Waggoner on the Gospel of John - Ellet J. Waggoner

common than a vine forming an arbour; and Jesus,
who was always ready to impress a lesson by the
things that were before Him, took advantage of the
sight of a vine that they passed to teach His
disciples an important lesson on the reality of
things. He would have them know that the things
that are seen are temporal, but the things that are
unseen are real and eternal (2 Cor. 4:18), so that
they might endure "as seeing Him who is
invisible."
Jesus is the true vine. All vines that we see
growing out of the earth, and bearing fruit, are but
visible proofs of the presence of the invisible vine--
the reality. The seed of everything that grows is the
Word of God. (Luke 8:11) In the beginning, when
the earth was first created, and there was nothing in
it, God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit
after his kind. (Gen. 1:11) "And it was so." God's
word was the seed whence every plant of every
kind sprung. Just as He sent His word out into
darkness, and light shone forth, so He sent His
word into the vacant earth, and vegetation
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