Fifth Sunday of Easter – 02nd May 2021 — Gospel: John 15,1-8
Branches’ Equality and Responsibility
The imagery of the vine was commonly used in the Old Testament to speak of Israel as God’s people and conveyed the ideas of divine love and divine judgment. In a metaphorical usage, instead of grapes (justice) God finds wild grapes (bloodshed) in the vineyard (Is 5,1-7). The same theme is found in Jer 5,10 and 12,10-11. But the reversal occurs in Is 27,2-6, where Israel is depicted as a fruitful vine. The imagery in Ezekiel 17 does not refer to collective Israel but to an individual, King Zedekiah (Ez 17,2-10) and to a king of the Davidic house (Ez 17,22-24). Sir 24,17-21 gives a different interpretation. Wisdom is depicted here as a vine whose fruits give life. Sapiential usage of this imagery highlights the principle of giving and sustaining life, much different from Johannine use of fruitfulness, intimacy, and love.
The primary meaning of the vine in John is Christological: Here Jesus is the true vine not Israel (Jn 15,1) which is of divine origin: true light (Jn 1,9), true bread (Jn 6,32), and true judgment (Jn 8,16). God is the vinegrower and the branches are part of the vine, that is, part of Jesus’ mystical body. The word ‘abide’ appears 9 times indicating loyalty or deep attachment to Jesus, but also to God. The action of “pruning” refers “to clean or to cleanse.” The cleansing of the disciples are done by Jesus’ word that makes Jesus’ action coincide with God’s action. The fruitful branches are pruned/cleansed so that they may bear “more” fruit. God does this to reward those fruitful branches with whatever they wish (Jn 15,7). Obviously, the branches are the members of the community, and fruit bearing is the condition of being disciples (Jn 15,8). Disciples are recognized by their fruits, that is by their actions (Mt 7,16 & 20). The secret to a productive branch is its attachment to the vine (Jn 15,5); its relationship to Jesus and his community, a theme repeatedly expressed by the idea of abiding, remaining, and residing. Fruit-bearing is not something that the branches do by force of will. The fruit happens organically because the vine is true and the gardener good. But the branches do choose to abide in both.
In a vine, the branches are almost completely indistinguishable from one another. It is impossible to determine where one branch stops and another branch starts. All run together as they grow out of the central vine. There is an absence of hierarchy in this vision of the church as branches of a vine. Because they all belong to the same vine and are tended by the same vinegrower. Therefore, there is no status, everyone is equal, and everyone is responsible for bearing fruit. The only condition is to love each other as Jesus loved us.
