Sunday Meditation: The True Vine

On the fifth Sunday of Easter in Year B, we get another “I Am” passage from the Gospel of John.  Today we get one of my favorites, the pruning of the grapevine in John’s chapter 15.  This is one of my favorite passages because right around this time of year I am pruning my own grapevine.  As it so happens, I pruned last week, a little late in the season, but it’s tough to find a day.  Every year as I prune I mutter “I am the vine, and you are the branches!”  And just as I snip the dead wood and the long extended vines that will not bear fruit, so Jesus says His Father will prune as well.

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.

He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.

You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.

Remain in me, as I remain in you.

Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own

unless it remains on the vine,

so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,

because without me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me

will be thrown out like a branch and wither;

people will gather them and throw them into a fire

and they will be burned.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you,

ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.

By this is my Father glorified,

that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

~Jn 15:1-8

Notice, Jesus doesn’t just say “I am the vine,” He says “I am the true vine.”  So let’s unpack the metaphor.  God the father is the gardener who prunes; Jesus is the vine; we who are in Him are the branches; the fruit are the good works we do to glorify the Father.  Here are some visuals from my vine.

The vine is the stem and the main vertical branches.  You can see it growing against my fence.

You can see the branches growing off the vine trained to go up toward my deck.

And here’s a top view where you can see the blossoming leaves. 

The fruit will come later in the summer.  I love gardening, but I think the most difficult of my gardening activities is pruning and maintaining a grapevine. 

Dr. Brant Pitre will explain the theology of this passage.

 

That is a great apologetics comment by Dr. Pitre at the end.  Make sure you listen to the end.  I also like Jeff Cavins more pastoral application of the passage.  It’s short enough to include.

Sunday Meditation: "Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”

And another John Michael Talbot song appropriate for the reading.

 

Oh how lovely!