This is the 7th and final I Am statement made by Jesus in John’s gospel. The first five I Am statements were made to the crowds of people in Israel; these last two I Am statements are said only to His disciples as He prepares them for His departure. Though He departs from His disciples, He encourages them to remain in Him and His love, like a branch would to a vine. In this article we will break down this I Am statement in detail and explain why Jesus is ‘The True Vine.’

The scene is set on a Thursday Evening, after the Passover meal in the upper room. Judas has left Jesus and the other disciples to carry on with his plan to betray his master. It’s well within the night now, Jesus and His eleven remaining disciples leave the upper room, and they walk through Jerusalem to the east side of the city. They head towards the garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane meaning ‘oil press’. This is important to note because it is here that the Messiah of Israel will be pressed and will suffer on the next day. It is here at this garden, Jesus makes this ‘I Am the true Vine’ claim. It is here at this garden Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for His departure; and it is here at this garden, Judas will betray Him with a kiss and Jesus will be arrested and bound by roman soldiers. He will be taken away, judged, and killed. However, this is all done according to God’s will.

The True Vine:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1)

‘The vine’ as a metaphor was not a new idea in Scripture. In the Old Testament, God’s vine was Israel.

You have brought a vine out of Egypt;

You have cast out the nations, and planted it.

You prepared room for it,

And caused it to take deep root,

And it filled the land. (Psalm 80:8)

Israel empties his vine;

He brings forth fruit for himself.

According to the multitude of his fruit

He has increased the altars;

According to the bounty of his land

They have embellished his sacred pillars. (Hosea 10:1)

God cared for and blessed Israel as His own possession. He would bless those who would bless Israel, and curse those who would curse her (Gen 12:3). All peoples were supposed to be blessed through this nation. However, we see in Scripture, Israel disconnected herself from God and this was the reason why her vine became fruitless.

Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.

How then have you turned before Me

Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? (Jer 2:21)

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,

And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.

He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;

For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.(Isa5:7) 

Israel had turned her back on the covenant relationship she had with God. But God is faithful! The major blessing God would provide through Israel for all peoples would be Jesus Himself who had come to connect and redeem us back to God. (John 3:16; Gal 1:4: Hebrews 9:15). It is also important to note that though Israel had rejected their Messiah, God’s gaze will return to Israel because this covenant is irrevocable.

Jesus is The True Vine! He will remain faithful to those who are connected to Him. And only through Him will many be blessed with an eternal inheritance by being connected to Him. Just like Jesus previous metaphors, ‘The True Light’ (John 1:9) and ‘The True bread.’ (John 6:32). He alone can lead us towards the promise of eternal life, and He alone can satisfy the hungry and thirsty soul. He is the true vine because He alone can connect us and redeem us back to God.

If anything, the first vine (Israel) can be seen as a foreshadow for the True Vine (Jesus) who is the blessing from God for all people if they are connected to Him. The blessing of knowing the One True God can only be made possible by being connected through Jesus Christ.

The Branches:

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. (John 15:2)

There are two branches mentioned in the John 15 passage as well. One is a fruitful branch and the other an unfruitful branch. Both branches look the same; both branches are close to the vine but only one of them is connected to the vine. For the unfruitful branch, the passage says that it will be cutoff, gathered and thrown into the fire to be burnt. The fruitful branch however will be pruned and cared for to produce more fruit. The branches represent two types of people. If we base it on the context of the passage, the fruitful branch represents the 11 disciples as well as all true believers. The unfruitful branch represents Judas and false believers. A person can call themselves a Christian, they can look like a Christian, and go to church every Sunday. They may have walked up to the front of the church and prayed a prayer, so they would think in their mind they are now Christians. But Jesus tells us repeatedly even to this point nearing His death, that the way to know that if someone is a true believer is if they are obedient to His word (John 15: 7,10). A true believer will bear fruit which is proof of them being born again in the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Judas Himself had a privileged position of being part of the inner 12 of Jesus disciples. He would have had the privilege of being taught by Jesus Himself; seen His miracles firsthand; he would’ve been involved with the ministry; spent quality time in the presence of Jesus and was even considered a close friend of Jesus. Yet He was not connected to Jesus. His fruits was his love for money. It was his love for money that caused him to betray Jesus. All branches that don’t produce fruit are cutoff by the vinedresser (God) and is gathered and thrown into the fire (which is Hell) to be burnt up. The branches need to be connected to the Vine (Jesus).

Jesus further emphasizes the importance of being connected to Him in this passage. He repeats the word ‘remain’ or in some translations ‘abide’ ten times in this passage. He says, ‘remain in me; remain in the vine; remain in my love…’ because without Jesus, they can do nothing. True followers of Jesus must be fully reliant on Jesus. So what does it mean and how do we remain in Jesus? The passage tells us

 If you keep My commandments,

you will abide in My love,

just as I have kept My Father’s commandments

and abide in His love. (John 15:10)

The way for us to remain in Jesus is to remain in His word. (John 8:31). When we live in Jesus words, His words will abide richly in us (Col 3:16). Thus producing fruit of the Spirit in the believer for God’s glory (Gal 5:22-23). As the saying goes, ‘to be filled in the Spirit, you have to be saturated in His word.’ A true follower of Jesus Christ, loves and lives in God’s word!’ 

Summary

To summarize, Jesus is the true vine because He alone can connect us back in right relationship with God. In being connected to Jesus, the promise of our eternal inheritance is secure in Jesus because He is faithful. The command He gave to His disciples before He was taken to trial was to remain in Him. This is the same command given to us today as followers of Jesus. To remain in Him is to remain in His word and be obedient to it. One can be born again in the Spirit by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal saviour. And one can start bearing fruit when He is obedient to God’s word. Again we say, the consequence of not being connected to the vine is Hell. Where the Vinedresser (God) will cut you off, gather you and throw you into the fire (Hell). ‘‘…you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am (Jesus), you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24). 

Have you connected yourself to Jesus?