Chapter 15

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.

And Augustine responds that by adding true, "he distinguishes himself from that vine to which it was said: How have you turned into bitterness, O foreign vine "? Jeremiah two: How have you turned to perversity, O foreign vineyard? Hence it is not called true because it is not said by likeness, but true because it is not foreign.

Nevertheless, it can be said that just as true wine is that which has the operation of wine, so the true vine is that which has the operation of the vine. The vine therefore, literally, is true when it produces wine; not true, that which does not bear fruit. So also a figurative vine is called true which has the activity of the vine; not true, which does not have it. So also Christ, because he truly has the activity of the vine, is the true vine. But not the synagogue, of which Isaiah five says: "He expected it to produce grapes, but it produced thorns."

14. Question II. But then the question remains: why does the Lord compare himself to the grain of wheat among grains, and to the wood of the vine among woods?

I respond: This is on account of the true body and the mystical body. The true body of Christ is true food, and the true blood is true drink. Because therefore from grains of wheat is made bread that most excellently nourishes, and from the vine wine that most excellently gives drink, he therefore compared himself to the vine and the grain. And hence it is that in these two species the Sacrament of the altar is confected.

Another reason is on account of the mystical body, because just as from the purest grains of wheat and grape berries bread and wine are made, so from pure faithful ones the mystical body of Christ is formed.

15. Question III. Likewise it is asked, according to which nature Christ is the vine, whether according to the divine or according to the human.

And that it is according to the human nature, Augustine says: "The vine and the branches are of one nature; on account of which, since he was God, of whose nature we are not, he was made man, so that in him the vine would be human nature, of which we too could be branches."

But against this there is: 1. Because insofar as the vine pours sap into the branches: therefore if no one pours the sap of grace except God alone and insofar as He is God, then He is the vine according to the divine nature. 2. Likewise, in this vine all the Saints from Abel to the last just person remained and proceeded; but Christ according to His human nature came after Abel: therefore they were not branches in Him according to His human nature.

I respond: It must be understood that certain things are said of Christ according to the divine nature purely, such that they are said no less even when the human nature is abstracted, as being eternal and impassible: certain things according to the human purely, as being mortal and passible: certain things according to the human insofar as it is united to the divine, or conversely, as being mediator. For if He were only God, He would not be mediator: if only man, He would not be mediator: if God and man, then He is mediator. And according to this He is the vine and the head of the Church insofar as He is mediator. Therefore that He is called the vine is not according to the human nature purely, but insofar as it is joined to the divine in the unity of the hypostasis. And on account of the unity of the hypostasis, Christ is the object of faith according to both natures, whence insofar as we believe Him to be God and man. And because without this faith, whether implicit or explicit, no one was saved, the sap of grace from this vine overflowed into all the Saints.

2. And thus it is clear how He was the vine with respect to those who preceded and those who followed; whence both those who went before and those who followed cried out: Hosanna to the Son of David. Whence Christ was most fittingly signified by the cluster of grapes that was brought from the promised land, Numbers thirteen, which they carried on their shoulders, and those who went before carried it but did not see it: those who followed carried it and saw it.

16. Question IV. Likewise Augustine asks concerning what He says: You are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you: because the word is exterior, cleanliness is interior. How then can an exterior word cleanse interiorly?

I respond: It must be said that this is either on account of faith, or on account of the Sacrament of faith: on account of faith, because faith comes from hearing, which purifies the heart: on account of the Sacrament of faith, which is baptism. Whence Augustine says: "In the water the word cleanses: take away the word, what is water but water? The word comes to the element, and it becomes a Sacrament." But this word of faith and of the Sacrament, even though it is exterior, nevertheless cleanses, as Augustine says, "not because it is spoken, but because it is believed; Romans ten: If you confess with your mouth that the Lord has ascended into heaven, and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved ".

17. Question V. The question is raised concerning what He says: The Father will take away every branch not bearing fruit.

Either he will take away from the vine, or he will take away from life. From the vine, no, because the Father separates no one from his Son; or if he takes away, how does he take away from the vine? Because he who does not work good is by that very fact separated from the vine, Christ, because he does not have grace, but rather loses it. If from life; this is false, because the wicked live longer than the good, as we see. Likewise, he also takes the good from bodily life just as he does the wicked.

I respond: It must be said that the branches draw from Christ not the life of nature, but the life of grace and the life of glory. A branch is said to be taken away or separated from this vine not through the death of nature, but through the death of sin, or of final damnation. Hence unfruitful branches and those who receive the grace of God in vain are separated from the vine by the merit of their sin through the judgment of divine justice; hence Revelation 3: Because you are lukewarm, I will begin to vomit you out; because by just judgment God does not bestow grace upon them. By the judgment of final damnation they will be taken away and cast into the fire, when the time of meriting is closed off; hence he says: he will take away, not because he removes immediately, since he grants a place for repentance.

