Do It For The Vine

Icon of Christ as the true Vine

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine..."

I am starting off this week's Sunday post with two starkly different things that share some similar ingredients. They both feature a depiction of Jesus on a vine. The notion of what a "vine" is in these two items is starkly different. The first is an Eastern Orthodox icon of Christ as the True Vine. The second is a "Jesus Take The Wheel" Vine video. Vine (in the second item's definition) is a "short-form video sharing service." It was bought by Twitter soon after its founding in 2012. We have on our hands two types of vines, however, only one is truly referential to the truth of John 15. Christ tells is disciples that he is not only the vine but also the true vine. This is a statement that infers that there is a false vine. It insinuates that there is a vine that has been less than true. It references. One vine, the true vine, is the picture of God’s mercy. The other vine has sadly become more of a joke. The Old Testament is full of descriptions of Israel being a vine or a vineyard. At one point this even became the symbol of the nation on their coins. However all to often when Scripture describes Israel as such it is as a vine that bears no fruit, the wrong fruit or a vineyard that has gone into disrepair. God looked down on His children and found disappointment. Yet there was another child to consider. A child that was birthed in Bethlehem but his existence predates Time. This was not a child that God had adopted like Israel. This was His only begotten Son. This was His true child. This was the true vine. This vine would grow to have many branches and the branches would grow to bear much fruit. As Jesus revealed, he was that true vine. Jesus was the only begotten child of God that would die to adopt many new brothers and sisters. Jesus was the Kingdom of God that God’s people would dwell in. Christ was all of these ornate ways to describe the one thing that God had always desired. Christ is the substance and goal of the life that God calls us to live. Or to put it in the vernacular of the Vine short video sharing site; we must “do it for the vine!”  

The Russian Parish of All Saints in Pattaya, Thailand's icon painting class

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me..."

 

Iconography is an art form that us designed to be duplicated. Copies of the original icon are not a capitalistic afterthought but rather an intended religious ritual. The iconographer then can be seen as a kind of preacher, transmitting the sacred stories that have been handed down from generation. Each duplication looks back to the original icon which itself looks into a spiritual truth. The Russian Parish of All Saints in Pattaya, Thailand has it's own icon painting class for young parishioners. These young, contemporary Thai Christians are trained in old Russian art that mimics an ancient Israelite science of agriculture. For the iconographer is much like the vine dresser in that in the end they are both images of the Creator. Vines like icons are things that feed off of the original. New vineyards are started with the portions of much older vines that have been replanted. So the New World vineyards of California were started by portions of the vines from the Old World vineyards of Europe. Like the iconographer the vinedresser lovingly develops and meticulously monitors the growth of his handiwork. The iconographer's brush is the vinedresser's pruning shears. The end goal of both workmen is the joy that result from the fruit of their labor. The difference between the two is that the chronology works in reverse. The sacred vinedresser of Scripture planted his true vine, his original icon, in the future and retroactively spread copies of it throughout history. Israel was always a type, a foreshadowing, a carbon copy depiction of things to come. Therefore it is no surprise that they lacked the fullness of the original image. The full robust flavor, life-giving fruit and joy-giving wine was to only be found in the true vine. This true vine carefully nurtured by the hand of the vinedresser, this original icon hand painted by the Master of the Universe was the image of God's love. For every act of grace, mercy and goodness that He did in the history of His people heretofore, He did it for the Vine.

Christ the True Vine, 16th century Greek icon

“...I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples..."

Over the centuries many iconographers have approached the subject of Jesus the True Vine. This makes sense since it is both Jesus' most aesthetically rich homiletic and theologically rich hermeneutic. In most of these icons like this 16th century Greek piece entitled "Christ the True Vine", Jesus is depicted as being the head of a vine. This true vine is not a new vine. Rather it is a vine that has been there all along throughout the ages twisting, winding and growing all unbeknownst to anyone but the vinedresser. Just as it was with Jesus' first miracle at the Wedding at Cana, it could be said that the best wine (vine) was saved for last. In this icon the branches are correctly depicted as the twelve disciples. It may seem attractive to preach this text as referring to denominational Christianity and all of the diverse "branches" of the Christian religion. If one does this it proves a useful polemic to accuse one or another branch/denomination/tradition of Christianity as a withered branch and all of its adherents as being in danger of hellfire. The problem with this approach is that it ignores the overall context of Jesus' metaphor in the gospel narrative. Jesus is not only using the vine/vinedresser/branches imagery in reference to his place in salvation history but also to distinguish this moment in his life and ministry. Jesus tells this story at the Last Supper. As he drank the wine that symbolized the blood of his looming sacrifice he was surrounded by eleven of his disciples. The true vine was missing one of his twelve branches because this was after Judas had left to betray Jesus. Judas was the branch that was broken away from the vine and was gathered for destruction. Now here is where we feel the delicate tension between free will and predestination; for while we must acknowledge that Judas broke away from the vine of his own volition, we can still see the invisible hand of the vinedresser carefully grooming the developing Body of Christ to bear much fruit. Jesus foresaw separation of Judas branch from the vine and so did the Psalmist centuries before. They did so because they understood the overall image that the Divine Iconographer was developing. They understood that it was a picture of a vineyard that would produce fields of fruit ripe for a harvest of glory to God. So when took away a branch and continued to prune the others He did it for the Vine. 

