Chapter XV.1-11.In a beautiful allegory, Christ declares the necessity of union with Himself in order to a supernatural life.12-17.He inculcates mutual love, proposing as a model His own love for the Apostles—a love which made him ready to lay down His life for them (13), and which was spontaneous (16).18-25.He fortifies them against the world's hatred by reminding them that it hated Himself, and so they shall only be treading in His footsteps. He points out too how inexcusable is this attitude of the world towards Himself and His followers.26-27.He again promises the Holy Ghost, who together with the Apostles, will bear testimony of Him.1. Ego sum vitis vera: et Pater meus agricola est.1. I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman.1. After they had left the supper-room Christ again addresses the Apostles. The fact that the Evangelist gives the discourse that follows without any introductory remark, such as: And Christ said, or: And while they went Christ said—favours the view that only a slight break separated this discourse from that recorded in the preceding chapter. This would, therefore, render it very probable that what follows was spoken in the vicinity of the house in which they had supped rather than on the outskirts of the city.As Christ was about to leave His Apostles, He now impresses upon them the necessity of abiding in Him by faith and love. For this purpose He compares Himself to the stem of the vine, and the Apostles to its branches. As the branches draw all their life and nourishment from the stem, so must the Apostles draw all their spiritual life from Him. This idea would be illustrated by the relation between the trunk of any tree and its branches. The chief reason, then, why He compares Himself to the vine is because it was customary to prune its branches, and He was about[pg 267]to speak of the pruning of His mystical branches by the Father.98He isthe true, that is the perfect vine, because He nourishes His members more perfectly than does any vine tree its branches. In a similar sense He is the true light (Johni. 9), and the true bread (Johnvi. 32).“He is the‘vine’in Hishumanity, in which the branches of the same nature are united with Him. But it is from HisDivinitythe branches derive the spiritual and life-giving influence that leads to eternal happiness”(MacEv.)It is needless to say, that in calling Himself the true vine, Christ does not mean to signify that He is really a vine. The language is plainly metaphorical, and is so explained by our Lord Himself in verses 4 and 5. Hence it bears no comparison with the words used by Christ in instituting the Blessed Eucharist. In the latter case He declared that what He held in His hands was His body, and there was nothing in His words, or in the circumstances in which they were uttered to point to a figurative sense. On the contrary, His discourse delivered twelve months beforehand in the Synagogue of Capharnaum, and recorded in the sixth chapter of our Gospel, prepared the Apostles to receive His words, mysterious though they must have seemed, in the literal sense.And my Father is the husbandman.The Father attends to and purifies Christ's followers in a manner similar to that employed by the vine-dresser, that so they may produce more abundant fruit. The Arians appealed to this text to show that Christ was inferior to God. For as the vine and the husbandman are not of the same nature, so neither, they said, are Christ and the Father of the same nature. We answer that in metaphorical language the comparison is not to be pressed too far, only indeed in that particular, or in regard to that point, for the illustration of which the metaphor is employed. See above onx. 3. Now in the present instance Christ points out (in verse 4) that His metaphorical language is designed to show the necessity for the Apostles of union with Himself. Nothing therefore can be inferred in regard to Hisnatureand the Father's. In reality, Christ,as God, was husbandman, as well as the Father; but as it would not suit the comparison to call[pg 268]Himself both vine and husbandman, He attributes the office of husbandman to the Father.“Numquid unum sunt agricola et vitis? Secundum hoc ergo vitis Christus, secundum quod ait: Pater major me est. Secundum autem id quod ait: Ego et Pater unum sumus, et ipse agricola est.”(St. Aug.)992. Omnem palmitem in me non ferentem fructum, tollet eum: et omnem qui fert fructum, purgabit eum, ut fructum plus afferat.2. Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.2.Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit.From this it follows that branches may be unfruitful and yet really remain branches, and members of Christ's Church. The sense of Christ's words is: Every Christian that beareth not the fruit of good works, the Fathertakesaway (Gr. present), either in this life, by permitting them to fall into heresy, or at death when they shall no longer remain members of the Church. They are therefore lopped off like useless branches. The good, too, are purified by the Father, whoprunestheir hearts, removing therefrom all impediments to perfection, taking away everything that would hinder or impede the vital power in the production of spiritual fruit. As even the best branches are improved by judicious pruning, so the just are rendered more perfect by the purifying action of the Divine Husbandman. Αὐτο in both cases is redundant.3. Iam vos mundi estis propter sermonem, quem locutus sum vobis.3. Now you are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you.3.Now(already)you are clean. The meaning is that the Apostles were already pruned, that the obstacles to their spiritual growth had been taken away by His words addressed to them that night. It is possible that, as some think, there is reference to all Christ's teaching; but we believe there is at leastspecialreference to the discourse of that last night. For He had that night perfected their knowledge (xiv. 6-11); guarded them against an unavailing sorrow (xiv. 1-2, &c.); checked the presumption of some (xiii. 38), and supplied motives to confirm the faith of all (xiv. 29).4. Manete in me: et ego in vobis. Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum a semetipso, nisi manserit in vite: sic nec vos, nisi in me manseritis.4. Abide in me: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.4.Abide in me, and I in you.The meaning is: take care that ye abide in Me by faith and love, and I will abide in you by[pg 269]love and grace.100Or it may be that the last clause too is imperative in conception: permit me to abide in you. Since they are exhorted to abide, it follows that they were free not to abide; and hence it is possible, as the Council of Trent defined (Sess. vi., Can. 23) to fall away from faith and grace.Of itself—that is, as the source of its vital energy.5. Ego sum vitis, vos palmites: qui manet in me et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum: quia sine me nihil potestis facere.5. I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.5. The theme (verse 1) is again repeated, and now there is added the clause:Ye are the branches, which definitely sums up what was already implied in the preceding verses.For without me you can do nothing.These words show that, though as we have seen in the preceding verse the Apostles were free not to abide in Him, they were not able of themselves to abide in Him or to bear any supernatural fruit except through His grace. The words refute the Pelagian and Semipelagian heresies, for they show that without the aid of Christ's grace we are capable of no supernatural good work.“Sive ergo parum, sive multum, sine illo fieri non potest, sine quo nihil fieri potest”(St. Aug.in loc.). It would be difficult, we think, to prove from this text by itself that even wherehabitualgrace is present,actualgrace is also necessary in order to a salutary work; but the traditional interpretation given to this text by the fathers forbids us to doubt that the necessity of actual grace also is here revealed.There is no question in this text of the necessity of God's concurrence in ournaturalacts; the question is of Christ's influx as mystic vine upon the[pg 270]faithful who remain united to Him as branches.6. Si quis in me non manserit, mittetur foras sicut palmes: et arescet et colligent eum, et in ignem mittent, et ardet.6. If any one abide not in me: he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.6. Observe the variety of tense in the verbs of this verse in the Greek text.“Sensus est: Si quis in me non manserit, jam eo ipsoejectus estforas sicut palmes etexaruit”(Beel.,Gr. Gram., § 41, 5, b). The casting forth and withering happen simultaneously with the separation from Christ. The words of the verse indicate the punishment which is in store for those who die separated from Christ. In the Greek we have αῦτὰ (ea) instead of“eum”of the Vulgate; and the sense, is that as men usually gather up thewithered branches(αὐτα), and fling them into the fire, where they burn, so shall the angels of God do to the sinner. See Matt. xiii. 41.7. Si manseritis in me, et verba mea in vobis manserint: quodcumque volueritis petetis, et fiet vobis.7. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.7. In contrast with the unhappy condition of those separated from Christ, they who remain in Him by faith, and keep His words through charity working by faith, shall obtain from God through prayer whatever they ask, provided it be necessary or useful to their spiritual life.“Whatsoever we shall ask according to His will He heareth us”(1 John v. 14).8. In hoc clarificatus est Pater meus, ut fructum plurimum afferatis, et efficiamini mei discipuli.8. In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples.8. It is clear from these words that the good works of the just give glory to God. Instead of“efficiamini,”the more probable Greek reading is γενήσεσθε (efficiemini), and the meaning is; And so you shall become more and more My disciples.9. Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea.9. