There is a great lament in Psalm 80 that the Lord has left Israel for dead at the hands of their neighbours. ‘Restore us,’ Asaph cries out, that God will shine his face on them and save them. Jesus answers Asaph in John 15 when he teaches us the truth of the vine…
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
Psalm 80:7-12
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
John 15:5-6
Asaph uses the metaphor of a vine to describe how God planted Israel in the Promised Land, yet the vine is cut down and burned. Asaph begs God to save them and restore them, asking why God would let the neighbours ‘pick their grapes.’ Well, Asaph, it’s all about John 15.
Across the Old Testament, the repetitive stories of Israel going astray from God and rebelling from God, are illustrations of Jesus’ teaching in John 15. Jesus agrees with Asaph.
We are branches of the vine of God, planted in this world to bear fruit. If we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit, yet apart from him, we can do nothing.
In fact, apart from remaining in God, who is our salvation and hope, we become branches which are withered and cut off and burned. That’s what we do in our gardens with dead wood, right? Well, when Israel goes astray and doesn’t stay connected to the vine, they get burned, as we see in Psalm 80.
I think we sometimes take a similar approach with God. We call out for him to rescue us or save us from our circumstances, and God is gently whispering, “if you remain in me…”
Our circumstances may be the result of us violating the connectedness principle of John 15. When we don’t remain in Jesus, we find ourselves feeling disconnected and burned. We even feel that our disconnection experience is God’s fault, when all along he hasn’t moved from the if/then truth of John 15.
Oh God, show me my ways so I can turn toward you more and remain in you…
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 