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John 15:1. I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. What mysterious things does He teach them? “I,” he says, “am the vine, that is, the root, and you are the branches, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Who does the Father care about? Is it really about the root? No, but about the branches. John 15:2. Every branch of Me that does not bear fruit He cuts off; and every one that bears fruit he cleanses, that it may bear more fruit. For, he says, “He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit,” that is, every person who through faith has become part of the root, united with the Lord and became a steward of Him, must also bear fruit, that is, lead a virtuous life, so that if someone has only an unfounded confession of faith, and does not bear fruit through keeping the commandments, he becomes a dead branch; for “faith, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Therefore, everyone who believes is in Christ as long as he believes. “For,” he says, “every branch that is in Me, if it does not bear fruit, the Father “cuts off,” that is, deprives him of fellowship with the Son, “but the one that bears fruit he cleanses.” From here we learn that even a very virtuous person still needs God’s care. For a barren branch cannot remain on the vine, but the Father makes a fruitful branch even more fruitful. Understand these words also about the disasters of the disciples. Since disasters are similar to what gardeners call pruning, the Lord shows the disciples that through disasters they will become more fruitful, just like branches through pruning. For through temptation they became more and more powerful. John 15:3. You have already been cleansed through the word that I preached to you. Then, so that they don’t ask: “Who are you talking about?”, He says: “You have already been cleansed through the word that I preached to you.” Look, I said above that the Father cleanses, but now He presents Himself as taking care of the branches. So, the Father and the Son have one action. “I,” he says, “purified you through My teaching: now it is necessary that you show in practice what should be done on your part.” Therefore he adds: John 15:4. Abide in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. “I,” he says, “purified you through My word and teaching, and nothing was left undone on My part. Now your business must begin.” "Abide in Me." So that they do not separate from Him out of fear, He strengthens their weakened soul, cleaves them to Himself and already gives good hope: “Whatever you ask, you will receive, if you abide in Me” (John 15:7). John 15:5. I am the vine, and you are the branches; He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. The example of the branch clearly shows us that from Him strength and life are given to those who please Him. For just as the branch that abides in the vine bears fruit and receives life from it, so if you remain in Me by keeping the commandments, you will bear more fruit. John 15:6. Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither; and such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and they burn. But whoever does not abide will “wither up,” that is, he will lose what he had from the root, and if he has received any spiritual grace, he will be deprived of it and the help and life imparted from it. And what finally? "They throw them into the fire and they burn." With these words he also gives them considerable consolation, showing that those who plot against Him, for example Judas, will be burned, and they who abid in Him will bear fruit. For without the strength and revival that comes from Him, they will not be able to do anything. John 15:7. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Here the Lord explains to us what the words “if you abide in Me” mean. Namely: if you keep My commandments. For the words “if my words abide in you” mean that He desires union with them through works. For each of those who live godly abides on the Vine of his own free will, uniting with It through love and keeping the commandments and clinging to the spirit; just as, on the contrary, the one who ceases to keep the commandments arbitrarily alienates himself from the Lord. John 15:8. By this will My Father be glorified, if you bear much fruit and become My disciples. “By this,” he says, “My Father will be glorified, if you bear much fruit.” The glory of God and the Father is the dignity of the disciples of His Son. For when the light of the apostles shone before men, then they glorified the Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:14-16). The fruit of the apostles are those peoples who, through their teaching, were brought to faith and began to glorify God. If the Father is glorified when you bear fruit, then He will undoubtedly not neglect His glory, but will help you bear more fruit, so that He may also be glorified more. My Father will be glorified when you bear much fruit, “and you will be my disciples.” You see, whoever bears fruit is a true disciple. And the Father is “glorified” from this, that is, he rejoices and considers this His glory. John 15:9. As the Father has loved Me, I have loved you; abide in My love. He convinces them not to be afraid and for this he says: “I have loved you and loved you as the Father loved me.” He said this in a human-like manner. So, “abide in My love” - for this depends on you. Having heard that I have loved you, do not be careless, but try to remain in My love. John 15:10. