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 

 

This week, we are reading through Christ's Final Discourse at the Last Supper.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus told the disciples, "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.  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."  My study Bible explains that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  In contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel, it says, 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 of the Orthodox Church, 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).  Moreover, to abide in this vine is to abide in Christ and His Church.  My study Bible adds that this image of the vine and the branches shows several things.  First, that our union with Christ is intimate and real.  Second, that life flows from the vine to the branches -- to abide in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit we bear is both good works and mission (John 15:16; 17:18).  

 

  "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 comments here that one cannot love God and refuse God's commandments.  To love God is to keep His commandments (John 14:15).  

 

Christ's words in today's reading convey to us the depth of relationship in meanings of love, communion, and covenant.  The image of the vine, branches, and vinedresser conveys to us the depth of communion between Christ and His followers, and that this also includes God the Father.  As vinedresser the Father prunes those branches which do not bear fruit, for the health of the whole and so that the vine may be even more fruitful.  In the sense of this image, Jesus teaches, "Abide in Me, and I in you."  To abide is to "stay," in the sense of residing somewhere, staying in a particular shelter or home.  Jesus says, "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."  Thus, He conveys to us that unless we make our home with Him, and He in us, we do not bear the fruits God looks for.  No branch can bear fruit off of its vine, and so it is with us.  Without the vine, a branch simply withers.  "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  The spiritual fruit we bear by abiding in Him, and He in us, glorifies the Father, and declares that we are Christ's disciples.  Finally, what Christ offers to all of us is a communion of love:  "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."  We are to remain in that love as a shelter, an abode, a place to dwell.  Finally, here is covenant, the bond that doesn't break and is inseparable:  "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."  Here is love, loyalty, and even duty.  So long as we keep in this love and follow what He teaches we abide in this communion.  We are to live to the fullest this life that produces spiritual fruit, keeping in His love, following what He teaches us.  This is an active love and a dynamic communion.  It is a covenant of love, a bond that goes all ways, between Father, Son, and the faithful, where faithful means being true to what we are taught, how we are guided, faithful to the One who loved us first (1 John 4:19).  Finally, here is the joy that surprises in the midst of the world:  "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  We are not created to "be our own boss," so to speak, but we are created to bloom and to bear fruit, to grow in as healthy a way as possible.  And for us to understand the fulfillment of our own creation, we need Christ to guide, and the love of the Father, and the help of the Holy Spirit.  In this way, we fulfill the purpose for which we are created -- and that is the source of joy.  For so many people, "duty" may be seen as an oppressive word, but a duty borne of love is not coerced nor compelled; it is voluntary.  This is loyalty, and desire.  Often we imagine -- in the midst of a taxing circumstance -- that if only we had nothing to do, we could be happy.  But the truth is, human beings do not become happy by being idle; our joy comes by fulfilling a deeper purpose, and most particularly in living that love in this communion Christ describes.  It is the heart and life of our very soul that forms this communion, and the one in which Christ asks us to abide -- for there we will find our surprising joy.  If we think about it, we may come to understand that even in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of a difficult and troublesome world full of worries and hardships, we may still have this joy when we follow what He teaches, and abide in His life.  Let us learn to find this joy, in all circumstances.  Let us seek Him and stay where He teaches us to be.  

 

 

 

As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love

Christ the true vine; 13th century.  Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece

 "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 

 

We are currently reading through Christ's words to the apostles at the Last Supper, in what is called the Farewell Discourse.  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 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.  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."  My study Bible comments that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  In contrast to disobedient and unfruitful Israel, it says, our Lord calls Himself the true vine, which together with the branches constitutes a new and fruitful people of God:  the Church.  In the divine liturgy of the Orthodox Church, the bishop prays that the Lord will visit and confirm the vineyard, the local body of Christ, is planted with His own right hand (Psalm 80:15-16).  To abide in this vine is to abide in Christ and His Church.  My study Bible comments that the figure of the vine and the branches shows first that our union with Christ is intimate and real; second, that life flows from the vine to the branches.  In other words, abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit we bear is both good works and mission (John 15:16; 17:18).

 

 "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 notes here that one cannot love God and disobey His commandments.  To love God, as Jesus taught in yesterday's reading, is to obey God (John 14:15).  

