Our scripture lessons today remind us of whom we belong to with metaphoric visual images. Jesus connects himself and God’s ministry with various common images throughout the Gospel of John. In a series of statements, that have come to be called the “I am” statements, Jesus compares himself and his message to images that were familiar to the people. Jesus is: the bread of life (in various forms, Chap. 6), the light of the world (Chap. 8 and 9), both the gate of the sheepfold and the good shepherd (Chap. 10), the resurrection and the life (Chap. 11), the way the truth and the life (Chap. 14), and here, in Chap. 15, the last of these sayings, “I am the vine.” All of these images connect with the reality of Yahweh (the Greek phrase [ego eimi], here translated as “I am” is the Greek Old Testament’s way of representing the very name of God) with the fabric of our lives.
In each of these images, Jesus challenges the imaginations and faith of his Jewish contemporaries. Each time his statement would be considered blasphemy, claiming God’s name and authority. But even more than that, Jesus takes on some of the most treasured concepts in the Hebrew faith. He claims to be the new “manna” for all the people, the light for the world, the shepherd of Israel, the very “life” for the people calling to mind the reanimation of Ezekiel’s dry bones, to replace the Torah as “the way, truth and life” for the people, and finally, in the language of the vineyard, he uses the intimate language of the relationship between God and God’s people.
In the Old Testament the relationship between God and the people (see Isaiah 5:1) is likened to a vineyard owner and the vines. In the Gospels, this concept is described in parables explaining how the vineyard is tended and cared for. But here, Jesus binds himself to the vineyard in metaphor. He connects himself to the Old Testament image by setting God as the vine dresser, but then claims to be the vine. This is a concept unique to John, but not outside the witness of the scriptures.
“I am the vine, you are the branches” Jesus declares, and in doing so sets in motion the pain he must feel as the branches are pruned and readied for new growth, new fruit, new harvest. Jesus suffers with the people in this analogy, and not merely for them. This is the good news! Immanuel not only dwells with us, but suffers with us, fails with us, and dies with us. Such is the extant of the love that the owner has for the vineyard. His life and destiny are joined to the vine. You and I are grafted into this vine, this Christ. And as he suffers, and dies with us, so also are we made whole, conquer sin and receive new life with him as the risen Christ.
As Christ is infused into each one of us in faith and baptism, or corporately as the Spirit blows through the Body of Christ with a mighty wind, we have the possibility and opportunity of producing the fruit of God’s realm. Not necessarily the fruit of numerical increases in members, nor something that will benefit us individually in some meaningful way, but in the life of God’s realm in our midst giving us that vivid presence of God’s future for all humankind. It is evidenced in the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, and faithfulness that transforms the Body of Christ, the Church, and each of us, as part of it, into the vision of wholeness that God has for this world.
When we abide in God, God abides in us. God abides in our relationships. God transforms. God nurtures our ability to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
“O blessed spring, where Word and sign,
embrace us into Christ the Vine:
here Christ enjoins each one to be
a branch of this life-giving Tree.
Christ Holy Vine, Christ, living Tree,
be praised for this blest mystery:
that word and water thus revive
and join us to your Tree of Life.”
(by Susan Palo Cherwien, With One Voice #695)