Mosaic of Jesus the Vine. San Clemente Station Church, Rome

“...As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you..."

The most popular media to produce an icon with is paint and gesso on wood panel. However there are several depictions of the Jesus the True Vine image that are done as mosaics. In images like this one in San Clemente Station Church in Rome, little pieces of colored stone and broken glass that reflect the light are gathered together to illustrate the story of Jesus' crucifixion. Actually I am not sure if this is technically termed an icon. It is not an Eastern or Oriental Orthodox image used for worship. It is actually in a Catholic Church, but once again God uses several media to convey the message if the true vine. Sometimes he uses Thai Russian Orthodox believers, sometimes he uses Italian Catholics and occasionally he uses Black Baptists like myself. The most important ingredient mixed with any of these diverse media is that they be humble and broken to reflect the Light of Christ like the pieces of glass used to make a mosaic. It is only when we have been broken and deprived of selfishness that we can reflect the selfless love shown in Jesus' cross. It is the selfless, self-sacrificial love that forms the literal content behind Christ's metaphor of the vine/vinedresser/branches. The story is actually all about the nature of the relationship between God the Father, God the Son and God's people. The nature of that relationship between the Godhead and Mankind is love. Therefore God's commandment (the top ten and by extension all of religion) is that we love. It is in this self-sacrificial love that the life of the True Vine nurtures all of the branches that abide in him. By "abide" it does not only mean "believe" but it also insinuates the type of belief that follows suit in life and lifestyle. When we surrender our fragmented, broken lives to reflect the light of Christ's way of life and way of death we can illustrate to others the way of his resurrection. That is what the original branches (the Disciples) understood the fruit of that their faith produced. Whether it was the preaching of the gospel, acts of healing, the sacrifice of their lives or care for the poor, they were all done as expressions of the love that was transmitted from God the Father to Jesus and then to along to them. No matter which way they loved they did it for the Vine.

Copy of "Christ the True Vine" Icon from St. Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow

"...These things I command you, that you love one another."

The last vine icon that we will discuss is the copy of "Christ the True Vine" from St. Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow. This copy resides in Washington D.C.’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral. The image is a nice example of a contemporary approach to iconography. However that is not why I chose to post it. If I wanted to point out the aesthetic merits of the image then I would have just posted the original from Moscow. The American copy of this Russian icon lies in its dedication. Like any work of art in a church building, this image was donated by a patron. The patron of the original icon was the “Orthodox recovering alcoholics in Russia.” The dedication on the copy goes on to state:

“’I [Lord Jesus] was ill and you cared for me” 
Mathew 25, 36

Do you or family member or fellow parishioner of St. Nicholas having problems with alcohol, drugs or other addictions? 

If you need help,  please contact the Cathedral clergy for confidential pastoral counseling.”

The dedication of this icon may be a more beautiful picture of Jesus’ vine metaphor than the painting itself. It captures the heart of Christ’s ending commandment to love each other. The love that he spoke of (the love that the Vinedresser, the Vine and the branches) all share amongst each other can best be described as nurture. A vinedresser nurtures a vine so that it can pass on nourishment to its branches. The nourished branches then produce fruit, which will in turn nourish the vinedresser (who in the end in a subsistence farmer). Now it may seem that the metaphor breaks down at this point because God does not need any food or nourishment (He’s not the ambrosia eating type of deity). True, God does not need any nourishment or love from us to survive. The loving nourishment that He desires from us is the nourishing love that we give to others. We love God by loving other people. We thank God for His mercy by forgiving other people. We thank God for his provision by feeding hungry people. We show God gratitude for His healing by nursing other people. So maybe I sould rethink my original notion. There may be a connection between the icon of Jesus the True Vine and the vine video of “Jesus Take The Wheel.” When we live out Jesus’ teaching on the vinedresser/vine/branches then we are allowing Christ to control our lives. Without it being the actual steering wheel of our cars, we are in a way inviting Jesus to “take the wheel.” In the end whatever love we show to others is us doing it for the Vine.