The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-06
Second Quarter. Lesson VI. John xv,
 1-12. May 2, 1905.
Tbe Vine and the Branchea.

The Vine and the Branches.
 Here is another example of how Jesus loved His disciples to the end. He was within an hour of his betrayal, but His thoughts were upon His fol- lowers, not upon Himself. He knows how soon and cruelty His enemies will close in upon Himself. but He uses the last hours to confirm His apostles. The parable of the Vine is one means. It Is the affirmation of perpetual and close union, in spite of impending and violent separation.
 There are some who believe that af- ter the supper and before the agony in the garden. Jesus spent some hours of the night with His disciples in the tenn pie. If so, the figure of the vine may have been suggested by ysthe golden vine which Herod the Great had placed there above the golden gate; or some vineyard on the road may have given the hint It is not necessary, however, to imagine any immediate suggestion, as the vine was the national emblem, woven everywhere Into prophecy, song, and other literature of Israel It was also one of the most familiar and beau tiful of natural objects, the king of fruits in Palestine, source of wealth, joy, and strength to the people. In every respect 1t was worthy of the dig nlned ana emDlemdtlc use JeSuS hdue of 1t on this occasion.
 Jesus opened His parable with ma jestic ego. T am the Vine, sye are the branches" It is as if He had said. "As you surround Me now and hang upon Me, so shall 1t be and much more so. even when l am bodily absent from you." But His language has a much wider sweep than that which would embrace the little company of His dis ciples then present.
 In this figure of speech. Jesus asserts in the strongest possible manner His fundamental relation to humanity. He is sole Sourse of spiritual life and fruitfulness. Abiding in the stock (Jesus) and pruned by the husbandman (the Father), the branches (the disci- ples) live and bear fruit. Verse 1.) Apart from the stock the branches wither. (Verses 5. 6.) The words of Jesus are the instrument by means of which the branch Is pruned. His ex- ample and ideals of character and duty apprehended. admired, and realized make genuine disciples, whose lives honor and commend the God they serve. Verse yS.) He whose deliber- ate and perpetual choice is to maintain a vital union with Christ. and who to this end treasures His words in mem- ory. is in the way of securing the
  comfort and usefulness. (Verse 7.) The love of Christ for His disciples Is analogous, in greatness, fervency. and constancy to the love which the Fath- CT has for the Son. A measurement great beyond all finite comprehension. Verse 1O.) In conclusion Jesus de- fines His object in speaking these words to His disciples. It is that His joy may remain in them. As the fell lowship of the Son with the Father gives Him infinite delight. so the con- scious union of the disciple with the Master is source of blissful content. Up to the measurement of the diBci- ples capacity 1t can fill him with joy. Verse 11.)
 It would be dihicuit to conceive of figurative language used more skill fully or powerfully. The figure is ex- tended in every possible way. The analogy being drawn out at every practicable point. The substance of 1t is the assertion of the spiritual ones ness Of Jesus and His followers, and His relation to them as Source of spiritual life and fruitfulness.
 Men are joined to Christ, not as branches which shoot from the vine. but as those which are grafted into it.. Crafts must be so joined to the stock