Jesus teaches us something more about love in today's reading.  He says,  "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."   He seems to say to us, to tell us through these words, that love comes from somewhere.  Love has a Source, and that Source is God.  As long as we know that we are created by a loving Father, then we know that there is love, and that love is part of who we are because it comes from the ultimate Source of all things.  Jesus teaches us, "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."   We express and live our love for Christ by keeping His commandments, and in this way we become like Him -- for He has kept the Father's commandments and so abides in the Father's love.  He is inviting us into this depth of communion, which is a communion of love.  We may stop to think, in our modern context, that to follow the commandments of an authority figure, even a parent, doesn't necessarily translate into love.  We can, after all, receive abusive or wrong commandments in our lives, from those whose wills are unhealthy, unhealed, suffering, and all the ways in which our imperfect world expresses its imperfection.  But Christ is not speaking of worldly commandments and worldly authority; He is speaking and offering the opposite.  He's offering us the life of what is necessary for us, and that which is in so many ways missing in our world.  He is offering communion in and with the Source of all love, even as we are in a world distant and separate from that communion, with the "ruler of this world" an opponent to Christ.  He follows with, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  He's offering us joy even when we have sorrow, even when we are disappointed and afraid, even abandoned by the people and things we are fond of in life.  For this joy remains in us when all else may fail.  For what Christ is offering is to abide in Him, and He in us, within the strength and Source of the Father's love, rooted in a place so deep within us we might not even know it's there.  This is the way Christ offers us love and communion, and all we have to do is love Him by following the commandments which are His words of life for us.  These commandments are for us, and they are the words of eternal life for us.  They are the words that share His love with us, and share with us His joy.  Let us take in all that we are offered, and take Him up on His offer, so that we may abide in His love, and joy may abide in us. 

 

 

 

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

 "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 and the disciples are at the Passover supper, also known as the Last Supper.  He is speaking to the disciples, giving them His Farewell Discourse before going to His Passion.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus 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.  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."  My study bible explains that the vine is a symbol of Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21).  But in contrast to the disobedient and unfaithful vine, Christ calls Himself the true vine.  Together with its branches this vine constitutes a new and fruitful people of God, which is the Church.   In the Divine Liturgy of the Eastern Church, 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).  If we abide in this vine, we abide in Christ and in His Church.   My study bible explains that the figure of the vine and branches shows first that our union with Christ is intimate and real.  Second, life flows from this vine to its branches:  abiding in Christ is dynamic and vitalizing.  Finally, the fruit that we bear is both good works and mission (v. 16; 17:18). 

"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."  Once again, Jesus returns to the central theme of His love.  My study bible explains that to love God is to obey God; one cannot love God and disobey God's commandments.  Christ offers us what He Himself has:  His love for and abiding in the Father and keeping His commandments.  So He asks of the relationship we have with Him as well; in this way we are one vine with many branches.

Let us think about Christ's joy, which He speaks of in His final words in today's reading.  What is this joy?  Is it not clearly a product of the love within which He abides in the Father?  Jesus has repeatedly explained what this means:  that the love between Father and Son is revealed through Christ obedience to the commandments of His Father.  Moreover, this is what He asks of us, His disciples -- that we must abide in Him, in love.  And if we love Him, we will  keep His commandments.  All of these things go hand in hand.  So deep and great is this love and connectedness, that we are to be in a communion that is distinguished and known by the fact that we have love for one another (John 13:34-35).  He has given all the tools we need, through His commandments, to teach us how we are to do this, to live like this, to express this love for one another.  But what He tells us is that our communion -- this vine -- is an extension of first of all His relationship to the Father.  He asks us to live as He has lived His life.  He has set the example, and given us the paradigm of what it is to Abide in Me, because this is how He has lived by abiding in the Father and doing the Father's will, in love.  And here is His joy that He shares with the disciples -- and by extension, with all those who would be His disciples.  If we abide in that love, and therefore in His commandments, this is where we will find our joy in life.  It is a long road through the difficulties of life, the disappointments, and the discoveries of betrayals and infidelity.  A long road indeed through lies and corruption of this world, and its injustice.  But we remember the Passion to which Christ goes, which will expose all of those things for judgment and witnessing.  Indeed, He is "the faithful witness" according to Revelation 1:5.  In the fullness of Christ's joy, the world is a setting for witnessing:  living and abiding in His love together with the Father and the Spirit, following His commands, and witnessing for a true justice that surpasses human expediency.  All of these things constitute what He asks of us when He tells us that we are to abide in Him in order to bear much fruit.  Let us continue our focus on building this joy within ourselves as we find our lives increasing in the faith He asks of us.   As He goes to His hour of glory, we are reminded of the words in the book of Nehemiah, when the people were read the commands of the Law:  "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many

