João 15

João 15

(John Commentaries) Charts from Jensen's Survey of the NT - used by permission Another Chart from Charles Swindoll John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. true: John 1:9,17 6:32,55 1Jn 2:8 vine: Ge 49:10,11 Ps 80:8-19 Isa 4:2 Isa 5:1-7 Jer 2:21 12:10 Eze 15:2-6 Ho 10:1 Zec 3:8 Mt 21:33 Lu 13:6 vinedresser: Song 7:12 8:11,12 Isa 27:2,3 60:21 61:3 Mt 20:1 Mk 12:1 1Co 3:9 John 15 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Hosea 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine; He produces fruit for himself. The more his fruit, The more altars he made; The richer his land, The better he made the sacred pillars. Psalm 80:8-19+ You removed a VINE from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground before it, And it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shadow, And the cedars of God with its boughs. 11 It was sending out its branches to the sea And its shoots to the River. 12 Why have You broken down its hedges, So that all who pass that way pick its fruit? 13 A boar from the forest eats it away And whatever moves in the field feeds on it. 14 O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this VINE, 15 Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. 17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we shall not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19 O LORD God of hosts, restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones Isaiah 5:1-7+ Let me sing now for my well-beloved (ISRAEL) A song of my beloved concerning His VINEYARD. My well-beloved had a VINEYARD on a fertile hill. 2 He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest VINE . And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My VINEYARD. 4 “What more was there to do for My VINEYARD that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones? 5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My VINEYARD: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. 6 “I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.” 7 For the VINEYARD of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. Ezekiel 17:6-10 “Then it (ISRAEL) sprouted and became a low, spreading VINE with its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a VINE and yielded shoots and sent out branches. 7 “But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this VINE bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 “It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid VINE.”’ 9 “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers–so that all its sprouting leaves wither? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. 10 “Behold, though it is planted, will it thrive? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it–wither on the beds where it grew?”’” The Vine was a Symbol of Israel Who Was to Bear Fruit JESUS IS THE VINE The Context - John 13-17 was Jesus' private teaching to His disciples (including His prayer to His Father in Jn 17) which took place in the Upper Room less than 24 hours before He was crucified. The last words of any person are usually significant (Borrow fascinating book The Last Words of Saints and Sinners) but in this case these last words of Jesus to His disciples take on incredible significance. It behooves all disciples to read and meditate deeply on these precious promises to us from our Lord. As a generalization, John 14 deals with our Hope in Heaven, John 15 deals with our Help on Earth. The location of the discourse in John 15 and following is debated. Because of Jesus' last words in John 14 "Get up, let us go from here." (Jn 14:31) some think the words in John 15 and following were spoken as they walked through Jerusalem on the way to Gethsemane. Others feel the little band did not actually leave the upper room until John 18:1 which says "When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the ravine of the Kidron, where there was a garden, in which He entered with His disciples." See Danny Akin's outline of John 15 The Real Deal! The Authentic Christian Life John 15:1-16:4 (scroll down to page 3) Charles Smith general thoughts on John 15 - The text of John 15 has been one of the historical battlegrounds of doctrinal interpretation. Perhaps only the passage in Hebrews 6 has been the scene of more battles between the Calvinistic and Arminian schools of interpretation concerning the matter of eternal security. Not only has this text provided the field for many battles between these two schools of theology, but there have also been a great many skirmishes ~~ the two camps upon this same battlefield. Particularly among Calvinists there has been disagreement as to the interpretation of this passage......Arminians have generally understood the unfruitful branches as representative of true believers who, because they become unfruitful, lose their salvation and consequently are ultimately cast into the fires of hell. Calvinists have been divided as to the identification of these branches. Some have taught that they represent true believers. Most have taught that they represent unbelievers who profess to be believers. Still others have taught that two