Day 28: You are my friends if you do what I command
The disciples can barely move after Jesus’ last statement, as if a weight has anchored them to the ground. An unspoken sense of dread snakes its way into their hearts as they contemplate the possibility of Jesus’ death. If someone kills Jesus, what then? Will they be next? Phillip closes his eyes, lifts his chin, and sighs. It’s as if he’s opened a dam of lament. Each disciple exhales deeply, letting their minds wander far from the present moment to their homes and families. Peter hands the torch to Andrew and holds his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees. He wonders if he will really be required to die for Jesus. His resolve to follow Jesus falters for an instant.
After saying the greatest love is laying down one’s life for one’s friends, Jesus senses the disciples’ fear of his imminent death, and the possibility of their own death after he’s gone. He doesn’t pander to their fears, nor does he assuage them. His voice, tender and gentle, breaks into the silence, instantly bringing them back to the chilly spring night in the vineyard.
“You are my friends,”
he says slowly,
“if you do what I command.”
Maybe Jesus repeats the command, “Love each other as I have loved you.” Phillip opens his eyes to look at Jesus. He furrows his brow and rubs his beard as he contemplates these words. Friendship with Jesus means friendship with the Father! Of course, this cosmic friendship requires a response of obedience… a response of love. He nods slightly as a smile plays at the corners of his mouth. Jesus smiles back, knowing he will, shortly, lay down his life for these friends.
Vineyard Metaphor
We have seen that the vine gives everything, all that it has, for fruit that will be harvested to make wine. Water is pulled up by the roots that push deep into the earth, finding a way through crevices in the rock, sometimes 30-40 feet down. The water is sucked up and transported through a system of tiny straw-like cells, called xylem, all the way out to the branches, feeding the leaves and fruit. The leaves respond by making sugar through the process of photosynthesis which uses the water and the light from the sun to metabolize the harmful carbon dioxide that enters the leaf through the stomata. The sugar then feeds the fruit as well as the rest of the vine. This beautiful symbiotic process is what, ultimately, produces the plump, sweet grapes that are harvested at just the right time to make wine.
At harvest, the vine, in an instant, gives up all its fruit. As the workers come through the vineyard with their clippers, it takes just a few seconds to cut off the clusters.
The fruit that started inside the bud almost two years prior… that made it through the dangers of spring weather to become pollinated… that made it through the long, hot summer to veraison… that escaped being eaten by birds or destroyed by pests… is now being thrown onto a pile in a bin on the back of a tractor moving along the rows of vines. The bin will be emptied into a larger truck, taken to the winery and placed in a vat. The grapes will be hand-sorted separated from any unwanted material, the juice will be pressed, and the fermentation process will begin.
The work of the vine, together with human hands, symbiotically and lovingly produces wine.
Reflection and Meditation
In the liturgy of the Eucharist, the phrase that describes the wine, the blood of Christ, is referred to as the “fruit of the vine and the work of human hands.” Both the vine and human hands are needed to produce the wine.
Let your mind wander to the last time you tasted communion wine. Close your eyes and feel the liquid as it lands on your tongue. What did it taste like?
Take a minute to experience the fullness of the symbiotic gift and sacrifice that created the wine, the blood of Christ.
Hear Jesus say to you, “You are my friend.” What does that mean for you?
Consider if you are willing to fulfill the command to “love each other” to the extent of laying down “one’s life for one’s friends,” as a condition for mutual friendship with the God of the Universe, the Light of the World… the true Vine.
Let these thoughts mingle in your heart as you rest in the love of Christ.
“He began with absolute surrender of His life for us. He can ask for nothing less from us. This alone is a life in His friendship.”