Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS024052S
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00:12 [uplifting music] 00:14 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 We're glad that you are with us today. 00:19 We are taking a look at the Gospel of John, 00:22 the great lessons that it contains. 00:24 This is lesson number 13, our final lesson 00:29 as we have been exploring this incredible Gospel. 00:32 We're looking today at the "Epilogue: 00:35 Knowing Jesus and His Word," and we're about to dive into it. 00:39 But first, we'll begin, as we do, with prayer. 00:42 Father, we thank You for guiding us along this journey, 00:46 for helping us to understand Jesus better, 00:48 His love for us, and the plan of salvation. 00:51 We ask now that as we take this final journey 00:54 in this particular book, that You will guide and direct us 00:58 into a deeper understanding 01:00 and appreciation for Your love for us. 01:02 And we thank You in Jesus' name, 01:04 [both] amen. 01:06 Well, we're happy one final time this quarter 01:09 to have with us the co-author of 01:11 this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson, Dr. Tom Shepherd. 01:14 He is the senior research professor of New Testament 01:17 at the Theological Seminary, Andrews University. 01:20 Tom, thanks for being here again. 01:22 >>Thomas Shepherd: A joy to be here. 01:23 >>Eric: We really have appreciated you 01:25 dedicating these 13 weeks to helping us 01:28 understand the book of John. 01:30 And we're now in the very last chapter 01:33 of the book of John, chapter 21. 01:35 In the last chapter, the previous chapter, 01:38 chapter 20, we saw Jesus' resurrection, 01:42 which is phenomenal, amazing. 01:44 It's what Christianity really is all about. 01:47 But then we've got another chapter. 01:50 So what's the point of this extra chapter, this epilogue, 01:53 if you will, bonus chapter, in the book of John? 01:57 Why is it here? >>Tom: Yeah, it's interesting 01:59 because the chapter 20 ends with--you know, you think, 02:02 oh, this is the perfect place to end the book: 02:04 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of" His-- 02:08 "of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 02:10 "but these are written so that you may believe 02:12 "that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 02:14 and that by believing you may have life in His name." 02:17 And you say, "Well, that's a good ending to the book." 02:21 And then he doesn't end the book. 02:23 He has another part. 02:25 So let's read verses here, verses 1 to 3 of chapter 21. 02:28 "After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples 02:31 "by the Sea of Tiberias, and He revealed Himself in this way. 02:35 "Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), 02:37 "Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, 02:41 "and two other of His disciples were together. 02:43 "Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' 02:45 "They said to him, 'We will go with you.' 02:48 "They went out and got into the boat, 02:50 but that night they caught nothing." 02:53 Now, all of these people that are named are people 02:57 who have shown up earlier in the book. 02:59 You know, Simon Peter, of course, 03:01 Thomas, the one who doubted His resurrection, 03:04 the sons of Zebedee, Nathanael, who was there at the beginning 03:08 of the book, and a couple other of His disciples. 03:12 So you can't tell for sure 03:14 which one is the beloved disciple. 03:16 It is John, but you're like, "Which one is it?" 03:19 And they go out fishing, but catch nothing, all right. 03:23 So in the morning, Jesus is on the shore. 03:26 Now, I've been to the Sea of Galilee 03:31 several times, and I remember once being-- 03:34 there's a place on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee, 03:38 where there's a place where you can stay, 03:40 and then there's this dock 03:43 that goes out into the water. 03:47 And I invited students-- we were taking students 03:50 on a tour, and I invited students. 03:52 I didn't--I had one or two students come 03:54 because it was early in the morning. 03:56 I wanted to go out early in the morning at about the time 03:59 that they would be coming in to shore. 04:03 And it was just really something 04:06 to be out there on that pier 04:09 about the distance they would have been to the shore, 04:11 from the shore, when Jesus called out to them, 04:14 "Lads, have you caught anything?" 04:16 You know, so it was a nice experience. 04:19 And He says, "Have you caught any fish?" 04:21 And they said, "No." 04:23 "'Cast the net'"--verse 6-- "'on the right side of the boat 04:26 "and you will find some.' 04:28 "So they cast it, and now they were not able 04:30 to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish." 04:33 So this is reminiscent, actually, 04:35 of what we see in the Gospel of Luke, 04:37 chapter 5, where Jesus, when they have 04:42 He's used Peter's boat, 04:44 and He says, you know, "Go out into the deep 04:46 and," you know, "let down your nets for a catch." 