I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also 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. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."

- John 15:1-11

In today's reading, Jesus continues His Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper. Yesterday, we read of His teaching on the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of truth, that He would pray the Father to send to us -- so that, in effect, the Trinity may dwell in us and be with us. He would not leave them orphans, He told the disciples, but goes to the Father who is greater than He is, so that they may come to be with us through the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He said, "If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." My study bible says that the vine is a symbol of Israel. It notes, "In contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel, Jesus calls Himself the true vine which, together with its branches, constitutes a new and fruitful people of God, the Church." So, in some sense, Jesus is calling all of us out of our pasts and into His vine, His way. The life we live is about a spiritual reality that gives us who we are, a living presence from which we take identity, sustenance, nourishing.

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you." I will once again copy a note from my study bible, which is helpful for the historical understanding of the Church from its perspective: "Abiding in Christ is living out our union with Him in faith, baptism, love obedience, and Eucharist. The figure of the vine and branches shows: (1) our union with Christ is intimate and real -- we are a new people in Christ; (2) life flows from the vine to the branches -- abiding in Christ is not static nor 'positional,' but dynamic and vitalizing; and (3) the fruit we bear is both good works and mission. Those who do not abide in Christ bear no fruit, and are cut off from Him." I think it is essential that we understand Christ's imagery of the vine as a living reality with which we are intimately connected. Just as He has said, in yesterday's reading, that through the Holy Spirit, the entire Trinity will dwell in us and with us, so this imagery of the vine teaches us about a living synergistic reality: if we abide in Him and He in us, then we are a part of something dynamic, as my study bible says. Our lives take their shape and identity from this vine.

"As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." And here is His essential teaching: we need the vine in order to bear fruit, we need to be of it, we need Him. My study bible says, "Without Christ we can do nothing -- nothing which is properly motivated and gives glory to God."

"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." A kind of double meaning is here -- two teachings. We receive our energy, our own spirit or grace from this vine so that we are able to do the things He asks, to bear fruit. Without the vine, we cannot produce the same fruits He desires -- in effect, we wither. But if we abide in Him -- if His words abide in us (the commandments and life the Spirit will bring), then we are of Him, in His name essentially, we can pray in Him, and the life of the Spirit shall be at work in us and through us. And the second powerful part of this is that this is the way in which the Father is glorified -- if we live in that grace, the energy that bears much fruit through us.

"As the Father loved Me, I also 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. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." My study bible says, "The fact is, God does love us unconditionally, no matter what our response. But His unconditional love does us no good unless we keep His commandments and abide in His love. We show our love for God by obeying Him." It is my opinion that the life of the Spirit is the one which gives life to the commandments, to the word of Jesus -- and that which helps us to understand how to apply them in our own personal lives. So dwelling in this vine, abiding with Him and Father and Spirit is the essential way in which we learn what we are to do with our lives. It is a living relationship, something which feeds us and nurtures us and teaches us how to bear that fruit that He desires which glorifies the Father. And that is what love is: it is a living relationship, a kind of dependency that helps us to be stronger, fuller, gives us identity, and challenges us to bear fruit for God's glory. Commandments are not dry things written in a book, but a living reality of love that flows from vine to branches -- and in turn nourishes others, and the entirety of the Church.

Jesus asks us not to just obey and follow, but to "abide in His love." This is the greatest gift we have, from which "our joy is complete, or full." And this is really the whole fullness of the message of the vine and the branches. Elsewhere Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." His life that He gives to us is His love, it is in this vine that we dwell and through this vine that we live and move and have our being, and through which we may bear fruits for the glory of the Father. All He asks of us truly is that depth of relationship that gives us, in exchange, everything. It is a living, growing reality within us, one which will continually give us more, and cleanse us of the things that get in the way of its growth and its fruit. Are you ready to go forward today in that life, more deeply than before? In God's love we grow and live, and move forward. Let us follow His example, His way.