[13] St. Thomas refers to Jn 15:14 in the Summa Theologiae: II-II, q. 23, a. 1, s. c.; Jn 15:15: ST II-II, q. 172, a. 4, obj. 2; Jn 15:17: ST I, q. 73, a. 2, arg. 1.
[14] Moralia XVII , ch. 15, no. 28; PL 76, col. 415B"Times New Roman";color:green'>; cf. Catena Aurea, 15:12-16.
[15] In Ioannem hom ., 77, ch. 1; PG 59, col. 415; cf. Catena Aurea , 15:12-16.
[16] Tract. in Io ., 86, ch. 1, col. 1850; cf. Catena Aurea , 15:12-16.
[17] Homiliae in Evangelista XXVII ; PL 76; cf. Catena Aurea, 15:12-16.
[18] Summa-God predestines and calls men not based on their merit.
[19] Origen.
[20] Tract. in Io ., 87, ch. 2, col. 1853; cf. Catena Aurea , 15:17-21.
[21] Aristotle.
[22] St. Thomas refers to Jn 15:22 in the Summa Theologiae: II-II, q. 5, a. 2, obj. 3; q. 10, a. 1; q. 10, a. 3, s. c.; III, q. 47, a. 5; q. 80, a. 5, s. c.; q. 86, a. 3, ad 2; Jn 15:24: ST II-II, q. 34, a. 1 s. c.; III, q. 43, a. 4, ad 1; q. 47, a. 5, obj. 2; Jn 15:25: ST II-II, q. 16, a. 1, obj. 5: Jn 15:26: ST I, q. 27, a. 3, s. c.; q. 36, a. 2, obj 1.
[23] Summa-man can hate God under a certain aspect.
[24] Tract. in Io ., 90, ch. 1, col. 1858-9; cf. Catena Aurea , 15:22-25.
[25] Ibid., cf. Catena Aurea , 15:22-25.
[26] Dionysius.
[27] Moralia , XXV, ch. 11, no. 28; PL 76, col. 339B; "Times New Roman";color:green'>cf. Catena Aurea, 15:22-25.
[28] Summa-procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son. 2061-2065.
16
LECTURE I
1 "I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you." [1]
2068 Above, our Lord had used certain considerations to console his disciples over his leaving and against the persecutions and tribulations that would come upon them. Here he amplifies these considerations more clearly. First, he explains the considerations he gave before; and secondly, we see the effect of this explanation on the disciples (v 29).
If we pay close attention to what was said in the pervious two chapters, we can see that our Lord aimed at consoling his disciples against two things: his own leaving them, and the tribulations that would come upon them. But he here explains these two things in reverse order. He had consoled them first over his leaving because this would take place very soon and he had not yet foretold all the tribulations that would come upon them. But now, since they seemed to be more troubled by their own tribulations than by Christ's leaving, our Lord here consoles them first of all against their forthcoming trials, and then against his leaving (v 5). He does three things concerning the first: first, he gives his intention; secondly, he mentions the tribulations they will suffer from being persecuted (v 2); thirdly, he tells why they will be persecuted (v 3).
2069 He says: I have said that the Jews hate me and you, because they do not know who sent me. I have said that they are inexcusable and that you and the Holy Spirit will bear witness against them. Now I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away , that is, so you don't fall away when the tribulations I have foretold come upon you. And it is fitting that our Lord restrains them from falling after promising the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is love ‑ "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom 5:5) ‑ and the Holy Spirit prevents stumbling: "Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Ps 119:165). Now it is characteristic of friends that they disregard any loss for the sake of one another, as stated in Proverbs [12:26]. So, for one who is a friend of God, to suffer punishment and loss is no reason to fall away. Yet because the disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit before the death of Christ, they did fall away during his passion: "You will all fall away because of me this night" (Mt 26:31). But after the Holy Spirit came there was no falling away.
2070 The disciples might say: Don't we have reason to fall away? Many troubles will come upon us: first, that of rejection; secondly, we will be killed.
2071 They will be rejected from the society of the Jews; so he says, They will put you out of the synagogues: "The Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue" (9:22). This was so successful that for this reason some of the [Jewish] authorities who did believe in Christ were afraid to profess him publicly, as we read above (12:42). Christ foretold this rejection: "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man" (Lk 6:22).
2072 Was it an evil for the apostles to be cast out of the Jewish synagogues, since they were going to leave them in any case? The answer, according to Augustine, is that it was a trial for them, because this was our Lord's way of telling them that the Jews would not accept Christ. [2] For if they had received Christ, the synagogue of the Jews and the Church of Christ would have been the same; and those who would be converted to the Church of Christ would have been converted to the synagogue of the Jews.