Reflection - 71

Dear friends in this beautiful passage Jesus speaks of his relationship with his disciples and all who follow him. The image of vine and branches has as its primary meaning the intimate love and friendship of Jesus and his disciples. There is also a secondary meaning of these verses: the sacrament of the Eucharist. Thus the vine in john’s gospel symbolizes the Eucharistic wine, source of life for the disciples and for us all. In the gospel of st.mark we see that Jesus speaks of the wine which has become his precious blood as the fruit of the vine.

As Jesus says himself that he is the true vine this metaphor denotes the richness of vine and branches. By proclaiming himself as the true wine, Jesus makes at least three claims: a) that he fulfills in himself the role of divine wisdom as the fruitful vine. Our lord is the divine providence and he invites us to realize this by abiding in him. Dear brothers let us always be in the divine providence of god. And this will help us to acquire a greater wisdom. b) As the father loves me so I love you remain in my love. The word abide or remain appears ten times, which shows the mutual indwelling and continuous union with Jesus, not just at key moments in one’s life. Dear brothers those who remain connected to the vine are sustained and nourished, while those who do not remain on the vine wither and die and are useless. 

C)He is the source of heavenly nourishment. The best way to acquire the heavenly bliss and happiness in life we have to abide in Christ our lord. Most of us are unhappy and the reason behind is we are away from our lord Jesus Christ.

As the gardener, the father both breaks off the unfruitful branches and prunes the fruitful ones. If we take in the sense of agricultural task then in February or March the gardener breaks off the branches that cannot bear fruit. Here the unfruitful branch refers to the disciple who has somehow lost the life which Jesus gives. In august the gardener prunes the branches, so that all the nourishment of the vine will flow to the fruit-bearing branches. The fruitful branch refers to the disciple who lives by the life of Jesus (obedience and love). To bear more fruit is to grow in union with Jesus and to spread this life to others.

So dear brother in this mediation let us ponder how much closer we are with our lord. Do we abide in him in our day to day life?

Bro. Vishal Janagam