Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 2024

Jesus the True Vine. John 15:1-7

Rev. Neli Miranda

A vine plant has its base on a main stem called trunk, which sends down roots for water or nutrients. Each year, the trunk sends out new shoots near the ground that grow upward and outward to become branches. The branches are not self-sufficient but rely on being connected and receiving nutrients and water from the main vine trunk through the sap that flows between them. In spring, buds form on the branches, the buds become leaves and then flowers, and flowers develop into grape bunches. So, the final fruit, the grapes, come from a generous, interconnected, intertwined system whose base is the trunk underground that nourishes the whole plant through the sap’s circulation.  A vine plant needs regular pruning by gardeners/vinegrowers who also cut off dead, dried or unfruitful branches. This is the splendid image Jesus used to describe his relationship with God and his disciples.

               Today´s Gospel is part of Jesus’ farewell discourse given by him immediately after the conclusion of the Last Super, the night he was arrested. In John, chapter 15, Jesus begins by saying to his disciples, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower” (15,1). Jesus uses this image in light of its use in the Old Testament where the vine/vineyard image is already recognized as a metaphor that portrays Israel’s relationship to God. In Isaiah, chapter 5 we read that the prophet speaks about a vineyard, the people of Israel, that God the divine gardener planted and cared for, expecting it to bear good grapes. But the people failed to live up to God’s expectation of righteousness and justice and produced bad fruits: injustice, bloodshed, stealing from the needy and the oppressed. This vineyard will be devastated –announces the prophet—and God will judge the people.

In Jesus’ time the people of Israel continued to be unfaithful and unfruitful. The religious and political leaders claimed to represent God among the people, to be guides, but they led the people astray. In contrast, Jesus presents himself as the “true vine” that fulfills Israel’s purpose; he is is the One sent by God, the sustaining vine trunk, and his disciples who abide in him are like branches that bear the fruits of justice expected by God, the divine gardener.

Dear sisters and brothers, what a magnificent image Jesus offers to speak of the new community of disciples, the new vineyard of God! This image is loaded with different elements that speak of interrelationship, mutuality, and indwelling.  In a vine, branches are so intricate that it is impossible to distinguish one from another, it is impossible to see where one branch stops and another starts. This image suggests that there are no free-standing individuals in the community, but all are intertwined and grow out of the central vine, Jesus.

What does this primordial image of Jesus’ community say to Christians today? This message contrasts with the individualism and privatism that rules our society today, practices also present in many Christian communities. A church that lives according to Jesus’ model is a community that lives in communion—common-union—guided and nourished by Jesus’ word.  Can you see and feel the branches, sisters & brothers, in which you are intertwined in the community of Jesus? Can you feel the sap, Jesus’ word, running through your veins and animating your life?

Another central element coming from the vine’s image that speaks to the Christian community today is its non-hierarchical model. In a vine, all branches come from the same trunk and all of them are nourished in the same way, all of them have the same opportunities.  The only difference between branches is fruitfulness or fruitless, and it is God who discerns which branches are pruned or cut off.  In the community that Jesus envisioned, he is the nourisher and God the loving gardener, and all the disciples live in equality and equity. None of the disciples in this community are superior to other disciples. The life of this community is resolved from a vision of unity and equality, and his ultimate sense is to bear fruits for the glory of God.

May we continue connected to the true vine and always receive precious nutrients through Jesus’ words. May we continue to grow under the care of the divine gardener and let us strive to be pruned and not cut off.  

Sisters and brothers, in a world that daily produces bitter fruits, let us be the community that provides the sweet fruits of justice and peace. Amen.