葡萄树与枝子

15 “我就是真葡萄树,我父是园丁。 所有属于我[a]而不结果子的枝条,他就除掉;而所有结果子的,他就修剪干净,好让它结出更多的果子。 藉着我给你们讲的话语,你们已经干净了。 你们当住在我里面,我就住在你们里面。枝条如果不留在葡萄树上,就不能由自己结出果子;照样,你们如果不住在我里面,你们也是如此。

“我就是葡萄树,你们是枝条。那住在我里面、我也在他里面的,他才结出很多果子,因为没有我,你们什么也不能做。 一个人如果不住在我里面,就像枝条被丢在外面枯干了,然后被收集扔进火里焚烧。 你们如果住在我里面,而我的话也住在你们里面,那么,凡是你们所愿的,当祈求,就将为你们成就。 你们结出很多果子,就表明是我的门徒了;从这一点我父也就得荣耀。

彼此相爱

“正如父爱我,我也爱你们。你们当住在我的爱里。 10 如果你们遵守我的命令,就会住在我的爱里;就像我遵守了我父的命令,住在他的爱里那样。

11 “我把这些事告诉了你们,是要我的喜乐在[b]你们里面,并且使你们的喜乐得以满足。 12 这是我的命令:你们要彼此相爱,就像我爱了你们那样。 13 一个人为他的朋友舍弃自己的生命,人的爱没有比这更大的了。 14 你们如果遵行我所吩咐的事,你们就是我的朋友了。 15 我不再称你们为奴仆,因为奴仆不知道主人所做的事。我却称你们为朋友,因为我把从我父所听到的一切,都让你们明白了。 16 不是你们拣选了我,而是我拣选了你们,并指派了你们,好使你们去,让你们结出果子,而且使你们的果子长存。这样,你们奉我的名无论向父求什么,他就会赐给你们。 17 我将这些事吩咐你们,是要让你们彼此相爱。

预言受迫害

18 “这世界如果恨你们,你们应当知道,世界在恨你们之前已经恨我了。 19 如果你们属于这世界,世界会把你们做为属自己的来爱;但是,因为你们不属于这世界,而是我从世界中拣选了你们,所以世界就恨你们。 20 你们当记住我对你们说过的话:“没有一个奴仆大过他的主人。”他们既然逼迫了我,也会逼迫你们;如果他们遵守了我的话,也就会遵守你们的话。 21 但是,因我名的缘故,他们会对你们做这一切事,因为他们不认识派我来的那一位。 22 如果我没有来,也没有教导他们,他们就没有罪;但如今,他们的罪无可推诿了。 23 恨我的,也恨我的父。 24 如果我没有在他们当中做别人从未做过的事,他们就没有罪;但如今他们虽然看到了,还是恨我和我的父。 25 不过这是为要应验他们律法上所记载的话:‘他们无缘无故地恨我。’[c]

做见证与被拒绝

26 “我将从父那里派遣慰助者来,他就是从父而来的真理的灵。他来的时候,将为我做见证。 27 并且你们也要做见证,因为你们从一开始就与我在一起。

Footnotes

  1. 约翰福音 15:2 属于我——原文直译“在我里面”。
  2. 约翰福音 15:11 在——有古抄本作“住在”。
  3. 约翰福音 15:25 《诗篇》69:4。

Jesús, Dios y nosotros

15 Jesús continuó diciendo a sus discípulos:

«Yo soy la vid verdadera, y Dios mi Padre es el que la cuida. Si una de mis ramas no da uvas, mi Padre la corta; pero limpia las ramas que dan fruto para que den más fruto. Ustedes ya están limpios, gracias al mensaje que les he anunciado.

»Si ustedes se mantienen unidos a mí, yo me mantendré unido a ustedes. Ya saben que una rama no puede producir uvas si no se mantiene unida a la planta. Del mismo modo, ustedes no podrán hacer nada si no se mantienen unidos a mí.

»El discípulo que se mantiene unido a mí, y con quien yo me mantengo unido, es como una rama que da mucho fruto; pero si uno de ustedes se separa de mí, no podrá hacer nada. Al que no se mantenga unido a mí, le pasará lo mismo que a las ramas que no dan fruto: las cortan, las tiran y, cuando se secan, les prenden fuego.

»Si ustedes se mantienen unidos a mí y obedecen todo lo que les he enseñado, recibirán de mi Padre todo lo que pidan. Si ustedes dan mucho fruto y viven realmente como discípulos míos, mi Padre estará orgulloso de ustedes. Así como el Padre me ama a mí, también yo los amo a ustedes. Nunca dejen de amarme. 10 Si obedecen todo lo que yo les he mandado, los amaré siempre, así como mi Padre me ama, porque yo lo obedezco en todo.

11 »Les digo todo esto para que sean tan felices como yo. 12 Y esto es lo que les mando: que se amen unos a otros, así como yo los amo a ustedes. 13 Nadie muestra más amor que quien da la vida por sus amigos. 14 Ustedes son mis amigos, si hacen lo que les mando. 15 Ya no los llamo sirvientes, porque un sirviente no sabe lo que hace su jefe. Los llamo amigos, porque les he contado todo lo que me enseñó mi Padre.

16 »Ustedes no fueron los que me eligieron a mí, sino que fui yo quien los eligió a ustedes. Les he mandado que vayan y sean como las ramas que siempre dan mucho fruto. Así, mi Padre les dará lo que ustedes le pidan en mi nombre. 17 Esto les ordeno: Que se amen unos a otros.

El odio de la gente

18 »Los que se interesan sólo por las cosas de este mundo[a] los odian a ustedes, pero recuerden que primero me odiaron a mí. 19 Ellos los amarían a ustedes, si ustedes fueran como ellos. Pero ustedes ya no son así, porque yo los elegí para que no sean como ellos. Por eso ellos los odian a ustedes.