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.9. As (καθώς) expresses not equality, but resemblance. The resemblance consists in this,[pg 271]that as the Father loved Christ's humanity gratuitously, without any previous merit on its part, and united it with the Person of the Word, so Christ loved the disciples gratuitously, and united them with Himself. So Toletus, following St. Aug. Then Christ adds as a practical conclusion: Take care to remain in the enjoyment of that love of mine for you. Or the meaning of the whole verse according to the Greek text may be: as the Father hath loved Me, and as I have loved you, so abide ye in the enjoyment of that love of Mine for you.10. Si praecepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei praecepta servavi, et maneo in eius dilectione.10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.10. Here he points out how they are to continue to enjoy His love: it is by keeping His commandments.11. Haec locutus sum vobis, ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.11. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.11. The meaning is: these things, namely, that you should keep My commandments and continue to retain My love, I have spoken in order that My joy on account of you may continue (the true reading is ᾖ, not μείνῃ, but does not alter the sense), and your joy may be perfected.12. Hoc est præceptum meum ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos.12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.12. He had just said that the observance of His commandments is a necessary condition to be fulfilled by those who would retain His love, and now He goes on to point to one commandment that in a special manner isHis, the“new commandment”(xiii. 34), to which they must attend.13. Maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis.13. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.13. In this verse He explains what sort is that love of His upon which theirs must be modelled (comp. 1 John iii. 16). The meaning is, that no greater proof of love for a friend can be given than to lay down one's life for him. This He was about to do for them.[pg 272]The comparison is not between dying for afriendand dying for anenemy, but between the different proofs of love for a friend.14. Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae ego praecipio vobis.14. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.14. Here He shows that in speaking of laying down His life for His friends, He means laying it down for the Apostles.15. Iam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus eius. Vos autem dixi amicos: quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis.15. I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.15. He has referred to them as friends, and will do so in future. Formerly, indeed, He had referred to them as His servants (Johnxii. 26,xiii. 16), but now after He has taken them so fully into His confidence, told them of His speedy departure from them (xiii. 33), pointed out to them His consubstantiality with the Father (xiv. 7-11), and instructed them that the Holy Ghost was to come to them (xiv.16,17), He will no longer speak of them as servants, but as friends.All things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.That is to say, all the knowledge which was communicated to Him, together with His Divine nature, in His eternal generation by the Father; all this, as far as they were capable (Johnxvi. 12), and it was useful for them, He had communicated to them.16. Non vos me elegistis: sed ego elegi vos et posui vos, ut eatis, et fructum afferatis: et fructus vester maneat: ut quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, det vobis.16. You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.16.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you.Or more exactly;“it was not you that chose Me, but I chose you,”where the aorist refers back to the definite act of selecting and calling the Apostles. Not only then was His love for them most intense, as was signified in verse 13, but it was alsogratuitous, unmerited: and this is now pointed out. You did not choose Me as your friend, but I chose you as My special friends, My Apostles;[pg 273]and set you up as such, in order that you should go into the whole world (Mark xvi. 15). and bear fruit in yourselves and others, and that this fruit should remain unto eternal life.That(ἵνα)whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Some as Mald. and A Lap. take ἵνα here to denote a consequence: if you bring forth the fruit for which I have chosen you,it will come to passthat whatsoever, &c. Others think ἵνα may retain its usual telic force: I appointed you in order that ... your fruit should remain, and that whatsoeverin reference to that fruityou shall ask, &c. On what is meant by asking the Father in Christ's name, see above onxiv. 13.17. Haec mando vobis, ut diligatis invicem.17. These things I command you, that you love one another.17. Some take the meaning to be: these things, namely, the greatness and gratuitousness of My love for youI insist upon, to the end that you may love one another. Others as Mald. and Patriz. take the meaning to be the same as in verse 11: this is what I command you, namely, that you love one another. The use of ταῦτα (haec) and not τοῦτο (hoc) is rather against the latter view, but it is replied that the plural demonstrative followed by the single precept is intended to signify that charity is the fulfilment of the whole law.18. Si mundus vos odit, scitote quia me priorem vobis odio habuit.18. If the world hate you, know you that it hath hated me before you.18. Having exhorted them to mutual love, He now fortifies them against the hatred of the world and the persecutions that awaited them. The world, as is plain, is the wicked world, and in being hated by it they shall only be treading in the footsteps of their Master.It hath hated.The Greek perfect implies not merely a passing manifestation of hatred, but an abiding and persistent feeling.19. Si de mundo fuissetis, mundus quod suum erat diligeret: quia vero de mundo non estis, sed ego elegi vos de mundo propterea odit vos mundus.19. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.19.If you had been, ought rather to be: if you were. The five-fold repetition of“the world”in this verse brings vividly before us this great antagonist of Christ.[pg 274]20. Mementote sermonis mei, quem ego dixi vobis: Non est servus maior domino suo. Si me persecuti sunt, et vos persequentur: si sermonem meum servaverunt, et vestrum servabunt.20. Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.20. He now reminds them of what He had told them before (xiii. 16) that:“a servant is not greater than his master,”and from this He goes on to signify what they must expect to meet with from the world.If they have kept my word.Some think there is reference to those who having been of the world came out from it to follow Christ and keep His word. But it appears more probable that He speaks of those who are still of the world, and leaves it to be supplied that since they had not kept His word, so neither would they keep that of the Apostles. By the word of the Apostles is meant the word of Christ as preached by them.21. Sed haec omnia facient vobis propter nomen meum: quia nesciunt eum qui misit me.21. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me.21. But remember that you shall suffer in a glorious cause; namely, on My account; for they will persecute you because you are My followers, and this because through culpable ignorance they will not recognise God as My Father, nor Me as the Son of God.22. Si non venissem, et locutus fuissem eis, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem excusationem non habent de peccato suo.22. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.23. Qui me odit et Patrem meum odit.23. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.22, 23. That this ignorance is culpable, He now proves from the fact that He had[pg 275]Himself declared to them His relations with the Father. The sin (peccatum) is that of incredulity, and in remaining incredulous and hating Christ, they thereby showed that they hated the Father who sent Him.24. Si opera non fecissem in eis quae nemo alius fecit, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem et viderunt, et oderunt et me, et Patrum meum.24. If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.24. Not only His words (verse 22), but also His unparalleled miracles deprived them of all excuse for their unbelief. See above oniii. 2. But now they have seen, or ought to have seen, the Father in Me (see above onxiv. 9); and they have seen Me, and they have hated Us both.25. Sed ut adimpleatur sermo qui in lege eorum scriptus est: Quia odio habuerunt me gratis.25. But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law:They have hated me without cause.25. Yet, He continues, it is only what their own Scriptures (Ps. xxxiv. 19) foretold, that they would hate Him without cause. Thus this hatred of the world, so far from weakening the faith of the Apostles in Christ as the Messias, should confirm it, since the Messias was to be hated by the world. In this verse ἵνα has its usualtelicforce, and the sense is: but this has come to passin order thatthe Scripture might be fulfilled. See above onxii. 37-40. The passage of the Psalm referred to is probably Messianic in its literal sense.26. Cum autem venerit Paraclitus, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre, spiritum veritatis, qui a Patre procedit, ille testimonium perhibebit de me:26. But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.27. Et vos testimonium perhibebitis, quia ab initio mecum estis.27. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning.26, 27. The connection with the preceding is: though the world hate Christ, yet the Holy Ghost and the Apostles shall bear witness to Him. Here again, in verse 26, we have distinct mention of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. See xiv.16,26.[pg 276]Though the Holy Ghost is not here said to proceed from the Son as well as from the Father (“ex Patre Filioque”), yet this is implied in His being sent by the Son (see above onxiv. 26), and can be clearly proved against the schismatical Greeks from other parts of Scripture, as from John xvi.13,14. The Greek renderedyou shall give testimony, is ambiguous, and may be either an imperative or an indicative. However, as Christ seems to be speaking of the witnesses who will maintain His cause against the world, and not to be prescribing the duty of the Apostles, the indicative is preferable.[pg 277]
