Vine and Branches
| "I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." (John15:1-5) |
Interestingly, one of humankind's earliest expressions of community was at the Tower of Babel, where people sought to compete with and "outgrow" God. In His wisdom, God confused their languages, preventing them from continuing a project that would lead them into self-destructive competition with their Creator.
We will never find true, meaningful community outside of our connection with God.
Some commentators suggest that Jesus and His disciples may have passed by a beautiful old vine growing on the city wall as they made their way to Gethsemane. Jesus uses the vine as an illustration. When we are connected to the vine, we are the (plural) branches, connected to one singular vine. (While we can't discern it in the English, in the Greek the pronouns for "you" are plural.)
We can only be "stronger together" when we are connected to Him: the One who is three but also one.
Our ability to have meaningful relationships with other branches stems directly from our connection to Him. His grace, love, and forgiveness flow through us, giving us the tools we lack when we try to "go it alone."
At Pentecost, God once again gave the gift of languages. But this time, the languages weren't meant to scatter humanity. Instead, they were used to draw people together: another branch, another soul, another community, all being brought to the One who died and rose to save us.
May we be "Stronger Together" because we are in Him.
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(Unfortunately the writer for today was unable to write their devotion and so this one was written by Theo Groeneveld.)