04:50 And Peter says, "Master, 04:52 we fished all night"--which is the right time for fishing. 04:56 The fish can't see the nets then. 04:58 "We fished all night, we didn't catch anything, 04:59 but, at Your word, I'll," you know, "let it down." 05:03 They catch so many fish it fills, like, both boats, 05:06 his and James and John's boat. 05:10 So now when this happens at the end of this experience, 05:14 verse 7, "That disciple whom Jesus loved 05:16 "therefore said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' 05:20 "When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, 05:23 "he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, 05:26 "and threw himself into the sea. 05:27 "The other disciples came in the boat, 05:29 "dragging the net full of fish, 05:31 "for they were not far from the land, 05:32 ...about a hundred yards off." 05:34 So they get out, you know, there's a charcoal fire, 05:37 there's 153 fish, a big catch of fish, 05:41 big ones, too, yet the nets weren't broken. 05:43 So it's like a miraculous catch of fish. 05:46 Now we come to this section 05:48 where Jesus questions Peter about his discipleship. 05:54 So we want to read John 21, verses 15 through 19. 05:58 >>Eric: "So when they had eaten breakfast, 06:00 "Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, 06:04 "do you love me more than these?' 06:06 "He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' 06:08 "He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' 06:11 "He said to him again a second time, 06:13 "'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?' 06:15 "He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' 06:18 "He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' 06:21 "He said to him a third time, 06:23 "'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?' 06:25 "Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 06:28 "'Do you love me?' 06:30 "And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; 06:32 "You know that I love You.' 06:34 "Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. 06:37 "'Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, 06:39 "'you girded yourself and walked where you wished; 06:42 "'but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, 06:44 "'and another will gird you and carry you 06:46 "where you do not wish.' 06:48 "This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. 06:52 And when He had spoken this, He said to him, 'Follow me.'" 06:55 >>Tom: Hmm! It's a very interesting story. 06:58 So this story begins 07:00 with Jesus asking a question of Peter: 07:04 "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" 07:09 Now, we'll first mention what the "these" refers to. 07:11 It's probably the other disciples. 07:13 "Do you love me more than the other disciples?" 07:17 He answered Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." 07:20 Now, he doesn't say, "I love You more than the others," 07:23 but he says, "You know that I love You." 07:24 Now, if you look at Greek in this, it's really interesting. 07:27 There's two different verbs for "love" that are used here. 07:31 The verb that Jesus uses is "agapao," which is-- 07:36 everybody knows the word "agape" is God's kind of love; 07:39 it's that high love that's typical of the love of God. 07:44 Peter answers, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." 07:47 He uses a different word. 07:49 He uses "phileo," which is a friendship kind of love. 07:55 We get the word "Philadelphia," "the city of brotherly love"-- 07:59 we get that word from this word. 08:03 So people wonder, 08:05 well, why does Peter use a different word than Jesus? 08:10 Now, some scholars will suggest that there's, 08:13 you know, it's just there's no big difference here, 08:16 and there's some evidence to point that way. 08:18 But I actually think there is a difference going on here. 08:22 So it really shows up when you notice 08:25 how Jesus asks the question. 08:28 So first He asks, and the first question is in verse 15: 08:31 "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" 08:34 So He's making a comparison between Peter's love for Him 08:39 and the other disciples' love for Him. 08:41 And does he have more love for Jesus than those others? 08:45 He says, "Lord, You know that I love You." 08:47 So He says, "Feed my lambs." 08:50 Then He says, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" 08:52 He's dropped the "more than these," still using "agapao." 08:56 Peter responds almost exactly the same: 08:59 "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." 