Chapter 6:
Vintage after vintage, harvest after harvest, heart after heart; Jesus Christ proclaims his reign. Throughout the ages, he continues to bear the fruit of disciples following in his name. Vintage after vintage, the Divine Winemaker makes the best wine. In the lives of his saints, human is transformed into divine.
A lot goes into the process of making wine: crushing, fermentation, pressing, aging, racking, filtering, storing, and bottling. Yet, every vineyard farmer will tell you, the art of wine lies not in the fermentation process, but rather in the growing of its fruit. The art of wine lies in its vines.
Vines once aged can yield quality grapes year after year. But if you give the vine and thus a wine grape everything it could want; sunshine, plenty of water, and lots of fertile soil; it will probably only produce average wine.
Fertile vines such as these will produce larger yields. That’s their appeal. However, the higher the yield of grapes and crop produced, the more diluted the flavor will be and the less intense the wine will turn out. Fertile vines often plant shallow roots because they don’t need to draw from the soil to stay alive. This results in less nutrient rich flavorful grapes, and consistently more average wine.
The best grapes, the best fruit, comes rather from vines which are put under some stress. A poor soil or a rougher climate tends to produce a smaller yield of grapes, but also a richer and more concentrated flavor in the wine grapes.
Vines faced with some duress plant larger root systems, relying less on outside conditions to stay alive. Their branches then draw more nutrients from the vines. The concept is simple: Vines which have suffered produce the best fruit. Fruit, which is then harvested at the right time, makes the best wine.
Art of the Vine
The art of wine lies in pushing the vine, and thus too its branches and its yield, till the time of harvest. Unlike most other crops, vines last beyond a given year and season. In a general seasonal cycle; vines are pruned in winter, and bud break happens come spring. Branches shoot off the vine and then flowering begins, grape clusters then begin to grow from the branches. In the summer, the grape berries continue to grow and ripen. Once ripe in early fall, the grapes are harvested and taken to make wine. In later fall, the vine leaves die in a colorful and spectacular show. Come winter, the cycle repeats. The vine branches are then pruned again for the next season. In some places like Burgundy, France; one of the premier wine making regions in the world; the deadwood from the old branches are then burned right in the fields they are pruned in. This way their ashes fall to the ground to make good fertilizer for the crop come the next spring.
When the Father sent the Son to earth, I believe he had the vine in mind. As the vinedresser and winemaker, the Father knew what would await his Son. He sends his Son to his chosen people, yet their fallen kingdom is under reign by a foreign crown. He sends him not to the center of that kingdom even, but rather to a backwater town. Within the Son’s first year of his earthly life, he is hunted and exiled. By the time he steps into the public arena, he shortly thereafter becomes heavily rebuked and reviled. In his final hour on earth, the Son was abandoned and mocked. His body was pushed to its limits. His heart was outpoured. The foundations of the earth were rocked.
From the Son’s heart, the great fruit of redemption was born. A few followers of the Son received this grace deeply and it multiplied from there forward. The great wine which was his life became a fountain of life for his followers to share. Their deaths follow soon after, but our new life, comes by the crosses they bear:
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” – Tertullian, Apologeticus
Before Jesus’s final moments in preparation for the night of his Last Supper, he gives us the images of bread and a vine. He shares this image with his followers who will betray him, knowing they also will be the ones who will bring the leaven and fruit of his life to the world. His words stand stark, yet they hit the very mark. Something about his way of life involves suffering. It is a new way of life in this world that he is calling forward and ushering.
And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.” – John 12: 23-26
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show by what death he was to die. – John 12: 32-33
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
– John 15: 1-4
“Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.”– John 15: 20
The type of fruit the Father desires, the kind of discipleship the Son calls us to, is one of a cross and suffering. Yet too, one of a redemption in his name. It is one of great fruit born, not of our own efforts, but through the blood he shed. If only we choose to abide and follow in his stead. Great winemaking requires much sweat and toil. There’s no avoiding it, good fruit; the fruit which provides a rich witness to the world; involves patience, dependence, unconventional circumstances, suffering, decisions, seasons, harvest, and the right soil . . . (To Be Continued)