5th Wednesday of Lent (March 25). True

Prepare to Listen.  You are the light of the world.
 
Prayerfully Read John 15:1-5
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower.  2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.  Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.  3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  4Abide in me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.  5I am the vine; you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
If these verses were so familiar that you skimmed them, read them again as if for the very first time.  As I did that, I got stuck on one word—true.  Jesus said, “I am the true vine.”  This can only mean there are many vines, but only one true vine.  All the rest are false, distortions, imitations that, sadly, lead many astray.  That Jesus used the qualifier, true, is a warning to us.  Be discerning—know the true from the false, and reject the false, no matter how convincing or popular it is.
 
True is more than the opposite of false.  Unlike the false, the true is life-giving, makes flourishing possible, is above the earthly and ordinary, has an aura of the divine, the holy about it.[1]  The false is more concerned about increasing in numbers than increasing in godliness.  Whereas, Jesus, the true vine, removes branches that fail to “bear fruit.”  Fruit-bearing is far more than good works, virtue or even evangelism.  Fruit is a common Old Testament image that stands for “the community’s faithfulness in response to God’s word.”[2]  Where we see people focused on living God’s word, being loud about what God is loud about, and silent about what the Bible is silent on, that’s a fruit bearing and true vine.  People in it will be growing in deep union with Jesus, abiding in him, the vine, becoming like him and making him visible to the world.
 
For this reason, Jesus constantly prunes, that is, cleanses the vine, removing false branches, making us godlier, truer, more faithful.  Those who remain in the true vine, in union with Jesus, experience constant change, because we constantly need pruning so that we grow deeper in union with him and reflect his true image to the world.
 
What caught your attention as you read these familiar words?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, help me be ever discerning so that I reject the false vines and stay in you the True Vine, submitting to your pruning and cleansing.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Abide in the true vine.
[1] Brodie, Thomas L.  The Gospel According to John.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.  1993, p. 479.
[2] O’Day, Gail and Hylen, Susan.  John.  Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2006, p. 152.