Meditation

Hi there,

The true beauty of this week's passage first struck me forcefully after a long day climbing in the French Alps in my early thirties.

We’d climbed to within a few thousand feet of the mountain-top we would summit the next morning, and after dinner in our refuge, I went looking for a book to read before bed. Finding no English books at all, I grabbed the only book I thought I’d be able to read with some degree of comprehension:

A Spanish language Bible.

I know just about enough Spanish to handle familiar texts in the Bible, so I turned to John’s Gospel and began at the first chapter and verse;

“En el principio ya existía el Verbo, y el Verbo estaba con Dios, y el Verbo era Dios.”

So far, so good. Emboldened, I went for it and turned to John 15.

“Yo soy la vid verdadera, y mi Padre es el labrador.”

MUCH harder. But I had enough recollection of the English version and enough Spanish to soldier on and work through the whole chapter slowly.

Since then, this has been one of my favorite passages. I return to it again and again, driven by the happy memory of that night and the sheer effort I had to put in to read and then understand the passage.

Trying to work out the words and meaning from the Spanish, created a 'rewarding friction' that dramatically increased my understanding and ultimate enjoyment.

That same rewarding friction is what makes hand copying the Bible such a precious practice.

Today's text is John 15:1-4 and is shown in black. I've added the full passage for context in grey. We will be working through it all this week. As these are Jesus' words you might like to copy them in red, but as all the words in this passage are Jesus’ words to make it easier to read I have left them in black.

The Vine and the Branches

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

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. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

17 This is my command: Love each other.

Encouragement

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Andy

P.S. I had originally intended to end this series with a passage drawn from Proverbs, but as we're going to spend much of the summer in the Old Testament, I decided to highlight this last beautiful passage from Jesus before we move on. I hope that's OK!

God's Word In Your Hand

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