Day 15 of 21
John 15
Jesus teaches that he is the true vine in whom disciples must abide to bear fruit, commands love, and warns that the world will hate them.
Perhaps spoken en route to Gethsemane, this teaching reworks Israel's vine imagery around Jesus himself.
“He rises in haste to perform the sacrament of His final passion in the flesh (such is His desire to fulfill His Father’s commandment) and therefore takes occasion to unfold the mystery of His assumption of His flesh, whereby He supports us, as the vine does its branches: I am the true vine.”
“He says this as being the Head of the Church, of which we are the members, the Man Christ Jesus; for the vine and the branches are of the same nature. When He says, I am the true vine, He does not mean really a vine; for He is only called so metaphorically, not literally, even as He is called the Lamb, the Sheep, and the like; but He distinguishes Himself from that vine to whom it is said, How you are turned into the…”
Catena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
Sign in to track your progress