18. Question VI. Likewise, there is a question about what he says: As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Against this is the fact that the love of the Father is natural, while the love of the Son toward us is purely gratuitous; therefore no likeness seems apparent. It is therefore asked: in what respect does he say, As the Father has loved me, etc.?

I respond: It must be said that, as Richard of Saint Victor says, in the divine persons there is love that is purely gratuitous, love that is owed, and love mixed from both. The love of the Father for the Son is purely gratuitous, because the Father gives to the Son and receives nothing. But the love of the Holy Spirit for the Father and the Son is purely owed, because he only receives. But the love of the Son for the Father is owed, because he receives; toward the Holy Spirit it is gratuitous, because he gives. Since therefore the Son loved us purely gratuitously, he compares the love by which he loves us to the love of the Father for himself.

Second, he exhorts the disciples to love their friends.

19. This is my commandment. After the Lord has exhorted to the love of God, here secondly he exhorts to the love of brother and friend, and he does this in the following manner. First, he binds them to fraternal love in view of obedience; second, in view of divine friendship; third, in view of eternal reward.

(Verse 12). He binds them first by the precept of obedience, indicating that this is entirely in his will as the chief commandment; on account of which he says: This is my commandment, that you love one another; hence above in chapter thirteen: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." And the manner is added: As I have loved you, "not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth," as I have loved you. And he shows that he himself loved them in deed:

20. (Vers. 13.). Greater, he says, love than this no one has, than that one lay down his life for his friends: as if to say: nothing more can one do than give one's life, which is dearer than all things; Ephesians 5: "Christ loved us and delivered himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness." And this was a most vehement love, not only in Christ, who delivered himself and his soul, but in the Father: whence Romans 8: "He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all: how has he not also, together with him, given us all things?"

Whence it should be noted that great is the love by which a mother loves her son: beyond this Christ loved us: Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet I will not forget you."

Greater is that by which a wife loves her husband, and beyond this Christ loved us; Jeremiah 3: "It is commonly said: If a man dismiss his wife, and she departing from him marry another man, shall he return to her any more? But you have committed fornication with many lovers: yet return, and I will receive you."

Greatest is that of the soul to the body: and beyond this he loved us: Jeremiah 12: "I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance, I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies." And therefore that saying is true in the last chapter of the Song of Songs: "Love is strong as death," etc.

21. (Vers. 14.). You are my friends. Here secondly he exhorts to mutual love from the perspective of divine friendship; whence he offers his friendship to those who keep his commandments, so that according to the Lord's precept they may love one another: on account of which he says: You are my friends, if you do what I command you. He promises something great when he promises friendship. Augustine says: "Great is the condescension of the Lord, when he deigned to call us friends," since friend is a name of equality; "for friendship is an agreement with equal goodwill concerning divine and human things." For if wisdom establishes friends of God — Wisdom 7: "She passes into holy souls and establishes friends of God" — how much more does love? This love is proven in works: therefore he says: You are friends, if you do what I command, out of love as friends, not out of fear as servants, because you have not been called into servitude: on account of which he says:

22. (Vers. 15.). No longer will I call you servants, although previously you were: Romans 8: "You have not received the spirit of servitude again in fear, but the spirit of the adoption of sons." And he shows this by a sign: Because the servant does not know what his lord does: but you are not so: therefore he says: But I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you. This is a sign of great friendship, the revelation of secrets: Ephesians 1: "He has made known to us the mystery of his will"; Matthew 13: "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God," etc.

23. (Vers. 16.). You have not chosen me. Here he thirdly exhorts to love in view of eternal recompense, to which they had been called through eternal predestination, not having come of themselves. Therefore he says: You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you: Ephesians 1: "He chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and immaculate in his sight in charity: who predestined us unto the adoption of sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the purpose of his will." To what end he chose them, he adds: And I have appointed you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, in the conversion of others: which is accomplished through the preaching of the word of God, which is like a seed that brings forth fruit when it is received into good ground; whence Luke 8: "But that on the good ground, these are they who in a good and perfect heart hear the word and bring forth fruit in patience"; 1 Peter 1: "Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of the living God and remaining forever." And your fruit should remain, for your salvation and consolation through divine recompense: and the recompense is subjoined: That whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that is, what pertains to your salvation, he may give it you. Now that which is to be sought is our salvation: whence Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." So that holy soul was asking in the Psalm: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." And in view of this recompense they ought to keep the commandment of Christ; therefore he repeats it:

24. (Vers. 17.). These things I command you, that you love one another. The commandment of love is called as it were given by hand, because he gave it by his own example: therefore above in chapter 13: "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another"; and 1 Thessalonians 4: "Concerning brotherly charity, we have no need to write to you: for you yourselves have learned of God to love one another."

