THE TRUE VINE

This is the last of the seven great I AM’s in this John’s gospel. The Lord Jesus does not only say, ‘I am the vine’, but He says, ‘I am the true vine’. This would suggest that there have been untrue vines. Israel, for example, was described as the vine. Hosea said, ‘Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself’, 10. 1. Israel was never the true, faithful and fruitful vine. This could only be said of Christ. In contrast to Israel, we see in Christ the selflessness of the true vine. It is interesting also to see that the true vine is the One who, because of his deity, is possessed of self-existence. He has life within himself. He is the all-sufficient one. Such is the life of the true vine, for His life is inherent within Himself. It would seem that the Lord Jesus led His disciples from the upper room, through the vineyards that He might use an object lesson in His teaching concerning the husbandman, the vine, and the branches.

In the expression, ‘I am the true vine’, the Lord Jesus is presenting Himself as the source and the sustainer of life. It is important for us to see a distinction in two expressions in John’s first epistle. John said, ‘hereby know we that we are in him’, 1 John. 2. 5. But then He said, ‘He that saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked’, 1 John. 2. 6. Our being in Him refers to a relationship that cannot be broken. Our abiding in Him refers to our communion with Him, which is a fragile and delicate thread. So the Lord Jesus spoke of ‘every branch in me’, and then of ‘the branch that abides in me’. Similarly, He said, ‘Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you’, 15. 3. He was referring to conversion, the washing of regeneration. In the previous verse, He said, ‘every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth (purgeth, KJV) it, that it may bring forth more fruit’, 15. 2. He was referring to a second and continual cleansing in order that much fruit be borne. Our initial cleansing took place when we became ‘in him’. Our fruitfulness is the result of our ‘abiding in Him’. He promised that when we abide in Him, we will bring forth much fruit; we will not experience withering, our prayers will be answered, God will be glorified, and our joy will be full, 15. 2-11.