Remain in me, as I remain in you.
What Jesus asks of us is not that we become experts in the growth and care of vines ourselves, nor masters of horticulture. He does not ask that we take responsibility for guiding our own growth. Rather he asks something that is much simpler. He asks us to remain, to abide, to be open to our connection to him. He asks for a sustained willingness to be transformed by the life we receive from him into what we are meant to become.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
The Father prunes, Jesus gives life. Ours is to remain on the vine. This is simple, but not necessarily easy. The perspective of branches on being pruned, were you to ask them, would be much more ambiguous than the perspective of the vine grower. Branches would probably be afraid of pruning, fearing that their own identity was threatened, that if the pruning went too far there might not be enough left of them to survive. The temptation is to try to leave this situation of challenge and growth to find a place where we, as we imagine, can thrive apart the need for pruning. But there is no way we can do this without also disconnecting from that which makes us spiritually alive in the first place.
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.
The keywords in this Gospel passage form a solid promise. Or, as Jesus put it in another place, whosoever remains will bear much fruit. He who perseveres to the end will be saved (see Matthew 24:13).
We have the real and frightful power to choose not to remain connected to the vine. Substitute vines and vine growers exist, promising a better experience for the branches, tempting us in order to draw us away. But no other vine grower has the fulfillment of the purpose of the vine as his main priority. And no other vine can actually give life and make us fruitful. Apart from the true vine we will end up used up and discarded. This is a fate which Jesus does not desire for us.
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.
Remaining in Jesus means remaining in his word, both in Scripture and in the Sacraments, all of which receive their power from that word. This word pruned us already, especially in baptism. But we must continue in it. It is the very sap of life that comes to us as branches of the vine. The more we open ourselves to it the more we become who we are meant to be.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
The early Church recognized the importance of staying connected to the vine. They knew also that this was not possible in a 'just Jesus and me' context. It was only as a part of the body that they had a connection to their divine head. It was through the Church that word and Sacrament flowed as streams of life-giving grace from the Holy Spirit.
it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the others
should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbyters
about this question.
Let us resist the temptation of trying to function as a society of isolated branches, without connection to others or reference to our Source. Let us recognize and reject the lure of other vines which do not and cannot give gift of true and lasting life. May we also be on guard against other vine growers who would look to us and care for us only insofar as we were convenient to their own interests. Let us remain in Jesus and, in him, bear fruit.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
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