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| Baptism of the Eunuch -- Rembrandt 1626 |
This week three much loved passages make up the readings.
The first tells the arresting story of an encounter between a spiritually
curious Ethiopian, and Philip the Evangelist, one of seven ‘deacons’ the early
church appointed, not to be confused with Philip the Apostle, one of the
Twelve. The deacons’ special role was to
take responsibility for help and assistance to poor Christians, and thus free
others to be preachers -- though as this episode, and Philip’s title ‘Evangelist’
shows, deacons could also be very effective
in spreading the Gospel.
The second reading is
taken from the first Letter of John. This letter, the most frequently quoted
Epistle not authored by Paul, boldly and unqualifiedly asserts that ‘God is
love’. It is the very affirmation, of course, that underlay the creation of
deacons as visible agents of that love.
On the surface, the Gospel passage seems to have a different tone. Jesus develops
the metaphor of the True Vine in a way that ends with a warning. Like
the metaphor of the Good Shepherd (from last week), however, this image is
drawn from a world very different to ours, and so needs a little interpretative
work to ‘get the message’.
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| Icon of 'The True Vine' |
The message, contrary to appearance perhaps, does explain
the connection between this Gospel and the readings that precede it. Together
they reflect three fundamental truths about Jesus that lie at the heart of the
Christian faith. First, Jesus is the suffering servant to whom Isaiah, the
greatest of all the Jewish prophets, looked for Israel’s salvation. Second, God
and love are so deeply intertwined that even a ‘sheep led to the slaughter’ is
a far more adequate means, and expression, of God’s saving power than any
‘conquering hero’ would be. Third we will only be transformed into the image of
the God of love if we allow our lives to become wholly dependent for their
vitality on life in Christ.
Apart from Christ we ‘can do nothing’, and may as well be
withered branches, at most worth throwing on a fire. God is love, but the price
of divine love (in human terms) is high. That is what Jesus showed on the Cross,
and what human beings often struggle to acknowledge.
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