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"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
Yesterday, we continued reading Jesus' Farewell Discourse to His disciples. 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 will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here."
"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." My study bible explains that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21). It says, "In contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel" [see the verses of Isaiah and Jeremiah just cited], "our Lord calls Himself the true vine, which together with the branches constitutes a new and fruitful people of God: the Church. At the Divine Liturgy, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, which He planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16). To abide in this vine is to abide in Christ and His Church. The figure of the vine and the branches shows (1) our union with Christ is intimate and real; (2) life flows form the vine to the branches -- abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing; and (3) the fruit we bear is both good works and mission (v. 16, 17:18).
"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." My study bible tells us: "One cannot love God and disobey His commandments. To love God is to obey Him (14:15)."
Thinking today upon this discourse (which is really all about love), there are first two verses that stand out for me. One was in yesterday's reading, and the other is in today's. Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." And today, we read that Jesus says, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." These are huge things to think about. While Jesus is preparing them for His departure, His exodus, He gives them two great gifts, in addition to this Farewell Discourse which exemplifies our understanding in so many ways that God is love. He leaves them with peace -- and gives to them "not as the world gives" and He leaves them His joy, that it may remain in them and that their joy may be full. If we have no other gifts from our faith but these, how can we not rejoice in the life of abundance in which we are blessed by Him, even as we live our lives in this world? Salvation isn't only about what happens when you die, according to my way of thinking. Salvation, in this image Christ gives us, is something that happens every single day, and it includes all of the life in abundance He promises. It includes the life that is everlasting, which death can't put a stop to. But all of this is every day in the life of faith. Death comes in so many forms to us: from sickness and ill health to so many other things that limit and destroy joy and peace. Whether we are talking about the lies and torture of the world, to its selfishness, to the things that deaden hope, all of these things are forms of death we can think about. All evil is in some sense a form of death, and is exemplified or characterized by death. But Christ leaves us with these great gifts of tremendous abundance: His peace and His joy. They can serve us when all circumstances point to the idea that we can't enjoy them or have them. But this limiting perspective (that we have no reason to feel peace or joy in our lives) is yet another form of death, a lie, like its father. These gifts of love (for that is surely what they are, Christ's peace and joy are gifts of love He gives to us) are gifts that are of life itself. They keep on giving. They give of themselves; that is, they transcend our circumstances. He tells us that He gives "not as the world gives." These things, these gifts, don't run out. They can't really be measured like we measure everything and anything else. They're not a quid pro quo. He's not asking for anything else from us but one thing: our faith, our trust in Him. That's it. He does the rest. He gives the rest -- not as the world gives, He gives to us. Peace, and joy. Think about that. What can the gifts of peace and joy accomplish in your life? What can they do for you when everything looks down or bleak? How do peace and joy help us to transcend what we go through, to see a better way, to put faith in the future or in changes we might be asked to make? Christ Himself is going to His death, His human death -- the ultimate sacrifice He makes for the love of us and of God the Father. He is telling us something by being lifted up upon that Cross. He is leading us somewhere, not "leaving us orphans," as He said in yesterday's reading. He will give up everything for love of us, and for the life that God the Father gives Him, for the life that will then be coming to us even if He is not present as Jesus in the world. Peace and joy are in this liberating knowledge that this sacrifice is voluntary and meaningful. Peace and joy are in the knowledge that we, too, are asked to follow Him to our own cross, whatever God asks of us to give up in life, in order to find that abundance of love and life that we may share with others. The gifts of peace and joy are things that are not measured like the world measures, not given like the world gives. They are free gifts of grace and they command us to pay attention to what is on offer here, and to what His commandments are for. His love is for peace and joy, for gifts that are inexhaustible, and to hold us in His and the Father's love. Moreover He goes to the Father that He may send to us the Spirit, Who is, as an Orthodox prayer says, the "treasury of blessings and giver of good things." Let us remember that we are held in His love, and that we are to abide in Him. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. We will find that place in which to dwell and in which Father and Son dwell in us.
