THE TRUE BRANCHES OF THE TRUE VINE

'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; and men 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 what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit;
so shall ye be My disciples.'--JOHN xv. 5-8.

No wise teacher is ever afraid of repeating himself. The average mind
requires the reiteration of truth before it can make that truth its
own. One coat of paint is not enough, it soon rubs off. Especially is
this true in regard to lofty spiritual and religious truth, remote
from men's ordinary thinkings, and in some senses unwelcome to them.
So our Lord, the great Teacher, never shrank from repeating His
lessons when He saw that they were but partially apprehended. It was
not grievous to Him to 'say the same things,' because for them it was
safe. He broke the bread of life into small pieces, and fed them
little and often.

So here, in the verses that we have to consider now, we have the
repetition, and yet not the mere repetition, of the great parable of
the vine, as teaching the union of Christians with Christ, and their
consequent fruitfulness. He saw, no doubt, that the truth was but
partially dawning upon His disciples' minds. Therefore He said it all
over again, with deepened meaning, following it out into new
applications, presenting further consequences, and, above all, giving
it a more sharp and definite personal application.