kinds of unfruitful branches are discussed: professing Christians, and true Christians who do not produce the fruits of Christianity. (Article - THE UNFRUITFUL BRANCHES IN JOHN 15 - Page 3-22) Warren Wiersbe introduces this great chapter - This is the seventh and last of the “I AM” statements of Christ recorded in the Gospel of John. However, Jesus did not stop with this image, but went on to use the picture of “the friend.” These two pictures of the believer—branches and friends—reveal both our privileges and our responsibilities. As branches, we have the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding. As friends, we have the privilege of knowing His will, and the responsibility of obeying. (bolding added) Some like Warren Wiersbe feel this is a parable and therefore we should resist drawing conclusions from the details of this description. But Rodney Whitacre disagrees stating "The image is not a parable, since it is not a story, but rather an extended metaphor (Carson 1991:513), that is, basically an allegory, for all the details have significance." (BORROW D A Carson's The Gospel According to John and see page 511ff -- Carson has over 3 pages of discussion on this important distinction. Click the pages 511, 512, 513 in left column. If page not visible, then refresh your screen and it should be legible) I am (ego eimi - present tense - continually) the true (alethinos - genuine, dependable) vine (ampelos - grapevine) - Literally "The Vine genuine." It is interesting that in the Lord's Supper they had just shared literal fruit of the vine (Mk 14:25; Mt 26:29). Compare Jn. 1:9+ the TRUE Light and Jn. 6:32+ the TRUE Bread. Obviously Jesus is speaking metaphorically, so this begs the question of why does He use this metaphor? The following passages will answer that question. If there is a true vine, what is the implication? There is a false vine. It is very likely that Jesus is calling Himself the "true vine" because the nation of Israel had been called God's vine in the OT. In Jeremiah 2:21 Jehovah declared “Yet I planted you (ISRAEL) a choice VINE, a completely faithful seed (all of it true seed). How then have you turned yourself before Me into the degenerate shoots of a foreign VINE ("something like a wild vine that produces rotten, foul-smelling [putrid, stinking] grapes?" NET)? Related Resources: “I AM”—The Eternal Self-Existent God - Dr Henry Morris What did Jesus mean when He said “I AM”? | GotQuestions.org Israel was to have been the tool in God's hand to spread the gospel to the nations, but Israel failed miserably, was faithless and fruitless and produced the corrupt fruit of idolatry and immorality. And by Jesus' day the religious leaders were just that - RELIGIOUS! But they had no RELATIONSHIP with God and could bring no one else into a vital, living relationship with the Living God! And so in His last "I Am" statement Jesus refers to Himself not just "the Vine," but as the TRUE VINE, the One through which a sinner could enter into a living relationship with the righteous and holy God. Jesus as the TRUE VINE was all that the vine Israel sadly could have been had they obeyed Jehovah. Not only will the TRUE VINE accomplish God's desire of redemption of sinners, but He will also rejuvenate the dead vine of the nation of Israel at this Second Coming and setting up of His Messianic Kingdom. Rodney Whitacre adds this note on the true Vine - On the temple there was a "golden vine with grape clusters hanging from it, a marvel of size and artistry" (Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 15.395), and the vine was used to represent Jerusalem on coins made during the first Jewish revolt (A.D. 66-70), so the vine was clearly a symbol of Israel. Furthermore, even the notion of a true vine shows up in the Old Testament: "I planted you as a fruitful vine, entirely true [alethinos]. How have you become a wild vine, turned to bitterness" (Jer 2:21 LXX). Here, as also in Isaiah's Song of the Vineyard, God, the gardener, cared for his vineyard but got sour grapes. Consequently he will destroy the vineyard. This theme of judgment accompanies virtually every use of this imagery in the Old Testament. Therefore, when Jesus refers to himself as the true vine (v. 1) he is once again taking an image for Israel and applying it to himself.... Israel's place as the people of God is now taken by Jesus and his disciples, the vine and its branches. This is not a rejection of Judaism as such, but its fulfillment in its Messiah. The identification of the people of God with a particular nation is now replaced with a particular man who incorporates in himself the new people of God composed of Jews and non-Jews. Israel as the vine of God planted in the Promised Land is now replaced by Jesus, the true vine, and thus the people of God are no longer associated with a territory (Burge 1994).....Given this strong association of the vine with Israel, when Jesus refers to himself as the vine that is true he signals a contrast between himself and the official Judaism as represented in the Jewish leaders who have rejected him and thus cut themselves off from him and his Father.