QUESTIONS.


25. Question I. But Gregory first inquires concerning what he says: This is my commandment, that you love one another: "Since all the divine utterances are full of the Lord's precepts, what is it that concerning love he says in the singular: This is my commandment"?

And he responds that "the divine precepts are many and one: many through the diversity of works, one in the root of love. " And he calls love the root, "because the little branch of a good work has no greenness unless it remains in the root of love." Because therefore the commandments are referred to the precept of love, in which all are united and fulfilled: hence it is that he says: This is my commandment, in the singular.

26. Question II. Likewise it is inquired concerning what he says: Greater love than this no one has, than that one lay down his life for his friends.

Contra: 1. One person acts from a small charity, while another from a greater charity can die for a friend: what then does he mean when he says greater?

2. Likewise, in the homeland there will be much greater charity than exists on the way; what then does he mean when he says greater charity etc.?

I respond that this is not said with respect to the habit of charity, or its principal act; but with respect to the sign or effect, because this is the principal sign of love.

27. Question III. But then it is objected: because it is greater to die for an enemy than for a friend; therefore to die for a friend is still not the greatest sign of love. Hence the Apostle argues in Romans 5 from the lesser: If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

To this Gregory responds that this name "friends" does not stand only for those who loved the Lord, but also for his enemies, because they were friends of the Lord, since the Lord loved them when he laid down his life for them.

Or it should be understood that the Lord was speaking of the love of friends, and with respect to that love there is no greater sign than to die for a friend; similarly with respect to the true love of enemies: for there is no greater sign than to die for an enemy. Hence what is indicated here is not an excess absolutely, but within the genus.

28. Question IV. Likewise it is asked about what he says: I will no longer call you servants.

Contra: 1. Matthew 25: Well done, good and faithful servant; and if he calls those about to be beatified servants, what then does he mean when he says: I will not call you servants?

2. Likewise, above in chapter 13 he called himself their lord; therefore by the correlation of relatives he also called them servants.

I respond: It must be said that servant is said in two ways: in one way, insofar as it denotes obedience and subjection; and in this sense servant is not distinguished from friend, and thus all friends of God are his servants. In another way, servant is said of one who fears in a servile manner; and such a one, who serves from fear alone, is not a friend. And he speaks here of such a one, because he did not want them to fulfill his commandments in a servile manner, but rather in a manner befitting friends.

29. Question V. Likewise it is asked about what he says: All things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

On the contrary: The Son heard infinite things from the Father; therefore he made known infinite things.

They respond that he does not speak of those things which he heard insofar as he is God, but insofar as he is man.

Then it is objected: because Christ as man knew the day of judgment, yet he did not wish to reveal it to his disciples.

On account of this they respond further that [he made known] all things pertaining to salvation.

On the contrary: below in chapter 16: I have yet many things to say to you, which you cannot bear now; and it is certain that [these pertained] to their salvation; therefore etc.

Augustine responds: He made all things known, that is, he disposed to make them known; for Scripture frequently speaks in this way, putting the past tense in place of the future as a sign of certainty.

Or: all things necessary for salvation according as they were able to grasp them. And thus all things are clear.

30. Question VI. Likewise, an inquiry is made concerning what he says: You have not chosen me.

On the contrary: 1. Deuteronomy twenty-six: You have chosen the Lord, that he might be your God.

2. Likewise, if the merit of free will consists in choice, how did they merit, if they had not chosen him?

I respond: This is to be understood as follows: first, because we do not first choose the Lord, but secondly:

because he first chose by predestining and afterwards chose from among others by calling, but we afterwards choose by consenting to the calling.

Third, he exhorts the disciples to endurance of enemies.

31. If the world hates you etc. This is the third part of the chapter, in which the Lord exhorts to endurance of persecuting enemies: and he does this in the following manner. First, he foretells the enmity of the world: second, the injury proceeding from this; third, he shows the malice of the persecutors or haters: fourth, his own innocence: fifth, he arms the disciples for patience.

(Verse 18). First, therefore, he foretells the enmity of the world, which was to be against the members after the example of the head. For there had been the hatred of the world with respect to the head, which is Christ; on account of which he says: If the world hates you, know, that is, consider, that it hated me before you. The Lord assigned the reason for this hatred above in chapter three: "Everyone who does evil hates the light"; and above in chapter seven: "The world hates me, because I bear witness concerning it, that its works are evil." For this same reason he shows the hatred of the members: whence he gives the reason for this hatred: because they were at variance with the world; on account of which he says:

32. (Verse 19). If you had been of the world, that is, if you had remained in the world through depraved custom: the world would love what was its own: whence above in chapter seven it is said to the worldly: "But your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you." But because you are not of the world, that is, of worldly conduct: but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. That hatred was signified in Genesis twenty-seven in the hatred of Esau, where it is said: "Esau hated Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him." Esau signifies the worldly and the reprobate, but Jacob the elect.

