I Am the True Vine

Divine Picture (v. 1)

“I Am”

This is the seventh and final “I AM” statement in John’s Gospel.

Each of the I AM statements further our understanding of Jesus’ ministry based in His divinity.

The foundational principle regarding these I AM statements is their declaration of Jesus’ divinity.

It is an obvious reflection of God’s words to Moses in Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

In Judaism I AM is always understood as a name for God.

Thus in these seven statements Jesus is unquestionably claiming deity.

John 8:58-59 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

While the claim of deity serves as the foundation each of these statements reveal something unique about the life and ministry of Jesus.

I AM the Bread of Life - John 6

This statement establishes a pattern found in John’s Gospel where Jesus makes a statement and uses an object lesson to illustrate.

In this case Jesus had just fed the 5000 and then declares that He is the Bread of Life.

Jesus also uses this moment to prove His superiority over Moses. When He says John 6:49-50 “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

The point Jesus is making is that just as physical food is necessary for physical life so spiritual food is necessary for spiritual life and He is that spiritual food.

I AM the Light of the World - John 8 & 9

This statement comes right before Jesus heals the man born blind.

In terms of how we interact with it , light is used to reveal. Without it we stumble in the darkness.

If Jesus is the Light what does He reveal? It is actually quite simple, He reveals God. Jesus is the mountain peak of God’s self revelation to man.

In revealing God to the world Jesus revealed truth to the world, spiritual truths we could not have otherwise known.

Physical light is necessary for physical life. The earth would certainly change very rapidly if there were no longer any sunlight. A forest full of trees with very thick canopies of foliage high above has very little plant life on the ground. Plants will never move away from the light—they are said to be positively phototropic, drawn to the light. In the same way, spiritual light is necessary for spiritual life.

I Am the Door - John 10

Using the imagery of a sheepfold Jesus makes clear the point that no one can enter the Kingdom through any other means other than Christ Himself.

The concept of a physical entry way has been fundamental to human organization since God created us. Entrances and exits keep us organized and safe from those who would do us harm.

So once again Jesus used a physical reality with which we are all familiar to communicate a fundamental spiritual truth.

I Am the good Shepherd - John 10

Note first of all that Jesus says He is “the” good Shepherd not “a” good Shepherd.

The Greek word kalos, translated “good,” describes that which is noble, wholesome, good, and beautiful, in contrast to that which is wicked, mean, foul, and unlovely. It signifies not only that which is good inwardly—character—but also that which is attractive outwardly. It is an innate goodness.

Therefore, in using the phrase “the good shepherd,” Jesus is referencing His inherent goodness, His righteousness, and His beauty.

As shepherd of the sheep, He is the one who protects, guides, and nurtures His flock.

Since we are not literally sheep we know that once again Jesus is using a tangible, physical illustration to communicate a deep spiritual truth. This time He is teaching us about the nature of His ministry to us.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life - John 11

Jesus made this “I am” statement immediately before raising Lazarus from the dead. Again, we see that Jesus’ teaching was not just empty talk; when He made a claim, He substantiated it with action.

Only two of the seven statements don’t use a physical object or concept to illustrate the truth Jesus is teaching. This is the first of those two.

In this statement Jesus clearly teaches that He holds power over life and death. Rev. 1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Jesus’ power extended not over His death only but ours as well. Even in the O.T. a physical resurrection was promised Isaiah 26:19 Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

When Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” He was claiming to be the source of both.

There is no resurrection apart from Christ, and there is no eternal life apart from Christ.

He does more than give life; He is life, and therefore death has no ultimate power over Him.

Jesus confers this spiritual life on those who believe in Him, so that they share His triumph over death (1 John 5:11-12). And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

Believers in Jesus Christ will experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, it is impossible for death to defeat them.

I Am the Way the Truth and the Life - John 14

This is the second of the two statements not illustrated in a physical object or reality.

It makes an incredibly powerful point. Jesus is the only way to God and heaven.

The Way

There is no other path to God and there is no other vehicle to take you there.

Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

The Truth

In the introduction of his Gospel John declares that Jesus is the “Word” made flesh. Jesus being both God and man spoke the very words of God revealing God to the world in a way never before seen.

Truth is that which corresponds to reality, so in terms as reality if something is true it is either because God has made it to be true or allowed it to be true.

Sin and evil are only true in that they are real things that exist in reality and for a time God allows them to continue. However, biblically we must recognize that sin and evil are diametrically opposed to truth. Why? because in a biblically God is truth.

The Life

In a conversation all about Jesus leaving through death Jesus claims to be the source of all life.

John 14:19 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.

Jesus is not only the source of all physical life in that He is the creator of all things He is also the source of all spiritual life in that He is the source of spiritual life for all those who believe.

