Our Old Testament reading last Sunday, Isaiah 5:1-7 — the Song of the Vineyard, is an important and foundational text. What starts off as an ordinary love song soon becomes an allegorical lament. We learn that God is the one who planted a choice vineyard, and Israel is the vine God planted. God is the one who cleared the field and planted, then built a wall, watchtower, and wine press in anticipation of the fine harvest to come. Yet the vineyard produced (and keeps on producing) only rotten fruit.
In the Song of the Vineyard, we learn of the Anguish (vs. 3-4), Action (vs. 5-6), and Aim (v. 7) of God. More than a story about ancient Israel, the Song of the Vineyard portrays the saga and state of all of us. It also is the story of all creation as well. What God called “good” is now subject exploitation, sin, decay, and violence. The Song of the Vineyard is a notably sad tale.
But it is not the end of the story. On the night before he was crucified, our Lord Jesus gathered his disciples around him in order to teach them what mattered most. And it is here he told them “I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener” (John 15:1). The tie-in with Isaiah 5 and Song of the Vineyard here is certainly intentional. Jesus is letting us know there is another, truer vine God has planted — and he is it! And like Israel itself, that vine is to be cut off and destroyed. Yet his dying is redemptive. His death is for us and our salvation, and his rising is to give us life anew. Through him, we now have Access to God, even though we still belong to the wild, rotten vineyard in Isaiah 5. In Christ, we become a new planting of the Lord!
Our task, and the only thing we can do in response is to “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (John 15:4). Jesus promised if we do remain in Him, we will bear fruit — fruit that is good and pleasing to the Lord. What is that fruit? Jesus tells us, and it really is the completion of what was so lacking in the Song of the Vineyard. Jesus said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” “Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15: 9 &12).
See you Sunday!
