The "True" Vine
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:1-4, NKJV.
Most readers of the New Testament miss the full force of this passage. But that was not the case with the disciples. Being Jewish they saw the magnitude and meaning of Jesus' claim to be the vine.
Again and again the Old Testament pictures Israel as the vine of God's vineyard. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts." claims Isaiah, "is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant" (Isa. 5:7). And Jeremiah quotes God as saying to Israel, "I had planted you a noble vine" (Jer. 2:21, NKJV). "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt," says the psalmist (Ps. 80:8). As a result, the vine had become a symbol of Israel, so much so that they reproduced it on their coins when they were a free people. Thus to be part of the vine meant to be an Israelite or Jew.
But the Old Testament teaching regarding the vine didn't end with the identity of Israel as God's vine. The downside of the symbolism is the fact that Scripture consistently associates with Israel the idea of degeneration. The point of Isaiah is that the vineyard had run wild. For Jerimiah the nation had turned from the "noble vine" that God had planted into a "degenerate plant of a strange vine" (Jer. 2:21). And for Hosea "Israel is an empty vine" (Hosea 10:1).
Those word pictures provide the background for Jesus' shocking claim that "I am the true vine." The implication of that claim, of course, was that being born Jew did not automatically make a person a part of God's vineyard. To the contrary, Jesus is telling His Jewish hearers (and us) that to be a part of the true people of God we must be connected intimately to Him.
That thought will lead Jesus into a discussion in John 15:6-10 of what it means to abide in Him as branches tied closely to the true vine.
Before we examine those verses we need to meditate again on the way to eternal life. That path is not being born Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, or even Adventist. At its core it is being connected to Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and Friend. Being part of the Vine means that our lives and goals are totally in line with His.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:1-4, NKJV.
Most readers of the New Testament miss the full force of this passage. But that was not the case with the disciples. Being Jewish they saw the magnitude and meaning of Jesus' claim to be the vine.
Again and again the Old Testament pictures Israel as the vine of God's vineyard. "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts." claims Isaiah, "is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant" (Isa. 5:7). And Jeremiah quotes God as saying to Israel, "I had planted you a noble vine" (Jer. 2:21, NKJV). "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt," says the psalmist (Ps. 80:8). As a result, the vine had become a symbol of Israel, so much so that they reproduced it on their coins when they were a free people. Thus to be part of the vine meant to be an Israelite or Jew.
But the Old Testament teaching regarding the vine didn't end with the identity of Israel as God's vine. The downside of the symbolism is the fact that Scripture consistently associates with Israel the idea of degeneration. The point of Isaiah is that the vineyard had run wild. For Jerimiah the nation had turned from the "noble vine" that God had planted into a "degenerate plant of a strange vine" (Jer. 2:21). And for Hosea "Israel is an empty vine" (Hosea 10:1).
Those word pictures provide the background for Jesus' shocking claim that "I am the true vine." The implication of that claim, of course, was that being born Jew did not automatically make a person a part of God's vineyard. To the contrary, Jesus is telling His Jewish hearers (and us) that to be a part of the true people of God we must be connected intimately to Him.
That thought will lead Jesus into a discussion in John 15:6-10 of what it means to abide in Him as branches tied closely to the true vine.
Before we examine those verses we need to meditate again on the way to eternal life. That path is not being born Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, or even Adventist. At its core it is being connected to Jesus as our Savior, Lord, and Friend. Being part of the Vine means that our lives and goals are totally in line with His.
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