Last Sunday we heard Jesus refer to himself as the Good Shepherd. In today’s gospel (John 15:1-8) we hear another of Jesus’ “I am” proclamations – in this instance Jesus telling us “I am the true vine” and that we are His branches that bear fruit. 

 To me, the vine and branches metaphor brings out so many great points. 

 First, this metaphor helps us to realize that Jesus is our life-force, that we live only through and with Jesus, just as branches receive their life from the vine.  The metaphor suggests that we must stay close to Christ as we journey through this world.  Jesus tells us “if we remain in Him, He will remain in us”.   Jesus is assuring us that He is always here for us. He is the guiding light illuminating our path, and the Good Shepherd watching over us and protecting us. 

 The vine and branches metaphor reminds us that as Disciples of Christ we are here to “bear fruit” for God – to serve Him by serving each other through acts of kindness, compassion, charity and justice. 

 It’s interesting that Jesus does not simply say that he is the “vine” but that he is the “true vine”.  For me this is a reminder how sometimes we can attach ourselves to “false” vines – those things that we think give us happiness but end up being fleeting and meaningless.  It is only in Jesus – the “true” vine – that we find real happiness and fulfillment.

 And of course, Jesus is talking about all of us being branches of the ONE true vine.  Jesus is not talking about multiple vines.  Just one.  And all of us, as branches of this one vine make up the one body of Christ.   As branches of the one vine, we are members of the one body, living together, intertwined with each other, dependent on each other, called to look after and care for each other.

 And finally, in the last line of this gospel passage we might find the most important point that Jesus makes – that if we remain in him, if we – like branches on the vine – stay “attached” to him, if we live our lives in accordance with his teaching and his example, if we bear fruit for him, in the end we reveal God to others.

Just think about it – as branches on His vine, our loving God looks to share his divine life with us, so that we can in turn reveal Him to others.  How special is that!  How special are we!