Chapter XV.1-11.In a beautiful allegory, Christ declares the necessity of union with Himself in order to a supernatural life.12-17.He inculcates mutual love, proposing as a model His own love for the Apostles—a love which made him ready to lay down His life for them (13), and which was spontaneous (16).18-25.He fortifies them against the world's hatred by reminding them that it hated Himself, and so they shall only be treading in His footsteps. He points out too how inexcusable is this attitude of the world towards Himself and His followers.26-27.He again promises the Holy Ghost, who together with the Apostles, will bear testimony of Him.1. Ego sum vitis vera: et Pater meus agricola est.1. I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman.1. After they had left the supper-room Christ again addresses the Apostles. The fact that the Evangelist gives the discourse that follows without any introductory remark, such as: And Christ said, or: And while they went Christ said—favours the view that only a slight break separated this discourse from that recorded in the preceding chapter. This would, therefore, render it very probable that what follows was spoken in the vicinity of the house in which they had supped rather than on the outskirts of the city.As Christ was about to leave His Apostles, He now impresses upon them the necessity of abiding in Him by faith and love. For this purpose He compares Himself to the stem of the vine, and the Apostles to its branches. As the branches draw all their life and nourishment from the stem, so must the Apostles draw all their spiritual life from Him. This idea would be illustrated by the relation between the trunk of any tree and its branches. The chief reason, then, why He compares Himself to the vine is because it was customary to prune its branches, and He was about[pg 267]to speak of the pruning of His mystical branches by the Father.98He isthe true, that is the perfect vine, because He nourishes His members more perfectly than does any vine tree its branches. In a similar sense He is the true light (Johni. 9), and the true bread (Johnvi. 32).“He is the‘vine’in Hishumanity, in which the branches of the same nature are united with Him. But it is from HisDivinitythe branches derive the spiritual and life-giving influence that leads to eternal happiness”(MacEv.)It is needless to say, that in calling Himself the true vine, Christ does not mean to signify that He is really a vine. The language is plainly metaphorical, and is so explained by our Lord Himself in verses 4 and 5. Hence it bears no comparison with the words used by Christ in instituting the Blessed Eucharist. In the latter case He declared that what He held in His hands was His body, and there was nothing in His words, or in the circumstances in which they were uttered to point to a figurative sense. On the contrary, His discourse delivered twelve months beforehand in the Synagogue of Capharnaum, and recorded in the sixth chapter of our Gospel, prepared the Apostles to receive His words, mysterious though they must have seemed, in the literal sense.And my Father is the husbandman.The Father attends to and purifies Christ's followers in a manner similar to that employed by the vine-dresser, that so they may produce more abundant fruit. The Arians appealed to this text to show that Christ was inferior to God. For as the vine and the husbandman are not of the same nature, so neither, they said, are Christ and the Father of the same nature. We answer that in metaphorical language the comparison is not to be pressed too far, only indeed in that particular, or in regard to that point, for the illustration of which the metaphor is employed. See above onx. 3. Now in the present instance Christ points out (in verse 4) that His metaphorical language is designed to show the necessity for the Apostles of union with Himself. Nothing therefore can be inferred in regard to Hisnatureand the Father's. In reality, Christ,as God, was husbandman, as well as the Father; but as it would not suit the comparison to call[pg 268]Himself both vine and husbandman, He attributes the office of husbandman to the Father.“Numquid unum sunt agricola et vitis? Secundum hoc ergo vitis Christus, secundum quod ait: Pater major me est. Secundum autem id quod ait: Ego et Pater unum sumus, et ipse agricola est.”(St. Aug.)992. Omnem palmitem in me non ferentem fructum, tollet eum: et omnem qui fert fructum, purgabit eum, ut fructum plus afferat.2. Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.2.Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit.From this it follows that branches may be unfruitful and yet really remain branches, and members of Christ's Church. The sense of Christ's words is: Every Christian that beareth not the fruit of good works, the Fathertakesaway (Gr. present), either in this life, by permitting them to fall into heresy, or at death when they shall no longer remain members of the Church. They are therefore lopped off like useless branches. The good, too, are purified by the Father, whoprunestheir hearts, removing therefrom all impediments to perfection, taking away everything that would hinder or impede the vital power in the production of spiritual fruit. As even the best branches are improved by judicious pruning, so the just are rendered more perfect by the purifying action of the Divine Husbandman. Αὐτο in both cases is redundant.3. Iam vos mundi estis propter sermonem, quem locutus sum vobis.3. Now you are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you.3.Now(already)you are clean. The meaning is that the Apostles were already pruned, that the obstacles to their spiritual growth had been taken away by His words addressed to them that night. It is possible that, as some think, there is reference to all Christ's teaching; but we believe there is at leastspecialreference to the discourse of that last night. For He had that night perfected their knowledge (xiv. 6-11); guarded them against an unavailing sorrow (xiv. 1-2, &c.); checked the presumption of some (xiii. 38), and supplied motives to confirm the faith of all (xiv. 29).4. Manete in me: et ego in vobis. Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum a semetipso, nisi manserit in vite: sic nec vos, nisi in me manseritis.4. Abide in me: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.4.Abide in me, and I in you.The meaning is: take care that ye abide in Me by faith and love, and I will abide in you by[pg 269]love and grace.100Or it may be that the last clause too is imperative in conception: permit me to abide in you. Since they are exhorted to abide, it follows that they were free not to abide; and hence it is possible, as the Council of Trent defined (Sess. vi., Can. 23) to fall away from faith and grace.Of itself—that is, as the source of its vital energy.5. Ego sum vitis, vos palmites: qui manet in me et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum: quia sine me nihil potestis facere.5. I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.5. The theme (verse 1) is again repeated, and now there is added the clause:Ye are the branches, which definitely sums up what was already implied in the preceding verses.For without me you can do nothing.These words show that, though as we have seen in the preceding verse the Apostles were free not to abide in Him, they were not able of themselves to abide in Him or to bear any supernatural fruit except through His grace. The words refute the Pelagian and Semipelagian heresies, for they show that without the aid of Christ's grace we are capable of no supernatural good work.“Sive ergo parum, sive multum, sine illo fieri non potest, sine quo nihil fieri potest”(St. Aug.in loc.). It would be difficult, we think, to prove from this text by itself that even wherehabitualgrace is present,actualgrace is also necessary in order to a salutary work; but the traditional interpretation given to this text by the fathers forbids us to doubt that the necessity of actual grace also is here revealed.There is no question in this text of the necessity of God's concurrence in ournaturalacts; the question is of Christ's influx as mystic vine upon the[pg 270]faithful who remain united to Him as branches.6. Si quis in me non manserit, mittetur foras sicut palmes: et arescet et colligent eum, et in ignem mittent, et ardet.6. If any one abide not in me: he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.6. Observe the variety of tense in the verbs of this verse in the Greek text.“Sensus est: Si quis in me non manserit, jam eo ipsoejectus estforas sicut palmes etexaruit”(Beel.,Gr. Gram., § 41, 5, b). The casting forth and withering happen simultaneously with the separation from Christ. The words of the verse indicate the punishment which is in store for those who die separated from Christ. In the Greek we have αῦτὰ (ea) instead of“eum”of the Vulgate; and the sense, is that as men usually gather up thewithered branches(αὐτα), and fling them into the fire, where they burn, so shall the angels of God do to the sinner. See Matt. xiii. 41.7. Si manseritis in me, et verba mea in vobis manserint: quodcumque volueritis petetis, et fiet vobis.7. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.7. In contrast with the unhappy condition of those separated from Christ, they who remain in Him by faith, and keep His words through charity working by faith, shall obtain from God through prayer whatever they ask, provided it be necessary or useful to their spiritual life.“Whatsoever we shall ask according to His will He heareth us”(1 John v. 14).8. In hoc clarificatus est Pater meus, ut fructum plurimum afferatis, et efficiamini mei discipuli.8. In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples.8. It is clear from these words that the good works of the just give glory to God. Instead of“efficiamini,”the more probable Greek reading is γενήσεσθε (efficiemini), and the meaning is; And so you shall become more and more My disciples.9. Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea.9. