Letters From Timothy

There’s a joke that goes like this: a Christian and an agnostic are debating the historical Jesus. The agnostic says to the Christian, “Jesus never even said that he was divine!” The Christian says, “You’re wrong.” She flips open her bible and says, “Look, right here. Jesus says: I am de vine, you are de branches.”

In this joke, the Christian must be referring to today’s reading, John 15:1-8. Out of the many metaphors that Jesus uses, this is one of my favorites. God is the vine-grower, the creator, and Jesus is the vine. We, in turn, are the branches. That is, we are the extensions of Jesus. It is very similar to another metaphor that Jesus uses, and the disciples in turn use, that we are the “body of Christ,” and are like his appendeges. But this metaphor takes it in a different direction. Some key elements are the same, though: as branches of the vine, we are reminded that we cannot, and do not, survive without God. If we are cut off from Him like branches, then we will wither. Jesus says that if we do not bear fruit, then we will be cut off. But I also believe that we can cut ourselves off, if I may be permitted to strech the metaphor. Of course, nothing we do can actually remove us from our ultimate dependence on God. Like many a science-fiction book have demonstrated, no matter how powerful we become, the universe is more powerful still. But we can certainly cut God out of our personal lives, and wall ourselves off from Him. We can ignore our dependence on Him and never ask for help.

So, let’s explore the metaphor a little bit more. What are the fruits that we are supposed to bear? In my view, they can be any or all of the following: love, kindness, virtue, doing good for others, giving glory to God. That is, apparently, what we are here on Earth to do. But we cannot do any of these things unless we have the spirit of Christ in our hearts. But the metaphor doesn’t stop there; we are ‘pruned’ says Jesus, so that we may bear more fruit. What does Jesus mean by this? He says to his disciples, “You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you” (John 15:3). What does this mean? Is he speaking only to his disciples or to anyone who hears the Word of God?

Honestly, I don’t know. Perhaps ‘pruning’ does mean to hear the Word of God. If so, then it would seem that one could ‘bear fruit’ without necessarily hearing the Word of God, and therefore without necessarily being Christian or even religious. If we are allowed to take it that way, Jesus’ metaphor takes on an entirely new dimension. But perhaps it has an additional (or completely different) meaning. ‘Pruning’ seems to me to be an inherently painful act for a vine, even if it is good for it in the end. According to the ever-resourceful Wikipedia,  pruning a vine entails removing parts that are “diseased, non-productive, ortherwise unwanted portions from a plant.” The idea is that the removal of these “excess” parts allows the plant to devote more of its resources into producing fruits. To me, “pruning” a human might involve making painful “cuts” in their lives; perhaps a death, or a traumatic event. The idea is that, because of these things, a noble virture may sprout in a person’s soul. Note that this general idea is known as a “theodicy,” or defense of God when confronted with the “Problem of Evil:” there is evil is misfortune in the world because it promotes good. I do not find it a wholly satisfying answer myself, but it can still fit within the context of the metaphor. ‘Pruning’ may mean a world of different things to God.

There is another thing to note. Jesus says, of the withered branches that have been ‘cut’ from the vine:

People will gather them and throw them into a fire, and they will be burned. (John 15:6)

This is more evidence for the common image of Hell as a burning pit of fire that cannot be quenched. I have my doubts that Hell is actually like this (or that it exists at all), since Jesus clearly cannot be taken to speak literally most of the time. After all, we are not actually plants!

One last interesting tidbit about this metaphor: it’s also about Israel (that is, the ancient kingdom of the Jews, not necessarily the present-day country). Many, many times in the Bible, Israel is referred to as a vinyard in Isaiah 5:1-7 and Matthew 21:33-46, and as a vine in Psalm 80:9-17 and Ezekiel 15:2, among many others. Wisdom describes herself as a vine in Sirach 24:17 and Psalm 80:16 may be interpreted as saying the Son of Man is a vine. Clearly, Jesus knows his scripture.

Peace,

-Timothy