“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (John 15:5-6)
Our lectionary readings this past Sunday all speak about the necessity of being in Christ, or as Jesus says here in John’s gospel, abiding in Him. He is the vine, the branches are we who have faith in Him. The image of God’s Kingdom as a vine is taken from the Old Testament. Israel was known as the vineyard of the Lord (Isaiah 5:1-7). Yet she proved unfaithful and unfruitful.
This unfaithfulness should not be taken as an excuse to hate the Jews or do violence to them, as we have seen on several college campuses across the nation these past weeks. The Jews today still continue to reject Jesus as their Messiah, but so do those who speak such venom against them as well as all those who worship gods other than the Triune God. Those who do not have faith in Jesus do not abide in God. Consequently they are all dead in their sins, blind to the fact that they are slaves of Satan, incapable of doing anything good or righteous.
Jesus came into the world to fulfill God’s Law on behalf of not just the Jews, but all mankind. Those who do not abide in Christ, who are not connected to Him by faith are, as Jesus states, fit only to be tossed into the fire and burned. Therefore we who have faith cannot have any true spiritual alliance them. Neither can we allow ungodly people to influence us to to think or act as they do because there ways produce fruit that is unrighteous and dishonoring to God.
Instead, we Christians are all partners, co-workers in the ministry of salvation. We must go out and help others to see their need for Jesus for without Him, even their good deeds are useless and vain. We believers are commissioned to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. The fruit we are to bear involves witnessing to others as well as performing deeds of love, compassion, mercy, and righteousness not just for one another but also for the rest of the world so that they too may know Christ’s love and mercy through us.