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.9. As (καθώς) expresses not equality, but resemblance. The resemblance consists in this,[pg 271]that as the Father loved Christ's humanity gratuitously, without any previous merit on its part, and united it with the Person of the Word, so Christ loved the disciples gratuitously, and united them with Himself. So Toletus, following St. Aug. Then Christ adds as a practical conclusion: Take care to remain in the enjoyment of that love of mine for you. Or the meaning of the whole verse according to the Greek text may be: as the Father hath loved Me, and as I have loved you, so abide ye in the enjoyment of that love of Mine for you.10. Si praecepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei praecepta servavi, et maneo in eius dilectione.10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.10. Here he points out how they are to continue to enjoy His love: it is by keeping His commandments.11. Haec locutus sum vobis, ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.11. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.11. The meaning is: these things, namely, that you should keep My commandments and continue to retain My love, I have spoken in order that My joy on account of you may continue (the true reading is ᾖ, not μείνῃ, but does not alter the sense), and your joy may be perfected.12. Hoc est præceptum meum ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos.12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.12. He had just said that the observance of His commandments is a necessary condition to be fulfilled by those who would retain His love, and now He goes on to point to one commandment that in a special manner isHis, the“new commandment”(xiii. 34), to which they must attend.13. Maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis.13. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.13. In this verse He explains what sort is that love of His upon which theirs must be modelled (comp. 1 John iii. 16). The meaning is, that no greater proof of love for a friend can be given than to lay down one's life for him. This He was about to do for them.[pg 272]The comparison is not between dying for afriendand dying for anenemy, but between the different proofs of love for a friend.14. Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae ego praecipio vobis.14. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.14. Here He shows that in speaking of laying down His life for His friends, He means laying it down for the Apostles.15. Iam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus eius. Vos autem dixi amicos: quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis.15. I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.15. He has referred to them as friends, and will do so in future. Formerly, indeed, He had referred to them as His servants (Johnxii. 26,xiii. 16), but now after He has taken them so fully into His confidence, told them of His speedy departure from them (xiii. 33), pointed out to them His consubstantiality with the Father (xiv. 7-11), and instructed them that the Holy Ghost was to come to them (xiv.16,17), He will no longer speak of them as servants, but as friends.All things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.That is to say, all the knowledge which was communicated to Him, together with His Divine nature, in His eternal generation by the Father; all this, as far as they were capable (Johnxvi. 12), and it was useful for them, He had communicated to them.16. Non vos me elegistis: sed ego elegi vos et posui vos, ut eatis, et fructum afferatis: et fructus vester maneat: ut quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, det vobis.16. You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.16.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you.Or more exactly;“it was not you that chose Me, but I chose you,”where the aorist refers back to the definite act of selecting and calling the Apostles. Not only then was His love for them most intense, as was signified in verse 13, but it was alsogratuitous, unmerited: and this is now pointed out. You did not choose Me as your friend, but I chose you as My special friends, My Apostles;[pg 273]and set you up as such, in order that you should go into the whole world (Mark xvi. 15). and bear fruit in yourselves and others, and that this fruit should remain unto eternal life.That(ἵνα)whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Some as Mald. and A Lap. take ἵνα here to denote a consequence: if you bring forth the fruit for which I have chosen you,it will come to passthat whatsoever, &c. Others think ἵνα may retain its usual telic force: I appointed you in order that ... your fruit should remain, and that whatsoeverin reference to that fruityou shall ask, &c. On what is meant by asking the Father in Christ's name, see above onxiv. 13.17. Haec mando vobis, ut diligatis invicem.17. These things I command you, that you love one another.17. Some take the meaning to be: these things, namely, the greatness and gratuitousness of My love for youI insist upon, to the end that you may love one another. Others as Mald. and Patriz. take the meaning to be the same as in verse 11: this is what I command you, namely, that you love one another. The use of ταῦτα (haec) and not τοῦτο (hoc) is rather against the latter view, but it is replied that the plural demonstrative followed by the single precept is intended to signify that charity is the fulfilment of the whole law.18. Si mundus vos odit, scitote quia me priorem vobis odio habuit.18. If the world hate you, know you that it hath hated me before you.18. Having exhorted them to mutual love, He now fortifies them against the hatred of the world and the persecutions that awaited them. The world, as is plain, is the wicked world, and in being hated by it they shall only be treading in the footsteps of their Master.It hath hated.The Greek perfect implies not merely a passing manifestation of hatred, but an abiding and persistent feeling.19. Si de mundo fuissetis, mundus quod suum erat diligeret: quia vero de mundo non estis, sed ego elegi vos de mundo propterea odit vos mundus.19. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.19.If you had been, ought rather to be: if you were. The five-fold repetition of“the world”in this verse brings vividly before us this great antagonist of Christ.[pg 274]20. Mementote sermonis mei, quem ego dixi vobis: Non est servus maior domino suo. Si me persecuti sunt, et vos persequentur: si sermonem meum servaverunt, et vestrum servabunt.20. Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.20. He now reminds them of what He had told them before (xiii. 16) that:“a servant is not greater than his master,”and from this He goes on to signify what they must expect to meet with from the world.If they have kept my word.Some think there is reference to those who having been of the world came out from it to follow Christ and keep His word. But it appears more probable that He speaks of those who are still of the world, and leaves it to be supplied that since they had not kept His word, so neither would they keep that of the Apostles. By the word of the Apostles is meant the word of Christ as preached by them.21. Sed haec omnia facient vobis propter nomen meum: quia nesciunt eum qui misit me.21. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me.21. But remember that you shall suffer in a glorious cause; namely, on My account; for they will persecute you because you are My followers, and this because through culpable ignorance they will not recognise God as My Father, nor Me as the Son of God.22. Si non venissem, et locutus fuissem eis, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem excusationem non habent de peccato suo.22. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.23. Qui me odit et Patrem meum odit.23. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.22, 23. That this ignorance is culpable, He now proves from the fact that He had[pg 275]Himself declared to them His relations with the Father. The sin (peccatum) is that of incredulity, and in remaining incredulous and hating Christ, they thereby showed that they hated the Father who sent Him.24. Si opera non fecissem in eis quae nemo alius fecit, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem et viderunt, et oderunt et me, et Patrum meum.24. If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.24. Not only His words (verse 22), but also His unparalleled miracles deprived them of all excuse for their unbelief. See above oniii. 2. But now they have seen, or ought to have seen, the Father in Me (see above onxiv. 9); and they have seen Me, and they have hated Us both.25. Sed ut adimpleatur sermo qui in lege eorum scriptus est: Quia odio habuerunt me gratis.25. But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law:They have hated me without cause.25. Yet, He continues, it is only what their own Scriptures (Ps. xxxiv. 19) foretold, that they would hate Him without cause. Thus this hatred of the world, so far from weakening the faith of the Apostles in Christ as the Messias, should confirm it, since the Messias was to be hated by the world. In this verse ἵνα has its usualtelicforce, and the sense is: but this has come to passin order thatthe Scripture might be fulfilled. See above onxii. 37-40. The passage of the Psalm referred to is probably Messianic in its literal sense.26. Cum autem venerit Paraclitus, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre, spiritum veritatis, qui a Patre procedit, ille testimonium perhibebit de me:26. But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.27. Et vos testimonium perhibebitis, quia ab initio mecum estis.27. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning.26, 27. The connection with the preceding is: though the world hate Christ, yet the Holy Ghost and the Apostles shall bear witness to Him. Here again, in verse 26, we have distinct mention of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. See xiv.16,26.[pg 276]Though the Holy Ghost is not here said to proceed from the Son as well as from the Father (“ex Patre Filioque”), yet this is implied in His being sent by the Son (see above onxiv. 26), and can be clearly proved against the schismatical Greeks from other parts of Scripture, as from John xvi.13,14. The Greek renderedyou shall give testimony, is ambiguous, and may be either an imperative or an indicative. However, as Christ seems to be speaking of the witnesses who will maintain His cause against the world, and not to be prescribing the duty of the Apostles, the indicative is preferable.[pg 277]
