Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 15:3
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
3. Now ye are clean ] Already are ye clean. ‘Ye’ is emphatic; many more will be made clean hereafter.
through the word ] Better, on account of the word. This is a frequent error in our version, with the accusative being translated as if it had the genitive. Comp. Mat 15:3; Mat 15:6, where ‘ by your tradition’ should be ‘ for the sake of your tradition.’ ‘The word’ (Joh 16:23) here means the whole teaching of Christ, not any particular utterance; but there may be special reference to the present discourses, through which Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas Lebbaeus have been cleansed from self-confidence and ignorance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now ye are clean – Still keeping up the figure katharoi. It does not mean that they were perfect, but that they had been under a process of purifying by his instructions all the time he had been with them. He had removed their erroneous notions of the Messiah; he had gradually reclaimed them from their fond and foolish views respecting earthly honors; he had taught them to be willing to forsake all things; and he had so trained and disciplined them that immediately after his death they would be ready to go and bear fruit among all nations to the honor of his name. In addition to this, Judas had been removed from their number, and they were now all true followers of the Saviour. See the notes at Joh 13:10.
Through the word – By means of the teachings of Jesus while he had been with them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joh 15:3
Now are ye clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you
Further cleansing necessary
Now are ye clean through the Word, and yet needing to be cleansed.
We have a hint here of the mystery of that double relation in which every believing man stands to God, of that double relation which is more fully and dogmatically stated in some of the Epistles; but which is yet distinctly anticipated here and at chap. 10:10. The faithful in Christ Jesus are clean, being by faith justified from all things, and having thus a standing ground before God; which yet is in some sort an ideal one–their actual state, although ever approximating to this, yet still failing to correspond to it–they therefore needing by the same faith to appropriate ever more and more of that sanctifying grace, those purifying influences, which continually stream forth from Him on all them that are His; and by aid of which He is bringing them to be all that, which for His sake His Father has been already willing to regard them, however the absolute identity of what they are and what they are counted to be, is reserved for another state of existence. (Archbishop Trench.)
The Christians present condition as compared with the past
At Munich the custom is said to prevail that every child found begging in the streets is arrested, and carried to a charitable establishment. The moment he enters, and before he is cleaned, and gets the new clothes intended for him, his portrait is painted in his ragged dress, and precisely as he was found begging. When his education is finished, this portrait is given him, and be promises by an oath to keep it all his life, that he may be reminded of the abject condition from which he has been rescued, and of the gratitude he owes the establishment which raised him from misery, and taught him how to avoid it for the future. Let the Christian often compare thus his former condition, as a sinner unsaved, with his state as a renewed believer, that his love and gratitude may be excited, and his affections drawn to Him who has wrought the change.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Now ye are clean] , Ye are pruned. As our Lord has not changed the metaphor, it would be wrong to change the expression.
Through the word] , Through that word-that doctrine of holiness which I have incessantly preached unto you, and which ye have received. Perhaps our Lord more immediately refers here to the words which he had spoken concerning Judas, Joh 13:21-30, in consequence of which Judas went out and finished his bargain with the chief priests; he being gone off, the body of the apostles vas purified; and thus he might say, Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Now that the traitor is gone out from you, ye are all clean; not by any works which you do, much less upon the account of any legal and ceremonial rites and purifyings; but through my word, your believing and obeying, Eph 5:26; 1Pe 1:22. Our cleansing is in holy writ attributed sometimes to the blood of Christ, sometimes to the Spirit, sometimes to the word. By the blood of Christ we are made clean as to justification, washed; but yet we had need wash our feet, contracting soil every day in a sinful world, from which we are cleansed by the purifying virtue of the Holy Spirit, working by and together with the word, which purgeth us of our dross, and maketh us obedient to the will of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Nowrather, “Already.”
ye are clean throughbyreason of.
