Day 10: You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you
Looking around at the disciples and resting his gaze on Peter, Jesus reassures them,
“You are already clean”
– you have been purified, your branch has been tucked up on the trellis, your leaves have been dusted off, and the extra ones have been stripped off –
“because of the word I have spoken to you.”
Peter looks down and scuffs the dirt as he recalls Jesus’ gentle rebuke a few hours earlier when he had first been hesitant to let Jesus wash his feet, then insisting that Jesus wash all of him. Jesus had said, “Those who have had a bath need only wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” Peter rubs his beard as he ponders his now dusty feet.
Vineyard Metaphor
Once suckering and tucking is finished in the vineyard, each vine is ready for the long, hot season of summer. The leaves and branches will do the work needed to support the fruit, contributing to the only purpose of the vine: fruitfulness. Over the summer, the vineyard crew will continue to lightly manage the canopy, but the basic form has been set and the branches will stay tucked in the trellis while the fruit matures. The crew will monitor water needs and pests, but the work of training the branches is done for this year.
The gardener has done what the gardener can do, and now it’s up to the vine and the branches to produce the fruit. The gardener plants and supports the vine, but only the organic process and work of the vine can produce fruit. Good fruit, abundant fruit, comes about because the gardener and the vine are both working. One without the other produces nothing.
Not only is Jesus the true vine, but he is also the Word… Logos. He was in the beginning, and he was with God, and he was God (John 1:1). He has spoken the words he has heard from the Father; he has taught the disciples with God-words. Jesus spoke truth with words, but he also modeled with his life what it looks like to love God and love our neighbor. At this point, Jesus has given the disciples every advantage for fruitfulness. The word he has spoken and lived has trained them. It has stripped off unproductive suckers, like the unfruitful notions they had about the Messiah. The word he has spoken to them has stripped off the extra leaves of “desiring a place of honor.” His words of love have tucked them up on the trellis preparing them for the long journey ahead towards bearing fruit for the harvest.
Reflection and Meditation
What would it feel like to be firmly supported by the trellis provided by the gracious Gardener?
Take a deep breath now, and as you exhale, feel your body rest on that trellis. If you are a branch that God has cleaned and tucked, and if the unnecessary leaves have been pulled off, you are ready for fruitfulness. God has done the work of preparing you, and you are now held securely by the trellis.
Do you feel secure? Perhaps, you’ve spent many years listening to the Word, or maybe you’ve just begun to understand God’s Word that is being spoken to you or modeled for you. Either way, don’t get too comfortable. It’s now up to you to respond and do the work required of you.
What will you do?
“Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
For, through your goodness, we have received the bread we offer you;
Fruit of the earth and work of human hands,
It will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
For, through your goodness, we have received the wine we offer you;
Fruit of the vine and work of human hands,
It will become our spiritual drink.”