Day 29: I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business...
Jesus looks around at the familiar faces, lit up only by the flickering fire of a torch. He knows them so well. He knows whose cooking he appreciates most. He knows who laughs the loudest and who is always having a pity party. He knows who hangs back and who is usually in front. They have journeyed together for three years, and he loves each one despite their idiosyncrasies and failings. They are friends…maybe not always friends with each other, but Jesus considers them his friends.
As he leans back and rubs his chin, Jesus contemplates what it means for a rabbi to befriend fishermen and tax collectors. Just a couple hours earlier, he had stripped down, like a servant, and washed their feet. “Very unlike a rabbi,” he smiles to himself at the memory, “but very much like my Father.” He nods slightly as his mind wanders to his Father. While he is keenly aware that humans will never become God, he wants to let this unlikely group know things have changed. The Kingdom of God has broken in, and there is a new order. God has come near. He leans forward, and the torch lights his face.
“I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business,”
he says as his eyes narrow slightly,
“instead I have called you friends.”
He turns to find James the Lesser in the shadows behind him. Maybe he says, “Even you, James!” A little levity seems to break the tension, and there are a few chuckles.
Vineyard Metaphor
After harvest in the vineyard things begin to change.
A fall harvest coincides with the beginning of shorter days and less sun, which signals to the vine that it’s time to prepare for winter and the dormant season. During this season, as the days get shorter, the leaves start to change color. Leaves on a pinot noir vine will change to shades of yellow, while zinfandel leaves will become shades of dark purple and red. A vineyard in fall is a beautiful sight!
Maybe it will surprise you that the yellows and reds are the true colors of the leaf, not green. A vine, dressed in fall colors, is showing its most vulnerable and authentic self. You see, the green of chlorophyll has hidden the colors all year long, but now that the process of photosynthesis is slowing down, the true colors can begin to shine.
Photosynthesis stops when the days grow shorter prompting each leaf to create a cork-like layer where the leaf meets the branch. This tiny cork stops the water from reaching the veins of the leaf, and it keeps the sugar product of photosynthesis from going to the vine. The engine of growth shuts down, and the sap begins to fall in preparation for the upcoming dormant season. Things have changed, and the vine has a new relationship with the leaves.
Later, when the leaf falls off the vine, the tiny cork is left on the side of the branch which protects it from any harm that could come through disease. It’s as if the cork is left to remind the branch that all is not lost. Something new will come. The branch can trust the rhythm of the seasons and trust the vine to hold all the sap needed to push out new growth in the spring.
While the leaves do ultimately fall off the vine, and this metaphor doesn’t completely correlate, draw your attention to the change of relationship between the vine and the leaves, to the beauty of authenticity in the color of the leaves and the level of trust and hope for the future that the tiny cork brings to the branch.
Reflection and Meditation
Take a moment to consider the shift in relationship Jesus makes from “servant” to “friend.”
As God of the universe, Jesus has every right to be a distant Lord, but here he invites us IN to a more intimate, authentic, trusting relationship as friends. He is both Lord and friend.
How can you be more authentic with Jesus? What do you hold back? Ponder what it might mean to show your true colors to your friend Jesus.
Perhaps you’re struggling to trust God for a future season. Picture the protection of the cork, like a friend, keeping you safe against harm while you wait for a new season of growth.
Take a deep breath. Exhale. Take a few minutes to be authentic with Jesus, as a trusted friend.
“Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice…In neglecting our intense emotions, we are false to ourselves and lose a wonderful opportunity to know God. ”