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.

I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that he world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that he world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

"O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

- John 17:1-26

Because it is Thursday of Holy Week, today the lectionary skips forward to the final words of Jesus' address to His disciples at the Last Supper, just before His betrayal. It is His prayer to the Father. From this prayer was shaped much of our theology, including the basis for the Nicene Creed. My study bible says, "We find our Lord's words bearing witness to His divinity and His filial relationship with the Father."

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." It is time, it is His hour. My study bible points out that this is a sign of divinity - the power over time. Not until it is the proper time will this happen -- His exaltation on the Cross. Hence, the glorification that belongs to both Christ and the Father. It says, "God is glorified when salvation and eternal life come to His people." Eternal life -- the power to draw Him with us -- is explicitly laid out here: it is the power to know God and Christ. My study bible says, "The knowledge of God, which is eternal life, goes far beyond rational or academic pursuit; it is participation in divine life and communion with God. Thus, eternal life -- life proper to the age to come -- is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ." He has finished the work He was given to do, bearing His life and divinity incarnate as a human being in the world, and He is going on to the place of glory with the Father that was His before the world was. It is a complete circle -- and all of this reality incorporates the One whom we know as Christ.

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Here is an illustration of the "vine and the branches," the metaphor that He has used with the disciples at the Last Supper. God's name is a powerful way of expressing God's Person and presence. In the Old Testament, my study bible notes, the term "the name" was reverently used as a substitute for God's actual name, "Yahweh." The "name" is thus the extension of all things of God, including God's power, and the word given through Christ to those whom God has gathered to Him. In this prayer to the Father, He prays for those who could "hear" and "receive" and "keep" this word. So, all who receive -- specifically, here, the Apostles -- are "in His name." And this is a living reality, a participation, a living relationship. For this, which glorifies Him and the Father, He prays - that they will be sustained in His name after Christ has returned to the Father, "that they may be one as We are." My study bible says, "The word they have kept is Jesus' revelation, and especially the new commandment to love one another, which is a definitive mark of discipleship."

"But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth." What is the joy of which He speaks, here? It is the joy of that life in the word, in the name, and its fulfillment, that He prays for. My study bible says, "Inasmuch as Jesus comes from the realm of divine existence, He confers a heavenly identity and life on those who are joined to Him. In fellowship with Him, the disciples attract the world's hatred." We know what persecutions will follow. It is a life in which we belong to the Father and the Son and Spirit -- in God's name -- but our vocation is in the world. Here, Jesus prays for the Apostles, but through their word, others will also be of this "name" in the world. To be sanctified is to be made holy; as my study bible says, "to consecrate, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the sphere of the sacred for God's use." The "holy" is always "set apart." So, by God's truth all those who are in His name are sanctified, set apart for purpose and mission. St. John Chrysostom has interpreted this verse: "Make them holy through the gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine." The truth is inseparable from this loving relationship and from holiness and mission.

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that he world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that he world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." Here, the prayer, in all its effects, aims and desires, is extended to all of those who will follow the Apostles -- all through whom the Apostles' word will live (that is, the word which has been given to them by the Father through Christ). This is the whole of the future Church, which, my study bible says, "participates in the life and glory of the Father and the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christians enjoy two kinds of unity: vertical, with the Trinity, and horizontal, with one another, the latter rooted in the former." This prayer is so complete that He holds all who will come equal with the Apostles in this relationship, "that they may be made perfect in one," each participating in the fullness and eternity of this union.

"O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." The union is complete: knowing God, and participating in God's love and reality in total relationship, is the aim. My study bible says, "We cannot have love for God the Father, or receive His love, apart from the knowledge of (communion with) the Father. The purpose of the knowledge of God is to impart the love of God." And so, this is our mission, our vocation. It is that fullness and its growth and power through us and with us that He seeks.

So let us consider today, on the eve of His crucifixion, what it is to love and to be loved by God, complete in a circle with Father, Son and Spirit, to participate in that life and relationship and communion, and to grow in such. We, of course, are to spread that love -- as vine and branches, we are to bear fruit and reach out to one another. Let us consider today, then, love and what it is to have joy in this love that is of God and spreads through us to the fullness of depth that is incalculable and eternal. What is it that God loves us so much as to keep us with Him in eternity, for which Christ prayed, for which the Spirit is alive and at work in our world? We who consider ourselves a part of this Church for which He prays, not of the world but in it, how do we feel that joy and know God? How do we know and live that love in His name and His word? For what are we set apart and sanctified?