Jesus said “I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15.5)

It is unsurprising in these strange lockdown days that many people feel isolated. We have to stay in our homes unless it is necessary to go out for a particular reason, and for some that can mean a very lonely existence indeed. Even the likely lifting of some of the current restrictions in the near future is not going   to make that much difference. That is why keeping in touch with friends, family and neighbours is so important, and there are so many ways of doing so with the benefits of technology from skype to whatsapp to the old-fashioned phone call. 

Unfortunately loneliness and isolation can be an existential thing. No matter how many friends we may have or how often we are in contact, we can sometimes feel rather empty inside. 

When Jesus talked to his disciples in the Upper Room after the Last Supper and just before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane he was getting them ready for those momentous events, and perhaps most especially for the time when they would think he had gone for ever.  They did not grasp it at the time and it was only afterwards that the message really sank in. His words recorded in John 15 are particularly poignant. He is telling them that he is connected to them, rather like a branch is connected to the trunk of a vine. They owe their existence to him and he provides them with all they need, but most important of all he is one with them – an organic whole. And these words apply to us just as much as they did to those first disciples, it was why they were written down so that we would have the same message. We are part of Christ and he is part of us – we are very much together. To change the metaphor, we have our home in him.

Therefore we are never completely alone for we are part of the vine. It is where we belong along with all the other branches and with Jesus as our strength and stay. It may sometimes not feel like that but we need to remind ourselves of that fact. We have our home in Jesus Christ and he has his home in us.