Chapter XV.1-11.In a beautiful allegory, Christ declares the necessity of union with Himself in order to a supernatural life.12-17.He inculcates mutual love, proposing as a model His own love for the Apostles—a love which made him ready to lay down His life for them (13), and which was spontaneous (16).18-25.He fortifies them against the world's hatred by reminding them that it hated Himself, and so they shall only be treading in His footsteps. He points out too how inexcusable is this attitude of the world towards Himself and His followers.26-27.He again promises the Holy Ghost, who together with the Apostles, will bear testimony of Him.1. Ego sum vitis vera: et Pater meus agricola est.1. I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman.1. After they had left the supper-room Christ again addresses the Apostles. The fact that the Evangelist gives the discourse that follows without any introductory remark, such as: And Christ said, or: And while they went Christ said—favours the view that only a slight break separated this discourse from that recorded in the preceding chapter. This would, therefore, render it very probable that what follows was spoken in the vicinity of the house in which they had supped rather than on the outskirts of the city.As Christ was about to leave His Apostles, He now impresses upon them the necessity of abiding in Him by faith and love. For this purpose He compares Himself to the stem of the vine, and the Apostles to its branches. As the branches draw all their life and nourishment from the stem, so must the Apostles draw all their spiritual life from Him. This idea would be illustrated by the relation between the trunk of any tree and its branches. The chief reason, then, why He compares Himself to the vine is because it was customary to prune its branches, and He was about[pg 267]to speak of the pruning of His mystical branches by the Father.98He isthe true, that is the perfect vine, because He nourishes His members more perfectly than does any vine tree its branches. In a similar sense He is the true light (Johni. 9), and the true bread (Johnvi. 32).“He is the‘vine’in Hishumanity, in which the branches of the same nature are united with Him. But it is from HisDivinitythe branches derive the spiritual and life-giving influence that leads to eternal happiness”(MacEv.)It is needless to say, that in calling Himself the true vine, Christ does not mean to signify that He is really a vine. The language is plainly metaphorical, and is so explained by our Lord Himself in verses 4 and 5. Hence it bears no comparison with the words used by Christ in instituting the Blessed Eucharist. In the latter case He declared that what He held in His hands was His body, and there was nothing in His words, or in the circumstances in which they were uttered to point to a figurative sense. On the contrary, His discourse delivered twelve months beforehand in the Synagogue of Capharnaum, and recorded in the sixth chapter of our Gospel, prepared the Apostles to receive His words, mysterious though they must have seemed, in the literal sense.And my Father is the husbandman.The Father attends to and purifies Christ's followers in a manner similar to that employed by the vine-dresser, that so they may produce more abundant fruit. The Arians appealed to this text to show that Christ was inferior to God. For as the vine and the husbandman are not of the same nature, so neither, they said, are Christ and the Father of the same nature. We answer that in metaphorical language the comparison is not to be pressed too far, only indeed in that particular, or in regard to that point, for the illustration of which the metaphor is employed. See above onx. 3. Now in the present instance Christ points out (in verse 4) that His metaphorical language is designed to show the necessity for the Apostles of union with Himself. Nothing therefore can be inferred in regard to Hisnatureand the Father's. In reality, Christ,as God, was husbandman, as well as the Father; but as it would not suit the comparison to call[pg 268]Himself both vine and husbandman, He attributes the office of husbandman to the Father.“Numquid unum sunt agricola et vitis? Secundum hoc ergo vitis Christus, secundum quod ait: Pater major me est. Secundum autem id quod ait: Ego et Pater unum sumus, et ipse agricola est.”(St. Aug.)992. Omnem palmitem in me non ferentem fructum, tollet eum: et omnem qui fert fructum, purgabit eum, ut fructum plus afferat.2. Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit.2.Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit.From this it follows that branches may be unfruitful and yet really remain branches, and members of Christ's Church. The sense of Christ's words is: Every Christian that beareth not the fruit of good works, the Fathertakesaway (Gr. present), either in this life, by permitting them to fall into heresy, or at death when they shall no longer remain members of the Church. They are therefore lopped off like useless branches. The good, too, are purified by the Father, whoprunestheir hearts, removing therefrom all impediments to perfection, taking away everything that would hinder or impede the vital power in the production of spiritual fruit. As even the best branches are improved by judicious pruning, so the just are rendered more perfect by the purifying action of the Divine Husbandman. Αὐτο in both cases is redundant.3. Iam vos mundi estis propter sermonem, quem locutus sum vobis.3. Now you are clean by reason of the word which I have spoken to you.3.Now(already)you are clean. The meaning is that the Apostles were already pruned, that the obstacles to their spiritual growth had been taken away by His words addressed to them that night. It is possible that, as some think, there is reference to all Christ's teaching; but we believe there is at leastspecialreference to the discourse of that last night. For He had that night perfected their knowledge (xiv. 6-11); guarded them against an unavailing sorrow (xiv. 1-2, &c.); checked the presumption of some (xiii. 38), and supplied motives to confirm the faith of all (xiv. 29).4. Manete in me: et ego in vobis. Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum a semetipso, nisi manserit in vite: sic nec vos, nisi in me manseritis.4. Abide in me: and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.4.Abide in me, and I in you.The meaning is: take care that ye abide in Me by faith and love, and I will abide in you by[pg 269]love and grace.100Or it may be that the last clause too is imperative in conception: permit me to abide in you. Since they are exhorted to abide, it follows that they were free not to abide; and hence it is possible, as the Council of Trent defined (Sess. vi., Can. 23) to fall away from faith and grace.Of itself—that is, as the source of its vital energy.5. Ego sum vitis, vos palmites: qui manet in me et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum: quia sine me nihil potestis facere.5. I am the vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.5. The theme (verse 1) is again repeated, and now there is added the clause:Ye are the branches, which definitely sums up what was already implied in the preceding verses.For without me you can do nothing.These words show that, though as we have seen in the preceding verse the Apostles were free not to abide in Him, they were not able of themselves to abide in Him or to bear any supernatural fruit except through His grace. The words refute the Pelagian and Semipelagian heresies, for they show that without the aid of Christ's grace we are capable of no supernatural good work.“Sive ergo parum, sive multum, sine illo fieri non potest, sine quo nihil fieri potest”(St. Aug.in loc.). It would be difficult, we think, to prove from this text by itself that even wherehabitualgrace is present,actualgrace is also necessary in order to a salutary work; but the traditional interpretation given to this text by the fathers forbids us to doubt that the necessity of actual grace also is here revealed.There is no question in this text of the necessity of God's concurrence in ournaturalacts; the question is of Christ's influx as mystic vine upon the[pg 270]faithful who remain united to Him as branches.6. Si quis in me non manserit, mittetur foras sicut palmes: et arescet et colligent eum, et in ignem mittent, et ardet.6. If any one abide not in me: he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth.6. Observe the variety of tense in the verbs of this verse in the Greek text.“Sensus est: Si quis in me non manserit, jam eo ipsoejectus estforas sicut palmes etexaruit”(Beel.,Gr. Gram., § 41, 5, b). The casting forth and withering happen simultaneously with the separation from Christ. The words of the verse indicate the punishment which is in store for those who die separated from Christ. In the Greek we have αῦτὰ (ea) instead of“eum”of the Vulgate; and the sense, is that as men usually gather up thewithered branches(αὐτα), and fling them into the fire, where they burn, so shall the angels of God do to the sinner. See Matt. xiii. 41.7. Si manseritis in me, et verba mea in vobis manserint: quodcumque volueritis petetis, et fiet vobis.7. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.7. In contrast with the unhappy condition of those separated from Christ, they who remain in Him by faith, and keep His words through charity working by faith, shall obtain from God through prayer whatever they ask, provided it be necessary or useful to their spiritual life.“Whatsoever we shall ask according to His will He heareth us”(1 John v. 14).8. In hoc clarificatus est Pater meus, ut fructum plurimum afferatis, et efficiamini mei discipuli.8. In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples.8. It is clear from these words that the good works of the just give glory to God. Instead of“efficiamini,”the more probable Greek reading is γενήσεσθε (efficiemini), and the meaning is; And so you shall become more and more My disciples.9. Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea.9. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.9. As (καθώς) expresses not equality, but resemblance. The resemblance consists in this,[pg 271]that as the Father loved Christ's humanity gratuitously, without any previous merit on its part, and united it with the Person of the Word, so Christ loved the disciples gratuitously, and united them with Himself. So Toletus, following St. Aug. Then Christ adds as a practical conclusion: Take care to remain in the enjoyment of that love of mine for you. Or the meaning of the whole verse according to the Greek text may be: as the Father hath loved Me, and as I have loved you, so abide ye in the enjoyment of that love of Mine for you.10. Si praecepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei praecepta servavi, et maneo in eius dilectione.10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.10. Here he points out how they are to continue to enjoy His love: it is by keeping His commandments.11. Haec locutus sum vobis, ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.11. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.11. The meaning is: these things, namely, that you should keep My commandments and continue to retain My love, I have spoken in order that My joy on account of you may continue (the true reading is ᾖ, not μείνῃ, but does not alter the sense), and your joy may be perfected.12. Hoc est præceptum meum ut diligatis invicem, sicut dilexi vos.12. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.12. He had just said that the observance of His commandments is a necessary condition to be fulfilled by those who would retain His love, and now He goes on to point to one commandment that in a special manner isHis, the“new commandment”(xiii. 34), to which they must attend.13. Maiorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis.13. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.13. In this verse He explains what sort is that love of His upon which theirs must be modelled (comp. 1 John iii. 16). The meaning is, that no greater proof of love for a friend can be given than to lay down one's life for him. This He was about to do for them.[pg 272]The comparison is not between dying for afriendand dying for anenemy, but between the different proofs of love for a friend.14. Vos amici mei estis, si feceritis quae ego praecipio vobis.14. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.14. Here He shows that in speaking of laying down His life for His friends, He means laying it down for the Apostles.15. Iam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus eius. Vos autem dixi amicos: quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo, nota feci vobis.15. I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.15. He has referred to them as friends, and will do so in future. Formerly, indeed, He had referred to them as His servants (Johnxii. 26,xiii. 16), but now after He has taken them so fully into His confidence, told them of His speedy departure from them (xiii. 33), pointed out to them His consubstantiality with the Father (xiv. 7-11), and instructed them that the Holy Ghost was to come to them (xiv.16,17), He will no longer speak of them as servants, but as friends.All things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.That is to say, all the knowledge which was communicated to Him, together with His Divine nature, in His eternal generation by the Father; all this, as far as they were capable (Johnxvi. 12), and it was useful for them, He had communicated to them.16. Non vos me elegistis: sed ego elegi vos et posui vos, ut eatis, et fructum afferatis: et fructus vester maneat: ut quodcumque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, det vobis.16. You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.16.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you.Or more exactly;“it was not you that chose Me, but I chose you,”where the aorist refers back to the definite act of selecting and calling the Apostles. Not only then was His love for them most intense, as was signified in verse 13, but it was alsogratuitous, unmerited: and this is now pointed out. You did not choose Me as your friend, but I chose you as My special friends, My Apostles;[pg 273]and set you up as such, in order that you should go into the whole world (Mark xvi. 15). and bear fruit in yourselves and others, and that this fruit should remain unto eternal life.That(ἵνα)whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Some as Mald. and A Lap. take ἵνα here to denote a consequence: if you bring forth the fruit for which I have chosen you,it will come to passthat whatsoever, &c. Others think ἵνα may retain its usual telic force: I appointed you in order that ... your fruit should remain, and that whatsoeverin reference to that fruityou shall ask, &c. On what is meant by asking the Father in Christ's name, see above onxiv. 13.17. Haec mando vobis, ut diligatis invicem.17. These things I command you, that you love one another.17. Some take the meaning to be: these things, namely, the greatness and gratuitousness of My love for youI insist upon, to the end that you may love one another. Others as Mald. and Patriz. take the meaning to be the same as in verse 11: this is what I command you, namely, that you love one another. The use of ταῦτα (haec) and not τοῦτο (hoc) is rather against the latter view, but it is replied that the plural demonstrative followed by the single precept is intended to signify that charity is the fulfilment of the whole law.18. Si mundus vos odit, scitote quia me priorem vobis odio habuit.18. If the world hate you, know you that it hath hated me before you.18. Having exhorted them to mutual love, He now fortifies them against the hatred of the world and the persecutions that awaited them. The world, as is plain, is the wicked world, and in being hated by it they shall only be treading in the footsteps of their Master.It hath hated.The Greek perfect implies not merely a passing manifestation of hatred, but an abiding and persistent feeling.19. Si de mundo fuissetis, mundus quod suum erat diligeret: quia vero de mundo non estis, sed ego elegi vos de mundo propterea odit vos mundus.19. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.19.If you had been, ought rather to be: if you were. The five-fold repetition of“the world”in this verse brings vividly before us this great antagonist of Christ.[pg 274]20. Mementote sermonis mei, quem ego dixi vobis: Non est servus maior domino suo. Si me persecuti sunt, et vos persequentur: si sermonem meum servaverunt, et vestrum servabunt.20. Remember my word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.20. He now reminds them of what He had told them before (xiii. 16) that:“a servant is not greater than his master,”and from this He goes on to signify what they must expect to meet with from the world.If they have kept my word.Some think there is reference to those who having been of the world came out from it to follow Christ and keep His word. But it appears more probable that He speaks of those who are still of the world, and leaves it to be supplied that since they had not kept His word, so neither would they keep that of the Apostles. By the word of the Apostles is meant the word of Christ as preached by them.21. Sed haec omnia facient vobis propter nomen meum: quia nesciunt eum qui misit me.21. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me.21. But remember that you shall suffer in a glorious cause; namely, on My account; for they will persecute you because you are My followers, and this because through culpable ignorance they will not recognise God as My Father, nor Me as the Son of God.22. Si non venissem, et locutus fuissem eis, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem excusationem non habent de peccato suo.22. If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.23. Qui me odit et Patrem meum odit.23. He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.22, 23. That this ignorance is culpable, He now proves from the fact that He had[pg 275]Himself declared to them His relations with the Father. The sin (peccatum) is that of incredulity, and in remaining incredulous and hating Christ, they thereby showed that they hated the Father who sent Him.24. Si opera non fecissem in eis quae nemo alius fecit, peccatum non haberent: nunc autem et viderunt, et oderunt et me, et Patrum meum.24. If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.24. Not only His words (verse 22), but also His unparalleled miracles deprived them of all excuse for their unbelief. See above oniii. 2. But now they have seen, or ought to have seen, the Father in Me (see above onxiv. 9); and they have seen Me, and they have hated Us both.25. Sed ut adimpleatur sermo qui in lege eorum scriptus est: Quia odio habuerunt me gratis.25. But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law:They have hated me without cause.25. Yet, He continues, it is only what their own Scriptures (Ps. xxxiv. 19) foretold, that they would hate Him without cause. Thus this hatred of the world, so far from weakening the faith of the Apostles in Christ as the Messias, should confirm it, since the Messias was to be hated by the world. In this verse ἵνα has its usualtelicforce, and the sense is: but this has come to passin order thatthe Scripture might be fulfilled. See above onxii. 37-40. The passage of the Psalm referred to is probably Messianic in its literal sense.26. Cum autem venerit Paraclitus, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre, spiritum veritatis, qui a Patre procedit, ille testimonium perhibebit de me:26. But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me.27. Et vos testimonium perhibebitis, quia ab initio mecum estis.27. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning.26, 27. The connection with the preceding is: though the world hate Christ, yet the Holy Ghost and the Apostles shall bear witness to Him. Here again, in verse 26, we have distinct mention of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. See xiv.16,26.[pg 276]Though the Holy Ghost is not here said to proceed from the Son as well as from the Father (“ex Patre Filioque”), yet this is implied in His being sent by the Son (see above onxiv. 26), and can be clearly proved against the schismatical Greeks from other parts of Scripture, as from John xvi.13,14. The Greek renderedyou shall give testimony, is ambiguous, and may be either an imperative or an indicative. However, as Christ seems to be speaking of the witnesses who will maintain His cause against the world, and not to be prescribing the duty of the Apostles, the indicative is preferable.