the word I have spoken toyoualready in a purified, fruitful condition, in consequenceof the long action upon them of that searching “word” whichwas “as a refiner’s fire” (Mal 3:2;Mal 3:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.. These words being inserted in the discourse concerning the vine and branches, and the pruning and purging them to make them fruitful, are thought, by the learned Dr. Lightfoot, to be an allusion to the law in Le 19:23; by which the fruit of trees, for the first three years, were accounted uncircumcised or unclean, and in the fourth year fit for use; concerning which the Talmudists have a whole tract, called , “Orla”; the apostles having enjoyed the ministry of Christ, and been his disciples about such a time. Though the “now” seems to refer to the removal and taking away of that withered and unfruitful branch, Judas. Christ, in Joh 13:10, had told his disciples, that they “were clean, but not all”, because the betrayer was among them; but he being discovered by Christ, and ordered by him to be gone, went out from among them about his wicked design; and now Christ could say of them all, that they were clean: which may be understood of their regeneration and sanctification, in which their hearts were sprinkled with clean water; were washed with the washing of regeneration; had their hearts purified by faith in the blood of Christ, and had pure principles of grace formed in their souls; of all which the Gospel of Christ was the instrumental means: or of their justification by the righteousness of Christ, by which they were justified from all sin; and were all fair, and without spot; which was through the Gospel of Christ revealing his righteousness to them, or through the sentence of justification he, by his Spirit, passed upon their consciences.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Already ye are clean ( ). Potentially cleansed (Westcott) as in 13:10 which see and 17:19.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Clean [] . Etymologically akin to kaqairei, purgeth. The Rev. indicates this by rendering kaqairei, cleanseth.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Now ye are clean,” (ede humeis katharoi este) “Now at this time you all are clean;” The “you all” to whom He was speaking was the church disciples, on the way to Gethsemane, after Judas Iscariot left the Passover, to go to lead the thug band of murderers to seize Him in the garden, Joh 18:1-4. They were under the discipline of pruning at this time, to bear fruit.
2) “Through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (dia ton logon hon lelaleka humin) “Through the word which I have spoken directly to you all,” or on account of the words, as church disciples, as true branches, whom I have called and chosen, Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; At the supper in Simon’s house in Bethany He had recently told them, with Judas present, “ye are clean, but not all,” Joh 13:10-11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3. You are already clean, on account of the word. He reminds them that they have already experienced in themselves what he had said; that they have been planted in him, and have also been cleansed or pruned He points out the means of pruning, namely, doctrine; and there can be no doubt that he speaks of outward preaching, for he expressly mentions the word, which they had heard from his mouth. Not that the word proceeding from the mouth of a man has so great efficacy, but, so far as Christ works in the heart by the Spirit, the word itself is the instrument of cleansing Yet Christ does not mean that the apostles are pure from all sin, but he holds out to them their experience, that they may learn from it that the continuance of grace is absolutely necessary. Besides, he commends to them the doctrine of the gospel from the fruit which it produces, that they may be more powerfully excited to meditate on it continually, since it resembles the vine-dresser’s knife to take away what is useless.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) Now ye are clean.Better, Already are ye clean. The pronoun is emphatic. Already are ye, as distinct from others who will become clean in the future. (Comp. Note on Joh. 13:10.)
Through the word which I have spoken unto you.Better, on account of the word which I have spoken unto you. The word was the revelation of God to them, and by reason of its moral power they had been cleansed. We are not to limit the reference to Joh. 13:10, but are to understand it of our Lords whole teaching. (See Joh. 5:24; Joh. 8:31-32; Joh. 12:48; Joh. 17:10; and comp. Note on Eph. 5:26.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Ye are clean His apostles were cleansed, though imperfectly cleansed. Hence it is to them as true branches, as really in Christ, that all these warnings against final defection are addressed.
Through the word They were cleansed not so much by the power of the Spirit, as by the power of Jesus’s word; that is, by the impressive teaching he had imparted, affecting their heart and controlling their life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joh 15:3. Now ye are clean, &c. “The doctrine that I have preached to you, by the power of divine grace, has inspired you with holy desires; has invigorated you with good resolutions; and, in a measure, has cleansed you from evil affections; so that, like the pruned branches of the vine, you are fitted to bring forth fruit.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 15:3 . Application of the second half of Joh 15:2 to the disciples , in so far as they belong to the ; as a preparation for the exhortation in Joh 15:4 . “Already are ye clean” (such purified ); already there has taken place in your case , that which I have just said. The glances at the multitude of those who were yet to become in the future . That their purity originally is intended, not excluding the necessary continuance and practical further development of the relation (comp. Joh 13:10 ), is understood as a matter of course, and see Joh 15:4 . The mundi cease not to be mundandi .
