Vine and branches

In John's Gospel, Jesus tells his friends that he is a vine and they are the branches. Some Old Testament prophets, like Ezekiel, had used the image of a vine to talk about Israel; they had been put in their land by God in the same way that a gardener would plant a vine, choosing the right place for it and taking care of it. But Jesus says that he is a vine - or rather, he says that he is the true vine. God the Father is the gardener, but it's Jesus, rather than the nation of Israel, that is the vine.

Anyone who chooses to follow Jesus, he says, is a branch of the vine. God, the gardener, will prune the branches to make them more fruitful, or will cut off the branches that don't bear any fruit. This seems rather worrying - I often don't feel like my life is very fruitful: does this mean God will cut me off and throw me away? - but Jesus goes on to say that anyone who remains in him will bear much fruit. I might not feel fruitful, but I'm reassured that remaining as a branch of the vine is all that's required for fruitfulness.

In fact, Jesus doesn't only say in verse 5 that the fruitful person remains in him; he says that he, Jesus, also remains in that person. So being fruitful (achieving your potential, or being the kind of person you were meant to be) doesn't only involve you staying in Jesus, but also him staying in you.

As sheep to be slaughtered

In Romans 8, Paul quotes Psalm 44, saying that "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." This comes at the centre of a passage where Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We are more than conquerors, says Paul, which sounds triumphal - and indeed it does celebrate the triumph of Jesus over death - but it also suggests that all the things Paul mentions will be part of our lives. We can expect trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger and the sword. None of these things can separate us from the love of Christ, but that doesn't mean they won't be part of our lives. Which may be one of the reasons why, out of all the Old Testament references to sheep being slaughtered, Paul chooses Psalm 44.

Hannah, Mary, and having God on our side

In 1 Samuel 2, Hannah gives a prayer of thanks when she takes her son Samuel to be dedicated to God. Some of the phrases in this prayer are similar to those in Mary's prayer when she is pregnant with Jesus and goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth - a prayer which is still used by many Christians today (often called The Magnificat after the opening words in Latin). Why do these two women, one mother and one mother-to-be, both praise God by saying that he raises up the humble but brings down the strong and the mighty?

Both Hannah and Mary have a child that they weren't expecting. Hannah had been married but childless for years and had prayed for God to help her. Mary was betrothed - legally married but not yet living with her husband - and should not have been pregnant yet. The theme of both prayers is that God is in charge. Hannah has a child after it was clear that she couldn't; Mary is going to have a child when she clearly shouldn't. Both women see their situation as an indicator of God's power. Mary refers to God as the Mighty One; Hannah says that the foundations of the earth are the Lord's - everything depends ultimately on Him.

But these prayers are not just about God's power. They are also about Hannah and Mary's relationship with Him.

A sword

It's Easter this weekend, and I was thinking about images of Mary, either standing at the foot of the cross or holding the dead body of her son, like Michelangelo's Pietà:

It's hard to imagine Mary's pain. Never mind that this was God's son, foretold by the prophets: this is her son, whom she carried and nursed and bathed and worried over. And it can't have made it any easier that she'd been warned about this pain three decades earlier.

In Luke's gospel, just at the end of the Christmas story, there's the account of Mary and Joseph taking the forty-one day old Jesus to the Temple, as required by the Law. They meet Simeon, who takes Jesus and praises God; he then blesses the parents and tells Mary three things.

Purge the evil from among you

The instruction to "purge the evil from among you" appears seven times in the book of Deuteronomy and "purge the evil from Israel" appears twice. On all but one occasion it's in the context of capital punishment (and the other time is punishment for someone who has made a false accusation - they are to receive whatever punishment they had sought for the innocent person). So anyone who kidnaps a fellow Israelite or commits adultery, anyone who is contemptuous of the priest and the judge, anyone who worships other gods and anyone encourages other people to do so should be killed. Sons who don't obey their parents, daughters who have sex before marriage, rapists (and their victims if they didn't cry out for help) all should be stoned to death.

This seems extreme, even barbaric. Few modern societies use capital punishment to this extent, and those that do are frequently criticised. Yet here is a direct command from God to kill people for disrespect or laziness or choosing a different religion. How can we understand this?

Little by little

The book of Deuteronomy is written as a speech by Moses, delivered shortly before he dies and the Israelites cross over the Jordan and begin to conquer the Promised Land. Moses reminds the people of their journey to this point and recaps the Ten Commandments and the other laws that God has given them. In chapter 7 Moses gives instructions for the conquest of the land. Unsurprisingly, given the fact that last time the people were at this stage they were too afraid, Moses gives lots of encouragement. He reminds the people that God has chosen them and that God has done amazing things for them already. He promises a life of fertility and riches.

It's made very clear to the Israelites though that there are to be no half measures. They are to completely drive out the people who are in the land; they are not to intermarry with them. Otherwise, says God, the people will be tempted to begin worshipping other gods. The promise of a land for God's people will be watered down and they'll become just another nation living among many and indistinguishable from them. This dishonours God: He has chosen this people and if they don't remember that they're different then they're ignoring His choice.

Many Christians use this model in their own lives. They set a boundary, a line that divides their ideas and behaviour from the thoughts and behaviour of the world. Depending on how they or their church or denomination interpret what the Bible says, this dividing line makes them more or less different from the world. Many Christians also use this approach when they are aware of areas of sin in their own lives; they want to change some aspect of themselves and decide that there must be no compromise with their old life. They must change completely. This is the point where it's useful to remember verse 22.

Does God hold grudges?

Psalm 95 ends with a reminder to listen to God's voice, by referring to an incident which is first described in Exodus 17. God's people have left Egypt and are wandering in the desert. They are thirsty and they quarrel with Moses - in fact they are so angry that Moses thinks they're ready to stone him to death. God provides them with water, but the incident is remembered not so much for God's provision as for the Israelites' doubts. Even Moses and Aaron are criticised, not for complaining but for not giving the honour to God.

So when God says in Psalm 95 not to be like the Israelites at Meribah and Massah, He's talking about people who doubt His provision and don't give Him honour. Don't test God, says the psalm, but trust Him. But the psalm then ends with God saying He was angry for 40 years, and because He was angry He decided that none of the adults who were there at Meribah would enter the Promised Land. Does that mean that God held a grudge against a whole generation? What happened to a God who loves and forgives?