Isaiah sings a song about God and his vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7). He sings
how Yahweh planted his vineyard, Israel, on a very fertile hill, dug it, cleared it of stones,
and cultivated it with the choicest vines. He hewed out a wine vat and
built hedges, walls and a watchtower to protect it. He did everything
one could do. And yet the fruit it yielded was worthless.
So God dug it up. He had it trampled down, devoured and
removed. The fruit of the vine was supposed to be justice, but instead it
was bloodshed (5:7).
But the song is not finished. Twenty two chapters later, Isaiah sings for us the final verse. “In that day, a pleasant vineyard, sing of it! …In the days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit,” (Is 27:2,6).
An echo of the promise to Abraham: All the nations of the earth will be blessed through the vine of Israel, his descendants. And then a Galilean preacher marches on to the scene and proclaims quite audaciously:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away… Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:1-2,5).
Israel was planted to be fruit and blossoms for all the nations to joyously gather around, but they brought forth only thorns and thistles. Centuries later, Jesus assumes the vocation of Israel. Gather around me. Abide in me. Be grafted into my fruit production. The Father has dressed me –the final vine of the prophet’s song, Yahweh’s vineyard remade.
But the song is not finished. Twenty two chapters later, Isaiah sings for us the final verse. “In that day, a pleasant vineyard, sing of it! …In the days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit,” (Is 27:2,6).
An echo of the promise to Abraham: All the nations of the earth will be blessed through the vine of Israel, his descendants. And then a Galilean preacher marches on to the scene and proclaims quite audaciously:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away… Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:1-2,5).
Israel was planted to be fruit and blossoms for all the nations to joyously gather around, but they brought forth only thorns and thistles. Centuries later, Jesus assumes the vocation of Israel. Gather around me. Abide in me. Be grafted into my fruit production. The Father has dressed me –the final vine of the prophet’s song, Yahweh’s vineyard remade.
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