 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

- Mark 14:12-26

In recent readings it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He has daily disputed in the temple, and told to the disciples the prophecy about the destruction of the temple and the city that is to come, and also about the time of His Return.  Yesterday we read that after two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people."  And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard.  Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head.  But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor."  And they criticized her sharply.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone.  Why do you trouble her?  She has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.  She has done what she could.  She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."  Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them.  And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.  So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"  And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him.  Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"  Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."  So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.   My study bible notes that the synoptic Gospels date Jesus' Crucifixion on the first day of Passover, but John's Gospel sets it on the Preparation Day (John 19:14), the day before Passover when the Passover lambs were killed.  Therefore, in the synoptic tradition, the Last Supper is the Passover meal, but John's Gospel tells us that Jesus as Lamb of God (John 1:29) dies at the same time as the Passover lambs are slain in the temple.  To set the date precisely is not possible, but Scripture works in ways unlike a scientific textbook:  both traditions are theologically true.  The Mystical Supper, my study bible says, is the fulfillment of the Passover meal (the synoptic tradition), and Christ's death itself is the fulfillment of the Passover lambs being slain (John's tradition).  Luke's Gospel tells us that the two disciples who were sent to prepare the Passover were Peter and John (Luke 22:8).  The Gospels consistently tell us of this deliberate and detailed preparation in which Jesus gives explicit instructions.  Clearly, the setting for this Passover is most important in its preparations and in Jesus' ministry.  It seems to suggest the participation of all cosmic witness, down to the details of God's pinpoint and timeless awareness, which Jesus has described by telling us the very hairs of our head are numbered, and that not one sparrow falls that the Father isn't aware of (Luke 12:4-7).

In the evening He came with the twelve.  Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."  And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, "Is it I?"  And another said, "Is it I?"  He answered and said to them, "It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish.  The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had never been born."   My study bible says that Jesus' emphasis on both that His betrayer is one of the twelve and that he is one who dips with Me in the dish isn't in order to indicate the specific identity of the person who betrays Him.  Rather, He tells us the level of betrayal involved -- that this is one of His closest friends (see Psalm 55:12-14).  Jesus' expression of the divine foreknowledge of this betrayal takes away neither Judas' moral freedom, nor the accountability for his choice.  My study bible says that for God, all things are a present reality.  God sees all human actions, but does not cause them.  It is extremely touching that various disciples ask, "Is it I?"  It gives us a sense that by this point of His ministry, they are all aware of the potential of their own weakness, an awareness we should all share.  It also gives us a picture of what a frightening time this must be for them, in which - despite Jesus' explicit warnings - uncertainty rules as all their expectations of the manifestation of a kingdom are confounded.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."  Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.  Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.  To sat He gave thanks in the Greek has as its root the Greek word eucharist.  This word immediately came to refer to both the Liturgy and the sacrament of Holy Communion.  My study bible notes that in the Didache (a manuscript written before the end of the first century), the celebration of the Liturgy is referred to as "the Eucharist."  Writing in the year 150, St. Justin says of Holy Communion, "This food we call 'Eucharist,'of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing [holy baptism] for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ commanded us."  St. Justin also writes that "the food consecrated by the word of prayer which comes from Him is the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus."  For Eastern Christianity, this has always remained simply a mystical truth without explanation, given in the word of Christ in this solemn, detailed, and deliberate supper.  The Eucharist, from the very beginning of the early Church, has always been the supreme act of thanksgiving and praise to God.  The hymn sung at the supper is a psalm from a group of psalms which were traditionally sung after the Passover meal (Psalms 116-118).

The Last Supper becomes the centerpiece and capstone of ministry -- giving us intentionally a commemoration for all time to come, until the return of Christ.  It is deliberately and meticulously planned.  Clearly, it seems, the Eucharist and its commemoration are precisely what Jesus had in mind to give to the apostles and to the Church forever ("Do this in remembrance of Me," Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25).  It is fitting that such a commemoration and final gesture, before giving His body and blood of the new covenant in sacrifice for many, should be an act of the greatest mystery.  It is one that recreates His life for us eternally and given so that we may participate in His life most deeply, a mystery that is given just before the sign given to all, that of His Resurrection (which He called "the sign of Jonah" as reported by Matthew and Luke).   The mystery surrounding the Eucharist should not, in my view, ever be taken lightly or as mere symbol.  I agree with the view that explanations are inadequate to either identify or categorize the levels of mystery and participation into which we are invited through the Eucharist -- as each of us is invited not only to share in His life but also His sacrifice and His Cross by taking up our own.  There is more to this than the material, just as there is far more to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ than a man dying in a Roman punishment reserved for the worst criminals, and then His body missing from its tomb, surrounded by stories of Resurrection from His followers.  This final mystery given to us as commemorative sacrament in perpetuity touches us in ways that we can't even categorize; it allows us to have our own lives invested in His in ways we can't foretell and don't know.  In this sacrament we abide in Him and He in us.  Indeed, in John 15:4, He tells us that this is the one way in which we can bear fruit.  Clearly, if we are to go by John's account, well within the lifetimes of these first disciples, the Eucharist had attained the enormous significance of the words, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51).  There is far too much significance here to be diminished into mere symbol, or even explanations of physical reality transformed.  This is the realm of the mystical, which involves all levels of reality, from the absolute to the daily routine of our lives and all in between, as well as the work of the Spirit, just as Christ's mysterious birth to Mary did as well.  When we think of this gift, it's not something we can quantify nor limit, as it is not our gift but rather the gift of God, of Christ Himself.   It is the gift of the fullness of His life and being, given to us in mystery as only God could give.  Also fittingly and tellingly, we give thanks simply through our acceptance of His gift!  We can but follow and seek to bear the fruit He asks of us, as we abide in Him and He in us.  "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" (John 15:5).

