Reading
John 15:1-8
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Comment
The image of God as a farmer (this is the meaning of the Greek word georgos translated here as "winemaker") is frequent in the Old Testament, meaning his taking care of his people (Is 5:1-7; Jer 2:21 ; Ez 15:2; 17:5-10; 19:10; Hos 10:1). In some passages of the historical and prophetic books God, faced with Israel's infidelity, threatens to "uproot" his vine and throw it away to dry up, but always promises to keep a small change.
There is a play on words in this Johannine text, between the Greek terms that can be translated respectively as "remove" (airo) and "purify" (kathairo), cut and cleanse. When God intervenes, calling his people and the individual believer to humility and obedience, it is not a blind action dictated by anger: he prunes his plants because he lovingly cares for them and follows their growth and development closely.
Between the moment in which God sows and the moment in which he reaped there is, therefore, the action of his providence so that he not only reap what he himself sowed (contrary to what the inept servant of the parable of the talents affirmed; Mt 25:24), but also what he has patiently cultivated.
Our task is therefore simply to abandon ourselves to his loving action; hence Jesus' insistence to remain in him as the branch in the vine (v. 5): the verb "to remain" (less) is repeated ten times in seven verses.
To abide in Christ means to be rooted and grounded in love, as the apostle Paul exhorts in addressing the Ephesians (Eph 3:17), to live trusting abandonment to this love and to be pervaded by its lymph, to make it germinate in us until the "good farmer" will not decide to reap the ripe fruits.
Prayer
O Lord, a branch planted on the ground bears no fruit; grant us to remain rooted and grounded in you to carry out the good works that you yourself have called us to do and reach the maturity of love. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
