CHAP. John 15:1-11. 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. Ἡ ἌΜΠ. Ἡ�. For ἘΓ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΛΗ͂ΜΑ. Occurs here only (John 15:2-6) in N.T. In classical Greek it is specially used of the vine. Κλάδος (Matthew 13:32; Matthew 21:8; Matthew 24:32; Mark 4:32; Mark 13:28; Luke 13:9; Romans 11:16-21) is the smaller branch of any tree. So that κλῆμα itself, independently of the context, fixes the... [ Continue Reading ]
ἬΔΗ ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ Κ. ALREADY _are ye clean_ BECAUSE _of the word_. Distinguish διά with the accusative from διά with the genitive. A.V. confounds the two here and Matthew 15:3; Matthew 15:6. Ὁ λόγος is the whole teaching of Christ, not any particular discourse (John 14:23). Ἤδη assures the disciples that t... [ Continue Reading ]
4 and 6. ΜΈΝΗΙ, ΜΈΝΗΤΕ, ΜΈΝΗΙ for μείνῃ, μείνητε, μείνῃ. 4. ΚἈΓῺ ἘΝ ὙΜΙ͂Ν. This may be taken either as a promise (‘and then I will abide in you’), or as the other side of the command (‘take care that I abide in you’). The latter is better. The freedom of man’s will is such that on his action depends... [ Continue Reading ]
5. The text of the allegory is repeated and enlarged. That the disciples are the branches has been implied but not stated. Note the irregular construction and comp. John 5:44. ὍΤΙ ΧΩΡῚΣ ἘΜΟΥ͂. BECAUSE APART FROM ME (John 1:3; Ephesians 2:12). Christians cannot live as such if severed from Christ. N... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ should probably be inserted before ΠΥ͂Ρ with אAB: omitted as less usual; comp. Matthew 3:10; Matthew 7:19; Luke 3:9. 6. ἘΒΛΉΘΗ ἜΞΩ. _Is cast out_ of the vineyard. The vineyard is a further enlargement of the idea. The aorist shews the inevitable nature of the consequence: he is already cast out a... [ Continue Reading ]
ΑἸΤΉΣΑΣΘΕ for αἰτήσεσθε (influenced by γενήσεται). 7. Ὃ ἘΆΝ ΘΈΛ. ΑἸΤ. ASK WHATSOEVER _ye will_. Both in its comprehensiveness and in its limitation the promise is similar to that in John 14:13-14. One who abides in Christ and has His SAYINGS (John 3:34) abiding in him cannot ask amiss: His words in... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΟΎΤΩΙ. Looks back to John 15:5; John 15:7 or perhaps forward to ἵνα; comp. John 4:37; John 16:30; 1 John 4:17. The aorist ἘΔΟΞΆΣΘΗ is similar to those in John 15:6. The Father is already glorified in the union between Christ and His disciples. He is glorified whenever the occasion arises. For ἽΝ... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘῺΣ ἨΓ. Authorities differ as to whether we should place a comma or a colon at ἠγάπησα: either, EVEN AS _the Father hath loved Me_ AND _I have loved you_, ABIDE _in My love;_ or, EVEN AS _the Father hath loved Me_, I ALSO _have loved you_ (John 17:18; John 20:21): ABIDE _in My love_. The latter is... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘῺΣ ἘΓΏ. This being a subordinate sentence, the tremendous import of it is liable to pass unnoticed. Looking back over a life of thirty years Jesus says, _I have kept the Father’s commandments_. Would the best man that ever lived, if only a man, dare to say this? see on John 8:29; John 8:46; John... [ Continue Reading ]
ἮΙ for μείνῃ (influenced by John 15:10). 11. The verse forms a conclusion to the allegory of the Vine: comp. John 5:17; John 14:25; John 16:25; John 16:33. For Ἡ Χ. Ἡ ἘΜΉ see on John 8:31 : _that the joy that is Mine may be in you_ means the joy which Christ experienced through consciousness of His... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἡ ἘΝΤ. Ἡ ἘΜΉ. see on John 3:29. In John 15:10 He said that to keep His commandments was the way to abide in His love. He now reminds them what His commandment is (see on John 13:34). It includes all others. A day or two before this Christ had been teaching that all the Law and the Prophets hang on t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE UNION OF THE DISCIPLES WITH ONE ANOTHER IN CHRIST... [ Continue Reading ]
13. This verse and the next three are an expansion of καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς. The standard of Christian love is the love of Christ for His disciples: that is the ideal to be aimed at. For Τ. ΨΥΧῊΝ ΑΥ̓. ΘΗ͂Ι see on John 10:11. Needless difficulty has been made about ὙΠῈΡ Τ. ΦΊΛΩΝΑΥ̓., as if it contradict... [ Continue Reading ]
ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ ΦΊΛΟΙ. Ὑμεῖς is emphatic: ‘and when I say “friends” I mean you.’ This shews that ‘friends’ was used simply because He was speaking to Apostles.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ΚΈΤΙ. NO LONGER _do I call you servants_ (see on John 8:34 and comp. John 14:30. He had implied that they were His servants John 12:26 and stated it John 13:13-16. The two relationships do not exclude one another. He had called them φίλοι before this (Luke 12:4); and they did not cease to be His... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓Χ ὙΜΕΙ͂Σ. NOT YE CHOSE _Me, but I_ CHOSE _you_. Ὑμεῖς and ἐγώ are emphatic. Ἐκλέγειν refers to their election to be Apostles (John 6:70; John 13:18; Acts 1:2); therefore the aorist as referring to a definite act in the past should be preserved. So also ἜΘΗΚΑ, I APPOINTED _you_, i. e. assigned you... [ Continue Reading ]
17. ΤΑΥ͂ΤΑ. The verse sums up what precedes and prepares for a new departure (comp. John 15:11; John 14:25; John 16:1; John 16:25; John 16:33), ταῦτα referring to what has been said about being one with Him and with one another. For ἽΝΑ see on John 1:8 and comp. John 15:12; John 11:57;... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΙΝΏΣΚΕΤΕ] Either _ye know_, or _know ye, that it_ HATH _hated Me_. As in John 14:1, the imperative seems preferable to the indicative: in John 15:27 and John 5:39 the context throws the balance the other way. ΜΕΜΊΣΗΚΕΝ expresses what has been and still is the case. ΠΡΩ͂ΤΟΝ ὙΜΩ͂Ν is similar to πρῶτ... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HATRED OR THE WORLD TO BOTH HIM AND THEM In strong contrast to the love and union between Christ and His disciples and among the disciples themselves is the hatred of the world to Him and them. He gives them these thoughts to console them in encountering this hatred of the world. (1) It hated H... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤῸ ἼΔΙΟΝ. _Its own_. In John 7:7 He told His brethren, who did not believe on Him, that the world could not hate them. This shews why. In their unbelief it still found something of its own (1 John 4:5). The selfishness of the world’s love is thus indicated. It loves not so much them, as that in them... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΝΗΜΟΝΕΎΕΤΕ. See note on John 13:16 : of the passages noticed there Matthew 10:24 is similar in meaning to this. Christ may here be alluding to the occasion recorded in Matthew 10:24. On the blessedness of sharing the lot of Christ comp. 1 Peter 4:12-13. ΕἸ ἘΜῈ ἘΔ. _If they_ PERSECUTED _Me … if they... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΛΛΆ. _But_ be of good cheer, it is διὰ τὸ ὄνομα μου. This thought is to turn their suffering into joy: Acts 5:41; Acts 21:13; 2 Corinthians 12:10; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 2:17-18; 1 Peter 4:14. With ΟΥ̓Κ ΟἼΔΑΣΙΝ comp. John 7:28; John 16:3;... [ Continue Reading ]
22 and 24. ΕἼΧΟΣΑΝ for εἶχον (more usual form). The general subject still continues from John 13:31—CHRIST’S LOVE IN KEEPING HIS OWN. This is still further set forth in this chapter in three main aspects: 1. _Their union with Him_, illustrated by the allegory of the Vine (1–11); 2. _Their union wit... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ. If they did not perceive that His words were Divine, they might at least have recognised His works as such (John 10:38; John 14:11; John 5:36). Here again their sin was against light: they admitted the works (John 11:47) as such that none other did (John 9:32), and like Philip they had seen... [ Continue Reading ]
Τ. ΝΌΜΦ. In the wide sense for the O. T. as a whole (John 10:34; John 12:34; Romans 3:19). The passage may be from Psalms 69:4 or Psalms 35:19 : there are similar passages Psalms 109:3 and Psalms 119:161. That their hatred is gratuitous is again inexcusable.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΓῺ ΠΈΜΨΩ. ἘΓΏ is an emphatic claim to Divinity. Here it is the Son who Bends the ADVOCATE from the Father (see on John 1:6). In John 14:16 the Father sends in answer to the Son’s prayer. In John 14:26 the Father sends in the Son’s name. These are three ways of expressing that the mission of the Par... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ὙΜ. ΔῈ Μ. NAY, YE ALSO BEAR WITNESS, or NAY, BEAR YE ALSO WITNESS (Winer, p. 53): but the conjunctions are against μαρτυρεῖτε being imperative; comp. 3 John 1:12 and see on John 15:18 and John 8:16. The testimony of the disciples is partly the same as that of the Spirit, partly not. It is the sa... [ Continue Reading ]