John 15

John 15: 1-6 Reflections by •  Annabel •  Audrey •  Jake •  Lindsay •  Maddie •  Sophie

John 15: 1-6 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers, such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.

John 15: 1-6 We went as a class out into the landscape behind the church and took pictures of nature that represented images from the passage. Each of us reflected on the images, allowing them to speak to us and help us connect to the passage in a fresh way. Just as we started Annabel gave us insight into the whole of the passage. “It is all about “IF” if you are growing, If you abide in me, If you do not abide in me, you wither.

•  The hand represents life and health while capturing the fruit in an exotic manner.

•  The hand is the vinegrower. •  Fruit represents health. •  Rising out of a bed of dry, fallen leaves •  The had could be pruning the fruit. •  When I see this picture, I think of the

simplicity of the fruit, leaves and hand on the outside. Yet there is so much more going on in the picture. This is like how from an outsider’s perspective our relati0nship with God look to be fairly straight forward, but in reality is complex and multi-layered.

•  The branches are about to be thrown in the fire because they did not bear fruit.

•  Even amongst dead branches, there are still green leaves and rays of sunshine, just as God still gives us hope and prunes us of what is dead and not producing fruit.

•  The branches symbolize the end of the life cycle. The evolution from the kingdom that God mad to the kingdom of God. As it does, something new will grow in the soil it leaves behind.

•  The branches represent the end of a long-lived life. Impacting nature in ways never understood. Capturing location and time endlessly.

•  Buds show beauty and depict color and emotion.

•  Thorns express protection. •  Leaves in the background express the

pattern of life. •  The dead branches of the rose bush are

enveloping the live ones. •  The gardener would cut away the dead ones

to allow the growth of the live one. •  Pruning comes to mind because it shows

meaning of an endless life and the impact the vinegrower has on nature.

•  The rose and all its beauty symbolizes God’s plea for us to love one another as her loves us.

•  Beauty flourishing next to death, a warning and a message, perfection in imperfection. God loves us not despite our thorns but because he made us, thorns and all.

•  A rose is something beautiful and delicate, it needs to be handled with great care and caution, especially because it is surrounded by sharp thorns. In the same way, we are each God’s child and he can provide for us despite the negativity and darkness that we re constantly facing in our lives.