Jesus is the vine and we are the branches

Last Sunday, we learned about the various metaphors that our Lord Jesus uses, like he is the Bread of Life or what we learned last Sunday that he is the Good Shepherd. Today, our Lord says that he is the Vine and we are the Branches, something we Catholics know by heart because of the Praise Song, “I am the Vine and you are the Branches.” This Gospel comes from John 15: 1-8.

“[Jesus said to his disciples] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. 3 You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on is own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

5 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. 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. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

This passage isn’t difficult to decipher. Our Lord Jesus gives us metaphors about life in ancient times; but these metaphors are still very relevant in today’s times. In those days the staple food of the Israelites was bread, and when they were fleeing from Egypt and ran out of food, Moses prayed to God and manna from heaven rained into the desert and the Israelites had their fill. But as our Lord said, “Your ancestors ate manna from the desert, but they died, this is the bread that came down from heaven so that one may eat it and may not die. I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

In the metaphor of the Good Shepherd, our Lord gives us an idea of the pastoral care that shepherds give to their flock of sheep to the point that despite they only have two colors; good shepherds know each and every single sheep in his flock and this also goes well for the sheep who knows the voice of the shepherd. I’m sure that Catholics know much about Jesus calling himself as the Good Shepherd. But only a few learned Catholics know that there is another metaphor our Lord uses, that he is the unblemished lamb that was going to be sacrificed for the remission of our sins.

John the Baptist in John 1:29 referred to his cousin as “The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” While we read this passage in the New Testament, it actually comes from the Old Testament in Exodus 29:38-42 where we learned that unblemished lambs were sacrificed every morning and evening in the Temple for the sins of the people. This teaching is easy for his disciples and the Jews to understand.

Jesus is also called the Passover Lamb prefigured at the time when the Angel of Death came into the streets of Egypt, Moses told his people to slay an unblemished lamb and its blood splattered on the doorsills with a hyssop branch. In doing so, the Angel of Death would pass over that house and the first born of Israel would live. So when our Lord Jesus died on the cross, he was the Passover unblemished lamb as he was a sinless man who died for us.

Today’s Gospel, our Lord once more gives us another metaphor, this time about the vine and the branches. A grapevine for instance has only one root and in this metaphor, our Lord Jesus is the root and God Father is the vine grower and we are all his branches. As the vine grower, God the Father cuts off those branches that no longer bear fruit. These are thrown where people gather them to be burned. For those branches that bear fruit, they will be pruned so they would bear more fruit.

Who then are those who are pruned? Jesus tells us, “You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. 4 Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on is own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.” Reading this passage tells me that we Catholics are pruned by the Words of God, through our readings of the Gospel. We bear much fruit if and when we pass on the message of the Gospel to those who haven’t heard it yet. That means to evangelize the message of God to others.

Do we Catholics spread the good news of the Lord? I don’t think so. This is why our Lord Jesus talks to us in metaphors as it is easier for Catholics to understand for instance why the Catholic Church teaches us that Christians are indeed the body of Christ and it is easily understood in today’s gospel reading that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.