(Mark
4:13,14)
And he [Jesus] said unto them, Know
ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
The
sower soweth the word. (Luke 8:11) Now
the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
1.
Commentary: It is quite appriopriate to start
off the new year
with what is, according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the most
important
parable in the Bible, “The sower soweth
the word.” Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke each
rendered their
version of this foundational parable that Jesus first delivered in a
“tongue”
to the multitude of listening people, and then almost immediately
thereafter
Jesus “interpretated that tongue” solely for His hearing disciples (who
had ears
to hear). The delivered parable revolves around “the
seeds” that are the
words of God being sown into the soil/hearts of the
listeners. Given the
importance of this parable (according to Jesus), many believing
Christians are
surprised to learn that John, the fourth and last Gospel writer, did
not
repeat, as did the preceeding three Gospel writers, a version of this
particular tongue nor its interpretation.
2.
Commentary: However, John was highly
blessed by Jesus insofar as John was enabled by Jesus to
render
another thoroughly
related culmination or capstone parable to the “seed”
parable, which is the “fruit” parable. “Seed” sown into a receptive
heart, will
bring forth “fruit.” The “fruit” of the
seed sown in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is what John spoke of in
the following
parable. Ultimately, the “fruit” of Father God’s “seed” is love.
(John
15:1,2)
I am the true vine
[Gk: a vine (as coiling about a support)], and
my Father is the husbandman [Gk:
farmer]. Every
branch [Gk: limb or
shoot] in me that beareth not
fruit he taketh away: and every branch
that beareth fruit, he purgeth [Gk: cleanses, prunes] it,
that it may bring forth more fruit. [Jesus Christ is the true vine; Father God is the
husbandmen; we are
the branches]
CLEANSING
(John 15:3-8)
Now ye
are clean [in comparison to being
defiled] through the word
[through the “washing of water by
the word”
of God: Eph 5:26] which I have
spoken unto you. Abide [Gk:
stay: continue, dwell, endure, remain]
in me [in “the
Word [that] was
made flesh, and dwelt among us” John 1:14, i.e., in the Bible], and I in you [i.e., live in me and I shall live 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.
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. If a man abide
not in me,
he is cast forth as a branch, and is
withered [Gk: desiccated,
shriveled: dried up] [by
lack of water, by lack of the word of God, by lack of the Holy Spirit]; and men [“his angels” Mat 13:41] gather
them, and cast them
into the
fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and
my words abide in you,
ye shall ask [pray for] what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you [insofar as your
thoughts have
been transformed (Rom 12:2) into God’s thoughts].
Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
SERVANT OR FRIEND?
(John 15:9-16)
As the
Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue
ye in my love. If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my
Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I
spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That
ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if
ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not
servants;
for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends;
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto
you. Ye
have not chosen [Gk: selected] me, but I have chosen [Gk: selected] you,
and ordained [Gk:
placed: appointed] you,
that
ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that
whatsoever ye shall ask of
the Father in my name, he may give it you.
(John 15:17-19)
These
things I command you, that ye love one another. If
the world hate you,
ye know that it hated me before it
hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own: but
because ye are not of the world [the
world is a seed], but I
have
chosen you [Gk: selected
you] out of the world [What comes out of the logos seed? Answer: the
rhema fruit], therefore the world
hateth you.
REMEMBER THE WORD, Gk: logos
(John 15:20-27)
Remember
the word [Gk: logos; the
seed] that I said unto you, The
servant
is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also
persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they
will keep yours also
[because your sayings are His sayings].
But all these things will they do unto
you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had
not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have
no cloke
[cover]
for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not
done among them the works which none other man did,
they had not had
sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word
might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated
me without a
cause. But when the Comforter [Gk: intercessor, consoler: advocate] is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me [he shall reveal the rhema; the fruit]: And ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning.
Amen