Abide in Me, and I in you

 "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 our current readings, Jesus is at the Last Supper, giving His farewell address to the disciples.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them, "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 a 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."  Here is the image of the depth of communion Jesus has conveyed through speaking of love.  My study bible says that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  So here, in contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel, Christ calls Himself the true vine.  Together with the branches this true vine becomes a new and fruitful people of God:  the Church.  It notes that in the Liturgy, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, which was planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16).   To abide in this vine means abiding in Christ and His Church.  The vine and the branches give us a sense in which our union with Christ is intimate and real.  The image gives us the understanding that life flows from the vine to the branches, and this tells us that to abide in Christ is both dynamic and vitalizing.  The fruit that we bear is both good works and mission (15:16; 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."  Here we have the fullness of the expression of love:  As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.   And we note, as in the words Christ gave to us in yesterday's reading, that this love is tied to obedience, a kind of love of truth -- the truth that is the Person of Christ.  To abide in His love is to keep His commandments.  For it follows, one must say, that to abide in His love is to keep the commandments of love.  My study bible says that to love God is to obey Him (14:15). 

Love and commandments:  in Christ they go hand in hand.  In some sense, to modern ears conditioned by popular culture, one may find this strange.  To love is to accommodate, is it not?  But we forget that we learn love from Christ.  To follow His commandments is to grow in that understanding and that love, to become disciplined in love and to know what love is.  Love is not indulgence -- it is not spoiling a child.  Love is nurturing and growth, building and supporting potential and the capacity to bear good fruit.  All of these things:  nurturing, growing, sustaining, and giving the ability to bear fruit, are images of the vine.  When we abide in His vine, we abide in His love and thereby follow His commandments.  To do this it is necessary to understand that humility is the one thing necessary before God.  It is the preparation step one must take to sit at His feet and learn from Him, to take on His yoke, to abide in His love.  So much depends upon what we choose, to whom we turn -- in whom we abide, in what love we grow and produce fruit.  The joy in this union, like the peace He gives, surpasses the understanding of those who stand outside of it.