinces the world that disbelief in Christ is its fatal sin, for belief in Christ leads to forgiveness, and to the unbelieving there is no forgiveness. The least sin is a sin unto death, and [673] is a sin eternal unless forgiven. The greatest sin, if forgiven, becomes harmless and is as if it had never been. Until the world is convinced of this great truth it feels no need of a gospel. Again, Christianity teaches that righteousness is prerequisite to the attainment of the presence of God. Without righteousness we can never behold him, nor can we ever hope to stand before him. But this required righteousness was found in Jesus, for he returned to the Father, and abides with the Father, being seen by us no more. The Holy Spirit convinces the world that those who are found in Christ, having his righteousness, shall attain unto the presence of the Father ( Phi_3:3-14). Lastly, the Spirit convinces the world that Jesus is commissioned as its judge. Our Lord's resurrection is the assurance of this fact ( Act_17:31). The resurrection is such an assurance because it is an evidence of the judgment and condemnation of Satan, the head and leader in sinful rebellion against God, and he that hath power to judge the head thereby shows he has power to judge the body. Satan held the power of death over humanity, but Jesus judged him and brought him to naught by taking away this power ( Heb_2:14, Heb_2:15). The cross of Christ as the source of life asserted his superiority over all other powers ( Col_2:14, Col_2:15), which implies an ability to judge them.] 12 I have yet many things unto say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. [The doctrines of the gospel were necessarily obscure and largely incomprehensible to the apostles until time had developed the gospel facts. Jesus, therefore, forbore to speak of many things at this time, lest by doing so he should confuse the minds of his followers.] 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, i these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you. [The Holy Spirit was to bring no absolutely new teaching. The Son of God here claims for himself all that the Spirit taught even to the declaration of things to come. [674] The Spirit would bring to mind and republish in the minds of the apostles all the words which Jesus had spoken, and would add those things which, being now in the mind of Jesus, were really part of his teaching, but which he at this present forbore to utter, the apostles not being able to bear them.] 15 All things whatsoever the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he taketh of mine, and shall declare i it unto you. [The Son's unity of interest with the Father made him possessor of all the Father's truth, as well as all the Father's counsel as to the future. As Jesus, therefore, might at this time have uttered all which the Holy Spirit subsequently taught, he rightfully claimed all the teaching of the Spirit as his.] 16 A little while, and ye behold me no more; and again a little while, and ye shall see me. [Having finished his digression about the Holy Spirit, Jesus here returns to his point of departure, the theme of Joh_14:19-23.] 17 i Some of his disciples therefore said one to another, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye behold me not; and again a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? [ Joh_14:28.] 18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he saith. [Having been unable to entertain the idea of our Lord's burial and resurrection, no wonder the apostles were mystified by these allusions to it.] 19 Jesus perceived [by his divine insight-- Joh_2:24, Joh_2:25, Joh_6:61, Mat_9:4] that they were desirous to ask him, and he said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, A little while, and ye behold me not, and again a little while, and ye shall see me? 20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. [The death of Jesus truly brought gladness to his enemies ( Luk_22:5), and sorrow to [675] his friends ( Joh_20:11), but the sorrow was indeed turned to joy-- Mat_28:8.] 21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. [The simile here is very apropos, according with Scriptural ideals-- Col_1:18, Rev_1:5.] 22 And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you. [ Luk_24:52, Luk_24:53. The joyful hopes which come to us through the resurrection of Jesus are beyond the reach of the despoiling hand of man.] 23 And in that day ye shall ask me no question. [The coming of the Spirit would make all things clear, and the mysteries about which the apostles now questioned would then be fully explained.] Verily, verily [these two words give emphasis and introduce a new thought], I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full. [Having spoken of his departure, and of what the Spirit would do during his absence, he now speaks of the work which he would himself do while absent. He entered heaven as our high priest ( Heb_9:24), and part of his priestly office is to make intercession for his people ( Heb_7:24, Heb_7:25). The use of Christ's name for intercessory purposes was new to the apostles, since it was only thus employed after his ascension.] 