1-26 CHAPTER 15 VER. 1. _I am the true Vine_. The Greek has a double art. _ή άμπελος ή α̉ληθινὴ_, _the vine the true_. The Syriac is, _I am that vine of truth_. Christ here sets forth the parable of the vine and the branches with this end and view, to teach the Apostles that they must abide in His... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every branch_ : Christ says nothing about the Vine itself, but only speaks of the branches, because Christ the Vine is self-sufficing. But the disciples have need of much help and culture from God. So Chrysostom. _Every branch in Me_, &c., _i.e._, every Christian who by faith and baptism has been a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now ye are clean through the word_, &c. This is the pruning-hook with which God the Father _καθαίζει_, _i.e._, _purges_ and _cleanses_ His apostles, that they may be _καθαζὸι_, _i.e._, _pure_ and _clean_, as the word of Christ. For as S. Paul says (Heb. iv.), "The Word of God is living and powerfu... [ Continue Reading ]
_If_ _ye shall abide in Me_, i.e. if ye shall persevere in My love and grace, _and My words in you_, in your memory, that you constantly call them to mind, and in your will, that you love them, and in works, that ye always fulfil My commandments, _Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done for... [ Continue Reading ]
_Even as I have kept My Father's commandments_, &c. That is, as I proceed to obey the Father's commandments, and to preserve His grace and love towards Me. Hear St. Augustine. "Love precedes the keeping of commandments. For he who loveth not hath nothing from whence he may keep them. In what therefo... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is My commandment_, &c. The Greek is emphatic with the double art., _ή ε̉ντολὴ ή ε̉μὴ_, _i.e._ _My precept, even Mine_. This is to be referred partly to the words, _if ye keep My commandments_, partly to, _in My love_, which is the scope of the whole parable from the beginning of the chapter... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will not henceforth call you servants_ : _for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, i.e_. what he intends and proposes to do. VER. 15. _But I have called you friends._ S. Augustine (_Tract_. 85) inquires in what way this is true: for the Apostles really continued to be servants of Christ,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye have not chosen Me_, &c. S. Augustine, both on this passage and elsewhere (_lib_. 1, _c._ 17, _de Predest. Sanct_.) understands by this choosing the predestination of God: I have predestinated you, and chosen you, without any merits of yours, to glory. But this does not agree rightly with the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_These things I command you_, &c. He says _these things_ in the plural to signify that there were indeed many particular precepts commanded by Him, but that all of them were included in the one common and easy precept of love, so that if one fulfils that, one fulfils all. Secondly, You may explain m... [ Continue Reading ]