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.

I am the vine, you are the branches

 "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

Jesus has been giving His Farewell Discourse to the Apostles.  This is the time just before He will be betrayed and seized by the authorities.  He began with the words, "Let your heart not be troubled . . . " (see In My Father's house are many mansions).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued:  "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."  My study bible notes that "the vine is a symbol if Israel (see Is. 5:1-7, Jer. 2:21).  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."  We note that every time Jesus identifies Himself, it is with clear reference to the Father.  Here, He is the true vine, but His 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."  Here, we are invited to consider what it means to bear fruit in the context of Jesus' teachings.  We are all called upon to bear spiritual fruit, the fruit of His teachings and commands.  Note that even those branches that produce are pruned by the Father; the things we don't need in our lives are pruned away for better spiritual growth, 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."  My study bible has a note here:  "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 (v. 16, 'go and bear fruit').  Those who do not abide in Christ bear no fruit, and are cut off from Him (v. 6)."   The words Jesus teaches here are very clear:  just as He has always referred Himself back to the Father, so are we dependent upon Him for our own fruit we bear.  We cannot do it of ourselves, just like a branch can't bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.

"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."  My study bible notes, "Without Christ we can do nothing -- nothing which is properly motivated and gives glory to God."  Jesus takes this metaphor of the vine and continues, turning it to different angles and teaching us what this really means for us.  Again, there is an even stronger emphasis now on bearing fruit:  abiding in Him, we can bear much fruit.  But without Him we can do nothing.  Abiding in Him isn't a one-way street:  we abide in Him, and He in us.  This speaks of the depth of relationship, of communion, among believers and Christ -- but He will take this even further.

 "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."  Without this abiding, our worth is like a branch that is withered and bears no fruit at all.  It is a sense of dying spiritually without Him, without this abiding.  He again refers to His commandments, His words, as in yesterday's reading, when He taught, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."    Abiding in Him is a relationship made possible through the Helper, the Spirit which He will send.  In Monday's reading, He taught, "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  Here He links this again with what it is to abide in Him.

"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."  My study bible tells us, "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."  Jesus gives us a deeper response to what it is to keep His commandments, the teachings He has emphasized and given:  we also abide in His love and we are linked through Him in turn to the commandments of the Father and the Father's love.

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."   Not only love, but joy is given here through Jesus at His Farewell Discourse.  He is going away, but it is His joy and love in which we are to abide.  This word for joy, in the Greek, is linked to the word for grace - they share the same root.  It is also the root of the word with which Gabriel greets Mary at the Annunciation, which has often been translated as "hail."  It means, in the Greek, "be joyful."  The good tidings of God's grace renders us joy; it is the fullness of this joy that Jesus leaves us (and His disciples) here.

In today's reading (and the earlier ones in His Farewell Discourse), Jesus ties in what it is to remain "in His name" with His commandments, with the Spirit who will enlighten us to them, with abiding in Him and the Father, with His love and the Father's love, and finally with the fullness of His joy in us.  The fullness of this cup cannot be overestimated.  He is going away, but He goes to the Father and will send us something greater than any gift.  In the fullness of His grace we abide in His love and share the fullness of His joy.  We bear spiritual fruits and so are "like Him" by abiding in Him.  Even the things which do not help us to bear such fruit will be pruned away from us by the Father.  Love and grace and the truth of His commandments are mixed with the fullness of the joy with which He leaves the disciples and gives to us in turn.  How do you experience the love of God, and how do you return that love?  Are there spiritual fruits in your life?  Are His commandments precious to you?  All of these questions are opened up for us here, and the depth of His love is something we have within ourselves, as He promises that He also abides in us.  Let us remember that joy and grace are linked:  Mary's good news greeting is the same joy with which Jesus gives His farewell.