Matthew 7:24

Hearing and Doing

7:24 “Everyone ¹  who hears these words of mine and does them is like ²  a wise man ³  who built his house on rock.

Matthew 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ⁴  bright cloud ⁵  overshadowed ⁶  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ⁷  “This is my one dear Son, ⁸  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ⁹ 

John 13:17

13:17 If you understand ¹⁰  these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John 14:21-24

14:21 The person who has my commandments and obeys ¹¹  them is the one who loves me. ¹²  The one ¹³  who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal ¹⁴  myself to him.”

14:22 “Lord,” Judas (not Judas Iscariot) ¹⁵  said, ¹⁶  “what has happened that you are going to reveal ¹⁷  yourself to us and not to the world?” 14:23 Jesus replied, ¹⁸  “If anyone loves me, he will obey ¹⁹  my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and take up residence with him. ²⁰  14:24 The person who does not love me does not obey ²¹  my words. And the word ²²  you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

John 15:10-14

15:10 If you obey ²³  my commandments, you will remain ²⁴  in my love, just as I have obeyed ²⁵  my Father’s commandments and remain ²⁶  in his love. 15:11 I have told you these things ²⁷  so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete. 15:12 My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. ²⁸  15:13 No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life ²⁹  for his friends. 15:14 You are my friends ³⁰  if you do what I command you.

John 15:1

The Vine and the Branches

15:1 “I am the true vine ³¹  and my Father is the gardener. ³² 

Colossians 1:21

Paul’s Goal in Ministry

1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your ³³  minds ³⁴  as expressed through ³⁵  your evil deeds,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³⁶  brothers and sisters ³⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁸  from God our Father! ³⁹ 

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁴⁰  from the hope laid up ⁴¹  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁴² 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴³  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

Exhortation to Pray for the Success of Paul’s Mission

4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Hebrews 5:9

5:9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

[7:24]  ¹ tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:24]  ² tn Grk “will be like.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[7:24]  ³ tn Here and in v. 26 the Greek text reads ἀνήρ (anhr), while the parallel account in Luke 6:47-49 uses ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") in vv. 48 and 49.

[17:5]  ⁴ tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ⁵ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ⁶ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[17:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ⁹ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “If you know.”

[14:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “keeps.”

[14:21]  ¹² tn Grk “obeys them, that one is the one who loves me.”

[14:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “And the one.” Here the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated to improve the English style.

[14:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “will disclose.”

[14:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “(not Iscariot).” The proper noun (Judas) has been repeated for clarity and smoothness in English style.

[14:22]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “said to him.”

[14:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “disclose.”

[14:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[14:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “will keep.”

[14:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “we will come to him and will make our dwelling place with him.” The context here is individual rather than corporate indwelling, so the masculine singular pronoun has been retained throughout v. 23. It is important to note, however, that the pronoun is used generically here and refers equally to men, women, and children.

[14:24]  ²¹ tn Or “does not keep.”

[14:24]  ²² tn Or “the message.”

[15:10]  ²³ tn Or “keep.”

[15:10]  ²⁴ tn Or “reside.”

[15:10]  ²⁵ tn Or “kept.”

[15:10]  ²⁶ tn Or “reside.”

[15:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “These things I have spoken to you.”

[15:12]  ²⁸ sn Now the reference to the commandments (plural) in 15:10 have been reduced to a singular commandment: The disciples are to love one another, just as Jesus has loved them. This is the ‘new commandment’ of John 13:34, and it is repeated in 15:17. The disciples’ love for one another is compared to Jesus’ love for them. How has Jesus shown his love for the disciples? This was illustrated in 13:1-20 in the washing of the disciples’ feet, introduced by the statement in 13:1 that Jesus loved them “to the end.” In context this constitutes a reference to Jesus’ self-sacrificial death on the cross on their behalf; the love they are to have for one another is so great that it must include a self-sacrificial willingness to die for one another if necessary. This is exactly what Jesus is discussing here, because he introduces the theme of his sacrificial death in the following verse. In John 10:18 and 14:31 Jesus spoke of his death on the cross as a commandment he had received from his Father, which also links the idea of commandment and love as they are linked here. One final note: It is not just the degree or intensity of the disciples’ love for one another that Jesus is referring to when he introduces by comparison his own death on the cross (that they must love one another enough to die for one another) but the very means of expressing that love: It is to express itself in self-sacrifice for one another, sacrifice up to the point of death, which is what Jesus himself did on the cross (cf. 1 John 3:16).

[15:13]  ²⁹ tn Or “one dies willingly.”

[15:14]  ³⁰ sn This verse really explains John 15:10 in another way. Those who keep Jesus’ commandments are called his friends, those friends for whom he lays down his life (v. 13). It is possible to understand this verse as referring to a smaller group within Christianity as a whole, perhaps only the apostles who were present when Jesus spoke these words. Some have supported this by comparing it to the small group of associates and advisers to the Roman Emperor who were called “Friends of the Emperor.” Others would see these words as addressed only to those Christians who as disciples were obedient to Jesus. In either case the result would be to create a sort of “inner circle” of Christians who are more privileged than mere “believers” or average Christians. In context, it seems clear that Jesus’ words must be addressed to all true Christians, not just some narrower category of believers, because Jesus’ sacrificial death, which is his act of love toward his friends (v. 13) applies to all Christians equally (cf. John 13:1).

[15:1]  ³¹ sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.

[15:1]  ³² tn Or “the farmer.”

[1:21]  ³³ tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:21]  ³⁴ tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.

[1:21]  ³⁵ tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.

[1:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ³⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁴² tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.