judgment here to the final cataclysmic events of the world. The mashal is a picture, and this verse is a vivid portrait of the significance of fruitless vine branches. Unlike olive wood, the cuttings of the vineyard are good for nothing except burning. That was the judgment of Ezekiel when he likened Jerusalem to fruitless vines (Ezek 15:1–6), and that is the judgment of fruitless disciples in this core metaphorical picture of John. 15:7 Although Brown begins a new subdivision at this point, the