BIBLE STUDY LESSON 06

SERIES T --- THE ADONAI OF LIFE

FRUITFULNESS

THE VINE AND ITS BRANCHES

From John 15-16

On the way from the Upper Room to Gethsemane, Yeshua continued His final talk with the apostles. [I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinedresser,] He told them. [It is He Who cuts off branches which do not bear fruit and prunes branches that bear fruit so that they will be even more productive. What I have taught you has pruned you, but you must continue to grow in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit without the life-giving vine, so you cannot bear fruit in your lives without life-giving growth from Me. In that way, I am the Vine, you are the branches. Your fruitfulness depends upon My life-giving support, for without it, you cannot produce. If you pull away from Me, you will be discarded as a withered, worthless branch, whose only value is to be burned. If you stay with Me and obey Me, you will find your every request granted. My true followers glorify My Father with their abundant harvests. [As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you, and want you to continue in My love. You will when you continue to obey Me, just as I continue to obey the Father and live in His love. When you follow what I have told you, you will experience My complete joy. You must continue to love one another in the same way that I have loved you. Love unsurpassed is to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you obey Me. I call you friends now, and not servants, for a master confides in friends but not in servants. Thus, I have shown you that you are My friends by telling you all that My Father has told Me. [You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. I appointed you to bear fruit that endures, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in My Name. I Command you to love one another. If you discover that the world hates you, it is because it first hated Me. If the world possessed you, it would love you, but it hates you because I chose you to be freed from its possession. Do you remember that I told you that a servant is not greater than his master? Since that is true, how can you My servants escape persecution, for they persecuted Me your master. Likewise, if they refused to listen to Me, you must not expect that they will listen to you. Since the people of this world do not know the YHVH Who sent Me, they will persecute you who belong to Me. If I had not come to warn them, they would not have been guilty of this sin, but now they have no excuse for it. Whoever hates Me hates My Father. If they had not seen Me do so many wonderful miracles, they would not be guilty, but they hated both Me and My Father, even though they saw these miracles. This fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Moshiach which said, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ When Ruach HaKodesh comes, Whom I will send from the Father, He will tell you plainly about Me. You then must tell others plainly about Me, for you have been with Me from the beginning. I tell you these things so that you will not be overcome when they happen. You will not only be removed from the synagogues, but some who kill you will think they are serving YHVH by doing it. They do this because they know neither Me nor My Father. Remember that I warned you when these things happen. I did not tell you earlier, for I was still with you, but now I am preparing to leave. None of you has asked why I am leaving, but you have let your sorrow take control. If I do not leave, Ruach HaKodesh will not come, so it is best for you that I go. But if I leave, then I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convince the world of its sin, and of YHVH’s righteousness which can deliver from judgment. The world’s sin is refusing to believe in Me. But righteousness is offered because I go to My Father where you will not see Me. And judgment is avoided because the prince of this world has been judged. There are many other things I want to tell you, but how can you bear the burden of more now? When Ruach HaKodesh comes, He will help you understand all truth and the things to come, which are not His own teaching, but what He has heard. He will honour Me greatly by showing you My glory, for the Father’s glory is Mine, and it is this glory which He will show. I will leave shortly and you will not see Me for a little while.] The apostles were puzzled by these things. [What is He telling us?] they wondered. [What does He mean that He will leave shortly and we will not see Him for a little while? And what does He mean when He says that He is going to the Father? We do not understand.] Yeshua knew what was on their minds so He told them, [Why ask each other what I mean when I say that you will not see Me for a little while after I leave? What is about to happen to Me will cause the world to rejoice and you to weep. But your deep distress will be turned to joy when you see Me again, much as the joy of a woman after the pain of childbirth. Yes, you are sad now, but you will have a joy that cannot be removed when I see you again. At that time, you may talk to the Father person to person and not necessarily through Me, and He will grant your requests. Until now you have not asked the Father for things, but you may, asking in My Name, and you will be delighted with overflowing joy. In the past I have spoken in parables, but the time is coming to talk plainly to you about the Father. Then you will ask Him in My Name, and I will not need to pray for you, for the Father loves you who love Me and who accept that I came from Him. I will leave the world and return to the Father from Whom I came.] [Now You are talking plainly,] the apostles said. [Now we realize that You know all things and need ask no one for anything. This proves that You have come from YHVH.] [Do you truly believe in Me?] Yeshua asked. [The time will come, and is now at hand, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, leaving Me alone. But the Father will not leave Me alone. I tell you this so that your heart and mind will be at peace. The world will bring you much trouble, but you must be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.]

COMMENTARY

THE PASSOVER FEAST TODAY

In the modern world, Jews celebrate the Passover feast, or seder, in various ways. But the basic elements are the same, and they have remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years. The seder is a reminder of YHVH’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt, and a symbol of Jewish freedom. The night before the seder, the house is thoroughly cleaned of any signs of leavened bread. Unleavened bread, or matzos, is the only bread eaten for the seven or eight days of the feast. All dishes and utensils used the rest of the year are put away, and are replaced with utensils used only during the festival. The evening meal of the first day is the seder. The ceremony begins when the youngest son asks the first of four questions meant to explain the meaning of the meal and its various parts: [Why is this night different from all other nights?] The father responds: [We were slaves to pharaoh in Egypt but the Adonai our YHVH brought us out from there with strong hand and outstretched arm.] The father reads from the {Haggadah.} The word itself means {story,} and it retells the events of the first Passover. The three questions and answers that follow complete the story and explain the elements. The bitter herbs dipped in vinegar stand for the bitterness of slavery. The roast lamb recalls the sacrifice whose blood was sprinkled on the doorpost so that YHVH would spare the Israelites’ firstborn males. The thick paste of nuts, raisins and apples recollects the clay bricks the enslaved Jews carried. The matzos stand for the unleavened bread they took with them on their flight. After the meal, all join in the prayers. Along with other extremely old songs, the {Hallel} is sung: [Oh give thanks to the Adonai for He is good -- for His kindness never ceases.]