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I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Jesus said that those who loved him would keep his commandments. In today's Gospel we see a deeper revelation of why that would be so. Each commandment of Jesus was, in its own way, another version of him saying, 'Remain in me'. The commandments are the definition of the space of the inner life of God. If we chose to occupy this space then we abide in Jesus and he abides in us. We are then able to bear fruit for the Kingdom because it is Jesus himself within us bearing fruit by the power of his Spirit.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit
Dead branches still initially have the appearance of being alive because they are still connected to the tree. In some measure we could even say they enjoy some of the benefits of being a part of the tree. And yet they hoard the energy of the tree, draining the life of the organism without putting it to use. They selfishly indulge in what they can get for themselves without bearing fruit. Surprisingly this selfishness does not leave these branches more supple and full of life. It leaves them dry and all but dead. It is a simple matter for the vine grower to take them away because they have already chosen a self-definition as something not a part of the vine.
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
If we are entirely lifeless the vine grower removes us from the vine. This is a mercy so we don't maintain illusions about a life we don't truly possess. The Father is even able to graft apparently lifeless branches back into the vine if they will allow themselves to receive his merciful care (see Romans 11:23). But even those of us who are not entirely lifeless still have parts of our lives that are selfishly draining energy, energy that is meant to bear fruit and be shared in the joy of the Kingdom. We too must bear with the pruning sheers of the master gardener. The Father knows that the degree to which the branches on his vine hemorrhage life is for them one degree closer to failing entirely. And so, because what he wants for his vine is life to the full, he prunes every branch, disciplines every son whom he receives (see Hebrews 12:6).
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
It doesn't often seem to be so to us, but Jesus and his Father desire only that we be filled with their own rich and necessarily fruit-bearing life. Instead we mostly notice the pruning, the discipline, and fail to recognize the deep motivation of love that drives God to such measures. Apart from the vine the only alternative is to wither. There is no other source of life. And there is no purpose for dead branches but to be throne into a fire and burned. Why do we seem to think that bearing fruit is what will drain us and leave us empty when just the opposite is in fact the case? Bearing fruit is a sign that God's life is flowing through us. Showing mercy is a sure sign that we have received his mercy. Forgiving others and loving them demonstrates that we ourselves were first forgiven and loved.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
Remaining on the vine is not merely a negative matter of avoiding things which will remove us from the life of God. It also has a positive aspect of abiding in the word of God and opening our lives to him in prayer. His word is the sword of the Spirit that keeps all of our vital energy focused on the life of the vine. Prayer is the posture that allows this energy to pass through our lives into "much fruit" that we are meant to bear.
In our reading from Acts we see God, the vine growing, bringing about the grafting of the Gentiles onto the vine of Israel. We see in them an openness to the word of God and a willingness to bear fruit. This was God doing at a grand scale what he still does in apparently forgotten and lifeless branches today. And our response should be the same as that of the people in Phoenicia and Samaria where it "brought great joy to all the brethren".
In our psalm we see the joy that being part of the vine is meant to kindle in our hearts. Let us join in the rejoicing, for joy is amongst the fruits we are meant to bear.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
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