. ] , as Joh 6:57 of the ground ; hence: on account of the word, i.e . because the word (“provided it be received and apprehended in faith,” Luther, comp. Act 15:9 ) is the power of God (Rom 1:16 ), in virtue of which it effects its , Joh 15:2 ; Jas 1:18 ; 1Pe 1:23 . Comp. Fritzsche, ad Rom . II. p. 162, I. p. 197; Ngelsbach, z. Ilias , p. 39 f., Exo 3 . The word , however, is the whole word, the entire doctrine which Jesus has delivered to them (comp. on Joh 8:43 ), not the utterance in Joh 13:10 (Hilgenfeld, Ebrard).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Ver. 3. Through the word, &c. ] Which is the pruning knife, to lop off our luxuriances, rotten boughs, raw grapes, to pare off our gum of pride, moss of formality, Vinitoris cultellus ad sordes purgandas. (Col.) The word hid in the heart keeps from sin, as an amulet, Psa 119:11 , and keeps youth from uncleanness, Joh 15:9 ; mixed with faith, it purgeth upon corruption,Act 15:9Act 15:9 , and will not suffer men to rest in sin.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
3. ] See ch. Joh 13:10 . In Eph 5:26 , we have both the washing , and the word ( ), united. The word of Christ dwelling in them by Faith (see Joh 15:7 ) is the purifying principle (ch. Joh 17:17 ). But the here is not = , pruned , in the sense of Joh 15:2 . The limits it to their present capacities and standing. There was more pruning at hand, when the sap should begin to flow, when the Spirit should be shed abroad; and this future handling of the is indicated by .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 15:3 . : “Already ye are clean”. here means “in a condition fit to bear fruit”; in Joh 13:10-11 , it is suggested by the feet-washing, and means “free from inward stain”. It is similarly used even in classical writers. , “on account of the word which I have spoken unto you”. For in this sense as indicating the source, see Joh 6:67 . The word which Jesus had spoken to them, i.e. , the whole revelation He had made, had brought spiritual life, and, therefore, cleansing. But this condition they must strive to maintain, , . must be understood after . Maintain your belief in me, your attachment to me, your derivation of hope, aim, and motive from me: and I will abide in you, filling you with all the life you need to represent me on earth. All the divine energy you know to be in me will now pass through you.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Now = Already. clean. Greek. katharos. Compare Joh 13:10, Joh 13:11, the only other occurance in John, and the verb kathairo in Joh 15:2.
through = on account of. App-104
word. Greek. logos. See on Mar 9:32.