20 »¿Recuerdan que les dije que ningún sirviente es más importante que su jefe? Por eso, si la gente que sólo ama a este mundo me ha maltratado a mí, también los maltratará a ustedes. Pero si esa gente hace caso de lo que yo digo, también hará caso de lo que digan ustedes. 21 Todo esto les va a pasar por ser mis discípulos, y porque los de este mundo no conocen a Dios, que fue quien me envió.

22-24 »Esa gente no sería culpable por sus pecados si yo no hubiera venido a hablarles, y si delante de ellos no hubiera hecho yo cosas que nadie jamás ha hecho. Pero aun así me odian a mí, y también a mi Padre. Porque el que me odia, también odia a mi Padre. 25 Pero todo esto debe suceder para que se cumpla lo que está escrito en la Biblia: “Me odian sin motivo.”

26 »Yo les enviaré al Espíritu que viene del Padre, y que les enseñará lo que es la verdad. El Espíritu los ayudará[b] y les hablará bien de mí. 27 Y ustedes también hablarán bien de mí, porque han estado conmigo desde el principio.

Footnotes

  1. Juan 15:18 En algunos casos, Juan usa la palabra mundo para referirse a las personas que viven en obediencia al diablo y, por lo tanto, se hacen enemigas de Dios.
  2. Juan 15:26 Ayudará: Véase nota en 14.16.

The Community of the Witnesses to Christ[a]

Chapter 15

Union with Jesus[b]

“I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinegrower.
He removes every branch
that does not bear fruit,
and every branch that does
he prunes to make it bear even more.
You have already been cleansed
by the word I have spoken to you.
“Abide in me,
as I abide in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself
unless it abides in the vine,
so you cannot bear fruit
unless you abide in me.
“I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me, and I in him,
will bear much fruit.
Apart from me you can do nothing.
Whoever does not abide in me
will be thrown away like a withered branch.
Such branches are gathered up,
thrown into the fire, and burned.
“If you abide in me
and my words abide in you,
you may ask for whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit
and become my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments,
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.
11 “I have told you these things
so that my joy may be in you
and your joy may be complete.

Love as Jesus Does[c]

12 “This is my commandment:
love one another
as I have loved you.
13 No one can have greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends
if you do what I command you.
15 “I shall no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know
what his master is doing.
I have called you friends
because I have revealed to you
everything that I have heard from my Father.
16 “You did not choose me.
Rather, I chose you.
And I appointed you
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will remain,
so that the Father may give you
whatever you ask him in my name.
17 The command I give you is this:
love one another.

Witnesses to Jesus in the Face of the World’s Hatred[d]

18 “If the world hates you,
be aware that it hated me
before it hated you.
19 If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own.
But you do not belong to the world
because I have chosen you out of the world,
and therefore the world hates you.
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.
If they kept my word,
they will keep yours as well.
21 But they will do all these things to you
on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.
22 “If I had not come
and spoken to them,
they would not be guilty of sin,
but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 Whoever hates me
hates my Father also.
24 If I had not done works among them
that no one else had ever done,
they would not be guilty of sin.
But now they have seen and hated
both me and my Father.
25 All this was to fulfill the word
that is inscribed in their Law:
‘They hated me without cause.’
26 “When the Advocate comes
whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father,
he will testify on my behalf.
27 And you also are my witnesses
because you have been with me from the beginning.

Footnotes

  1. John 15:1 To the Lord’s testament (farewell discourse) were added new instructions, as though to complete it. No doubt people did not want to lose other words of the Master, often meditated on, to explain the condition of the Christian community.
    It is the life of the community on which these chapters throw light. In this group of texts, chs. 13 to 17, none of our usual words are pronounced; People of God, Body of Christ, Church, congregation. The words preferred are: to abide in, to love, to testify. In ch. 16, an image is used that suggests this mystery: the image of the vine and the branches. In these texts, love is above all a characteristic of the community itself. It is the Spirit who gives these groups the strength to exist as people of love and as witnesses of Christ.
  2. John 15:1 Every reader of the Bible knows that the image of the vine suggests not only the union but also the tragic relationship between God and Israel. The Prophets rebuked the people of the Old Testament for not producing the fruit God expected of them, for being a spouse often unfaithful to her calling to bear witness to God among the nations (see Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Ezek 19:10-14; Hos 10:1). Jesus is the new Israel, the only vine that the Father has planted. This means that the radical, constitutive reality of the Church is her inclusion in Christ through Baptism, grace, and close attachment, and that any fruitfulness the disciple may have depends on this union with Christ.
  3. John 15:12 There are many reasons for people to regroup: affinity, interest, defense. But the Christian community has only one reason: Christ and his choice of us. It also has only one way of life: to love like Christ, who went so far as to give his life. To have Christ’s love is a gift. Then prayer is not a delusion; then the Christian community’s mission can bear fruit. The fruit has already been given: God’s love for us. In Christianity all is a gift.
  4. John 15:18 The trial of Jesus, which the fourth Gospel unveils all through its pages, will not cease until the Father, to whom he is going, will have rendered justice to him in glorifying him. This drama, which people sometimes would like to conceal through reassuring words and sentiments, will not cease until the end of time. Persecution awaits Jesus, not because of some fatal error but because Christianity is different from what we want and claim it to be.
    The early Christians were excluded from the synagogue; hatred and violence were stirred up against them under the guise of religion. Blindness and stubbornness: this is the world in the Johannine sense, the world of the persecutors. The Spirit is the strength and the light that assists the persecuted to hold fast in this affront, which no doubt also comes to pass in the heart of every believer.

15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

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.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.