Chapter XV.
Second, concerning constancy in true love, three things are set forth.
1. I am the true vine etc. In the preceding chapter the Lord exhorted his disciples to constancy of faith; in this chapter he exhorts them to proven and true love . And since true love first loves God, then also loves a friend in God and loves and tolerates an enemy for God's sake, therefore he first exhorts the disciples to the love of God; second, to the love of friends, at the passage: This is my commandment, that you love etc.; third, to the love and toleration of enemies, at the passage: If the world hates you, know etc.
First, he exhorts the disciples to the love of God.
He exhorts them first to the love of God: and because "he who abides in charity abides in God," he exhorts them to abide in himself, and he does this in the following order. First, the place of abiding is described; second, the fruit; third, the manner; fourth, the effect.
2. (Verse 1.). The place of abiding, therefore, is expressed first as Christ himself, in whom the faithful ought to abide, just as the branch abides in the vine. Therefore he says: I am the true vine, therefore true, because it produces true wine, of which the penultimate chapter of Genesis says: "He shall wash his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of the grape, binding his foal to the vineyard and his donkey to the vine." This vine is not uncultivated; therefore he says: And my Father is the husbandman, not only one who cultivates from without but who gives increase from within; First Corinthians three: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase," and shortly after: "You are God's husbandry, you are God's building." Therefore the Father is the true husbandman, because he carries out his work; whence he says:
3. (Verse 2.). Every branch in me not bearing fruit, he shall take away: Matthew three: "The axe is laid to the root of the tree: every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire." And every one that bears fruit, he shall purge it , that it may bring forth more fruit. He shall purge, through penitence; whence First John one: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us all our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity." He also purges through patience: whence in the Psalm: "For you have proved us, O God: you have tried us by fire, as silver is tried; you have brought us into the snare," etc. In this vine, therefore, the clean branches are best placed; therefore he exhorts the Apostles, already clean, to abide in himself; on account of which he says:
4. (Verse 3.). Already you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. This was the word of faith, which purifies believers: Acts fifteen: "Purifying their hearts by faith." Since therefore you are clean:
5. (Vers. 4.). Abide in me, as in the vine, and I in you, as in a temple: on this, First John 4: "He who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him." Therefore the abiding is mutual, because the love is mutual: above, chapter fourteen: "He who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him."
As the branch etc. He touched upon the place of abiding; here he touches secondly upon the fruit of abiding, which the branch has, not apart from the vine, but in the vine. Therefore he shows that the fruit from the branch has its origin from the vine, first by the opposite, namely through separation, second by the proposition, through abiding. On account of which he says: As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. And therefore, if they wish to bear fruit, it is necessary that they abide in him from whom the fruit has its origin: Ephesians 1: "He gave him as head over the whole Church, which is his body and his fullness, who has fulfilled all things in all"; John 1: "Of his fullness we have all received grace for grace." Therefore you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in me; but in me you can, because:
6. (Vers. 5.). I am the vine, and you are the branches: and therefore he who abides in me, he bears much fruit. And therefore abide in me as in the origin of fruit: because without me you can do nothing; Isaiah 26: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord." And that they can do nothing without him, he shows through a similitude:
7. (Vers. 6.). If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, namely separated from the vine. He is cast outside the vineyard through separation from the unity of the Church; Apocalypse, last chapter: "Outside are dogs and sorcerers and the unchaste" etc. And he will not bear fruit, whence he will wither, through the loss of the moisture of grace; and they will gather him and cast him into the fire, and he burns, because he will burn through the infliction of punishment.
Whence four evils follow: first, that he is cast out; Matthew 15: "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted."
Second, he will wither: Matthew 21, the Lord said to the fig tree, in which he found nothing but leaves: "Let no fruit ever be born from you forever. And immediately it withered"; Psalm: "My strength has dried up like a potsherd."
Third, he is gathered by the angelic ministry: whence Matthew 13: "They shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals."
Fourth, he is burned with fire: Ezekiel 15: "Son of man, what shall become of the wood of the vine?" And it follows: "Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel."
8. (Vers. 7.). If you abide in me. Above he showed that he is the origin of fruit through the opposite of abiding; but here he shows through abiding itself, which gives fruit both with respect to yourself and with respect to your neighbor. With respect to yourself: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you: not like those of whom Luke 8 says: "They believe for a time, and in the time of temptation they fall away"; but like those of whom the Psalm says: "Who keep his covenant and are mindful of his commandments, to do them"; whatever you will, you shall ask, and it shall be done for you; above in chapter nine: "If anyone does the will of God, he hears him." Not only is there fruit with respect to oneself, but also with respect to one's neighbor, to be converted to the glory of God: therefore he adds:
9. (Vers. 8.). In this is my Father glorified, that you bear very much fruit: namely, that people be converted by your word and example; Matthew 5: "So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who is in heaven"; and from this you become my disciples, that is, imitators of me, who bore very much fruit through my death, as above in chapter twelve: "If a grain of wheat dies, it bears much fruit." So also the Apostles: whence the Church sings of them that "they planted the Church with their blood"; Colossians 1: "I fill up what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ".
10. (Vers. 9.). As the Father has loved me. Here thirdly is touched upon the manner of abiding, which is through love, to which the fact that he himself first loved us ought to invite us: therefore he said: As the Father has loved me, so I also have loved you; and therefore abide in my love; 1 John 4: "Let us therefore love God, because he first loved us." And because true love is manifested through works, he adds:
11. (Vers. 10.). If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept the commandments of my Father and abide in his love: above in chapter fourteen: "That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has given me commandment, so I do." So also we ought to do; 1 John 2: "He who says that he abides in him ought, even as he walked, himself also to walk"; Deuteronomy 10: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, except that you fear the Lord your God and walk in his ways and love him and serve the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and keep the commandments of the Lord and his ceremonies, which I command you this day, that it may be well with you"?
12. (Vers. 11.). These things I have spoken to you. Here the fourth is touched upon, namely the effect of abiding: and the effect is joy in the present and joy in the future. On account of joy in the present he says: That my joy may be in you, that is, pure joy, by which a person rejoices in the Lord, not in the world; concerning which Philippians, the last chapter, says: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say: rejoice."
On account of joy in the future, he says: And that your joy may be fulfilled, concerning which below in chapter sixteen: "Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." Our joy is fulfilled by the joy of the Lord, concerning which in Matthew twenty-five: "Enter into the joy of your Lord."
QUESTIONS.
13. Question I. But here a question is raised about what he says: I am the true vine.
Augustine objects: If vine is said of Christ, just as lion and stone are said of him, and these are said not properly but by likeness, and those things are called true which are said properly, it does not seem that he should say: I am the true vine, but rather the figurative vine.