John 15:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

NIV: I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

NASB: I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

CSB: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

NLT: I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.

KJV: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

NKJV: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

This is the seventh of seven times in the gospel of John where Jesus uses the "I Am" terminology. The phrasing echoes God's words to Moses when speaking from the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). As with the other "I Am" comments (John 6:35; 8:12; 10:7–9, 11; 11:25; 14:6), Jesus not only makes a subtle claim to divinity, He reveals a crucial aspect of how God relates to mankind.

Metaphors for vine and vineyards are common in the Bible for a reason. Most people would have been familiar with the process of growing and tending grape vines. The disciples, being Jewish, would have recognized references to vines from the Old Testament. Jeremiah 2:21, for instance, compares the nation of Israel to a vine that was planted but then turned wild. Passages such as Ezekiel 15, Isaiah 5:1–7, and Hosea 10:1 continue this analogy.

As Jesus introduces this symbolism, He evokes Old Testament ideas of God as a "vinedresser," relating to His people much the same way someone might grow and nurture a plant in their garden or farm. That process includes things like pruning and removal of dead or diseased branches (John 15:2).

John 15:1–11 contains one of Jesus' most well-known metaphors: the vine and the branches. This features the seventh of seven "I Am" statements as recorded by John. Jesus lays out several nuanced ideas, touching on Christian perseverance, faith, false conversion, and spiritual effectiveness. This ends with another reference to loving obedience, which sets up the next passage of Jesus' teaching.

This passage begins with a celebrated analogy from Christ: the vine and the branches. This includes the seventh and final "I Am" statement of the gospel of John. Jesus uses this metaphor to explain how our spiritual life, as born-again believers, is drawn from His life. God's intent for our lives is to progress from barrenness to fruitfulness, to spiritual abundance. Jesus also repeats His command for believers to love each other. In this context, He goes so far as to refer to those who follow His teachings as His "friends."

Jesus is in the middle of a long discourse given to the disciples, which began during the last supper. He presents the analogy of a vine and branches, then repeats His command for believers to love each other. Jesus also warns about how the unbelieving world will hate and persecute Christians. This leads into the teachings of chapter 16, which focus on perseverance in the face of trials.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.