Abide in my love

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 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. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

- John 15:1-11

As Jesus continues his discourse to the apostles at the Last Supper, he invokes the great image of vine and branches. We are the branches, he says, and he is the vine. As branches cannot bear fruit unless they rest in the vine, so must we bear fruit only through rest in Christ. This is once again a reflection of the depth of communion to be experienced via Christianity. It is a reflection of the depth of communion both through Father and Son and through disciples, believers.

Jesus says that his Father is the vine-grower. It is the Father who prunes the branches that bear no fruit, and tends the tree. In this metaphor to pruning a tree, we understand that the health of a tree and its growth depends on this pruning. So, we are told, that the worth of the branch is in its abiding in the love - and in the name - of Christ, of the words and commandments we are given. I think this is more than a statement about Jesus' teachings in the flesh. As it comes after the teaching on the gift of the Holy Spirit, I believe Jesus is referring to something living and alive, the word that lives in us via Spirit. Through this remaining in relationship, we are united with Father, Son and Spirit as they dwell within us - as he made clear in the passage from yesterday's reading.

Why is it important that we dwell in this vine? Why is it important that our branches bear fruit by doing so? Jesus claims here that he is the true vine, and we cannot ignore these words and their relationship to notions of truth. There is the deepest sense here in this allegory of vine, branches, and vine-grower that to bear fruit it is necessary to abide in love and relationship: and it is this love and relationship that is the conveyor of truth, it is where we find truth, reality. It is where we find love and joy, the fulfillment of the joy which Jesus wishes to leave with us.

I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.