09:01 It's the same words. 09:02 And he again is using "phileo," all right? 09:05 Now, then He says, "Tend my sheep." 09:09 Then He says to him the third time in verse 17, 09:12 "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" 09:14 And now He uses "phileo"-- Jesus does. 09:18 And it says, "Peter was grieved because 09:23 "He said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' 09:26 "And he said to Him, 'Lord, you know everything. 09:29 You know that I love you.'" 09:30 Still using "phileo." 09:33 Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." 09:35 [laughs] People say, like, "What in the world is going on here?" 09:39 Well, Peter had denied Jesus three times, 09:43 and he's asked three times if he loves Jesus. 09:47 Now, before he denied Jesus, 09:51 he probably would have answered this question differently. 09:56 "Do you love me more than these?" 09:57 "Yes, though all else"--he says this elsewhere, you know-- 10:00 "though all else forsake You, I will not. 10:03 I'm ready to die with You." [laughs] 10:05 He didn't know himself very well 10:07 because he falls flat on his face. 10:09 Notice that when he responds, he says, 10:13 "You know that I love You." 10:16 His point of reference has shifted to Jesus, 10:19 not referring to himself, but now to Jesus. 10:22 And Jesus says, "Feed my lambs." 10:24 It sounds like, you know, "Feed my lambs"? 10:26 Lambs would be like the children in Sabbath school, okay? 10:31 So He's actually restoring Peter to ministry here. 10:34 And He does it in steps. 10:36 The first step seems to be, like, 10:37 "Okay, you can teach the children's Sabbath school. 10:39 "Maybe you can tell the children's story. 10:41 "We're not making you the pastor yet, 10:43 but you can feed the lambs." 10:45 This would really refer to the new believers, okay? 10:49 You can feed the lambs. 10:51 So He says to him a second time, 10:52 "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" 10:54 Still using "agapao." Peter replies again with "phileo." 10:57 And now He says, "Tend my sheep." 10:59 Okay, now we're going to send you out in the--you know, 11:02 maybe you can go do some evangelistic meeting someplace, 11:04 you know, and do something like that. 11:07 Third time, He uses the word "phileo," and Peter is grieved, 11:11 but he still uses "phileo" in response. 11:13 He says, "Lord, You know everything. 11:15 You know that I love You." 11:16 "Feed my sheep." 11:18 Now it sounds like full restoration to ministry. 11:21 Somebody says, "I don't get it. 11:23 "Why doesn't Peter, you know, why doesn't Peter respond with, 11:28 "you know, some kind of better response? 11:30 Why doesn't he use 'agapao'?" 11:32 And the answer to that question is 11:34 because he dared not use that word. 11:39 Because he had fallen flat on his face. 11:42 And what he knew was now he wasn't better than anybody else, 11:47 and he was humble. 11:49 You see, it's like the prodigal son, 11:52 the story of the prodigal son, when he comes home, 11:54 he doesn't say, "I'm home, let's have a party," you know? 11:56 He says, "Make me like one of your servants." 11:59 He doesn't dare ask for something better 'cause 12:01 he figures that's the best he could ask for, and he's humble. 12:05 Peter is humble in the same way. And this is a great lesson. 12:08 One of the greatest-- one of the greatest 12:12 kind of qualifications for ministry 12:17 is humility. And Peter got it. 12:20 [chuckling] He got it, he understood it, 12:23 and he became humble. 12:25 >>Eric: It took him a little while. 12:28 It was a lesson hard learned, but he finally did learn it, 12:32 and one that, by the grace of God, we will learn 12:34 without perhaps having to fall quite so far as Peter did. 12:37 >>Tom: Hopefully so. 12:39 >>Eric: If someone wants to dig more into this final portion 12:42 of the book of John, there's a companion book 12:45 that they can pick up. Share with us a little bit about that. 12:47 >>Tom: The companion book is published by Pacific Press. 12:49 It gives you more information, more detail than the lesson, 12:52 gives you more detail than the teacher's lesson, 12:54 valuable for class members, valuable for teachers, 12:57 valuable for pastors. 12:59 Get the companion book, 13:00 and Eric will tell you how you can get it. 13:03 >>Eric: You can pick it up at itiswritten.shop. 13:06 Again, itiswritten.shop. 13:08 Just look for the companion book 13:09 to this quarter's "Sabbath School" lesson. 13:11 You will be glad that you have it. 13:13 We're going to be back in just a moment with 13:15 the very last half of the last lesson of the book of John. 13:21 We'll be back in just a moment. 13:22 [uplifting music] 13:26 >>John Bradshaw: We're drawn to the Christmas story 13:28 for numerous reasons. 