Title: Good Fruit
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:24-30; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
Let's start out today with a question. Some people think or believe that the bible is literally true, that every word (in English of course) means only and exactly what it says. I'm not asking you to believe that, but would you agree that some people believe it?
Now look at the first thing Jesus tells his disciples today. "I am the true vine." Does this mean that Jesus is a grapevine? We could remove the definite article "the" and reduce it to four words. The adjective "true" doesn't add much to the literal meaning. And the Greek word translated as "vine" is really a grapevine. Somehow our literal interpreters have managed to accomplish what no technology has ever done. They converted an animal with 26 chromosomes into a plant with 19. Wow
So, what are we to make of these words of Jesus? How do we use them to guide our life? What could they possibly add for the life of a child growing up in a world gone crazy? Stay with me.
Grapevines are designed to climb trees. It is believed that vines and bromeliads (such as pineapples and orchids) survived the asteroid strike that sent the dinosaurs to extinction because they all grew high up in the tops of trees. The ancestors of grapevines were selected for the characteristic of tree climbing so they could get light during the decades that the earth was covered with a heavy blanket of ash. This is important because today, grapevines can grow really fast in any direction. I'm sure they understood that in Jesus' day too.
Jesus is saying "I grow reall ...
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:24-30; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
Let's start out today with a question. Some people think or believe that the bible is literally true, that every word (in English of course) means only and exactly what it says. I'm not asking you to believe that, but would you agree that some people believe it?
Now look at the first thing Jesus tells his disciples today. "I am the true vine." Does this mean that Jesus is a grapevine? We could remove the definite article "the" and reduce it to four words. The adjective "true" doesn't add much to the literal meaning. And the Greek word translated as "vine" is really a grapevine. Somehow our literal interpreters have managed to accomplish what no technology has ever done. They converted an animal with 26 chromosomes into a plant with 19. Wow
So, what are we to make of these words of Jesus? How do we use them to guide our life? What could they possibly add for the life of a child growing up in a world gone crazy? Stay with me.
Grapevines are designed to climb trees. It is believed that vines and bromeliads (such as pineapples and orchids) survived the asteroid strike that sent the dinosaurs to extinction because they all grew high up in the tops of trees. The ancestors of grapevines were selected for the characteristic of tree climbing so they could get light during the decades that the earth was covered with a heavy blanket of ash. This is important because today, grapevines can grow really fast in any direction. I'm sure they understood that in Jesus' day too.
Jesus is saying "I grow reall ...
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