WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT JESUS

 

Reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Readings: Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31, 1 John 3:18-24, John 15:1-8

 

The gospel according to John is replete with many ‘I am’ statements of Jesus. On seven different occasions, Jesus uses the phrase ‘I am’ to explain who He is, what His mission is, and what those who follow Him stand to gain. In the gospel reading of last Sunday, we read one of these ‘I am” sayings where Jesus told us: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep (John 10:11). In the gospel reading of this fifth Sunday of Easter, we hear the very last “I am statement” of Jesus. Here, He tells us: I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser (John 15:1).

In the Old Testament, God revealed himself as I AM (Exod. 3:1-20). The name ‘I am’ reveals who God is and what He is like. God is the “I am”, the eternal, unchanging, infinite and self-existent one. He is God. So, when Jesus in the New Testament applies this statement to Himself, the first message He wants to express is that He is God. The ‘I am’ statements of Jesus establish Him as our Lord and God, Redeemer and Friend and the source and center of all truth.

Jesus tells us that He is the true vine. The vine is a common Old Testament symbol. In the Old Testament, the vine represented the people of Israel, planted from selected stock, cared for by the Lord, that it may produce the fruits of justice (Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:2-6). God chose the vine and planted it and the vine is good for nothing except to bear fruit (fruit-bearing is the whole purpose of the vine) (Ezekiel 15:1-6). But as the vine, Israel never bore any good fruit. She only produced sour, rotten, tasteless grapes. God was looking for justice and righteousness but He found oppression, cruelty, exploitation of men. What Israel could not do, Jesus has come to fulfill. That is why Jesus describes himself as the true vine as opposed to a mere copy or symbol. He is the fulfillment of all that the symbol suggests. Jesus is the fullest realization of the hope of Israel, of her expectations, of what God intended her to be. Jesus is the genuine Messianic vine. As God’s vineyard, are you bearing fruit? What kind of fruit are you bearing? God expects the fruits of the Holy Spirit produced in our lives- the fruits of love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, purity and self-control.

Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. For the branch to bear fruit, it must be rooted in the vine. Jesus is the only source of spiritual life and in order for us to bear fruits which bring glory to the Father (John 15:8), we must be rooted in and connected to Jesus. When we are united with Him, we are identified with Him and are able to bear good fruits (John 15:5). As branches, it is only by being in Jesus that we have fruit and life because apart from Him, we can do nothing- nothing of eternal value (John 15:5).

Lastly, an unfruitful branch has no place in the vine but must be removed and even when we do bear fruits, the Father may still prune us so that we can bear more (John 15:2). This is because from those who have suffered the most, there often comes the greatest fruitfulness. The pruning process, though painful, is not a destructive process but a healing process. The Father, the vinedresser often wields his pruning knife on His vine to clean it up. Let us therefore not complain when we are being pruned but always ask the Lord to cut off the dead wood, diseased and rotten portions of our lives and every other thing in our lives that is opposed to Christ-likeness (anger, hatred, resentments, bitterness, jealousy, envy, lust, selfishness, impurity, arrogance) so that we can be more productive for Him and for those around us. Amen.