In this Easter season, we return to the scriptures where Jesus is saying goodbye to the people closest to him. They happen before his death, but they also have special meaning in the Easter season. Soon, the people who followed Jesus were going to have to live without him in their midst, in the same way that we do. We live with his resurrected presence. Here, he was giving them instructions about how to live in the world without him right there. Jesus was speaking, and he said:

‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by its…