In today's gospel we hear the famous quote, "I am the vine you are the branches." Whenever I hear this I am taken back my days in seminary when a scripture professor caused me to have one of those moments of sudden realization about this passage.
Until then, like many people I dare say, I had pictured Jesus as the trunk, the large part growing in the center and we were the branches hanging off on the sides. This was halfway correct.
We are indeed the branches but Jesus is not merely the part in the center, he is the whole thing. When he says, "I am the vine." it does not mean he is one part and we are the other. He is the whole thing, and we must be a part of him. He is the whole vine.
