said to Him: “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus replied: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life[1]; no man cometh to the Father but by Me[2]. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete[3], that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of Truth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name — He will teach you all things [4], and bring all things to your mind whatsoever I shall have said to you.
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world giveth, do I give to you. But I will not now speak many things with you. For the prince of this world[5] cometh, and in Me he hath not anything. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I. Arise, let us go hence.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you [6], unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in Him, the same beareth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing[7]. If any
- ↑ The Life. Jesus is the Way, for by His commandments and example He has shown us the way to heaven. He is the Truth, for He has taught us the one true and saving faith. He is the Life, for He has won for us eternal life, and that grace which is the supernatural life of the soul.
- ↑ By Me. He only can be saved who believes in Jesus Christ and His doctrine, follows His example, and dies in His grace.
- ↑ Another Paraclete. Knowing that His apostles were sad at the thought of His leaving them, our Lord promised that they and their successors should have, in His stead, another Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth, who would never leave them, but remain with them for ever. “The Father will send Him in My name”, i. e. on account of My merits.
- ↑ Teach you all things. He will not teach anything new, but, by His interior inspirations, He will interpret to you and the faithful ail that I have taught you.
- ↑ The prince of this world, i. e. Satan, who by the hands of his tools, Judas and the wicked Jews, will deliver Me up to be put to death. Our Lord calls the devil the prince of this world, because the children of this world, or, in other words, sinners, serve him and follow his leadership. Jesus knew that His enemies were making ready to seize Him, and went of His own will to meet them.
- ↑ Neither can you. Bring forth fruit, i. e. do any meritorious works, unless you are united to Me by sanctifying grace. By these words our Lord, in a sort of parable, conveys the doctrine that we stand in the same connexion with Him as the branches of a vine with the vine itself.
- ↑ Do nothing. Our Lord now spoke plainly, not using any figure: “without My grace you can do no good thing”.