unto = to
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
3. ] See ch. Joh 13:10. In Eph 5:26, we have both the washing , and the word ( ), united. The word of Christ dwelling in them by Faith (see Joh 15:7) is the purifying principle (ch. Joh 17:17). But the here is not = , pruned, in the sense of Joh 15:2. The limits it to their present capacities and standing. There was more pruning at hand, when the sap should begin to flow,-when the Spirit should be shed abroad; and this future handling of the is indicated by .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 15:3. ) This word is taken from , in Joh 15:2.-) the word, which is most clean (pure, ). The Word is in itself altogether clean or pure: owing to this it imparts cleanness (purity), or holiness, to the disciples. Comp. the use of ( , through, i.e. owing to the tender mercy of our God), Luk 1:78.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 15:3
Joh 15:3
Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you.-The disciples were cleansed and prepared through the word that Jesus had spoken to them. They were brought to believe and obey this word, and through obedience they were made clean and holy. [The teaching of Jesus and their associating with him had placed them as branches. They belonged to the fruit bearers, and they had been partially pruned. But Jesus well knew that they would need much additional pruning to load them with the glorious clusters of richest fruit which they were one day to bear. We should not overlook the fact that the fruit grows on the branches, not on the vine.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Joh 13:10, Joh 17:17, Eph 5:26, 1Pe 1:22
Reciprocal: Num 19:18 – General Deu 12:28 – General Psa 119:9 – by taking Pro 15:31 – abideth Mar 1:42 – immediately Joh 17:6 – they Act 20:32 – to build Phi 4:1 – so 1Th 2:13 – effectually
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
Clean is from the same word as “purge” in the preceding verse. Jesus teaches that the pruning is done by his word, and hence that the process is a spiritual one. Even a branch ( a human being) that is alive and inclined to bear fruit, may have some useless traits developing that would finally damage the general life of the whole plant. It is the divine Hus-bandman’s purpose to cleanse (prune) away those traits, so that it can bear more and better fruit.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
[Now ye are clean.] Christ having discoursed of the vine and of the branches, these words seem to have an allusion to that law concerning the circumcision of the tree when first planted, Lev 19:23. For the first three years the fruit was to be accounted as uncircumcised, unclean, and not to be eaten; “But you, O my branches, now are clean through my word; that word which I have been preaching to you for these three years.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 15:3. Already are ye clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. On word, not words, see on chap. Joh 14:24. The ye is emphatic. They were pruned, they were clean; and that already, because they had already received the word which they were now, in their turn, to communicate. Jesus does not say that they are clean through, but because of the word which He had spoken unto them. They have heard (and received) the word of the Holy One of God, and because His word is in them they are clean. Thus are they fitted for imparting the means of a like cleansing to others. Not personal piety but Christian action is still in view, and still the cleanness which they possess does not exclude the future and continuous cleansing.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour having in the former verses distinguished his disciples into two sorts; some that were members of his body the church, and branches of him the true vine, by outward shew and visible profession only: others that are spiritually ingrafted into him, and do bring forth much fruit: now in this third verse Christ tells his disciples which number they were of: Now (saith he) ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you; that is, now that Judas, the traitor, that dead, rotten, fruitless branch, is cut off, and cast out, ye are all clean through the cleansing power and virtue of my word and doctrine.
Learn hence, 1. That such as are justified by the blood, and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ, are in Christ’s account clean, notwithstanding their many spots and manifold imperfections: Now are ye clean.
2. That as the blood of Christ is the meritorious, and the Spirit of Christ the efficacious, so the word of Christ is the instrumental, cause of a believer’s purification and cleansing; Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I will abide in you; that is, abide in me, not only by an outward and visible profession, but by a real and fiducial adherence, and I will abide in you by the influences and operations of my Holy Spirit. The union and conjunction between Christ and his members is mutual; they abide in him by faith and dependance, and he abideth in them by the indwelling presence of his grace and spirit: Abide in me, and I will abide in you.
Observe farther, The reason which Christ gives why they should thus abide in him; because without union with him , without interest in him, without influences of grace derived from him, they could bring forth no fruit for him, nor do any thing that is truly acceptable and well-pleasing to him: As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me, for without me ye can do nothing: That is, “As branches severed from the vine cannot live and bear fruit, so neither can Christians, separated from Christ, and without deriving virtue from him, do any thing spiritually good and well-pleasing in the sight of God.”
Learn hence, That not only unregenerate men do labour under an impotency to that which is spiritually good, but even disciples themselves, wihtout daily dependance upon Christ, and without constant communications of grace from him, can do nothing in a lively and acceptable way and manner unto him: Without me ye can do nothing; you that are branches of me the true vine.
