Wednesday 17 May 2017
Acts 15:1‑6. Psalms 121(122):1-5. John 15:1-8.
Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord — Psalms 121(122):1-5.
‘I am the vine.’
Ancient rules of ritual purity specified that no Jewish person could come into contact with unclean elements including blood. If they did they had to be ritually cleansed through water before they could offer sacrifices. Sacrifices were offered so that each person’s sin was redeemed before God. Ironically, the ascent to the ancient temple was covered in blood from sacrifices. As such the sacrifices erected a barrier to full relationship with the divine.
Ah, but the true vine needs company, desires it. Christ’s invitation is to an intimacy that will be shared by all brothers and sisters. Yet strangely boundaries are retained when hands clasp. Difference, instead of being destructive, defines what it means to be in relation. Doors become places to welcome strangers rather than to shut them out; blood becomes wine, pain celebration.
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