I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. John 15:1
BACKGROUND
Here, we see the last of the seven “I am” statements made by Jesus and recorded in John’s gospel. In this statement, Jesus uses a metaphorical discourse that involves one of the most familiar plants in the Middle East, namely, the grapevine. A grapevine is a climbing plant that produces fruit called grapes. The grape is a delicious fruit that is eaten and is often used to make wine.
The farmer who maintains the grapevine and harvests the grapes has a unique relationship with his grapevines. Unlike farmers who raise annual crops like vegetables, the vinedresser or husbandman of grapevines nurtures the same grapevines for decades. He gets to know all the peculiarities of the vines, and he cares for his grapevines by pruning healthy, productive branches and trimming unproductive branches. The unproductive branches are removed from the vine bush and destroyed. All this is done to keep his grapevines vibrant and producing good fruit.
The relationship of the vinedresser with his grapevine is a close one very familiar to the people of Jesus’ day. Over the years, the vinedresser comes to know each vine’s particular needs and characteristics. A special relationship and attitude develop over time that is necessary for the success of each grapevine and the vineyard in general. This relationship is not unlike the relationship of the shepherd and his sheep.
The vinedresser/vine and the shepherd/sheep relationships would have been very recognizable and familiar to all those hearing Jesus speak. Consequently, Jesus used metaphors concerning the vinedresser and the vine and the shepherd and the sheep to explain gospel truths in a way that the hearers of His discourses could easily understand.
The Jews of Jesus’ day knew the Old Testament and certainly would have easily associated worldly and spiritual fruitfulness with the fruitfulness of the vine as it was in Scripture (Ps. 80:9, 14; Is. 5:1-7; Ezek. 17:7, 8). Likewise, the vine failing to bring forth good fruit would also have been familiar to them (Is. 5:4; Jer. 2:21).
The first question the student of Scripture might ask when trying to understand John 15:1-11 is, “What was Jesus teaching by using the metaphor of the grapevine?” Some commentators try to connect this metaphor to the Lord’s Supper sacrament instituted by Jesus that night at the Passover meal in the Upper Room. They point to the fact that one of the two elements of the Lord’s Supper meal is wine, the fruit of the vine. However, John does not state anything about the participants drinking wine, as seen in the synoptic gospels (cf. Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18).
The synoptic gospels contain numerous parables with vineyard plots, where the vineyard usually portrayed all or part of Israel (e.g., Matt. 21:23-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 20:9-16, etc.). Unlike those synoptic parables that focused on the vineyard, this extended metaphor in John chapter 15 has no plot but centers on Jesus Himself as the true vine.
THE TRUE VINE
John is writing about the union of believers (i.e., the branches) in Christ (i.e., the vine). Jesus initiates this union by His incarnation and seals it by His sacrificial atoning death on the cross. The believers’ response of believing in Christ by the grace of God and through saving faith results in the unification of believers with Christ.
The vine metaphor is found in Old Testament Scripture referring to Israel. For example, in Psalm 80:8-14a Israel is the vine that God brought out of Egypt and cleared a place for it, and God planted it, and “it took deep root and filled the land” (Ps. 80:8, 9). The psalmist continues, “It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the river” (Ps. 80:11). But then the psalmist plaintively expresses deep sorrow as Israel no longer thrives because of God’s disfavor with Israel, which consequently suffers under the heal of its enemies. God judged Israel because it failed to produce good fruit as the chosen people of God were expected to produce.
Israel was a foreshadowing of the future genuine vine, Jesus. But Jesus accomplished what the Old Testament type that was Israel failed to do. John presents Jesus here as the true vine, the genuine article. The apostle portrays Jesus as the true vine and His disciples as the branches which derive their life and sustenance from Jesus. This life in Christ strengthens them for fruit-producing.
True believers, the metaphorical branches genuinely connected with the symbolic vine, Jesus, receive life and nourishment from Jesus and cannot help but produce good fruit. Believers in Christ are fruitful because of their obedience to the living Word. This means that through obedience, believers lead a Christ-like existence. And as a consequence of their obedience, they are fruitful. Obedience to Christ and the mediation of the Holy Spirit produce this fruitful living in every true believer.
Jesus tells believers in His discourse that they must abide in Him or live in Him as the branches live in the vine (v. 4). By abiding in Christ, believers have free access to the nutrients of the Word that enable the production of good fruit. By walking in step with the Holy Spirit, Christians develop the Christian character, which Christ expects and that the apostle Paul described when He wrote, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22, 23),
Only true believers in Christ who remain intimately attached to Jesus and love Him as He loves them are true branches that will receive life and sustenance from Him forever. Those who do not remain attached to Jesus show that they never had a genuine saving relationship with Christ, and these “branches” will have to be trimmed and discarded by the vinedresser (Cf. Matt. 7:21-23).
THE VINEDRESSER
Jesus was careful to include the identity of the vinedresser in this “I am” statement. The Father is the vinedresser who cares for the vine by removing unfruitful branches and by pruning fruitful branches to maximize their fruitfulness.
The Father tends to the vine and the branches to keep the “branches” spiritually healthy so as to produce good fruit. By” pruning” the branches, the Father cleanses believers through regeneration and justification. But the Father does more. The Father gave the Son, and the Father (and the Son) sent the Holy Spirit. And through His providence, the Father lovingly disciplines His children, the true believers (Heb. 12:6-11). The purpose of His discipline is to care for His children “that we may share his holiness” (Heb. 12:10), and His loving discipline “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” to believers.
CONCLUSION
Jesus, knowing that His departure for heaven was imminent, pronounced this last “I am” statement to comfort His disciples and to prepare them for what was to come. He spoke to the eleven disciples and all His followers in the church era on earth, including Christians today.
He wanted His disciples to know that though they would no longer enjoy His physical presence, His real spiritual presence would continue to nourish their souls and sustain them in their faith.
Jesus knew that there would be pressure on them to return to the law of Moses and Judaism. So He emphasized the importance of them continuing to abide in Him by faith and continue to produce the fruit of the Spirit.
He also knew that in His physical absence, it would be easy for division to occur amongst the disciples due to disagreements, misunderstandings, jealousies, and other feelings and emotions that could result in disunity and discord among their number. Knowing this, Jesus commanded that they each love one another as He loved them (v. 12).
Our Lord knew that the world hated them as the world hated Him, and he knew the pressure that would come upon them to abandon their faith. So He spoke to them at length about the hatred of the world and the persecution that they could expect because of their allegiance to Him. This is why He reiterated that they love one another (v. 17) and reminded them that they should abide in Him and everything He taught them.
And, of course, Jesus assured them He would send a Helper, the Spirit of Truth. He told them that the Holy Spirit would bear witness about Him. The Spirit “will guide you into all the truth” and “he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).
Jesus made His disciples aware that even though He would soon no longer be present physically, His presence would be a reality in spirit, and the Holy Spirit would be with them for their comfort and guidance. He would not abandon them but would continue His real presence in spirit until he came back to take them to heaven to be with Him forever. So, it is also for Christians today.