33. (Vers. 20.). Remember the word. Here the second point is touched upon, namely injury, in the same manner as enmity, namely of the head first and of the members on account of the head and after the example of the head. On account of which he says: Remember the word that I said to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; above in the thirteenth chapter: "Amen, amen I say to you: The disciple is not above the master, nor is the apostle greater than his lord." And therefore he argues: If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And it follows that if they hate and persecute the head, they also hate and persecute the members. Whence Augustine: "He refuses to be in the body who does not wish to endure the hatred of the world with the head." Concerning the persecution of the head, it is found in the Psalm: "They persecuted the man who was poor and a beggar and stricken in heart." Not only will they persecute in deed, but they will despise in heart: If they have kept my word, they will keep yours also, that is, just as they despised my word, so also yours; Luke tenth chapter: "He who hears you hears me, and he who despises you despises me."

Or they have kept, that is, they watched in order to find fault: Matthew twenty-second chapter: "The Pharisees went away and took counsel to trap Jesus in his speech"; and in the Psalm: "The sinner will watch the just man."

And worldly men also persecute the head and the members; they do not persecute the head on account of the members, but conversely; whence he says:

34. (Vers. 21.). But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, namely to destroy it, for which you are blessed: whence Matthew fifth chapter: "Blessed are you when men shall persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you, lying, for my sake." The reason for this is the blindness of unbelief; whence: because they know not him who sent me: above in the eighth chapter: "You know neither me nor my Father"; and below in the seventeenth chapter: "Just Father, the world has not known you."

35. (Vers. 22.). If I had not come. Here now in the third place the malice of those who hate and persecute is shown. He shows therefore their malice to be inexcusable both through what they heard and through what they saw: through what they heard: whence he says: If I had not come and had not spoken to them, namely the words of faith and instruction, they would not have sin, supply: so grave and inexcusable, because, Luke twelfth chapter, "the servant who knew the will of his lord and did not do it shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who did not know shall be beaten with few"; and therefore, if they had not heard, they would be excusable in some way through ignorance. But now they have no excuse for their sin; because they do not believe not from ignorance but from hatred, which hatred redounds upon the Father; on account of which he says:

36. (Vers. 23.). Whoever hates me hates my Father also; raised up by their own pride, according to that of the Psalm: "The pride of those who hate you ascends continually." Because therefore they refused to hear out of malice, they were inexcusable; Matthew twelve: "The Queen of the South will rise up in judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon"; Romans two: "You are inexcusable, O every man who judges: for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself." The Jews are also inexcusable on account of what they saw: therefore he says:

37. (Vers. 24.). If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin, namely so great a sin of not believing; because, as above in chapter five, "the works that I do bear witness concerning me." But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father: and therefore they knowingly and out of malice refuse to believe and persecute: for this reason they are inexcusable: Matthew eleven: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you: it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you." And this malignity of the Jews is expressed in Scripture: therefore he says:

38. (Vers. 25.). But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their Law — Law is taken broadly, insofar as it comprehends the Psalms —

because they hated me without cause: it is written in the Psalm: "Those who oppose me unjustly, who hate me without cause and wink with their eyes"; and in another Psalm: "While I spoke to them, they attacked me without cause." That hatred was prefigured in Genesis thirty-seven, where it is said that "the brothers of Joseph hated him and could not speak peaceably to him."

39. (Vers. 26.). But when he comes. Here fourthly he intimates his innocence, to be expressed by the testimony of the Holy Spirit and of the Apostles: on account of which he says: But when he comes: they persecuted me as though I were a wicked man and worthy of death; but when the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness concerning me: Acts five: "The Spirit is a witness, whom God has given to all who obey him"; and by bearing witness to my innocence, he will convict the world of malice: below in chapter sixteen: "When he comes, he will convict the world of sin, because it does not believe."

Not only he, but you also, confirmed by him: whence:

40. (Verse 27). And you shall bear witness, because you are with me from the beginning: Acts 1: "Therefore, of these men who have been gathered together with us from the time when the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, one of them must be made a witness of his resurrection with us." The Apostles did not give this testimony before the coming of the Holy Spirit, but after. Whence Peter, who denied Christ at the voice of a maidservant, after the sending of the Holy Spirit responded with great authority to the chief priest, Acts 5: "We ought to obey God rather than men."