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JOHN 15:4 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 15:3John 15:5
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me — the Greek menō (to remain, abide, dwell) becomes the hinge of the entire discourse; it appears ten times in this chapter, signaling its theological centrality. The mutual abiding—Jesus in the disciples and they in him—establishes that the relationship is reciprocal and organic. The branch cannot will itself to bear fruit; it must remain connected to the vine, drawing nourishment from the living wood. Without this connection, the branch withers and becomes wood fit only for burning.

Church Fathers on John 15:4

Having said that they were clean through the word which He had spoken to them, He now taught them that they must do their part.

Chrysostom · 4th century

not they in Him, as He in them; for both are for the profit not of Him, but them. The branches do not confer any advantage upon the vine, but receive their support from it: the vine supplies nourishment to the branches, takes none from them: so that the abiding in Christ, and the having Christ abiding in them, are both for the profit of the disciples, not of Christ; according to what follows, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can…

Augustine · 4th century · Abide in Me, and I in you

All the fruit of good works proceeds from this root. He who has delivered us by His grace, also carries us onward by his help, so that we bring forth more fruit. Wherefore He repeats, and explains what He has said: I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in Me, by believing, obeying, persevering, and I in Him, by enlightening, assisting, giving perseverance, the same, and none other, brings forth much fruit.

Alcuin · 8th century
Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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