The Gospel portrays Jesus as telling His disciples that He is the vine, God the Father is the vine grower and that we are the branches. What are the implications of that triple revelation? There are these three consequences, though they are all connected: (1) the nature and structure of the Church, (2) moral implications and, then, (3) spiritual repercussions.
In regard to ecclesiology, the biblical image addresses how Jesus, as the vine, provides life for those who follow Him. The process of growth and of bearing fruit is watched over by the Father, to whom the vine belongs. The vine, since it represents Jesus, is particularly effective because the branches cannot live without their attachment to Him, neither can branches be fruitful without the goodness provided by Jesus the vine. To live with Christ is to bear fruit. It is in drawing strength from Christ that His disciples bear fruit in faith and good works. The image also has its negative side. The branches that do not bear fruit are removed by the vinedresser and they are burnt. This development of the image invites every disciple to consider the consequences of a refusal to be nourished by the kindness of God. Jesus uses this powerful image of the vine and its branches to convey this very crucial message: God is the source of our very life and strength and, without Him, life is barren, useless, effectively nothing.
The image of the vine and branches enlightens morality, too. Though patently obvious, one underappreciated facet of morality that this image encompasses is how interconnected people actually are. Such an understanding is in stark contrast with the modern worldview of stringent individualism that public morality has inherited from the Enlightenment. Thus, no one is as autonomous as contemporary ethics claims. For people of faith, that is a fruitful conclusion. The demand for autonomy has bred an epidemic of loneliness, despair, and alienation. No one was created to be predominantly self-sufficient because human beings have been created to live connected with God and to each other.
Finally, spirituality is affected by that image or metaphor, too. The Johannine vocabulary often incorporates a unique usage of some common biblical words that frequently have a double meaning like the Greek word meno (Gk. μένω). Though usually translated into English as remain, meno also can mean abide, stay, live, dwell, last, endure, or continue. Sometimes that verb refers to the branch staying connected to the vine whereas, at other times, meno refers to the necessity of disciples staying connected to Jesus. This word occurs 11 times in chapter 15 of Saint John’s Gospel. Thus, just as a branch cannot bear fruit if it is disconnected from the vine, neither can the lives of disciples be fruitful if they are disconnected from Jesus.
St. Thomas Aquinas calls the Eucharist the ‘sacrament of love.’ He explains that love alone brings about union with the living Christ. In fact, love is the only reality through which two separate living beings can become one without losing their individual identity. If the Holy Spirit is said to be ‘the communion of Christ,’ it is because he is God’s love” (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM, Cap. The Eucharist: Our Sanctification, p.32). The fruitfulness that Jesus speaks about when we remain with Him is not about an increase in material possessions, fame, or power because it is the impetus to an increase of good deeds and holiness due to the firm attachment every disciple must have with God.
Excerpted from Bill Delvaux st-ignatius.net/what-jesus-means-by-i-am-the-vine-you-are-the-branches. 21 April 2021.
Nature and dignity 