As Christians, without me, that is, without my Spirit, abiding in you, and uniting to me your head, you can do nothing acceptable, to me, or worthy of my gospel. Again: as apostles, it may denote, that without the gifts and powerful assistance of the Holy Spirit, they could do nothing to convert the world to Christianity: in both respects might Christ truly say, Without me ye can do nothing.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Joh 15:3-6. Now ye are clean All of you, to whom I now speak, are made clean from the guilt and power of sin through the word which I have spoken unto you, whose sanctifying influence has operated on your hearts, and which, when applied by the Spirit, is the grand instrument of purifying the soul. Abide in me By the continued exercise of humble faith and love, producing all holiness, by which alone you can continue to be in me; and I in you And I will be in you by my Spirit, to nourish your piety and virtue, and supply you, as from a living root, with every necessary grace. As In the natural world; the branch cannot bear fruit of itself But must presently wither; except it abide in the vine Continue in a state of union with it, and be nourished by sap from thence; no more can ye Be able to produce the fruits of genuine and acceptable obedience; except ye abide in me And have the life of grace maintained in you by a vital union with me. I am the vine That is, the root and stock of the vine of which I speak; ye are only the branches And cannot flourish or subsist, much less can you bear fruit, without me. Our Lord, in this whole passage, speaks of no branches but such as are, or, at least, were once, vitally united to him by living faith. He that abideth in me By a real, internal, and spiritual union, begun and continued by faith; and I in him By my word and Spirit, my truth and grace; the same bringeth forth much fruit In holy dispositions, and righteous, benevolent actions, to the credit of his profession, the comfort of his own soul, and the edification of his fellow- creatures; for without me , separate from me, and deprived of the influences of my word and Spirit, (alluding still to the vine and its branches;) ye can do nothing Nothing truly and spiritually good; can bear no fruit that will be pleasing to God, or profitable to yourselves. Without the merit of Christ, we can do nothing toward our justification; and without the Spirit of Christ, nothing toward our sanctification. We have as necessary and constant a dependance upon the grace of the Mediator for the whole of the spiritual and the divine life, as we have upon the providence of the Creator for all the actions of the natural life: as to both, it is in and by the divine power that we live, and move, and have our being. If a man abide not in me By living, loving, and obedient faith, as well as by church communion, by which last, separate from the former, he may abide in Christ all his life and be withered all the time, and cast into the fire at last; he is cast forth as a branch He is separated from Christ, as a branch that is barren is cut off from the tree which it only encumbered; and is withered They that abide not in Christ by a real and vital union, though they may flourish a while in a creditable and plausible profession, yet in a little time they wither and come to nothing. Their abilities and gifts wither, their zeal and devotion wither; as do also their credit and reputation, their hopes and comforts. For they that bear no fruit will soon bear no leaves. How soon was the fig-tree withered away which Christ cursed! And men gather them and cast them into the fire, &c. The loppings of the vines, in those countries where they are cultivated, are carefully gathered up, and make a considerable part of their fuel; as if he had said, As men gather up withered branches, which have been cut off from the tree on which they once grew, and throw them into the fire, where they are burned as a worthless kind of wood, fit for nothing but fuel; so, in like manner, such will be the end of those unhappy creatures. Satans agents and emissaries will insnare and make an easy prey of them; for they that fall off from Christ soon fall in with sinners, are associated with them, and employed in the unfruitful works of darkness; so that they become fit fuel for the divine wrath, from which the profession they formerly made will not preserve them. And they are burned This follows of course; but it is here added very emphatically, and makes the threatening very terrible. The original expression, , is literally, and they are burning; for they will not be consumed in a moment, like thorns under a pot; but burning for ever in a fire, which not only cannot be quenched, but will never spend itself. Such, reader, is the consequence of apostatizing from Christ, or ceasing to live by faith in him; they draw back unto perdition, Heb 10:38-39. Some interpret mens gathering them, of the ministry of angels in the last day, when they shall gather out of Christs kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, as tares are gathered and bound in bundles to be burned.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 3
Now ye are clean; like the branch of the vine purified, as mentioned above.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus assured His disciples that they were indeed already clean. The Father’s treatment of them was not to make them clean. Jesus again used the figure for possessing eternal life that He had used earlier when He had washed these disciples’ feet (Joh 13:10). Divine care and discipline follow the granting of eternal life. Jesus did not want the Eleven to conclude, as many people do, that the absence of fruit or the presence of difficulties indicates the absence of salvation.
"The ancients spoke of pruning as a ’cleansing’ of the branches, just as we speak of ’cleansing’ the land." [Note: Tasker, p. 175.]