CHAPTER XV. _The union of Jesus Christ with his followers, represented by the_ _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 i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:2. _EVERY BRANCH IN ME_] I stand in the same relation to my followers, and they to me, as the vine to the branches, and the branches to the vine. _HE TAKETH AWAY_] As the vine-dresser will remove every unfruitful branch from the vine, so will my Father remove every unfruitful member f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:3. _NOW YE ARE CLEAN_] καθαροι εστε, _Ye are pruned_. As our Lord has not changed the metaphor, it would be wrong to change the expression. _THROUGH THE WORD_] δια τον λογος, _Through that word_-that doctrine of holiness which I have incessantly preached unto you, and which ye have re... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:4. _ABIDE IN ME_] Hold fast faith and a good conscience; and let no trials turn you aside from the truth. _And I_ will abide _in_ _you_-ye shall receive every help and influence from me that your souls can require, in order to preserve and save them to eternal life. These two things a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:5. _WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING._] Χωρις εμου ου δυνασθε ποιειν ουδεν - _Separated from me, ye can do nothing at all_. God can do without man, but man cannot do without God. Following the metaphor of our Lord, it would be just as possible to do any good without him, as for a branch to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:6. _IF A MAN ABIDE NOT IN ME_] Our Lord in the plainest manner intimates that a person may as truly be united to him as the branch is to the tree that produces it, and yet be afterwards cut off and cast into the fire; _because he has not brought forth_ _fruit to the glory of his God_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:7. _IF YE ABIDE IN ME_, c.] "Those," says Creeshna, "whose understandings are in him, (God,) whose souls are in him, whose confidence is in him, whose asylum is in him, are by the inspired wisdom purified from all their offenses, and go from whence they shall never return." Geeta, p. 5... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:8. _HEREIN IS MY FATHER GLORIFIED_] Or, _honoured_. It is the honour of the husbandman to have good, strong, vigorous vines, plentifully laden with fruit: so it is the honour of God to have strong, vigorous, holy children, entirely freed from sin, and perfectly filled with his love.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:10. _IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS_, c.] Hence we learn that it is impossible to retain a sense of God's pardoning love, without continuing in the obedience of faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:11. _THAT MY JOY MAY REMAIN IN YOU_] That the joy which I now feel, on account of your steady, affectionate attachment to me, may be lasting, I give you both warnings and directions, that ye may abide in the faith. _THAT YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL._] Or, _complete _- πληρωθη, _filled_ _up... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:12. _THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER_] John 13:34, John 13:34. So deeply was thus commandment engraved on the heart of this evangelist that St. Jerome says, lib. iii. c. 6, Com. ad _Galat_., that in his extreme old age, when he used to be carried to the public assemblies of the believers, his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:13. _THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS._] No man can carry his love for his friend farther than this: for, when he gives up his life, he gives up all that he has. This proof of my love for you I shall give in a few hours; and the doctrine which I recommend to you I am just g... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:15. _HENCEFORTH I CALL YOU NOT SERVANTS_] Which he at least indirectly had done, John 13:16; Matthew 10:24; Luke 17:10. _I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS_] I have admitted you into a state of the most intimate fellowship with myself; and have made known unto you whatsoever I have heard from... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:16. _YE HAVE NOT CHOSEN ME_] Ye have not elected me as your Teacher: I have called you to be my disciples; witnesses and depositories of the truth. It was customary among the Jews for every person to choose his own teacher. _AND ORDAINED YOU_] Rather, _I have appointed you_: the word... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:18. _IF THE WORLD HATE YOU_] As the followers of Christ were to be exposed to the hatred of the world, it was no small consolation to them to know that that hatred would be only in proportion to their faith and holiness; and that, consequently, instead of being troubled at the prospec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:19. _YE ARE NOT OF THE WORLD - THEREFORE_, c.] On this very account, because ye do not join in fellowship with those who know not God, therefore they hate you. How true is that saying:- "The laws of Christ _condemn_ a vicious world, And _goad_ it to _revenge_!" GAMBOLD.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:20. _IF THEY HAVE KEPT MY SAYING_] Or, _doctrine_. Whosoever acknowledges _me_ for _the Christ_ will acknowledge _you_ for my _ministers_. Some translate the passage thus: _If they have WATCHED my_ _sayings_, i.e. with an intent to accuse me for something which I have said, _they will... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:21. _BECAUSE THEY KNOW NOT HIM THAT SENT ME._] This is the foundation of all religious persecution: those who are guilty of it, whether in Church or state, know nothing about God. If God _tolerates_ a worship which professes to have him for its object, and which does not disturb the qu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _BUT NOW THEY HAVE NO CLOKE FOR THEIR SIN._] They are without _excuse_. See the _margin_, and John 9:41. Christ had done such works as demonstrated him to be the Messiah - yet they rejected him: here lay their sin; and this sin, and the punishment to which it exposed them, still remain; fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:25. _WRITTEN IN THEIR LAW_] John 10:34. These words are taken from Psalms 69:4. This psalm is applied to Christ, John 2:17; John 19:28; to the vengeance of God against Judea, Acts 1:20. The psalm seems entirely prophetic of Christ. His deep _abasement_ is referred to, Psalms 69:2; his... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse John 15:26. _BUT WHEN THE COMFORTER IS COME_] John 14:16. Ver. John 15:26. _HE SHALL TESTIFY AND YE ALSO SHALL BEAR_ _witness_] He shall bear his testimony in your souls, and ye shall bear this testimony to the world. And so they did, by their miracles, their preaching, their writings, their... [ Continue Reading ]