1-11.In a beautiful allegory, Christ declares the necessity of union with Himself in order to a supernatural life.12-17.He inculcates mutual love, proposing as a model His own love for the Apostles—a love which made him ready to lay down His life for them (13), and which was spontaneous (16).18-25.He fortifies them against the world's hatred by reminding them that it hated Himself, and so they shall only be treading in His footsteps. He points out too how inexcusable is this attitude of the world towards Himself and His followers.26-27.He again promises the Holy Ghost, who together with the Apostles, will bear testimony of Him.
1-11.In a beautiful allegory, Christ declares the necessity of union with Himself in order to a supernatural life.
12-17.He inculcates mutual love, proposing as a model His own love for the Apostles—a love which made him ready to lay down His life for them (13), and which was spontaneous (16).
18-25.He fortifies them against the world's hatred by reminding them that it hated Himself, and so they shall only be treading in His footsteps. He points out too how inexcusable is this attitude of the world towards Himself and His followers.
26-27.He again promises the Holy Ghost, who together with the Apostles, will bear testimony of Him.
1. After they had left the supper-room Christ again addresses the Apostles. The fact that the Evangelist gives the discourse that follows without any introductory remark, such as: And Christ said, or: And while they went Christ said—favours the view that only a slight break separated this discourse from that recorded in the preceding chapter. This would, therefore, render it very probable that what follows was spoken in the vicinity of the house in which they had supped rather than on the outskirts of the city.
As Christ was about to leave His Apostles, He now impresses upon them the necessity of abiding in Him by faith and love. For this purpose He compares Himself to the stem of the vine, and the Apostles to its branches. As the branches draw all their life and nourishment from the stem, so must the Apostles draw all their spiritual life from Him. This idea would be illustrated by the relation between the trunk of any tree and its branches. The chief reason, then, why He compares Himself to the vine is because it was customary to prune its branches, and He was about[pg 267]to speak of the pruning of His mystical branches by the Father.98He isthe true, that is the perfect vine, because He nourishes His members more perfectly than does any vine tree its branches. In a similar sense He is the true light (Johni. 9), and the true bread (Johnvi. 32).
“He is the‘vine’in Hishumanity, in which the branches of the same nature are united with Him. But it is from HisDivinitythe branches derive the spiritual and life-giving influence that leads to eternal happiness”(MacEv.)
It is needless to say, that in calling Himself the true vine, Christ does not mean to signify that He is really a vine. The language is plainly metaphorical, and is so explained by our Lord Himself in verses 4 and 5. Hence it bears no comparison with the words used by Christ in instituting the Blessed Eucharist. In the latter case He declared that what He held in His hands was His body, and there was nothing in His words, or in the circumstances in which they were uttered to point to a figurative sense. On the contrary, His discourse delivered twelve months beforehand in the Synagogue of Capharnaum, and recorded in the sixth chapter of our Gospel, prepared the Apostles to receive His words, mysterious though they must have seemed, in the literal sense.
And my Father is the husbandman.The Father attends to and purifies Christ's followers in a manner similar to that employed by the vine-dresser, that so they may produce more abundant fruit. The Arians appealed to this text to show that Christ was inferior to God. For as the vine and the husbandman are not of the same nature, so neither, they said, are Christ and the Father of the same nature. We answer that in metaphorical language the comparison is not to be pressed too far, only indeed in that particular, or in regard to that point, for the illustration of which the metaphor is employed. See above onx. 3. Now in the present instance Christ points out (in verse 4) that His metaphorical language is designed to show the necessity for the Apostles of union with Himself. Nothing therefore can be inferred in regard to Hisnatureand the Father's. In reality, Christ,as God, was husbandman, as well as the Father; but as it would not suit the comparison to call[pg 268]Himself both vine and husbandman, He attributes the office of husbandman to the Father.“Numquid unum sunt agricola et vitis? Secundum hoc ergo vitis Christus, secundum quod ait: Pater major me est. Secundum autem id quod ait: Ego et Pater unum sumus, et ipse agricola est.”(St. Aug.)99
2.Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit.From this it follows that branches may be unfruitful and yet really remain branches, and members of Christ's Church. The sense of Christ's words is: Every Christian that beareth not the fruit of good works, the Fathertakesaway (Gr. present), either in this life, by permitting them to fall into heresy, or at death when they shall no longer remain members of the Church. They are therefore lopped off like useless branches. The good, too, are purified by the Father, whoprunestheir hearts, removing therefrom all impediments to perfection, taking away everything that would hinder or impede the vital power in the production of spiritual fruit. As even the best branches are improved by judicious pruning, so the just are rendered more perfect by the purifying action of the Divine Husbandman. Αὐτο in both cases is redundant.
3.Now(already)you are clean. The meaning is that the Apostles were already pruned, that the obstacles to their spiritual growth had been taken away by His words addressed to them that night. It is possible that, as some think, there is reference to all Christ's teaching; but we believe there is at leastspecialreference to the discourse of that last night. For He had that night perfected their knowledge (xiv. 6-11); guarded them against an unavailing sorrow (xiv. 1-2, &c.); checked the presumption of some (xiii. 38), and supplied motives to confirm the faith of all (xiv. 29).
4.Abide in me, and I in you.The meaning is: take care that ye abide in Me by faith and love, and I will abide in you by[pg 269]love and grace.100Or it may be that the last clause too is imperative in conception: permit me to abide in you. Since they are exhorted to abide, it follows that they were free not to abide; and hence it is possible, as the Council of Trent defined (Sess. vi., Can. 23) to fall away from faith and grace.Of itself—that is, as the source of its vital energy.
5. The theme (verse 1) is again repeated, and now there is added the clause:Ye are the branches, which definitely sums up what was already implied in the preceding verses.For without me you can do nothing.These words show that, though as we have seen in the preceding verse the Apostles were free not to abide in Him, they were not able of themselves to abide in Him or to bear any supernatural fruit except through His grace. The words refute the Pelagian and Semipelagian heresies, for they show that without the aid of Christ's grace we are capable of no supernatural good work.“Sive ergo parum, sive multum, sine illo fieri non potest, sine quo nihil fieri potest”(St. Aug.in loc.). It would be difficult, we think, to prove from this text by itself that even wherehabitualgrace is present,actualgrace is also necessary in order to a salutary work; but the traditional interpretation given to this text by the fathers forbids us to doubt that the necessity of actual grace also is here revealed.
