Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Biblical Easter Eggs | New Testament | John 15

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

There are multiples times in the New Testament where Jesus refers to the Old Testament. What is the significance of that? Why should we pay attention to it? In today's episode, Patrick looks at John 15 to discuss what these "Easter eggs" point to. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: John 15

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. I love Easter eggs. Not the literal kind you die and then hide from children, but the kind you get when you watch a movie or a TV show, and the director hides a secret for anyone who's a super fan. For example, in Indiana Jones, readers of Lost Ark, there's a series of hieroglyphs that appear on screen, and hidden inside of those hieroglyphs is R2D2 and C3PO.

from Star Wars. Now that one's a little bit silly, but the best Easter eggs are ones that actually affect the meaning of a scene. They add a new layer to it. For example, in the movie Toy Story, Buzz and Woody gets stuck in a neighbor's house. And the carpet in the house is identical to the carpet from the movie The Shining. That's a horror movie based on a Stephen King novel. And as it turns out, the house that they're in is the house of Sid, a toy mingling maniac. And so the carpet isn't just a nod to an old movie. It's foreshadowing that Buzz and Woody are in a bad spot. I hesitate to say that the New Testament is full of Easter eggs from the Old Testament because that kind of trivializes those references. I think it's fair to say that the New Testament is

painted with the colors of the Old Testament. And seeing those Easter eggs, those illusions, those echoes and nods to the old, well, that's the key of understanding the meaning in the new. In fact, there are many passages that are remarkably famous you'd recognize. recognize them today, but they take on deeper meaning when we read them in their Old Testament context. One such example is John 15. Let's read in verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Already, you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit itself,

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this, my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so proved to be my disciples. Now, it's easy to read this as a beautiful metaphor, but it's so much more than that. It's a prolonged meditation on numerous Old Testament passages that describe Israel as a vine.

Psalm 80, you brought out a vine from Egypt. You drove out the nations and you planted it. Or how about Jeremiah? Yet, I planted you, Israel, a choice vine, holy of pure seed. Or how about Hosea? Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built. As his country improved, he improved his pillars. I could keep going, but let's return to Jesus's first words. I am the true vine. That's a strange thing to say if you think about it. I mean, why not just call himself a vine? By calling himself the true vine, he implies that there is

a false vine. But what's the false vine? Well, again, to find the answer, we have to return to those passages we just read, because again and again, the vine of Israel is disgraced and cut off. You see, Jeremiah goes on about the vine and he says, How then have you turned into a degenerate and become a wild vine? Hosea goes on about the vine. Their heart is false. Now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. So according to the Old Testament, the choice vine of Israel turns out to be a failure, a wild vine, full of idolatry, degeneracy, and lies. So what's Jesus saying?

He's saying that he is the true vine, not the false vine. He's saying that he is the true Israel, the only one who truly follows God's laws, the one through whom God's plan to redeem and restore the world will come to pass. He is the true and better Israel. He is the true and better vine. But the layers go even deeper than that. Listen to how Psalm 80 speaks about the vine of Israel,

which Jesus himself becomes. You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots to the river. Why then have you broken down its walls so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The bore from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven and sea, have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand has planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down, may they perish at the rebuke of your face. But let your hand be on the man

of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself. Then we shall not turn back from you. Give us life, and we will call upon your name. Restore us, O Lord, God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved. The Psalm was originally referring to the ways that Israel was mistreated by its national neighbors. Israel is God's vine in Psalm 80. Israel is God's son in Psalm 80. And yet, Israel is being destroyed. So they only have one hope, and that's for God to resurrect and restore them.

Are you beginning to feel the layers thicken? Jesus is the true vine, who is the true son of God, who underwent true destruction on the cross, only to be raised as the psalm says as the son of man at God's right hand. And so Jesus says to you, abide in me. And now I hope you see that you have been invited into a story. You have been invited to participate in the true Israel, to become a part of that family, to die with Christ to sin and to rise with Christ to life. He says, abide in me, remain in me, because he is the true vine where there is life. So abide in him. Rest,

in him. Hold your life in him. He is your life. He is your story. He is the true vine.