BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR JOH 15CHAPTER XV."Veb. 1. I am the Tme Vine. — The origin of the atttuion : — Most of •ax Lord'sfigurative discourses were obviously suggested by some ontward thing. Whatwas the visible object here ? It could hardly have originated in a thought aboat**tho fiuit of the vine," represented by what He had been pouring from thaCHAP. IT.] ST. JOH. 601enp ; nor is it satisfactory to say that He pointed to a vine in the garden ; forthe garden was not a vineyard. You will notice that although the words, " Arise,let us go hence," occur in chap. xiv. 31, the words that fill up chapters xv., xvi.,and xvii. were spoken before we eome to the entrance into the garden. ow,for these long utterances to have been Bpoken in this walk is to me inconceiv-able. Some think however, that when Christ said, " Arise, let us go hence,"they rose, and that the words filling the next three chapters were spoken whilethey were still standing, just as a leader, after he has signified that the meetingis over, may say at the door, " Stop, a new thought strikes me," and may thenlinger to utter unpremeditated things. But it is inconceivable that Christ shouldleave His longest and most important parting instructions until the audiencehad, at His own request, all risen to go. My own opinion is that Jesus on Hisway to the garden went to take a farewell glance at the Temple, and that forthe purpose of teaching the disciples lessons founded on its golden vine. ationshave often taken certain plants or flowers for their heraldic devices, such as therose, the thistle, and the shamrock. If not as a matter of heraldry, as a matterof fact, the vine appeared to be the device on the shield of Israel. Strikingpassages might be quoted in proof, from the prophets (Isa. xxvii. 6 ; Jer. ii. 21 ;Ezek. XV. 2; xvii. 8; Psa. Ixxx. 8-11). The Master then took the scholars upto the famous national emblem displayed over the porch of the sanctuary, andwith that before them, prepared them to understand that now the sacred nationwas about to lose its ancient place, and to be superseded and fulfilled by thenation of saved souls; teaching them to withdraw their trust in that vine, andto place their trust in Him alone, henceforth to be one with Him, as are brancheswith the tree they spring from. (C. Stanford, D.D.) The True Vine : — I. ThhVIE. . 1. The method of Christ's teaching seems to have depended largely on
chances and occasions. Seeds of truth were blown from Him who is the Truthby every breeze of circumstance, -like thistledown by the wind. This allegorywas suggested, perhaps, by a portion of a trellised vine outside, peeping in throughthe latticed window, rustling in the evening breeze, or showing through its veined,transparent leaves the golden light of the setting sun ; or, more probably still,the wine-cup before Him on the supper-table. 2. But while the form of Christ'steaching was determined by the accident of the moment, it fell in with thegeneral analogy of Scripture teaching. The vine is one of the most familiarimages in the Old Testament. o less than five of our Lord's parables referto it. 3.( The Land of Promise was a land of vineyards ; and Judaea especially,with its temperate climate, and elevated rocky slopes, was admirably adaptedfor the culture of the vine. A vineyard on a terrace or brow of a hill is thefirst object that strikes the eye of the traveller when he approaches Judsea fromthe desert. A vineyard on a hill, fenced and cleared of stones, was the naturalemblem of the kingdom of Judah ; and this heraldic symbol was engraved onthe coins of the Maccabees, on the ornaments of the Temple, and on the tomb-stones of the Jews. It is not without significance that the vine should be thuspeculiarto Judsea. One of the most perfect of plants, it belongs to one of the most perfect of eountries as regards its physical structure.^ Contrast the grapes of Eshcol with thevariegated scenery of that valley, and its geological conformation, with the hard drywoody fruits of the parched plains of Australia : a low type of fruit with a low typeolcountry. There is a close typical relation between the character of a country and thecharacter of its productions ; and this relation ascends even into the world of man.As the monotonous plains and innutritious fruits of Australia reared the lowesteavages ; so the picturesque mountain scenery, and the rich nutritious grapes,pomegranates and olives of Palestine developed the noblest of the human races.II. The fitness of the vinb Fob oub Lobd's poeposb. 1. He wished to represent — (1) The permanent spiritual union of His disciples with Himself ; and thereforea perennial and not an annual plant must be selected, a dicotyledonous tree withbranches, and not a monocotyledonous tree without branches. The image of thelily suited Him when His own personal loveliness, purity, and fragrance, andHis own short-lived single life on earth were intended to be shadowed forth ;and the image of the palm-tree, which has no branches, suited the discipleswhen their own individual excellence was portrayed. (2) The fruitfulness of Christ and of believers in Him ; and hence the plant that can do this adequatelymast be a cultivated one — not a mere herb of the field, hke com, yielding fruitonly on the top of a stalk, but a tree yielding fruit on every branch. (3) The¦nbordinate relation to and dependence of Chnst upon His Father in the dayi
60S THE BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR. [ohap.xt.of His flesh ; and this idea manifestly excludes all frait-trees that are capableof standing alone and ansupported, such as the apple — the pomegranate, or thefig-tree. (4) Believers exhibit, with general features of resemblance, considerablepersonal differences ; and the plant which is to represent this quality must admitof considerable variability within certain distinct and well-reoognized limits. Allthese qualifications meet in the vine, and in the vine alone. 2. The vinebelongs peculiarly to the human period, and was planted in the earth shortlybefore its occupancy by man. It came into the world along with the beautifulrose, and the fruitful apple, and the fragrant mint, and the honey-ladenbee, to make an Eden of nature for man's use and enjoyment. The formerages were flowerless; green, monotonous tree-ferns and tree-mosses, destinedto become fuel for man, alone covered the land. Prophesied by all previousvegetable forms, whose structure approached nearer and nearer to its type, the vineappeared in the fulness of the earth's time ; just as He whom it shadowed forth waaannounced in type and prophecy from the foundation of the world, and appeared inthe fulness of human history when the world was ready for His reception. Andthus the symbol and the Person symbolized belong peculiarly to the human world,and were destined specially for human nourishment and satisfaction. 3. A strictcorrelation exists between the culture of the vine and the intellectual and spiritualdevelopment of humanity. Wherever the grape ripens, there flourish all the artathat chiefly tend to make life nobler and more enjoyable. The spread of the Chris-tian religion, as a general rule, has been co-extensive and synchronous with that of the vine, so that wherever the allegory of our Saviour is read, there the naturalobject may be seen to illustrate it. 4./ In the symbol of the vine our Lord recog-nizes the prefiguration in plants of animal furms and functions. In the stem^branches, and foliage of the vine, we discern the ideal plan on which our ownbodiesare constructed: the stem being the spinal column; the branches the ribs andmembers : the leaves the lungs ; while the sap-vessels, filled with their nourishingfluid, correspond with the veins and their circulating blood. ' The functions, too,which all these parts and organs in the vine perform are precisely analogous tothose which similar parts and organs perform in the economy of man. III. ChkistTHE Trde Vine. 1. St. John's Gospel has several peculiar terms — such as theWord,the Light, the Life, the Truth, the World, Glory, Grace — which, perhaps morethanall others, bear upon them the clear stamp of the Divine signet. To these may beadded the word " true," which occurs no less than twenty-two times in this Gospel,as against five times in all the rest of the ew Testament. By us the word ia
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