There is no question in this text of the necessity of God's concurrence in ournaturalacts; the question is of Christ's influx as mystic vine upon the[pg 270]faithful who remain united to Him as branches.
6. Observe the variety of tense in the verbs of this verse in the Greek text.“Sensus est: Si quis in me non manserit, jam eo ipsoejectus estforas sicut palmes etexaruit”(Beel.,Gr. Gram., § 41, 5, b). The casting forth and withering happen simultaneously with the separation from Christ. The words of the verse indicate the punishment which is in store for those who die separated from Christ. In the Greek we have αῦτὰ (ea) instead of“eum”of the Vulgate; and the sense, is that as men usually gather up thewithered branches(αὐτα), and fling them into the fire, where they burn, so shall the angels of God do to the sinner. See Matt. xiii. 41.
7. In contrast with the unhappy condition of those separated from Christ, they who remain in Him by faith, and keep His words through charity working by faith, shall obtain from God through prayer whatever they ask, provided it be necessary or useful to their spiritual life.“Whatsoever we shall ask according to His will He heareth us”(1 John v. 14).
8. It is clear from these words that the good works of the just give glory to God. Instead of“efficiamini,”the more probable Greek reading is γενήσεσθε (efficiemini), and the meaning is; And so you shall become more and more My disciples.
9. As (καθώς) expresses not equality, but resemblance. The resemblance consists in this,[pg 271]that as the Father loved Christ's humanity gratuitously, without any previous merit on its part, and united it with the Person of the Word, so Christ loved the disciples gratuitously, and united them with Himself. So Toletus, following St. Aug. Then Christ adds as a practical conclusion: Take care to remain in the enjoyment of that love of mine for you. Or the meaning of the whole verse according to the Greek text may be: as the Father hath loved Me, and as I have loved you, so abide ye in the enjoyment of that love of Mine for you.
10. Here he points out how they are to continue to enjoy His love: it is by keeping His commandments.
11. The meaning is: these things, namely, that you should keep My commandments and continue to retain My love, I have spoken in order that My joy on account of you may continue (the true reading is ᾖ, not μείνῃ, but does not alter the sense), and your joy may be perfected.
12. He had just said that the observance of His commandments is a necessary condition to be fulfilled by those who would retain His love, and now He goes on to point to one commandment that in a special manner isHis, the“new commandment”(xiii. 34), to which they must attend.
13. In this verse He explains what sort is that love of His upon which theirs must be modelled (comp. 1 John iii. 16). The meaning is, that no greater proof of love for a friend can be given than to lay down one's life for him. This He was about to do for them.[pg 272]The comparison is not between dying for afriendand dying for anenemy, but between the different proofs of love for a friend.
14. Here He shows that in speaking of laying down His life for His friends, He means laying it down for the Apostles.
15. He has referred to them as friends, and will do so in future. Formerly, indeed, He had referred to them as His servants (Johnxii. 26,xiii. 16), but now after He has taken them so fully into His confidence, told them of His speedy departure from them (xiii. 33), pointed out to them His consubstantiality with the Father (xiv. 7-11), and instructed them that the Holy Ghost was to come to them (xiv.16,17), He will no longer speak of them as servants, but as friends.
All things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.That is to say, all the knowledge which was communicated to Him, together with His Divine nature, in His eternal generation by the Father; all this, as far as they were capable (Johnxvi. 12), and it was useful for them, He had communicated to them.
16.You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you.Or more exactly;“it was not you that chose Me, but I chose you,”where the aorist refers back to the definite act of selecting and calling the Apostles. Not only then was His love for them most intense, as was signified in verse 13, but it was alsogratuitous, unmerited: and this is now pointed out. You did not choose Me as your friend, but I chose you as My special friends, My Apostles;[pg 273]and set you up as such, in order that you should go into the whole world (Mark xvi. 15). and bear fruit in yourselves and others, and that this fruit should remain unto eternal life.
That(ἵνα)whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. Some as Mald. and A Lap. take ἵνα here to denote a consequence: if you bring forth the fruit for which I have chosen you,it will come to passthat whatsoever, &c. Others think ἵνα may retain its usual telic force: I appointed you in order that ... your fruit should remain, and that whatsoeverin reference to that fruityou shall ask, &c. On what is meant by asking the Father in Christ's name, see above onxiv. 13.
17. Some take the meaning to be: these things, namely, the greatness and gratuitousness of My love for youI insist upon, to the end that you may love one another. Others as Mald. and Patriz. take the meaning to be the same as in verse 11: this is what I command you, namely, that you love one another. The use of ταῦτα (haec) and not τοῦτο (hoc) is rather against the latter view, but it is replied that the plural demonstrative followed by the single precept is intended to signify that charity is the fulfilment of the whole law.
18. Having exhorted them to mutual love, He now fortifies them against the hatred of the world and the persecutions that awaited them. The world, as is plain, is the wicked world, and in being hated by it they shall only be treading in the footsteps of their Master.
It hath hated.The Greek perfect implies not merely a passing manifestation of hatred, but an abiding and persistent feeling.
19.If you had been, ought rather to be: if you were. The five-fold repetition of“the world”in this verse brings vividly before us this great antagonist of Christ.
20. He now reminds them of what He had told them before (xiii. 16) that:“a servant is not greater than his master,”and from this He goes on to signify what they must expect to meet with from the world.
If they have kept my word.Some think there is reference to those who having been of the world came out from it to follow Christ and keep His word. But it appears more probable that He speaks of those who are still of the world, and leaves it to be supplied that since they had not kept His word, so neither would they keep that of the Apostles. By the word of the Apostles is meant the word of Christ as preached by them.
21. But remember that you shall suffer in a glorious cause; namely, on My account; for they will persecute you because you are My followers, and this because through culpable ignorance they will not recognise God as My Father, nor Me as the Son of God.
22, 23. That this ignorance is culpable, He now proves from the fact that He had[pg 275]Himself declared to them His relations with the Father. The sin (peccatum) is that of incredulity, and in remaining incredulous and hating Christ, they thereby showed that they hated the Father who sent Him.
24. Not only His words (verse 22), but also His unparalleled miracles deprived them of all excuse for their unbelief. See above oniii. 2. But now they have seen, or ought to have seen, the Father in Me (see above onxiv. 9); and they have seen Me, and they have hated Us both.
25. Yet, He continues, it is only what their own Scriptures (Ps. xxxiv. 19) foretold, that they would hate Him without cause. Thus this hatred of the world, so far from weakening the faith of the Apostles in Christ as the Messias, should confirm it, since the Messias was to be hated by the world. In this verse ἵνα has its usualtelicforce, and the sense is: but this has come to passin order thatthe Scripture might be fulfilled. See above onxii. 37-40. The passage of the Psalm referred to is probably Messianic in its literal sense.
26, 27. The connection with the preceding is: though the world hate Christ, yet the Holy Ghost and the Apostles shall bear witness to Him. Here again, in verse 26, we have distinct mention of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. See xiv.16,26.[pg 276]Though the Holy Ghost is not here said to proceed from the Son as well as from the Father (“ex Patre Filioque”), yet this is implied in His being sent by the Son (see above onxiv. 26), and can be clearly proved against the schismatical Greeks from other parts of Scripture, as from John xvi.13,14. The Greek renderedyou shall give testimony, is ambiguous, and may be either an imperative or an indicative. However, as Christ seems to be speaking of the witnesses who will maintain His cause against the world, and not to be prescribing the duty of the Apostles, the indicative is preferable.