John 15 - Introduction
CHAPTER 15. _ The relation between Jesus and His disciples represented by the relation of the vine and its branches_.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 15. _ The relation between Jesus and His disciples represented by the relation of the vine and its branches_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή, “I am the true vine.” ἡ ἀληθινή suggests a contrast to other vines to which this title could not be applied: but not to a vine trailing across the window of the room where they were, nor to the golden vine on the Temple gate, nor to the vines on the slopes of Olivet; bu... [ Continue Reading ]
The function of the vinedresser is at once described: πᾶν κλῆμα … φέρῃ. κλῆμα, or more fully as in Xen., _Oecon._, xix. 8, κλῆμα ἀμπέλου, is the shoot of the vine which is annually put forth. It is from κλάω, “I break,” as also is κλάδος, but Wetstein quotes Pollux to show that κλάδος was appropriat... [ Continue Reading ]
ἤδη ὑμεῖς καθαροί ἐστε : “Already ye are clean”. καθαροί here means “in a condition fit to bear fruit”; in John 13:10-11, it is suggested by the feet-washing, and means “free from inward stain”. It is similarly used even in classical writers. διὰ τὸν λόγον ὃν λελάληκα ὑμῖν, “on account of the word w... [ Continue Reading ]
It is in and through you I live henceforth. καθὼς τὸ κλῆμα … μείνητε [or μένητε]; illustrating by the figure the necessity of the foregoing injunction. A branch that falls to the ground, and no longer abides in the vine as a living part of it, cannot bear fruit, so neither can ye except ye abide in... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐγὼ … κλήματα “I am the Vine, ye are the branches,” together forming one tree and possessed by one common life. The stock does not bear fruit, but only the branches; the branches cannot live without the stock. Therefore it follows ὁ μένων … οὐδέν. The one thing needful for fruit-bearing is that we a... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐὰν μή τις μείνῃ, “if any one shall not have abided in me”. ἐβλήθη … ἐξηράνθη, the gnomic aorist, _cf._ 1 Peter 1:24; and see Burton, _M. and T._, 43, and Grotius: “Hi aoristi sine designatione temporis significant quid fieri soleat, pro quo et praesens saepe usurpatur”. The whole process undergone... [ Continue Reading ]
From the fate of those who do not abide in Him, Jesus turns to the results of faithful adherence ἐὰν μείνητε … ὑμῖν. The expression is altered from that of John 15:3; John 15:5, instead of “and I in you,” we now have “and my words abide in you”; it is by means of His teaching and His commandments th... [ Continue Reading ]
Further assurance of an answer is given in the fact that the γεωργός is glorified in the fruit-bearing branches: ἐν τούτῳ, “in this pre-eminently,” _i.e._, in your bearing much fruit, _cf._ John 6:29-30; John 6:40. So, rightly, Weiss and Holtzmann. For construction with ἵνα see Burton on Subject, Pr... [ Continue Reading ]
Καθὼς ἠγάπησε … ἐμῇ. Love is the true bond which gives unity to the moral world, and inspires discipleship. All that Christ experiences is the result of the Father's love: all that the disciples are called to be and to do is the outcome of Christ's love. This love of Christ was to be retained as the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The disciples are urged to fulfil Christ's purposes in the world, and are assured that if they abide in the love of Christ they will receive all they need for fruit-bearing_.... [ Continue Reading ]
That possibility is defeated, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου τηρήσητε. To encourage them in keeping His commandments He reminds them that He also has been subject to the same conditions, and by keeping the Father's commandments has remained in His love.... [ Continue Reading ]
The great joy of His life had been found in the consciousness of the Father's love and in the keeping of His commandments: this joy He desires that they may inherit, ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ, “my joy,” _i.e._, the joy I have enjoyed, the joy which I habitually feel in accom... [ Continue Reading ]
And that they might know definitely what His commandment (John 15:10) is, He says, αὕτη … ὑμᾶς. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.” Perhaps they expected minute, detailed instructions such as they had received when first sent out (Matthew 10). Instead of this, lov... [ Continue Reading ]
And that they might not underrate the measure of this exemplary love, He says, μείζονα ταύτης ἀγάπην … αὐτοῦ. Ταύτης is explained by ἵνα … αὐτοῦ as in John 15:8; and does not directly mean “than this which I have shown and still show,” as understood by Westcott and Whitelaw. It is a general statemen... [ Continue Reading ]