13:30 The story of a baby being born in a stable 13:32 and then placed in a feeding trough to sleep, 13:35 there's something almost exciting about the whole idea. 13:39 [Scott Michael Bennett] ♪ Mary, did you know ♪ 13:42 ♪ That your baby boy ♪ 13:45 ♪ Would one day walk on water? ♪♪ 13:50 >>John: But we're really drawn to the Christmas story 13:52 by the wonder of it all. 13:54 [Claudia Ramirez-Treiyer] ♪ O night divine, ♪ 14:02 ♪ O night... ♪♪ 14:06 >>John: God has given us so much. 14:08 I hope that you'll give Him the best possible gift 14:12 and allow Him to unwrap your heart. 14:16 [Emmanuel Quartet] ♪ Hark! The herald angels sing, ♪ 14:21 ♪ Glory to the newborn King. ♪♪ 14:27 [uplifting music] 14:31 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:33 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:34 We are taking a look at the very tail end of the book of John, 14:38 the Gospel of John, and learning some valuable lessons. 14:41 Tom, this last chapter, this epilogue, there's a lot here. 14:46 What else do we want to make sure we don't miss? 14:48 >>Tom: Okay, so we've already seen 14:50 how Peter is restored to ministry. 14:53 He is humble, and Jesus completely restores him. 14:57 Actually, this is one of the evidences that Jesus 15:00 rose from the dead, is that Peter was one of the leaders 15:03 of the early Christian church, because if it wasn't Jesus 15:07 who restored him in front of the other disciples, 15:10 he probably wouldn't have been an early leader. 15:12 They would have said, "Nah, nah, nah, go back to fishing. 15:14 Do something else." [laughs] 15:15 "You've messed up too bad." 15:17 But Jesus restores him to ministry. 15:20 And at the end of this, Jesus says to him, "Follow me." 15:23 Now, that's the call of discipleship. 15:26 Again, at the end of the Gospel, He said, "Follow me." 15:28 But He's not just saying, "Follow me," 15:31 but, "Walk with me down the beach. 15:33 I have something more to tell you." 15:35 So we read now the very last verses of the book, 15:41 which are interesting, starting in verse 20: 15:43 "Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved 15:46 "following them, the one who also had leaned back 15:50 "against Him during the supper and had said, 15:52 'Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?'" 15:54 Of course, that's the apostle John. 15:56 "When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, 15:59 "'Lord, what about this man?' Jesus said to him"-- 16:04 now, remember, Peter had just been told 16:06 what was going to happen, you know, 16:07 "you'll stretch out your hands"--he was crucified. 16:11 But he said, "'What about this man?' 16:13 "Jesus said to him, 'If it is my will 16:15 "'that he remain until I come, what is that to you? 16:19 "You follow me!' 16:21 "So the saying spread abroad among the brothers 16:24 "that this disciple was not to die; 16:28 "yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, 16:32 "but, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, 16:36 "what is that to you?' 16:37 "This is the disciple who is bearing witness 16:40 "about these things, and who has written these things, 16:43 "and we know that his testimony is true. 16:46 "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. 16:49 "Were every one of them to be written, 16:51 "I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books 16:55 that would be written." 16:56 I like the ending. 16:59 It's so, you know, this kind of hyperbole, you know, 17:01 "and the whole world couldn't hold the books." 17:04 It's just sort of a beautiful expression. 17:06 You know, there's so much more to know about Jesus. 17:09 But the reason for this epilogue in this last chapter is twofold. 17:15 One is to restore Peter to ministry, 17:20 and it's very clearly expressed. 17:22 And Jesus foretells what's going to happen to him, 17:26 that he'll stretch out his hands, another will dress him 17:28 and carry him "where you do not want to go." 17:30 The tradition of the church is that when Peter 17:33 was to be killed in Rome, they were going to crucify him. 17:37 And he requested that he be crucified upside down, because 17:41 he didn't feel he deserved the honor of being crucified 17:44 in the same way as Jesus-- again, that humility. 17:47 Peter never forgot this. 17:50 If you turn over to 1 Peter, written by the apostle Peter, 17:54 1 Peter, chapter 5, 1 Peter 5, 17:58 and the first verses of 1 Peter 5, 18:03 we read the following words: "So I exhort the elders 18:07 among you, as a fellow elder"-- 18:09 notice he doesn't say, "as an apostle"- 18:11 "as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, 18:14 "as well as a partaker in the glory 18:16 that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God"-- 18:19 remember Jesus said, "Feed my sheep"-- 18:21 "shepherd the flock of God that is among you, 18:24 "exercising oversight, not under compulsion, 18:27 "but willingly, as God would have you; 18:29 "not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 18:31 "not domineering over those in your charge, 18:34 "but being examples to the flock. 