Monday 28 August 2023

Psalm 107:33-43

Background

This passage, and the subsequent selections from chapter 15 we are going to study this week, are unique to John’s Gospel and use the image of the vine to represent Israel. It was an image commonly used by the Jews of Jesus' day – and a familiar trope in the Hebrew scriptures. It is used most commonly when the nation is being told off for not bearing as much fruit as God would like.

Another translation of the word 'prune' in verse 2 can be 'clean', so here Jesus is talking about the cleansing of Israel, restoring it to its proper glory – with Jesus and his Father (God) working together to bring this about. But this is not Jesus doing the cleansing, it is much more profound than that: Jesus himself is the true vine, he is the new Israel.

Obviously, no branch can bear fruit on its own, it must remain attached to the vine – but there is something here even more intimate than merely being attached. “Abide in me as I also abide in you” (v. 4): we are not to be just joined on but are to be absorbed into Christ’s very being. This is powerful teaching for the first disciples – and us. Both they and we will be totally dependent on Jesus, not just acknowledging who he is but having him coursing through our veins. There is a warning too – apart from this crucial relationship of mutual indwelling, believers can do nothing that is going to mean anything in their ministries.

Underlying all this is also the sense of judgement. Failing to remain in Christ risks being cleansed, cut off and destroyed. Continuing to be connected to the vine means, with the life of Jesus flowing through us, we will continue to bear fruit as God intends.

To Ponder:

• The vine was an obvious image to use for Jesus in the first century – what image could we use today?
• Have you had that experience of being so close to Jesus that he is in your veins? Can you describe what that feels like?