25 These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father. [This closing discourse was full of dark sayings which the disciples did not understand, but when the gospel facts were completed and when the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, then Christ through the Spirit made all things plain to them.] 26 In that day ye shall ask in my name [fullness of knowledge would lead them to look readily to Christ as intercessor]: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father [676] for you; 27 for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. 28 I came out from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. [Birth and death are alike beyond our control. That Jesus had a divine as well as a human nature is shown by the fact that his entrance into and exit from the world were both governed by his own violation, as was also his resurrection ( Joh_10:17, Joh_10:18). While the apostles did not believe in the voluntary exit of Jesus, it having not yet taken place, they did believe that he had come into the world as a divine being, and for this belief the Father loved them, and this love of the Father was not to be lost sight of in considering the mediatory work of Christ. In short, the Father must be looked upon as one who does not need to be interceded with because of a lack of love. Though, according to the divine plan and order, Jesus is intercessor ( 1Ti_2:5, 1Jo_2:1, 1Jo_2:2), yet the office is not self-assumed for the purpose of counteracting any spirit of severity in the Father, but is, on the contrary, undertaken by direct appointment of the Father, made because of the Father's love ( Joh_3:16). Failing to recognize the Father as the fountain and source of grace, love and mercy has led the Roman Church into gross errors. The Father being suspected of undue rigor, a like suspicion arose also as to the Son because of his nearness to the Father. Therefore the Virgin Mary was called in to intercede with and soften the obduracy of the Son. Since the deification of the Virgin Mary in 1853, she also has been looked upon with growing distrust, and the tendency has been to call upon Joseph to intercede with Mary to intercede with the Son to intercede with the Father. Thus that wonderful love of God which passes all understanding is made less than that of mere mortals who never manifested a measure of philanthropy above what is common. Against such errors Jesus guards us by causing us to understand that, if the love of the Father alone were to be considered, there would be no need for him to intercede at all.] 29 His disciples say, Lo, now speakest thou [677] plainly, and speakest no dark saying. [They now clearly understood that as Jesus came from heaven so would he return to heaven, but they did not understand the process by which this return would be effected.] 30 Now know we that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. [The miraculous manner in which he had just read their thoughts caused them to boldly declare their faith in his divinity.] 31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and i yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. [He contrasts the faith which his disciples then professed with that utter lack of it which they would manifest in a few hours. All their confidence in his divinity would vanish when they saw him arrested, etc., and they would seek their own safety, leaving him to his fate. Much as he would feel their desertion, he would not be left utterly comfortless, because the Father would be with him. Paul speaks in a similar strain-- 2Ti_4:16-18.] 33 These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. [Christ's return to the Father and his throne is the Christian's source of peace. As none of the accumulations of evil which came upon Christ prevented him from attaining his goal, so the Christian feels that in the conquering power of Christ, he too shall rise superior to all his troubles, and this feeling brings him peace.] [678]
[FFG 660-678]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 18, 19, 22, 24 "True" in contrast with Israel. Isa 5:1-7.
true
"True" in contrast with Israel. Isa 5:1-7.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. The Vine and the Branch. (Joh 15:1-8.)
CHAPTER 15
1. The Vine and the Branch. (Joh 15:1-8.)
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2. Communion with Him and its Conditions.(Joh 15:9-16.)
3. Love One Another! and the Hatred of the World. (Joh 15:17-27.)
Israel is called a vine in the Old Testament (Psa 80:8; Isa 5:1-8; Jer 2:21; Hos 10:1) and Christ here in this parable takes the place of Israel and is the true vine. His disciples are the branches. Israel under the law covenant could not bear fruit for God, as the law cannot be the source of fruit-bearing. Fruit unto God can only spring from union with Christ. (See Rom 7:4.) He as the true vine on earth brought fruit unto God. The true believer is as closely united to Him as the branch is to the vine. The branch is in Him and He is in the branch. The life-sap of the vine circulates in the branch. And this life and nature in the believer produces the fruit. Our Lord said: “The Father who abideth in me, He doeth the works.” And believers should confess: The Lord Jesus Christ Who abideth in me and I in Him, He produces the fruit. Apart from Him we can do nothing. This vital union with Christ, dependence on Him, the result--fruit unto God, is more fully revealed in the Epistles.
