If a man abide not in me
Christ does not say, "if ye abide not in me"; he would not
suppose this of his true disciples; Judas now being removed, to
whom he may have some respect in this verse; though it may be
applied to anyone who has made a profession of Christ, and denies
the truths of the Gospel, neglects the ordinances of it, or walks
unworthy of his profession: of whom the following things may be
truly said,
he is cast forth as a branch;
that is unfruitful, and is therefore taken away from the vine,
and cast forth out of the vineyard. This signifies the ejection
of worthless and fruitless professors out of the churches; for
such who are either unsound in their principles, or are remiss
and negligent in their attendance on the worship of God, with the
church, or are loose and vain in their lives and conversations,
are to be removed from communion with the people of God.
And is withered.
Some versions, as the Arabic, Syriac, and Persic, read this as an
epithet of the word "branch", thus; "the branch that is
withered"; expressing the condition the branch is in before it is
cast forth out of the vineyard, and the reason of its being cast
forth: but others read it as a new and distinct predicate of the
branch, showing the case it is in, immediately upon its being
cast forth: it may be cut off, and cast out with its leaves upon
it, though without fruit; but as soon as ever it is ejected, it
withers away. So mere external professors of religion, when they
are cast out, of the communion of the church, presently the leaf
of profession, which once seemed green, decays, loses its
verdure, and that seeming fruit which grew upon them shrinks to
nothing, and they become "trees whose fruit withereth, without
fruit", ( Jude 1:12
) : their show of life, zeal, religion, and holiness, disappears,
and all their external gifts, light, knowledge, and
understanding, even in a speculative way, vanish:
and men gather them;
or, as some copies have it, (auto) , "it", which best agrees with the word
"branch". This was a common thing, when branches were thrown out
of a vineyard, for men to come and gather them up for an use
hereafter mentioned. So when unworthy members are put out of a
church of Christ, the men of the world gather them into their
society: or they are taken into the congregations of false
teachers, who being sensual, and without the Spirit, separate
themselves; or it may be read impersonally, "they are gathered",
or "it is gathered": so wicked men, and Christless professors,
will be gathered by the angels at the last day, and severed by
them from the righteous, whom they will place at Christ's left
hand to receive their awful doom:
and cast them,
or "it",
into the fire, and they are burned,
or "it is burned"; for nothing else is such a branch good for;
see ( Ezekiel
15:2-5 ) . This may respect either the gnawings of
conscience, that distress of mind, if not despair, that fearful
looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which attend
apostates in this life; or their being cast into the everlasting
burnings of hell fire by angels at the last day, as will be the
case of every unfruitful tree, of the chaff and tares.