O Adonai

We arrive at the second tree, with its sign:  “O Adonai!  Come, free us with your powerful arm.”  This huge, woody vine before us is climbing symbiotically up another huge tree.  The rambling growth of this vine reaches elephantine proportions – limited only by the height of that supporting tree…  And you can imagine, the growing conditions of a Garden in Eden are perfect – never-ending sunshine…

Indeed, this is one old, vintage vine!  Its trunk is wooden and rigid.  Fully developed, it has arms with short branches, holding leaves spreading wide, stems, and fruit clusters.  And, coiling tendrils shoot from those stems and grab that supporting tree…  But, things are not always what they appear to be…  This vine has an invisible, underground part with root structures and more branches!

O Adonai, your moniker translates “Lord,” signifying sovereignty.  It is the divine name of the Father, the Hebrew God of the Old Testament.  In what sense is our expected New Testament baby Adonai?

Well, I heard it through the grapevine – like Father, like Son…  The symbiosis of sovereign Lordship between Father and Son is here personified in the grapevine.  Like those coiling tendrils, little incarnate Lord, you take hold of your paternal support.  Never letting go, you will grow in wisdom and years, ascending to your Father’s same grand, heavenly stature.  And the two cleave as one Lord!

Jesus, you will say to us:  “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  Like the woody, strong arms of the vine trunk, you will be our mainstay – and some of us your branches, holding leaves and grapes; some, your underground branches, reaching deep soil layers and tapping water sources.

O Lord and Ruler!  Come, free us with your powerful arm.  May your heavenly Father give all souls full sun.  Free those in the world from small-mindedness, apathy, and aridity of heart.  Cultivate in us courage, perseverance, and expansive charity.  Lord of Christmas, support us to climb the heights and plumb the depths that, with you, we produce some of the best fruit on earth – like beautiful, purplish jewels!  Jesus, you call us for the work of the Gospel – to tell the story of the old and new vintage.  Free our ears to listen to you, as you dictate the narrative…