DOWN FROM THE MOUNT

Jesus taught “I am the Vine, and you are the branches; he who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The Parable of the Vine and Branches produces a new woman, a new man, a new community, a new social order, a new philosophy and a new vision. We start seeing things from the ‘Vine side’ instead of only from the ‘branch side.’ We see larger. We hear larger. We know larger. The working thesis of this new order is the Sermon on the Mount, but of greater understanding is the Teacher on the Mount.

The way of Jesus, and it must be for us, is to give instruction and then to live out those instructions in front of, and among, his students. Any other kind of instruction becomes only knowledge for the brain, packed in layer upon layer. Without display and example, learning stays academic. The school of life is about life, not just information. Information is death without practical and frequent application to life. Even the Sermon on the Mount stays on the Mount unless the hearers take it down from the Mount and into their families, friends and society.

“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.” Jesus