Then comes the application: ὑμεῖς … ὑμῖν. “Ye are my friends, if ye do what I command you.” You may expect of me this greatest demonstration of love, and therefore every minor demonstration of it which your circumstances may require, “if ye do,” etc. This condition was added not to chill and daunt,... [ Continue Reading ]
“Friends” who may expect all the good offices of their Friend, not “slaves,” is the character in which alone you can carry on my work: οὐκέτι ὑμᾶς λέγω δούλους … ὑμῖν. The designation “slave” is no longer (οὐκέτι) appropriate, _cf._ John 13:16 and James 1:1; Philippians 1:1, etc. It is not appropria... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐχ ὑμεῖς … ὑμῖν. This is added to encourage them in taking up and prosecuting the work of Jesus. Euthymius says it is ἄλλο τεκμήριον τοῦ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς φίλους ἑαυτοῦ; but it is more. They are invited to depend on His will, not on their own. They had not discovered Him, and attached themselves to Him,... [ Continue Reading ]
ταῦτα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν. “These things” which I have now spoken “I enjoin upon you,” ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους, “in order that ye may love one another”.... [ Continue Reading ]
Εἰ ὁ κόσμος … μεμίσηκεν, “If the world hates you,” as it does (indicative); “the world” is contrasted with “one another” of John 15:17, with the disciples who were to love. γινώσκετε, “ye know,” or, if it be taken as an imperative, “know ye,” that it has hated me, πρῶτον ὑμῶν, “before you,” and, as... [ Continue Reading ]
_The relation of the disciples to the world_.... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ ἐκ … ἐφίλει, “If ye were of the world, the world would love [that which is] its own”; not always the case, but generally. ὅτι δὲ … ὁ κόσμος, “but because ye are not of the world,” do not belong to it, and are not morally identified with it, “but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the w... [ Continue Reading ]
μνημονεύετε τοῦ λόγου … αὐτοῦ. μνημονεύετε (from μνήμων, mindful), “be mindful of,” sometimes used pregnantly, as in 1 Thessalonians 1:3; Galatians 2:10; “the words which I said to you,” _viz._, in John 13:16, and Matthew 10:24-25. The outcome of the principle is seen in 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλά. “But” be not dismayed at persecution, for “all these things they will do to you _for my name's sake_ ”. ταῦτα πάντα seems to involve that details had been given (_cf._ Matthew 10:16 ff.) which were omitted by the reporter; or that John 16:2 had been already uttered; or that John, writing when... [ Continue Reading ]
“If I had not come and spoken to them,” as the revealer of the Father, “they would not have sin,” they would still be ignorant of the Father, but would not have incurred the guilt which attaches to ignorance maintained in the presence of light. ἔχειν ἁμαρτίαν is Johannine, see John 15:24, John 19:11... [ Continue Reading ]
In hating me, they hate my Father whom I represent, ὁ ἐμὲ μισῶν … μισεῖ. In hating and persecuting me, it is God they hate.... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ τὰ ἔργα … οὐκ εἶχον. This repeats in a slightly varied form the statement of John 15:22. He had not only come and spoken, but had done works which none other had done, _cf._ John 3:2; John 9:32; John 7:31. The miracles wrought by Christ were themselves of a kind fitted to produce faith. In them m... [ Continue Reading ]
This almost incredible blindness and obduracy is accounted for, as in John 12:37, by the purpose of God disclosed in O.T. Scripture. “Their law” is here, as in John 10:34, etc., used of O.T. Scripture as a whole. αὐτῶν is inserted, as ὑμετέρῳ in John 8:17, to suggest that the very Scripture in which... [ Continue Reading ]
But the work of the Apostles was not to be wholly fruitless, nor was their experience to be wholly comprised in fruitless persecution. Ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ … περὶ ἐμοῦ. The Spirit of Truth will witness concerning me. The Spirit is here designated, as in John 14:16, “the Paraclete,” and the Spirit of Truth.... [ Continue Reading ]
to John 16:11. _The conquest of the world by the Spirit_.... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ὑμεῖς δὲ μαρτυρεῖτε, “and do ye also witness,” or, if indicative, “and ye also witness”. Most prefer the indicative. “The disciples were already the witnesses which they were to be in the future.” Meyer. This agrees with the ἐστε following. They were able to act as witnesses ὅτι ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μετʼ ἐ... [ Continue Reading ]