'I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. 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. Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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.'--JOHN xv. 14.
WHAT suggested this lovely parable of the vine and the branches is
equally unimportant and undiscoverable. Many guesses have been made,
and, no doubt, as was the case with almost all our Lord's parables,
some external object gave occasion for it. It is a significant token of
our Lord's calm collectedness, even at that supreme and heart-shaking
moment, that He should have been at leisure to observe, and to use for
His purposes of teaching, something that was present at the instant.
The deep and solemn lessons which He draws, perhaps from some vine by
the wayside, are the richest and sweetest clusters that the vine has
ever grown. The great truth in this chapter, applied in manifold
directions, and viewed in many aspects, is that of the living union
between Christ and those who believe on Him, and the parable of the
vine and the branches affords the foundation for all which follows.
We take the first half of that parable now. It is somewhat difficult to
trace the course of thought in it, but there seems to be, first of all,
the similitude set forth, without explanation or interpretation, in its
most general terms, and then various aspects in which its applications
to Christian duty are taken up and reiterated, I simply follow the
words which I have read for my text.