“I am the vine you are the branches”

I am truly amazed to find that having owned this vine for 6 years, it has at last produced some grapes in my garden – even if they are small ones – and they might get bigger.

I love thinking about the  “I am”  sayings of Jesus which we find in St John’s gospel, one of  which is:

” Jesus said, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches’ John 15 v 5

and here are some thoughts on that passage which I have found from:

http://www.growthingod.org.uk/IAM.htm

The True Vine

Jesus said, ‘I am the vine; you are the branches’ (John 15: 5). This was the last great ‘I am’ statement that he made. He spoke these words in the middle of his long discourse the night before he died. The central theme of that discourse was the great differences that would come to the disciples when they received the Holy Spirit.

Of all the trees in the land of Israel that Jesus could have chosen, he selected the vine. He could easily have said, “I am the palm tree; you are the branches.” The vine and the palm tree both bear fruit, but their appearances are very different. A palm tree has a long clearly defined trunk and branches that are almost leaves. Its branches are completely different from its trunk. A vine is made up entirely of branches and has no clearly defined trunk at all. In other words, the vine is its branches.

We could easily think that the palm tree would have been a better picture of Jesus and his followers. The long, strong trunk would represent him, and the cluster of large leaves at the top would be his followers. That however is not the picture he chose to represent himself and us. He chose the vine, the one plant that is made up entirely of branches. We are totally identified with him. He is the vine, and we are also the vine. We are in him, and a part of him.

The vine perfectly illustrates what Jesus said, ‘Remain in me, and I in you’ (John 15: 4).

We have no separate identity from him. If we are in him, and he is in us, then whatever he is we are. If he is the Son of God, we also are sons of God. If he is the bread of life, then we also are the bread of life. If he is the light of the world, then we also are the light of the world. If he is the way, the truth and the life, then we also are the way, the truth and the life.

May God make these things a glorious reality in us!

Hope you enjoy these reflections.