CONSIDER JESUS’ WORDS , as if hearing them the first time. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” (John 15:1) How precious is the true vine! This vine is the one that the owner of the vineyard cherishes for the qualities of the wine that is produced from it. At the end of the harvest, when winter comes, and the sap is dormant, the husbandman walks amongst the vines and cuts off the dead outer branches. He watches over the vine through the winter, protecting it from freezing; also, in early spring, he covers it to protect it from bitter frost. In late spring, he walks the vineyard, shears in hand, and cuts off the branches that bear no fruit, “while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:2b)
How thankful we are that Jesus chose the young John to be his disciple; it is through John’s gospel that we learn of and by this unique agrarian parable. In the extended metaphor, we learn from Jesus that, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:5a) We understand the story intuitively. As the sap flows from roots up through the trunk and outward through the branches, so it is that our relationship with Jesus flows organically from him and both to and through us. The ‘through us’ part comes haltingly. The journey from egocentric to allocentric seems, and is, unnatural at first. We are slow to learn that, just as we are sustained by the force of life that now flows through us, so too we have a debt to pay. We are meant to “Bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be my disciples,” for “This is to my Father’s glory.” (John 15:5b, 8a)
How thankful we are that Jesus chose us to be his disciples. It is clear that he did so out of love. This is a constant and consistent theme, from both the young disciple John, and his elder self, the Apostle. The younger records Jesus’ words: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” (John 15:9) Jesus also said, in this context, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) The elder Apostle John says, “God is love.” (1 John 4:9)
The love that Jesus speaks of is a love that is unconditional. And while it is not contractual, despite the earlier thoughts expressing ‘a debt to pay,’ there is a transactional aspect to it, which the Apostle Paul addresses when he says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” (Rom. 13:8) Jesus’ command to us, called by later theologians “The Royal Law,” remains the standard by which he will one day examine our actions during this lifetime. For emphasis, he says twice in this part of his teaching: “Love each other.” (John 15:9, 17)
How thankful are that because of and through Jesus the Father imparts to us the Holy Spirit. And only because of him can we carry out the commands of Jesus. We do so in the context of this teaching by Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:30-31) And we do so in this reflection on the Vine and the Branches, because we are not only commanded to by our Lord, but because we are empowered by his actions: “When the Counselor comes he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (Matt. 15:26-27)
How grateful we are, Father, for your abiding love extended to us in Jesus. “May the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be pleasing in your sight” (Psa. 19:14), as we “continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12c), knowing that especially in this “it is God who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil. 2:13)
Q. How do I express my love of the Father?
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