I am the true vine

John 15: 1-8 (May 3, 2009)

1) The Text

15”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

2) The Context

John 14 ends with the word, ‘Arise, let us go from here.’ At an earlier stage in the composition of the gospel, chapter 18 would have come next, but now chapters 15-17 intervene. This is an expansion of Jesus’ last words to his disciples, found in John 13-14. It was a feature of accounts of the lives of significant people that writers focused on their last words. They are their parting advice. Already we see this in the blessings of Jacob at the end of Genesis. Similarly Deuteronomy represents Moses’ final words. Literature sprang up devoted to portraying the parting advice of holy people like ‘The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs’ and ‘The Testament of Abraham’. In the gospels we see this development already in Mark with Mark 13. Luke relocates Jesus’ final speech to the context of the last supper (Luke 22:21-38). John also has it there, but in an expanded form. John 14 picks up many of the motifs found in Mark 13.

The symbol of the vineyard is common in Judaism. In the "Song of the Vineyard" (Isaiah 5:1-7), the "house of Israel" and the "people of Judah" are "the vineyard of the LORD of hosts" (v. 7). They are expected to yield the proper fruit, but they don't and they are destroyed. In Jeremiah 2:21, God is pictured as the planter of a choice vine. (Some other OT images: Ezekiel 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1; Psalm 80:8-19; Isaiah 27:2-6; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17:7-8.) The idea that the people of God are a vine which God tends and from which God expects good fruit is not new. However, the connection between Jesus as the vine and the people as the branches does appear to be new.

3) Interpretation

There are six, I AM, sayings in the Gospel of John e.g. “I am the bread of life,” “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the way, the truth and the life,” “I am the door,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the true vine.” It seems that Jesus also implied that he was “the living water” in John 3:7-41, even though Jesus did not use the actual words, “I am the living water.”

Each one of the ‘I AM’ teachings from Jesus teaches us something slightly different about Jesus Christ. Each metaphor is unique and helps us to see a different aspect of who Jesus was and is. Each teaching gives us a particular insight into the nature of Christ. So it is when Jesus taught about being the true vine. Jesus is thereby teaching us that a branch needs to be IN the vine, part of the vine, growing out of the vine, in order to produce much fruit.

It begins, however, with a familiar image: the vine. Remaining in, abiding in, the vine is crucial. The language of abiding in or simply being ‘in’ is the language of intimacy, but expressing a continuing relationship of closeness. For John, salvation is, above all, a relationship with the Son and with the Father through the Son. This fits well the image of the vine. Branches need to ensure they remain connected. Fruitful branches will be carefully pruned. In fact the pruning is likened to purifying. What purifies is the word (15:2-3), so care for the branches means teaching and nurturing them. The word is the word of love, the word of life which Jesus brings.

The image of the tree, vine or plant is a rich source for spiritual reflection. It invites us to sense the divine as beneath us, rising up, rather than above us condescending. The top down model has its attractiveness, but it is often associated with notions of power which confuse or abuse. The simplicity of the image of life from below suits John’s spirituality well, where relationship is what matters, and how we live is determined solely by that relationship, what flows from it. The vine and its resources enable the branches to grow and bear fruit. The image invites us to transcend its contours and imagine ourselves as being able to connect and disconnect from the source. Our spirituality consists in letting the flow happen. John is practical enough to know that this is not automatic. It needs encouragement, instruction, leading.

The promise that we receive what we ask for (15:7), also echoes an early tradition (‘Ask and it will be given to you’ Matt 7:2; Luke 11:9). It has already appeared in 14:13-14. Here, as there, it belongs within the context of living for love. There, the disciples will do what Jesus did, and even more, as the Spirit enables them to do so (14:12,16). So neither here nor there is it the foundation for a prosperity theology. We will receive what we need to be a connected branch bearing fruit. Asking seems another way of opening ourselves to the vine, to the resources.

Faith is always changing, even though one is connected to the true vine and even though one's faith is firmly rooted in Jesus Christ. Though the "root" of one's faith never changes, from year to year one's faith needs pruning by God. Maybe some old habits or thoughts or attitudes or behaviors need to die, so that, through the power of Jesus, even more fruit will be produced in one's life.

4) Thought Exercise

What ways can you continue to build your relationship with Jesus?

What aspects of your faith may need pruning?