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, Then he explains how they can remain in this love, namely: if they keep His commandments. For, as has been said many times, he who keeps His commandments loves Him. By all this He shows that they will be safe when they lead a pure life. just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. And this speaks out of condescension towards the weakness of the listeners. For it is very absurd to think that He who gives laws for everyone was subject to commandments and could not govern His life without the commandments of the Father. He says this in order to comfort them more. He told them: "I love you." Meanwhile, they must subsequently struggle with sorrows. So that in this case they would not be tempted, as if His love serves them for nothing, He says: “Do not be embarrassed. For behold, the Father loves Me, yet he gives Me over to suffer for the world. And just as because I suffer, the Father’s love does not decrease, so My love for you will not decrease, although you will be subject to disasters.” John 15:11. I have spoken these things to you, so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. “I,” he says, “told you this so as not to interrupt your joy.” For they rejoiced when they were with Him, when He performed miracles and was glorified. They also rejoiced because they themselves cast out demons, just as He Himself said: “Do not rejoice that you cast out demons” (Luke 10:20). But now that suffering has come, and sad words interrupted their joy, He says: “I told you these comforting words so that your joy would always and to the end remain uninterrupted, complete and perfect. And real events are worthy not of sadness, but of joy, although the cross, shame and dishonor lie ahead.” John 15:12. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Above He said: “Then you will abide in Me, when you keep My commandments.” Now he shows what commandments they must keep, and shows them love: “Love one another, as I have loved you.” He wants us to love each other not simply and as it happens, but in the way He loved us. Note that above He said in the plural “commandments,” but here He says in the singular “this is My commandment.” In my opinion, love is called commandments and a commandment because it embraces all the commandments and is the head of them. At the same time, he shows us the way to keep the commandments, namely, through keeping one commandment - the commandment of love. As he says: “Love one another, you too, just as I loved you,” then this indicates the measure and perfection of love. John 15:13. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. For “greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Therefore you also lay down your lives for one another, just as I am dying for you. So, do not think that I am now moving away from you out of dislike for you; on the contrary, this is being done out of love, and moreover, the most perfect one. John 15:14. You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 15:15. I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father. He constantly inserts speeches about love and with these many speeches shows us that the commandment of love is more important than others and requires great zeal. It also represents the greatest proof of His love. “I,” he says, “love you so much that I revealed to you unspeakable secrets. For I have told you everything that I have heard from My Father.” As in another place (John 16:12) he says: “I have many things to tell you; but now you can’t fit in”? He told them everything that could be heard and that they could now understand. When he says “all that I have heard from My Father,” do not think that He needs teaching, but shows that He does not proclaim anything extraneous, but what belongs to the Father, and that all His words are the words of the Father. John 15:16. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, Having said that the proof of My love for you is the communication of secrets to you, he adds another sign of love. “I,” he says, “chose you,” that is, it was not you who were drawn to My friendship, but I to you, and I was the first to love you. How then will I leave you for the next time? “And I planted you,” that is, I planted you, “that you might go,” that is, that you might grow, multiply, expand, spread, and bear fruit. Here He clearly presents Himself as a doer. He declared Himself a purifier above when he said: “You are purified through the word that I preached to you” (John 15:3), and now even more clearly when he said: “I chose you and appointed you.” For it is known that the worker chooses and places the branches in the ground. Do you see the equality of the Father and the Son? Above the Father is called the worker, but here the Son is the worker. Shame, Arius, with those who, together with you, enslaved themselves to wickedness. so that whatever you ask from the Father in My name, He will give it to you. This is another sign of love. “So that whatever you ask from the Father, He will give it to you,” that is, I will give it to you. Although the connection should have said, “Whatever you ask the Father, He will give it to you,” but He said, “I will give it to you”; said so, no doubt, due to equality of power. For the Father, when he gives, gives with His right hand, and His right hand is the Son. Please note, I ask you, that when we, having been planted, bear fruit, then he will give us whatever we ask; if we do not bear fruit, we will not receive it. For whoever does not bear fruit does not ask for what is useful and saving for the soul, but certainly asks for worldly and useless things, and therefore does not receive. For it is said: “You ask, but do not receive, because you ask wrongly” (James 4:3). John 15:17. I command you this, that you love one another. So that the apostles would not think that the Lord was saying to reproach them that He was laying down His soul for them and that He had chosen them, therefore He says: “I command you this neither as a reproach for you, nor as a praise to Himself, as if for some merit, but so that your souls may be more firmly established in love for each other; For this purpose I count the perfections of My love for you. This I command you, that you love one another.” John 15:18. If the world hates you, know that it hated Me first. Since enduring persecution and hatred is a difficult and very regrettable matter, he says to console them: “If they hate you, this is not at all new, for they hated Me before you. Therefore, you should find great consolation in the fact that you become My companions in enduring hatred.” John 15:19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. For this he adds another method of consolation, which is more obligatory. “You,” he says, “on the contrary, would need to grieve if the world, that is, evil people, loved you. For if they loved you, it would be a sign that you yourself have fellowship with them in the same malice and