Fifth Sunday of Easter-B
On the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we are called to reflect on the metaphor Jesus uses to describe the intimacy between the Trinity and people. He says, “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.” With any metaphor, some basic knowledge of the terms is needed for it to have its maximum meaning.
Unlike a tree, a grapevine has a relatively small trunk. The vine, consists mainly of its branches, on which the fruit grows. When the fruit becomes ripe, it is sometimes picked and eaten immediately, but more often, it is harvested and processed into vintage, available for future use in wine.
Furthermore, preceding Jesus’ words is a rich history of using the grapevine in the Hebrew Scriptures when the people of Israel were called the vine. “You brought a vine out of Egypt,” and Isaiah speaks of the vine, the people of Israel, that brought forth only sour grapes.
With Christ, a new Israel is born, a new vine, and his disciples, seated with him at that last meal before he died, would have been aware of the significance of his words, “I am the true vine.” Had he not just taken the cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.”
The early disciples were more conversant with the theme of grapevines and branches than most of us, so the imagery and its use to illustrate spiritual realities were more evident than they might be with us. Nevertheless, all can understand the apparent meaning of the metaphor.
Through baptism, we become one of those branches attached to Christ, the vine. We soon learn that just being baptized is not enough, and if we choose to do nothing more, we will have no chance of producing the fruit we are expected to bring to the world. Our branch becomes withered and good for nothing; the harsh reality is that the Father will prune it.
The branches on the vine are expected to produce fruit. However, the metaphor has another meaning. The excellent fruit available for the world becomes the branch’s responsibility, not the vine. In other words, bringing good into the world is the work of the baptized, not Christ’s. What Christ does for us is he, through the Trinity, gives the branches all that is needed to produce the fruit. All the spiritual nutrients are there; we must accept them and use them to bring good into the world.
Spiritual nutrients are the graces we receive when participating in the Church’s sacramental life. When we reconcile with God and his people, we break down the barrier separating us from participation in God’s life. When we receive the Eucharist, we are fed the bread of angels, conforming us more closely to the head of the Body, Jesus Christ.
Without this spiritual help, the chance of producing high-quality fruit becomes difficult. The more distant we are from the spiritual help of the vine, the more apt we are to become completely barren branches, existing only for ourselves, leading to a pruning that permanently separates us from the source of life itself.
The metaphor of the vine and branches is an excellent answer for those who claim they do not need the Church or have a need to attend Sunday Mass regularly. The self-deception and rationalization that a branch can be fruitful without the vine is not only ludicrous but factually inaccurate. Those who claim they can pray to God in their own house and equate it with receiving spiritual grace through the sacraments have no intention of producing the goodness of their fruit to be given to others and the world. All that matters to them is their branch is satisfied. Little do they realize that their branch is slowly deteriorating and will finally die. At the time of death, the withered branch is offered to the Heavenly Father, who will have no choice but to prune it from his Son, the vine of life.