He told His disciples, “now ye are clean (literally: purged) through the word that I have spoken unto you.” In Chapter 13 He said, “ye are clean, but not all.” Judas was then present, but he had gone out to betray Him. But what does it mean: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away,” and again, “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”? These words are often taken to teach that a believer’s salvation and safety depends upon his fruit-bearing and his faithfulness. These two statements have been much perverted and misapplied as if they taught that a true branch in the vine, one who is really in Christ, may be cut off and be cast away to perish forever. If this were the meaning of these words our Lord would contradict His previous teachings. The branch in the vine which beareth not fruit is not a true believer at all, but one who by profession claims to be a branch in the vine. Note in Joh 15:6 the change from “ye” to “a man.” If our Lord had said “if ye abide not in me, ye shall be cast forth as a branch, etc.,” it would mean a true believer. But the change makes it clear that no true disciple is meant, but one who makes a profession without being born again.
“These are awful words. They seem, however, to apply specially to backsliders and apostates, like Judas Iscariot. There must be about a man some appearance of professed faith in Christ, before he can come to the state described here. Doubtless there are those who seem to depart from grace, and to go back from union with Christ; but we need not doubt in such cases that the grace was not real, but seeming, and the union was not true, but fictitious. Once more we must remember that we are reading a parable.
After all, the final, miserable ruin and punishment of false professors, is the great lesson which the verse teaches. Abiding in Christ leads to fruitfulness in this life and everlasting happiness in the life to come. Departure from Christ leads to the everlasting fire of hell.”--J.C. Ryle.
The secret of true fruit-bearing (the manifestation of the new nature in our life) is abiding in Christ and Christ in us. “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk as He walked.” The vine reproduces itself in the branch. And abiding in Christ means to walk in communion with Him and in utter dependence on Himself.
Then He declared: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.” Who is able to fathom the depths of these words! As the Father loved Him so He loveth us. Continue in my love means “abide in my love.” “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” A blessed and equally solemn contrast! When we walk in fellowship with Him, when we are obedient to Him, as He was obedient to His Father in His path down here, then we abide in His love. Obedience to His words proves our love to Him, and walking in obedience we abide in His love “and hereby we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1Jn 2:3.) Then He declares, “that my joy might remain in you” and “that your joy might be full.” For the knowledge of His joy and the fullness of joy we need to walk in obedience.
Once more He mentions the new commandment (Joh 13:34) “love one another.” The Holy Spirit in the first Epistle of John enlarges upon this. In the world there is no love, but hatred. It hates the true believers, as the world hated Him. The true disciple must expect the same treatment which He receives in this world. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Israel is in view in Joh 15:24. They had seen and hated both Him and the Father.
Once more He announces the coming of the Paraclete, the Comforter. In Chapter 14 our Lord said, “I will pray the Father and He shall send you another Comforter.” Here He promises to send Him from the Father. He is to testify of Himself, witnessing to Him as glorified in the presence of the Father. They were to be witnesses of Him.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 11, 15, 17, 22 Christ the True Vine.
Christ the True Vine.
The Husbandman, the Vine, and the branches:
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v. 1. I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman.
v. 2. 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.
v. 3. Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.
v. 4. 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.
v. 5. 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.