Vine

In coming to the final “I AM” statement we find that it builds upon the one before it. This statement teaches us how we can be connected to the life that Jesus is and provides.

The picture is that of a grape vine. Jesus wanted His disciples and us to know that even though His physical body would die He, the source of all life, would not be defeated by death and we being connected to Him by His grace through our faith will never cease to be connected to that life in Him.

He is the Vine and just as the roots and trunk of a grape vine produce the energy that nourishes and sustains its branches while they develop their fruit. Jesus wants us to know that, even though we cannot see Him, we are as closely connected to Him as the branches of a vine are connected to the Vine itself.

Gardener

That Jesus designates the Father as the vinedresser while assigning Himself the role of the vine is in no way a denial of His deity and full equality with the Father.

During His incarnation, without diminishing His deity one iota, Jesus willingly assumed a subordinate role to the Father.

Moreover, the point of the analogy is not to define the relationship of the Father to the Son, but to emphasize the Father’s care for the vine and the branches.

It would not be inaccurate to say that the Father, the Gardener, planted the Vine in the earth. For it was the Father who sent His Son so that we might believe in Him and have everlasting life.

However, we must also recognize that this is also a unique case where the Vine clearly and willingly planted Himself in the earth. Jesus made it clear that He laid His life down willingly and that no one took it from Him. John 10:18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Human Picture (v. 2)

So one thing regarding biblical illustrations or metaphors is that we have to be careful not to take them further than intended. With the metaphor that Jesus uses here the point He is making is that there are two different kinds of branches with two different eternal results. I do not believe that it was Jesus’ intention for us to over analyze how the dead branches are connected to the Vine. It is apparent that Jesus was not intending to communicate that these dead branches were once alive but are now dead indicating some king of loss of salvation. That is taking the metaphor farther than Jesus intended. So again what I believe Jesus was communicating here are there are two types of branches with two different eternal results.

Dead Branches

Non fruit bearing branches

Removed

Burned (v. 6)

Living Branches

Fruit bearing branches

Trimmed, nourished and cultivated

Abide

Connective Picture (v. 3-8)

There are certain words in this text that picture our life giving connection to Christ.

Clean

Those that are connected to the Vine are clean.

Trimmed, nourished, cultivated in Christ

The occured because these branches believed the word that Jesus spoke to them.

These branches are permanently connected to the life-giving power of Jesus the True Vine. They are in Jesus by grace through faith and as such the eternal life of Jesus is in them. Thus it is accurate to say of believers that they are in Jesus and Jesus is in them. This is what it means to abide in Jesus

Abide

Every living branch is connected to the True Vine and so in some sense every living branch is abiding in Jesus.

But as is pointed out in this very text this abiding needs tending to by the gardener.

Your connection with Jesus while permanent and indelible it can be enhanced through careful trimming, nourishment and cultivation.

The trimming can be painful but it is always beneficial. Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

God may call us to give up something that we are desperately clinging to.

God uses His Word as the pruning knife, because it “is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12)

He may use affliction to prepare His people for the Word’s pruning. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.… It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:67, 71). Psalm 94:12 also makes that connection: “Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your law.”

The very same Word that is used to trim is also used to nourish. We as living branches are nourished by three things.

God Word

Prayer

Other branches being used by God

While we abide in Christ’s life we are doing God’s will. We may have the great privilege of being the vehicle God uses to implement His will in our corner of the world. (John 15:7)

When we are trimmed and trained by God’s Word we bear fruit.

Fruit

Fruit is often used as an illustration in Scripture to picture the things a person who is walking with God produces in their lives. In other words he word fruit is often used to describe a person’s outward actions that result from the condition of the heart.

Occasionally Scripture will also use the illustration of bad or rotten fruit to depict the results of someone who had rejected God.

What does the Bible teach us about good fruit produced in the life of a believer?

It is produced by the Holy Spirit. - Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

They are representations of the attributes of God. All good fruit is sourced in God. - James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

We cannot bear fruit by our own strength - John 15:4, 5

They have eternal benefit - John 15:16

Bearing fruit is the result of abiding in Christ - John 15:2-6

Good fruit can be temporarily faked - Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.

We should be known by our fruit - John 13:35

It was the death of Christ that planted the seed that enables us feeble branches to bear fruit. - John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

What is the purpose of bearing fruit?

Glory (v. 8)

The glory of God is the manifestation of His perfect nature, attributes and beauty.

We have the tendency to make ourselves the center of the universe, but in reality it is God alone worthy of such glory.

You were made to glorify God. – Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

Sin is always an attempt to steal glory from God.

We require God’s grace to be a people of God’s glory.