18:37 And when the Chief Shepherd"-- the Good Shepherd-- 18:39 "appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." 18:44 What a beautiful expression of ministry. 18:48 You're supposed to be in ministry not for the push 18:51 of men, "not under compulsion," but because of the pull of God 18:54 that He's pulled on your heart. 18:56 "Not for shameful gain"-- not for the money-- 19:00 "but eagerly"--for the mission. 19:02 Not domineering, not to be a master over people, 19:05 but be an example to the flock, to be a mentor, not a master, 19:09 but a mentor. He got it, you know. 19:12 He understood what Jesus was teaching him, 19:15 and it shows up in his writing. 19:16 And then this thing about John, the beloved disciple. 19:20 Now, he wrote this book probably at the end of-- 19:24 at the end of his life, probably around 80, 90. 19:28 He's an old man. 19:30 And people, you know, had been saying, 19:33 oh, this is the one who's going to live until Jesus comes back. 19:37 And he wants them to know, "No, no, that's not what Jesus said. 19:40 "Jesus said, 'If it is my will that he remain until I come, 19:43 what is that to you?'" 19:45 So who's the real Master here? 19:46 Well, it's Jesus. And what did He say? 19:49 He said, "If I want him to stay alive until I come, so be it." 19:53 Well, we know that wasn't the case, but John wanted to 19:56 prepare people so they wouldn't say, "Oh, Jesus was wrong. 20:00 "Oh, this is, you know, this is not-- 20:02 we can't trust the gospel message." 20:05 No, that's not the case. 20:07 You can trust the gospel message, okay? 20:10 >>Eric: So, encouraging notes to leave at the very end 20:13 of the book of John. 20:14 There are a couple of things that we want to make sure 20:17 come through very clearly, though. 20:19 Let's go over to John, chapter 12. 20:22 John 12, and I'd like to take a look 20:26 at verses 31 and 32. 20:30 In John 12:31-32, it says, 20:36 "Now is the judgment of this world; 20:39 "now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 20:41 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, 20:44 will draw all peoples to [me]." 20:47 So what's the key here to the focus of the Gospel of John? 20:54 What's the Gospel of John all about? 20:56 >>Tom: Okay, so we noticed at the beginning-- 20:59 we talked about this-- 21:00 that the book of John divides into two halves. 21:03 John 1 through 12 is called "the book of signs," 21:07 and we've seen we have these signs of miracles 21:10 that Jesus do that point to the power of God, 21:13 point to His glory, and point to who Jesus is. 21:16 Then we have the second half of the book 21:18 is called "the book of glory" by scholars, and that's 21:22 because it focuses on His hour and the hour of His glory. 21:26 And the hour of His glory, surprisingly, is the cross. 21:30 Now, in the ancient world, the cross was not glorious. 21:34 It was ignominious. It was terrible. 21:37 And people didn't like the idea of the cross. 21:39 So the Christians have taken the idea of the cross, 21:42 and they've turned it on its head. 21:44 They've made it something glorious. 21:46 And John, as he describes this, Jesus is enthroned as the King. 21:50 And Jesus Himself here says, 21:54 "Now is the judgment of this world. 21:56 Now will the ruler of this world be cast out." 21:59 It is at the cross that Satan is defeated in the eyes 22:04 of all the heavenly universe. 22:06 Now, for people in this world, they haven't quite 22:08 all caught it yet, but in the eyes of the heavenly universe, 22:13 Satan is unmasked; he is cast out; he is cast down. 22:17 The New Testament makes a big deal of the resurrection 22:22 of Jesus and His ascension to the right hand of God. 22:24 All His enemies are under His feet, 22:26 the spiritual forces are underneath Jesus now, 22:29 He is in charge, He is the King, 22:31 and so it's a really big issue. 22:34 He says, "Now he is cast out, and I, when I am lifted up 22:37 from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 22:40 We're reminded of John 3, where He says, "As Moses lifted up 22:45 "the serpent..., so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 22:48 that [all who believe] in Him... [might] have eternal life." 22:51 That's the big point of the Gospel of John. 22:53 It's the glory of the cross and how it brings us salvation. 22:58 >>Eric: So that glory of the cross, 23:00 we've talked about glory; we've spent some time 23:02 talking about light, the importance of light. 