RBWords

     As in much of the Gospel of John, a "sign" or image is followed by a "discourse" which uses that sign or image as a kind of platform or occasion for revelation about Jesus.  This is true of the image of the vine and the branches.  Jesus speaks of the unity and intimacy of the relationship of vine and branches as that of love and obedience.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.  He continues the use of the word "remain" as a way of expressing the process and its effects.  

     Our own experience of friendship can help us here.  Friendship requires an effort to "stay connected."  But that effort produces the effect of "being connected." ["Remaining"] Love and obedience go together.  We cannot have friendship or true love without being "obedient" to one another.  Married couples know this every day!  A special effect of this love and obedience is joy.  Again, our experience of a deep and lasting friendship is a continual occasion for joy in such a gift!  Jesus tells the disciples that he is sharing with them the joy of his relationship with his Father. This great gift flows from "remaining" in Jesus.  All of this flows from understanding the image of the vine and the branches.  The disciples would come to know this only through the passion and death and resurrection of Jesus, but the message has been passed on through the Gospel to us as disciples now.  Can we experience Jesus' joy by remaining in him?  AMEN