The image of the Vine and the Branches is used to indicate the kind of vital relationship that exists between Jesus and his disciples. The keyword here is "remain in me" which designates the reciprocal indwelling of Christ and his disciples.
The vital relationship between Jesus and his disciples was already announced in John 6:56 in conjunction with the flesh and blood that Jesus, the Living Bread, offers to those who believe in Him, i.e. those "born from above" (cf. John 3). The disciples who live by feeding on Christ's flesh and blood points to a deeper reality: the Christian lives from the substance of Christ, not as a parasite (a small animal feeding itself from the substance of a live host) but as the branch that participate in the life of a tree.
1. St. Paul expresses this vital relationship with Christ into which the Christian is introduced by baptism, in Gal. 2:20
I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the flesh
I live in the flesh, I live by faith
in the Son of God who has loved me
and who has given himself up for me.
What Paul refers to as "the life I live in the flesh ... IN the Son of God" is described in CCC 1265 thus...
Baptism ... makes the neophyte a "new creation", an adopted son of God who has becme a "partaker of the divine nature", a member of Christ and co-heir with Him and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Reread John 15:5-6. A branch that is cut off from the tree and dried up is a dead branch. What does this say about so-called "non-practicing Catholics?"
Pope John Paul II highlights the Vine-imagery in the document "Christifideles laici". He describes the indwelling of the baptized and Christ as a communion of life.
In the baptismal liturgy, this communion is expressed in the baptized sharing in the three-fold office of Christ as priest, prophet and king. Ultimately, it is when the baptized actively participates in his share of the three-fold office that he bears fruit (cf. CCC 737)
By this is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit
and become my disciples. (Jn. 15:8)
The Catechism describes participation in the office of Christ in the following paragraphs:
- Priestly office (901-903)
- Prophetic office (904-907)
- Kingly office (908-913)
How do you carry out your participation in this three-fold office?
3. "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you." (15:7)
In this short passage, Jesus describes how this vital relationship with the Christian is also empowerment. This kind of empowerment has been previously described in John 14:12-14
Whoever believes in me will do the works I do and will do greater ones than these ... Whatever you ask in my name I will do ... If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.
The "power" of the Christian flows from his "remaining in Christ" and is also participation in Christ's power. It is a power exercised for the glorification of the Father. The "glorification of the Father" is the goal of Christ's earthly life and is that of the Christian as well. In the gospel of Matthew, this is expressed thus:
Your light must shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:16)
The phrase "ask whatever you want" should not be understood in a magical way. What one wants must be in accordance with what the Father wants, just as what Jesus wants is in complete accordance with God's will.
The Christian is empowered to be pleasing to God. How do you avail of this power in your life?
