The True Vine—Lectionary Reflection for Easter 5B (John 15)

Vincent Van Gogh, Vineyards with a View of Auvers

John 15:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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                A grapevine has branches. Those branches, which carry the fruit, are connected to the vine. Without the vine the branches are dead. The vine carries the life force of the plant to the branches, which produce the fruit. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. As such, through our connection to the vine, we produce fruit. In both the Gospel of John and 1 John we see references to abiding in and with God, reflecting this image of the vine and branches. It is an image that has deep roots in the Old Testament, where Israel is depicted in several places as a vine and branches that God cares for and when necessary prunes.  

                The Gospel reading for this Fifth Sunday of Easter takes us back to the Gospel of John, and more specifically to Jesus’ final teaching session that follows his last meal with his followers. The final instructions and his prayer for the disciples make up chapters 14 through 17. The reading for the Fifth Sunday comes from the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel.  

                Our reading for the week from John 15 begins with Jesus declaring “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.” In this role of vinegrower or vinedresser, the Father prunes the vine so that branches that fail to produce fruit are removed. You prune the vine to make it healthier and able to bear more fruit. As for the identity of the branches, Jesus tells his disciples that he is the vine and they are the branches. With that imagery in place Jesus tells his disciples who have gathered with him for that final meal, that if they abide in him, he will abide in them. Just as the branch can’t bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, the same is true for them. Deirdra Good notes that “Understanding of the images of Jesu as the true vine and disciples as branches, together with the repetition of ‘remain’ or ‘abide’, is intuitive and mystical. A vine, for example, is not separate but rather indistinguishable from its branches, and as the branches in turn may be cut off, their whole identity is nevertheless in the vine. Branches are never independent but always rooted and growing in Jesus.” [Connections, p. 260]

                While it is true that the branch requires the sustenance of the vine to bear fruit, if the branch is not connecting (abiding) with the vine, then it is of no value. Therefore, it simply withers away until it’s removed and tossed into a fire to be burnt up. Thus, this is the way it is for those who fail to abide in Jesus. They lose their sustenance and thus their ability to bear fruit. Therefore, they are pruned and tossed into the fire, which consumes them.

                While Jesus mentions the possibility of pruning branches, his expectation for his disciples is that they will abide in him and bear fruit. So he tells them that if they abide in him, and his words in them, they can ask of him whatever they desire and it will be fulfilled so that the Father is glorified. That sounds a bit like what you might hear from a prosperity gospel preacher. Just name it and claim it and it’s yours. While it might be used in that way, I don’t think that’s what Jesus has in mind. Rodger Nishioka helpfully writes “Because we abide in him and he abides in us, whatever we ask will be given. This promise is certain because as we remain in him, we grow more and more into his likeness. As we grow more and more into his likeness, what we desire will be more commensurate with what he desires. That is the result of abiding” [Connections, pp. 263-264]. In other words, if we’re abiding in Jesus and our desires mirror his, we won’t be asking for private jets and mansions.

It's appropriate that this passage has been chosen for this point in the calendar, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. With the onset of spring, we see the trees and vines begin to leaf out, bloom, and when appropriate show signs that fruit is to be expected. In other words, by viewing nature Jesus’ words are enhanced and affirmed.

                The word here speaks of connections between Jesus and the Father along with he and his disciples. There is a sense here of mutuality, such that there is a mutual indwelling such that Jesus abides in us and we abide in him. Therefore, we abide in God. The message throughout the “Farewell Discourse” is that Jesus envisions oneness among his followers. Later in the Discourse, as it comes to an end right before his arrest, he prays for his followers, asking that they would be one even as he and the Father are one: “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn 17:20-21).

John uses several similar metaphors to describe his relationship with his disciples, as does Paul. The metaphor from Paul that I find most helpful is that of the church as the Body of Christ. Together his followers form his body on earth post-resurrection. Theologically, we might turn to the Greek word perichoresis to describe this relationship. This Greek word has played an important role in our understanding of Jesus' nature as truly human and truly divine, as well as the internal Trinitarian relationships, such that God is one and yet three. The idea here is that there is mutual interpenetration within the Godhead, a sense of abiding in each other, reflecting the unity of the Godhead and the unity of the Body of Christ. Catherine Mowry LaCugna puts it this way:

He is who and what God is; he is who and what we are to become. Jesus owes his whole existence, authority, identity, and purpose to God; he ‘originates’ from God, is begotten of God, belongs eternally to the life and existence of God. Through him we, too originate from God, are begotten of God, and belong eternally to the life and existence of God. [God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Life, p. 296].

We are one in the Spirit, such that we participate in the life of God through Jesus who abides in us, even as we abide in him. The goal is that we might bear fruit and express the love that is God.

                In John’s version of the Gospel story, we hear Jesus describe what it means to be his follower. It is a calling that he extended to the disciples and us. We are branches, connected to a vine. The expectation is that we will bear fruit (grapes for harvest). In doing so we reflect the presence of Jesus who dwells within us. What is the fruit? Perhaps we might want to consult Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things” (Gal. 5:22-23).

                When we abide in Christ, such that he abides in us, we express our dependence, perhaps even interdependence, with Jesus. Our spiritual lives depend on abiding in or participating in the life of Jesus, but it goes both ways, such that we are, as they say, Christ’s hands and feet. Jesus ministers to the world through us. As such, as we bear fruit in the Spirit, we bring glory to God.  

Image Attribution: Gogh, Vincent van, 1853-1890. Vineyards with a View of Auvers, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55980 [retrieved April 23, 2024]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vineyards_with_a_View_of_Auvers_1890_Vincent_van_Gogh.jpg.