Whether the Lord spoke these words in the courtyard of the house in which He had celebrated the Passover with His disciples, or on the way through the valley of the Kidron, is immaterial. In this section of His discourse He combines parable and application in a very impressive manner. He wants to make clear to His disciples the relation which He holds to those that are called to continue His work. In the great garden, or vineyard, of the world, Jesus is the true Vine, planted there by His heavenly Father according to the eternal counsel of salvation. God the Father Himself is the Husbandman, the Gardener, and He is actively and solicitously concerned about the growth of the Vine. The Vine-dresser takes an unceasing interest in every phase of the Vine’s condition, and in every branch that buds forth from. the main stem. Every one of the annual shoots of the Vine that is fruitless, that shows no indication of becoming a bearing branch, the Vine-dresser takes away, cuts off the stem; and every shoot that is bearing the Gardener cleans very carefully, by removing all suckers, by pruning away all unnecessary buds that sap the vigor of the branch. The object is to have each branch yield the richest possible results. Jesus now makes the application to His disciples. They are clean, free from inward stain, they are in the condition of good branches, ready to yield fruit; and that through the Word, on account of the Word which Jesus has spoken to them, which He had taught them during His ministry. This Word of the Gospel made them clean; it renewed, it converted them; it made them true branches of Christ. "He says plainly: Through the Word are ye clean which I have spoken to you; that is nothing else than the entire preaching of Christ, as He was sent into the world by the Father, in order to pay for our sins through His suffering and death and to reconcile the Father, that all who believe on Him might not be lost nor condemned, but for His sake have forgiveness of sins and eternal life (Joh 3:1-36:. This Word makes a person clean (where it is received into the heart by faith), that is, it brings forgiveness of sins and makes acceptable before God, that for the sake of that faith, by which alone such Word is accepted and adhered to, we that cling thereto are reckoned and considered altogether pure and holy before God, though we, on account of our nature and life, are not clean enough, since sin, weakness, and frailties, which are still to be cleansed, always remain in us as long as we live on earth. " It is necessary therefore, as Christ here urges, that His disciples strive to remain in the condition to which the grace of God has elevated them. They must keep their hold on Him by faith and in trust. And He will then, in turn, abide in them, will supply them with divine power and energy. The branches are active indeed, but only through the. power which they have received from the stem. Just as soon as a branch is taken away from the vine, its ability to bear fruit is ended. Even so, just as soon as a disciple severs his connection with Christ, which is maintained by faith, through the Word, he ceases to be in a condition in which he can bring forth fruit well pleasing to God. Jesus is the Vine, the believers are the branches. While they abide in Him, while His strength flows into them every day and hour, through the Spirit, in the Word, so long they can bring forth fruit in abundance. But let that connection be severed, let the hold of faith be broken, then all good works are a thing of the past. Without Christ, without His power and life, outside of Christ and His strengthening Spirit, there is no possibility of real spiritual work of any kind. The result in such cases, even with the best of intentions, is nothing in the sight of God. In their own strength, by their own power, the believers cannot think, desire, speak, perform anything good. Christ works the doing of the good through the power of the Word.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 26 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The part of the story from the previous chapter continues. Jesus reclines at the table with his disciples and continues to speak to them.
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I am the true vine
Here the "true vine" is a metaphor. Jesus compares himself to a vine or a vine stem. He is the source of life that causes people to live in a way that pleases God. AT: "I am like a vine that produces good fruit" (See: Metaphor)
my Father is the gardener
The "gardener" is a metaphor. A "gardener" is a person who takes care of the vine to ensure it is as fruitful as possible. AT: "my Father is like a gardener" (See: Metaphor)
my Father
This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit
Here "every branch" represents people, and "bear fruit" represents living in a way that pleases God. (See: Metaphor)
takes away
"cuts off and takes away"
prunes every branch
"trims every branch"
translationWords
true
vine
God the Father
fruit
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27 15:1-27 Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure, instructing…
15:1-27 Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure, instructing them to remain in close fellowship with him. The image of a grapevine illustrates both intimacy and fruitfulness. To sustain genuine spiritual life in the world, believers must remain intimately connected to Christ.
15:1 I am: See study note on 6:35. The grapevine and the vineyard traditionally represented God’s people, planted and tended by him in Israel (Ps 80:8-18; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; 12:10-11; Ezek 15:1-5; Hos 10:1-2). When Jesus used this image, he made an important departure: He declared that he is the true grapevine and that a relationship with God requires attachment to him.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.