Cedar Valley Lutheran Church
Easter 5B April 28, 2024 John 15:1-8
So much of what Jesus has to say in our gospel reading for today sounds like a threat. “Abide in me,” he says, “or else.” “Abide in me, and if you don’t you will be cut off, and you will wither, and be thrown into the fire, and die.” In a lot of ways this all sounds like the voice of a bully threatening people to stay loyal and faithful.
But if we take a closer look at what Jesus is saying here, Jesus doesn’t just say, “Abide in me, or die.” Instead, what he really says is, “Abide in me, as I abide in you.” And it’s that last part, the “as I abide in you” part, changes everything. Those words make the statements about pruning and withering, and all the rest, statements of fact rather than threats of intimidation. They describe what happens to us when we don’t abide in Jesus, when we are separated from his love, when we run away from his unconditional acceptance, when we hide from his forgiveness and grace and think that we can do it all on our own. Ultimately, branches don’t do very well when they are separated from the vine. At best, like cut flowers, you will get a burst of color and bloom and then they will quickly fade and wither. And yet, being cut off when we don’t abide in Jesus doesn’t alter the other fact in these words; the fact that Jesus will always and forever abide in us no matter what.
But first, a little context can help us understand this image of vine and branches much better. When Jesus speaks these words, he is in the upper room with his disciples for their last supper. It is a time he uses to prepare them for his gruesome and bloody suffering and death. The next few days are going to be hard and his closest friends are going to get scared and do things they never believed they could do … things like betrayal, like denial, like running away and hiding in fear. And, understanding all of this, Jesus wants to assure them with these words of his presence. That even when life gets hard, he will be with them. When fear seizes them by the throat and seems to be choking the life right out of them, he will be there abiding – living – in them.
Of course, when John recalls these words of Jesus and writes them down for the community of faith some fifty years after Jesus was crucified, they have likely had some experiences with being cut off as well. Being a follower of the way wasn’t easy in those days. Often people were thrown out of their families because of their newfound faith. They were rejected by old friends who didn’t understand this new community they had joined. They were persecuted by both religious and political systems and made the scapegoat for all their problems. This was their reality; feeling pretty much alone and orphaned … cut off.
They, too, would run and hide. They would betray their beliefs and deny their faith when the pressure gets to them. And John, through his retelling of Jesus’ words of farewell and comfort, offers a different frame of reference by which to reinterpret their experience. It’s not about how well or how poorly they abide in Jesus as it is about this promise Jesus makes to them. This promise that no matter what, Jesus will abide in them … he will make his home in them … he will live in them and he will not let them go.
And here is another observation: consider the life of a branch. When the branch is young, it’s full of vitality and the life force running through it is raging; it grows like crazy and produces abundantly. When it’s a lot older, however, that life force slows to a trickle and energy fades. The old vine produces little fruit, but the flavor of that fruit is the most intense and the most robust of all.
Yet, ultimately, every branch is going to die and will no longer be good for anything. It will be cut off and no longer be connected to the vine. And there is nothing that can stop that from happening. Even Jesus knew of this just before breathing his last breath. He took what little strength he had left and questioned his Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – “Why have you abandoned me and cut me off from your presence?”
And yet, it is only through this doorway of forsakenness – of abandonment – of being cut off – that one enters resurrection and new life. It’s like the answer to the old question “what must I do to find eternal life?” And the answer is, “The first thing you have to do, silly, is die.” No one can ever know resurrection and life apart from dying. Because even through death the love of God abides and holds us in God’s gracious and glorious grip. Because there is absolutely nothing at all, not even death, that can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