deceit. And now, when the evil ones hate you, rejoice. For they hate you for your virtue; otherwise, if you were not virtuous, the world would love its own. But just as I have separated you from the evil of the world, the world hates you because you do not participate in its affairs.” John 15:20. Remember the word that I said to you: a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too; If they have kept my word, they will also keep yours. What he said above, namely, that they hated Me before they hated you, he now expounds in more detail, giving them greater consolation. “Remember,” he says, “My word that a servant is not greater than his master. And you are no greater than Me. Look how they treated Me. If they persecuted Me, the Lord, then much more will they persecute you, the slaves. If they did not persecute Me, but kept My word, then they will keep yours.” John 15:21. But they will do all this to you for My name's sake, But this is not the case. Neither My word nor yours will be kept. But they will do all these things to you for Me. Therefore, if you love Me, endure what you suffer for Me, whom you say you love. because they do not know Him who sent Me. Here is another reason for consolation. By offending you, they also offend Him who sent Me. Therefore, if nothing else, then this very fact that the same ones are the enemies of you and Me, and My Father, should serve to your consolation. John 15:22. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Are they really doing this rightly? Do they hate Me, and My Father, and you? Did they really find a reason for such behavior in My words or deeds? No, their sin is unforgivable. For was it not I who came and taught? If I had not come, if I had not spoken, they could have said, “We did not hear.” And now their anger is unpardonable. John 15:23. He who hates Me also hates My Father. Then, since everywhere they referred to nothing other than the fact that they stood up for the Father (for they say: “This man is not from God,” and the like (John 9:16)); therefore he adds: “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” Thus, this does not in the least serve to justify them. John 15:24. If I had not done among them works that no one else had done, they would not have had sin; but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. I not only taught the doctrine, but also performed deeds that no one else had done, for example, a miracle over the blind man, over Lazarus and others like that. What is their excuse? For My part, I taught the doctrine in words and added evidence from deeds. And Moses (Deut. 18:18-22) commands to obey the one who works miracles and teaches piety. And now they saw such things, and yet they hated both Me and My Father. John 15:25. But let the word that is written in their law be fulfilled: They have hated Me without cause. Then he refers to the testimony of the prophet: “They hated Me in vain” (Ps. 68:5). Their hatred was born from malice alone, and not from any other reason. Law, as we have often said, calls not only the Law of Moses, but also the Books of the Prophets, just as here he called the Book of David Law. David, by the Holy Spirit, declared ahead what their wickedness would do; and they, without a doubt, out of malice, fulfilled what was predicted by the prophet, and thereby confirmed the truth of the prophecy. John 15:26. When will the Comforter come, The Lord said to the disciples: “They will persecute you, your words will not be kept.” They could say: “Lord, why, finally, are You sending us? How will they believe us? Who will listen to us? Who will listen to us? So that they would not say this, the Lord adds: “When the Comforter comes, He will testify about Me.” He is a reliable witness. Therefore, those who are convicted of the Spirit that they sin unrequitedly will accept your preaching. whom I will send to you from the Father, The words “Whom I will send” show His equality with the Father. For in another place he said that the Father will send the Spirit (John 14:26), but here he says that He Himself will send Him. The sim shows nothing less than equality. And so that they would not think that He rebels against the Father when He sends the Spirit by other authority, He added “from the Father.” I will send Him myself, but “from the Father,” that is, according to the good pleasure of the Father, and I will send him along with Him. For I do not bring the Spirit out of My own bosom, but He is given from the Father through Me. The Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me; When you hear that “emanates,” do not mean an embassy by “emanation,” just as ministering spirits are sent; but procession is the natural existence of the Spirit. If we understand the procession not in this way, but as an embassy occurring from outside, then it will not be clear what kind of Spirit He is talking about. For countless are the spirits “sent out to serve those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). But here procession is some kind of special and distinct property that actually belongs to the Spirit alone. So, by procession we must mean not an embassy, ​​but a natural being from the Father. John 15:27. And you too will testify, because you were with Me from the beginning. And those who were with Me at first will also testify that I made them unrequited by both words and deeds. So, don't be embarrassed. There will be no preaching without testimony; but the Spirit will testify with signs and wonders, and His testimony will be trustworthy. For He is the Spirit of truth. As the Spirit of truth, He will testify to the truth. As coming from the Father, He knows everything exactly, for He is from Him from Whom is all knowledge. This Spirit will testify to the preaching. And you too will testify, because you did not hear it from others, but you yourself are with Me from the very beginning. And the testimony of those who were with Him at first is important. The apostles themselves subsequently said in front of the people: “We are witnesses of His resurrection, who ate and drank with Him” (Acts 10:41). So, the testimony is from two sides: both from you and from the Spirit. You may be thought to be witnessing to please Me; but the Spirit will in no way testify out of servility.