23:06 If we, living today, want to remain in that light, 23:10 to walk in the light, how do we do that? 23:13 >>Tom: All right, we just go back to John, chapter 1, 23:16 and we'll take a look and see words there, 23:21 and then we'll also go to John 15. 23:23 So John, chapter 1 in verses 4 to 10: 23:26 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 23:30 "The light shines in the darkness, 23:33 "and the darkness [hath] not overcome it. 23:36 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 23:38 "He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, 23:41 "that all might believe through him. 23:42 "He was not the Light, but came to bear witness about the Light. 23:47 "The true Light, which gives light to everyone, 23:51 "was coming into the world. 23:52 "He was in the world, and the world was made 23:54 through Him, yet the world did not know Him." 23:57 Continuing on in verse 11: "He came to His own, 23:59 "and His own people did not receive Him. 24:02 "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, 24:06 "He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, 24:09 "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh 24:11 nor...the will of man, but of God." 24:13 So coming to the light, accepting the light 24:16 is how you find eternal life. 24:18 And now turn to John 15:1-5 24:22 because we want to end these lessons with a good focus 24:26 on what it is that we as Christians need to remember 24:31 in order to stay healthy, to stay a healthy Christian. 24:34 So please read for us John 15:1-5. 24:37 >>Eric: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 24:41 "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; 24:44 "and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, 24:47 "that it may bear more fruit. 24:48 "You are already clean because of 24:51 "the word which I have spoken to you. 24:53 "Abide in me, and I in you. 24:55 "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 24:58 "unless it abides in the vine, 25:00 "neither can you, unless you abide in me. 25:03 "I am the vine, you are the branches. 25:05 "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; 25:10 for without me you can do nothing." 25:13 >>Tom: Okay, so Jesus is using here 25:15 a vineyard illustration. 25:17 He says, "I am the true vine, 25:20 and my Father is the vinedresser," okay? 25:24 So the Father in heaven, we're seeing more about Him here. 25:29 And He says, "Every branch that does not bear fruit, 25:32 He takes it away." So I'm not-- 25:35 I'll have to say I'm not much of a farmer, 25:36 I'm not much of a gardener, I kind of have a black thumb, 25:39 one thing I do know how to grow is blackberries, 25:42 and that's because blackberries grow very easily on their own. 25:45 Now, the one thing that you have to do for blackberries 25:49 to grow okay is you have to prune them back, 25:51 take away the canes that have already borne fruit. 25:55 Blackberries are such that a cane will bear fruit once, 26:02 and then it dies. So you've got to cut it away and clear it out, 26:05 otherwise it becomes a big bramble, 26:09 and then, of course, you've got to pick the berries 26:11 and make the blackberry jam that I make at home. 26:15 But Jesus says with grapevines, 26:19 this is the same kind of thing, that you have to prune them. 26:22 Because if you don't, they just become a bramble, 26:24 and you don't get much fruit, right? 26:26 You want fruit, so you've got to know how to cut them back. 26:28 I live in Michigan. 26:30 It's a big fruit area. 26:31 And the farmers are always out there early in spring 26:34 cutting back, you know, cutting things off, 26:36 so that the fruit trees will bear really nice fruit, 26:39 and that's what you find in the grocery stores. 26:42 So Jesus is illustrating Christian life here, 26:45 and He shows that you have to stay connected with Him, 26:48 and if you do, you'll bear wonderful fruit for God. 26:53 >>Eric: So the key here, remembering that the key 26:57 to the focus of the book of John is the gospel. 27:01 How do we remain with Christ? 27:03 Well, we stay with Him. 27:04 How do we bear fruit? We stay with Him. 27:06 And He guides us into all truth. 27:10 We are grateful that you have chosen 27:12 to join us on this journey. 27:13 We trust and pray that it has been a blessing to you. 27:17 Don't stop studying your Bible. 27:19 Don't stop studying the book of John. 27:21 Don't stop learning more about Jesus. 27:24 He has much to share with you and encouragement to give. 27:28 Tom, thank you for joining us for these 13 weeks. 27:31 It's been a privilege. 27:32 And thank you for joining us as well. 27:35 We will continue our study of the Bible next week 27:38 with a brand-new season of "Sabbath School," 27:41 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:43 [uplifting music] 28:24 [uplifting music] 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2024-12-12