성경 주석서

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

I am the true vine, … — 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.

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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.

Every branch in me — That thinks himself to be in me, and is so thought to be by others, but proves not to be so. These are said to "deny the Lord that bought them, to trample on the blood of the covenant, wherewith they were sanctified, to wallow in the mire from which they had been washed," 2 Peter 2:1 ; 2 Peter 2:22 Hebrews 10:20 . So here, to be branches in Christ, and yet unfruitful. Not that they ever were in Christ, but seemed to be so; as a pole fixed in the earth, but not rooted; as a rotten leg cleaves to the body, but is no part of it; or, as warts and ulcers, which are taken away without loss to it.

He purgeth it — Αιρει, καθαιρει , Amputat, putat. Of all possessions, saith Cato, none requires more pains about it than that of vineyards. Grain comes up and grows without the husbandman’s care, Mark 4:27 , he knows not how. But vines must be dressed, supported, sheltered, pruned every day almost; lopped they must be ever and anon, lest the juice be spent in leaves. And if it be painful to bleed, it is worse to wither. Better be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.

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Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

Through the word, … — Which is the pruning knife, to lop off our luxuriances, rotten boughs, raw grapes, to pare off our gum of pride, moss of formality, Vinitoris cultellus ad sordes purgandas. (Col.) The word hid in the heart keeps from sin, as an amulet, Psalms 119:11 , and keeps youth from uncleanness, John 15:9 ; mixed with faith, it purgeth upon corruption,Acts 15:9; Acts 15:9 , and will not suffer men to rest in sin.

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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.

As the branch cannot bear fruit, … — All our sap and safety is from Christ. The bud of a good desire, the blossom of a good resolution, and the fruit of a good action, all come from him, Gratia praevenit nos ut velimus, et subsequitur ne frustra velimus. (Augustine.)

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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.

The same bringeth forth much fruit — Christ is a generous vine, a plant of renown; and all his are "filled with the fruits of righteousness,"Philippians 1:11; Philippians 1:11 , have hearts full of goodness, as those Romans 15:14 , and lives full of good works, as Tabitha, Acts 9:33 . In Bucholcero vivida omnia fuerunt; vivida vox, vividi oculi, vividae manus, gestus omnes vividi. (Melch. Ad. in Vita.) Nehemiah never rested doing good for his people; he was good all over. Like the Egyptian fig tree, that bears fruit seven times a year; or the lemon tree, which ever and anon sendeth forth new lemons, as soon as the former are fallen off; or the plain of Campania, now called Terra de lavoro, region of labour, which is extolled for the most fruitful plat of earth that is in the universe.

For without me ye can do nothing — This is point blank against the doctrine of freewill. Sub laudibus naturae latent inimici gratiae, Those who hide under the praise of works are enemies of free grace, saith Augustine. These will needs hammer out their own happiness, like the spider, climbing by a thread of her own weaving, with motto accordingly, Mihi soli debeo. I owe only to me. Whereas the apostle demandeth, Who made thee to differ? Grevinchovius the Arminian boldly answers, Ego meipsum discerno, I make myself to differ. This he had learned from heathens belike: What we live, is from God; but that we live well, is from ourselves, saith Seneca. And this is the judgment of all men, saith Cicero, that prosperity is to be sought of God, but wisdom is to be taken up from ourselves. St Augustine was of another judgment, and saith, Ciceronem, ut faceret homines liberos, fecisse sacrilegos. Quod vivamus deorum munus est; quod bone vivamus, nostrum. Iudicium hoc omnium mortalium est, … (Cic. de Nat. Deor.; Aug. Civ. Dei. l. 5.)

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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.

Cast them into the fire, and they are burned — So they must needs be, may some say; but his meaning is, that temporaries, of all others, make the fiercest, hottest fire, because they are trees most seared and fuel fully dry. Nahum tells us that such are but as stubble laid out in the sun to dry, that it may burn the better, John 1:10 ; or like grapes, let to hang in the sunshine till they be ripe, for the winepress of God’s wrath, Revelation 19:15 .

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If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Ask what ye will, and it, … — Either in money or money’s worth. If ye ask and miss it is because ye ask amiss. One was wont to say of Luther that he could have from God what he would; Vir iste potuit quod voluit. And being one time very earnest with God for the recovery of a godly useful man, he cried out, Fiat voluntas mea, Let thy will be done; and then he falls off sweetly, My will, Lord, because thy will; Mea voluntas, Domine, quia tua.

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Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Herein is my Father glorified, … — There is not (saith one) so much of the glory of God in all his works of creation and providence as in one gracious action that a Christian performs; how much more in a life full of good fruits! This makes others say, Surely God is in them. Vere magnus est Deus Christianorum, said one Calocenius a heathen. God also accounts that he receives a new being, as it were, by those inward conceptions of his glory, and by those outward honours that we do to him, especially when we study God’s ends more than our own, and drown all self-respects in his glory. Surely, they that do thus may have what they will (saith one), and God even think himself beholden to them.

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