Fifth Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

John 15:1-8

Within the “Farewell Discourses” of the Fourth Gospel, John 15:1-8 is quite harsh and demanding. According to this text selected for our use next Sunday, every branch that is not bearing fruit is summarily taken away to be thrown into the fire and burned (and anyone who has ever burned a compacted mass of grapevines knows how flammable grapevines are and how quickly and intensely they burn and are consumed). The obvious implication is that anyone who does not remain within the Johannine community will be destroyed by an intense fire.

The words of this John 15:1-8 text, therefore, indicate that at the time when these words were written and incorporated into the Fourth Gospel tradition the Johannine community had many of the distinguishing characteristics of a religious cult. For various reasons, not all of which can be discerned today, the leaders of the Johannine community had isolated the community and themselves even from closely related other groups of followers of Jesus. They were claiming that they alone were composed of fully productive “pruned” branches of the “true vine,” i.e., of the Johannine Jesus. Other branches, such as those of the members of the extended Markan communities that had produced the Gospels According to Mark, Matthew, and Luke, were not, in the opinion of the leaders of the Johannine community, yet “pruned” and fully productive. The leaders of the community-fellowship of the Johannine Jesus considered themselves to be already “pruned” because of the words that the Johannine Jesus had spoken to them and because of their fidelity to Jesus as they perceived Jesus during the time when many who had been among them had departed and were therefore “pruned” from their community. Through the words of this John 15:1-8 text they were admonishing each other to remain within their community and its fellowship, the community and fellowship of the Johannine Jesus. They state that only if their members remain in the community and fellowship of the Johannine Jesus would the Johannine Jesus remain in community and fellowship with them. If they remain, they will be given whatever they ask. Their fruit and productivity is tied very closely to their being accepted as disciples of the Johannine Jesus. Unless they are producing fruit, they are not disciples. It is apparent that “church discipline” and more than “church discipline” is involved here. There is also an exclusiveness in which the leaders of the community claim in the name of Jesus the authority to “prune away” all who do not conform to the beliefs and practices of these leaders.

We may ask, “Why is this text so harsh and demanding in comparison to John 14:1-31 that immediately precedes it?” “Has a shadow come over the Jesus of history on his last fateful night of freedom and of life, causing him to set aside the comforting and pastoral words that he had just employed in John 14:1-31?” That is possible, of course. In view, however, of what appears to be a conclusion of the farewell discourse in John 14:31c with the words, “Get up. Let us go away from here,” and other considerations within the Fourth Gospel that are indications that the document went through several editions and incorporated the work of several writers during the course of its development, it is more likely that John 15:1-8 is material from a stage in the formation of the Johannine tradition that is different from that of John 14:1-31. The branches cut away from the true vine that is the Johannine Jesus and community almost certainly refer to the many disciples who in John 6:66 are said to have left the Johannine Jesus and no longer were walking in the group with him. The branches cut away from the true vine are described as follows by the writer of 1 John 2:19. “Those people who left our community went away from us. Actually, they were never truly members of our community. For had they truly been members of our community, they would have remained with us. They went away, in order that it might be revealed that they had never truly been members of our community.”

We know from sociology of religion studies that participants in a religious cult become in many respects harsh and defensive in their interactions with those who have left their group and increasingly demanding and controlling of their own members. It is important for us to realize this about the community that through inspiration by God produced this Fourth Gospel. It helps us to have a more adequate understanding of this John 15:1-8 text, of the entire Fourth Gospel, and of the congregations in which we serve.

In our proclamation of the gospel this coming Sunday we should emphasize the positive aspects of John 15:1-8 and the grapevine analogy as an illustration of our relationship with God through Jesus our Lord. We are dependent upon God. We are accountable to God. Apart from God we wither and die. We are expected to be productive, to produce good grapes.

There are many ways in which we can be productive. We know that our situation is not identical to the situation of the members of the Johannine community who wrote John 15:1-8. We should be open and receptive to whatever new things God may be saying to us today, together with what God is saying to us through this John 15:1-8 text.

1 John 4:7-21

This text continues the emphasis of John 15:1-8 on the necessity of being fruitful. It urges the members of the community to show their love for each other by what they do for each other, not merely to show their love by speaking words of love. 1 John 4:7-21 is an early commentary on John 15:1-8 and on similar texts in the Gospel According to John. We might consider it to be a brief sermon or homily on John 15:1-8. Therefore, it provides a helpful model for us as we prepare our sermon or homily for next Sunday.

Acts 8:26-40

In this vivid scene in the Acts of Apostles literary drama about Philip and the Ethiopian court official, the Lukan playwright utilized a portion of the Suffering Servant Song (Isaiah 53:7-8), applied it to Jesus, and dramatized the spread of the new Christian movement to African lands, as well as along the Mediterranean coast of Judea.

Psalm 22:25-31

By using this final portion of Psalm 22 along with the Acts 8:26-40 account, we associate the psalmist’s suffering with the suffering of Jesus. In this way, we are able to make the psalmist’s song of praise our song of praise within our present context in a very meaningful way. We are challenged to apply these Acts 8:26-40 and Psalm 22:25-31 elements of our biblical tradition to our own new situation is such a way that, by our being inspired by God as the Lukan playwright and the psalmist were inspired by God, new tradition is formed within and for the people of God. We welcome and embrace that challenge!