"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit."

Isaiah 5:1-2

Isaiah the folk singer starts up a love song which quickly takes on a blues feel. He sings on behalf of a vineyard owner. The effort put into nurturing the vineyard or relationship is unstinting and carries expectations (notice the repeated ‘looked’ in verses 2, 4, and 7). The building of a watchtower and the construction of a winepress indicate that there is a crop needing to be protected and developed. Fruit is no optional extra but a necessary consequence of being in Jesus.

However, the vineyard is turned back into wasteland. Delight (v. 7) turns to disappointment and soon we shall see what this means for Jerusalem (vv. 26–30). What was this expected fruit? Justice and righteousness (v. 7), interpreted later by Jesus as sacrificial love for others (John 15:12). This is about treatment of other people. Bloodshed and cries of distress are the marks of a fruitless people. Much of the teaching in the New Testament epistles is devoted to how we relate to one another. James, for example, warns against quarrels that are tantamount to murder (James 4:1–3). It is an enormously chilling prospect – God withdrawing from his people.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord Jesus, help me to walk closely with you so that my life will bear fruit—fruit that will last.