May 8, 2009
Sunday Scripture
Fifth Sunday of Easter
BY FATHER DONALD DILGER
Cycle B, the year when the liturgy emphasizes the Gospel of Mark, is also blessed with some of the greatest selections from the Gospel of John. Last Sunday we studied the parable of the good shepherd. Today, the vine and the branches. We must keep in mind that we are reading John’s theology. The very name, the Gospel According to John tells us that. A primary principle for John is that Jesus succeeds to or replaces in the new Testament the role of Yahweh/God in the Old Testament. This principle was at work in today’s parable of the vine and the branches. In fact, in this parable the Father will retain the role he has toward the vine in the old Testament — Farmer and Pruner.
Jesus begins: “I am the true vine.” The emphasis is on true. In contrast to which vine that was not so true? The main reference is to a parable of Isaiah 5. A “friend” planted a vineyard with choice vines. He constructed a watchtower to guard against thieves and animals. He prepared a wine vat. At harvest time he came to collect the grapes, but the choice vines yielded only bitter, wild grapes. Isaiah adds this indictment: “The vineyard of the Lord . . . is the house of Israel and the men of Judah.” The grapes: “He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed. He looked for righteousness, but behold, cries of distress!” What a homily could be built out of Isaiah’s parable in relation to our own country today in matters of justice, war, abortion, the sufferings of the poor versus the extravagance of the hyper-wealthy. The curses following Isaiah’s parable are recommended reading.
Our concern is John’s parable. Here the Father does not destroy an unproductive vineyard as the “friend” did in the Old Testament version. Instead he cuts away the branch that does not bear fruit. The productive branches are pruned for greater productivity, as every vine grower does to this day. John addresses the parable to his Christian community, a community which is torn by dissension. Some have left the community. He appeals through the appeal of Jesus’ words, “Remain in me, as I remain in you.” He expands on that statement. A branch cannot produce fruit unless it remains on the vine. Those who choose to separate themselves from the vine are like pruned branches. They will be burned. A homilist could develop these thoughts in an appeal to a divided parish or an appeal to parishioners who have dropped out.
What seems to be John’s main thrust in this parable? One concern is missionary activity. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” We know that early Christianity worried about “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Paul was always concerned about teachers who contradicted the revelation he received. The three Letters of John in the New Testament reveal the troubled communities over which he presided. Some denied that Jesus was Son of God, and even if he was, he did not die on the cross, etc. In other words, missionary activity that does not teach the truth, that does not remain in Jesus, will fail.
The expansion of the parable which John Places immediately afterward in chapter fifteen tells us that a major concern was the disunity of his Christian communities. This was a problem then as much as it is now. He speaks of love. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” That is the model for parish and diocese. And so he commands, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” That is how we prove to be Jesus’ disciples.”
This reading tells us something about Saul-=Paul’s notoriety. The violent persecutor of Christians had just come from his “Damascus Experience,” his conversion to Christianity. At Damascus, Syria he began proclaiming Jesus. He aroused such opposition that he had to escape the city by being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall. He comes to Jerusalem. He wants acceptance into the Christian community, but they were all afraid of him. The great Barnabas, whom the heathens called “Zeus” because of his august demeanor, takes over. He introduces Saul to the apostles. This gave Saul some freedom to proclaim Jesus, but in Jerusalem too there was an attempt to kill him. The Christians spirited him our of Jerusalem, (no doubt with considerable relief to see him go), and conducted him north to Caesarea, then sent him home to Tarsus (southeast Turkey today). The impression one gets is this: “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.” They did, and again through Barnabas, many years later. After Saul’s departure Luke notable writes, “The Church . . . was at peace.”
This author pickes up a theme of today’s gospel and its sequel, remaining united to god through his son Jesus Christ by doing his commandments and having love for one another. The addressee of this letter and the gospel is the same contentius Christian community.