Day 34: This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus has so much more to say. His heart is heavy; his mind whirls as he considers his most important last words. He knows the next couple days, and beyond, will be extremely difficult for his beloved friends. He will be arrested and killed, and they will be tempted to question everything they have learned. They may even fall back into division along socio-economic and political lines, unraveling all the ways they have grown as they have journeyed together. As his mind’s eye looks beyond resurrection, he knows they will suffer. He also knows the plan to send the Spirit to be present with them for the next chapter in the Grand Story.
To close out this section of his teaching, Jesus settles on the main point of the Grand Story that set Creation into motion and has sent him to earth: Love. He has said it a hundred times in a hundred different ways over the past three years, but he must say it again. Perhaps, he picks up a dry stick and, leaning over, writes the word LOVE in the dirt. Straightening up, his gaze travels slowly around the group, making eye contact with each person. Deliberately emphasizing each word,
“This is my command,”
he says as he points to the word written in the dirt. Holding out his arms as if he wants to embrace the whole group, he continues,
“Love each other.”
Maybe he repeats the words several times. Sensing the urgency of the moment, the disciples look around at each other and nod. Instinctively, everyone reaches for the person next to them, putting an arm around their shoulders, patting their knee, or grasping their hand until the group is physically connected. Jesus grins at the unlikely gesture of love among the group of rough and tumble disciples. He nods and maybe even says, “Yes, yes…”
Patting John on the back, Jesus stands up and pulls his cloak close to ward off the chill of the night breeze. There is a rustling and some grunting as the disciples also stand. Simon reaches a hand to Matthew to pull him up. Jesus motions to Andrew, who is carrying the torch, to lead the way as they leave the vineyard and move towards their favorite spot in the olive grove.
Vineyard Metaphor
As we hear Jesus’ last words in this teaching, it is an invitation to survey the long metaphor of the vineyard.
Fruit is the ultimate goal of every vineyard… every vine. The vine draws up water through its roots to supply the branches with nutrient-laden water by the system of the straw-shaped xylem cells. There is no holding back. The vine gives everything to the branch.
Sunshine and water come together inside the tiny chloroplast to transform the toxin of carbon dioxide into sugar that feeds the vine and oxygen that blesses the world. The tiny bud, a microscopic universe that carries the DNA of the vine, spends a whole year developing in a secret place before bursting forth to produce shoots, leaves, tendrils, and finally, fruit.
Along the way, the gardener lovingly tends the vine, cutting off shoots and suckers in the spring that will not bear fruit, and pruning back canes in the winter, always leaving buds of hope for the next harvest. The gardener knows that pruning is an act of love, without which the vine would only produce beautiful leaves, but no fruit. The gardener regularly amends the soil with a cover crop which also protects the roots from harmful organisms. Out of love for the fruit, the gardener allows the vine to struggle finding water, which serves to intensify the flavor of the fruit.
The journey of a fruitful branch on a vine is long, slow, and tedious. There is nothing glamorous or flashy about the journey. The branch receives a moment by moment infusion of water from the vine and responds with an offering of sweetness. Every symbiotic, connected moment is necessary to produce beautiful fruit.
Reflection and Meditation
If, as a branch, I truly remain in Jesus, the fruit that will grow on my branch is the “Jesus fruit” of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control…one cluster of fruit, produced and held together by love.
Ultimately, we are invited, called, even commanded to love one another as we have been loved. The long journey of fruitfulness shows us that love is an action, not a transaction. Love for each other is cultivated over time, nurtured by grace, in the unglamorous, tedious moments of life.
Take a moment and imagine the love, the lifeblood, the grace of Jesus flowing into you… every part of you, even (or maybe especially) the imperfect, hidden parts of you.
Can you receive his love and grace? Now imagine tiny buds being pushed out of your branch. Where did they come from? What pushed those buds out? Can you imagine how the DNA of love flowed into you and produced the most natural fruit of all…love?
Close your eyes and breathe in the deep love of Jesus… receive the strong love of the Father… and the joyful love of the Spirit. Let this love fill your soul. Let it flow out of you to the world around you.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”