03/24/2024
The bible draws so many comparisons between plants, trees, and our faith or works. Knowing this makes today's scripture reading all the more special as we look at Jesus not as the branches, but as the vine. The vine consists of the trunk and its root, and although we consider the branches to be the most beautiful part of a plant, and the root to be unsightly, it is the root and trunk from which all new branches grow, and from these comes the nourishment that produces the fruit. Jesus is the vine.
“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”
Isaiah 53:2 ESV
In a recent trip to the wine country along the Rhine River in Europe I learned a couple of interesting facts about the grape vines there. The first was that the best vines grow from rocky volcanic ground. This isn’t the same as vegetables, or most other plants, that require a rich fertile loam. The second fact is that the roots of these vines reach up to 45 feet into the ground as they search for enough water and nutrients to sustain them. I also learned something about the fruit of these vine. The best, and most tasty, grapes grow from this course ground. It seems that the hardship of their existence produces the best and most robust flavor in them. When I used to see vineyards growing on the hillsides, and slopes of mountains, it made me wonder why the farmer would have planted them there, and not in the rich valleys below. This is the reason… He doesn’t want to grow lush branches and plump juicy grapes, no, he wants the tastiest and most full flavored grapes. These coveted grapes make the best wine, and their incredibly intense flavor is born of the hardship of the vine… the struggle of a root that must grow deep to gather its life giving nutrients produces a most special fruit. Isn’t it the suffering and passion of Christ that made our faith so special as well?
I read a statement written by E.M. Bounds that speaks to our relationship as branches to Jesus, the vine. He write… "In the nature of things, religion must show much of its growth above ground." Then he goes on to say "But the surface growth must be based on a vigorous growth of unseen life and hidden roots." This description that Bounds gave us draws me back once more to the unseen nature of the spirit as compared to the observed fruit of that spirit, and the temporary versus the everlasting, or eternal...
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV
There is a wonderful movie called "A Walk in the Clouds" in which a young soldier returning from World War II falls in love with an unwed pregnant woman whose Hispanic family owns a California vineyard. The storyline is rich and wonderful, but during the film the grapevines catch fire and the entire vineyard is destroyed... What survives is "Las Nubes" the original root from which all of the grape vines in the vineyard had been taken. It was the dream of a new life that this family brought from the old country when they first came to America. Initially unseen and mostly beneath the ground, this massive old root had life within it, it had survived the fire.
Our religion should be founded on a "Las Nubes" that provides us with a deep, safe, foundation for our faith. We should nurture and protect the roots from which our flowering parts grow... the things which are seen should be rooted in the unseen. The temporary should be founded on the everlasting.
“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV
As for the movie.... I find the vine’s name "Las Nubes" intriguing; in English it means "clouds." On the surface this is a strange name for a root but the name gives us a hint that this plant has a much deeper meaning and purpose. "Las Nubes" is an ancient vine with a lofty name, but as the movie progresses we see that what is hidden beneath the ground is what sustains this family. "Las Nubes" is a metaphor for Christ. It is thought dead but rises from the ashes to give hope. It saves sinners with its roots growing deep into the soil, just as ours should, and its fruit becomes a wonderful bounty as is transformed into the wine which will become our divine communion.
So as I thought about the seen and the unseen this morning I found those hidden places in my own life, and faith, that I nurture; and I dreamed of the flowers and fruit that will grow from my efforts. Each of us should tend the roots of our faith and religion... Then from that unseen place magnificent stems will push up for all to see, and a new and transformed life will rise from what Isaiah called “a root out of dry ground.”
Rich Forbes