Yohanes 15:12

15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. ¹ 

Yohanes 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ²  and my Father is the gardener. ³ 

Yohanes 2:7-11

2:7 Jesus told the servants, ⁴  “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ⁵  and they did. 2:9 When ⁶  the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from ⁷  (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he ⁸  called the bridegroom 2:10 and said to him, “Everyone ⁹  serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper ¹⁰  wine when the guests ¹¹  are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 2:11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, ¹²  in Cana ¹³  of Galilee. In this way he revealed ¹⁴  his glory, and his disciples believed in him. ¹⁵ 

[15:12]  ¹ sn Now the reference to the commandments (plural) in 15:10 have been reduced to a singular commandment: The disciples are to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them. This is the ‘new commandment’ of John 13:34, and it is repeated in 15:17. The disciples’ love for one another is compared to Jesus’ love for them. How has Jesus shown his love for the disciples? This was illustrated in 13:1-20 in the washing of the disciples’ feet, introduced by the statement in 13:1 that Jesus loved them “to the end.” In context this constitutes a reference to Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross on their behalf; the love they are to have for one another is so great that it must include a self-sacrificial willingness to die for one another if necessary. This is exactly what Jesus is discussing here, because he introduces the theme of his sacrificial death in the following verse. In John 10:18 and 14:31 Jesus spoke of his death on the cross as a commandment he had received from his Father, which also links the idea of commandment and love as they are linked here. One final note: It is not just the degree or intensity of the disciples’ love for one another that Jesus is referring to when he introduces by comparison his own death on the cross (that they must love one another enough to die for one another) but the very means of expressing that love: It is to express itself in self-sacrifice for one another, sacrifice up to the point of death, which is what Jesus himself did on the cross (cf. 1 John 3:16).

[15:1]  ² sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ³ tn Or “the farmer.”

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “them” (it is clear from the context that the servants are addressed).

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “and he did not know where it came from.”

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “the head steward”; here the repetition of the phrase is somewhat redundant in English and the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[2:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “every man” (in a generic sense).

[2:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “poorer.”

[2:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “when they”; the referent (the guests) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:11]  ¹² tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.

[2:11]  ¹³ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”

[2:11]  ¹⁵ tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”