Jesus tells us that he is the true vine, and we are the branches. Abiding in the vine produces life-giving fruit, but it doesn’t guarantee that nothing will go wrong in our lives or that we won’t experience pain and suffering. In fact, Jesus promises that we will be pruned and that sounds rather unpleasant. Like Phillip whom the Lord sent to talk with the Ethiopian eunuch, our lives will be fruitful as we live in relationship with the real Jesus. The vine will sustain us in good times and bad. Our heavenly Father is the vine-grower and he is glorified as we abide in Jesus.

Jesus is a real eye-opener. He opens our eyes to see him, our minds to understand him, and our hearts to receive him in faith. Jesus does this as the Holy Spirit opens the Scriptures to show us the love of God as Jesus dies for our sins and rises again to bring us a new eternal life. This brings us great joy. The disciple’s hearts were glad when they saw the risen Lord, and so are ours. Our hearts are warmed with the fire of the Holy Spirit and are filled with a passion to share Jesus with others. Jesus’ call to make disciples is no longer just a command, but is above all a supernatural desire to share the love of God with others in our needy world. Come, Holy Spirit, and open our eyes to see Jesus, our minds to grow in understanding Jesus, our hearts to warm with the love of Jesus, and our lips to share Jesus. Amen.

The sermon for the Second Sunday of Easter is based on the Gospel reading, John 20:19-31.