The obvious connections that spring to mind with the vine in John’s Gospel are the changing of water to wine at the wedding in Cana and the wine of the Last Supper. Some have supposed that this discourse was delivered in the room where the Lord’s Supper was instituted, and that, as they had made use of wine, Jesus took occasion from that to say that He was the true vine, and to intimate that His blood was the real wine that was to give strength to the soul. Others have supposed that it was delivered in the temple, the entrance to which was adorned with a golden vine (Josephus), and that Jesus then took the opportunity to say that He was the true vine; but it is most probable that it was spoken while they were going from the Paschal supper to the Mount of Olives. Whether it was suggested by the sight of vines by the way, or by the wine of which they had just partaken, cannot be determined.
Just as Israel is called a noble vine, wholly a right seed, זרע אמת, “a seed of truth”, Jer_2:21; right genuine seed; or, as the Septuagint render it, “a vine”, bringing forth fruit, πασαν αληθινην, “wholly true”; to which the allusion may be here. Christ is the noble vine, the most excellent of vines, wholly a right seed, in opposition to, and distinction from, the wild and unfruitful, or degenerate plant of a strange vine: to him agree all the properties of a right and real vine; He really and truly communicates life, sap, juice, nourishment, and fruitfulness to the branches which are in him. The bearer of life and life giving sap.
The metaphor Christ makes use of was well known to the Jews; for not only the Jewish church is often compared to a vine, but the Messiah too, according to them: thus the Targumist explains the phrase in Psa_80:15, “the branch thou madest strong for thyself”, of the King Messiah: and indeed, by comparing it with Psa_80:17 it seems to be the true sense of the passage. The Kabbalistic teachers say that the Shekinah (Glory) is called, גפן, “a vine”; see Gen_49:11; where the Jews observe the King Messiah is called the vine.
Thus, the Jewish people are compared to a vine which God had planted, Isa_5:1-7; Psa_80:8-16; Joe_1:7; Jer_2:21; Eze_19:10. When Jesus said He was the true vine, perhaps the allusion is linked to Jer_2:21. The word “true,” here, is used in the sense of real, genuine. He really and truly gives what is emblematically represented by a vine.
The symbolism of the vine itself is a vine – The point of the comparison or the meaning of the figure is this: A vine yields proper juice and nourishment to all the branches, whether these are large or small. All the nourishment of each branch and tendril passes through the main stalk, or the vine, that springs from the earth. So Jesus is the source of all real strength and grace to his disciples. He is their leader and teacher, and imparts to them, as they need, grace and strength to bear the fruits of holiness. We are by nature dry and fit for nothing but the fire. Therefore, in order that we may live and be fruitful, we must first be grafted into Christ, as it were into a vine, by the Father’s hand: and then be daily moulded with a continual meditation of the word, and the cross: otherwise it will not avail any man at all to have been grafted unless he cleaves fast to the vine, and so draws juice out of it.
Every man “under his vine and under his fig-tree” (1Ki_4:25; Mic_4:4; Zec_3:10) was a sign of national peace and prosperity. To plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof implied long and settled habitation (2Ki_19:29; Psa_107:37; Isa_37:30; Isa_65:21; Jer_31:5; Eze_28:26; Amo_9:14); to plant and not eat the fruit was a misfortune (Deu_20:6; compare 1Co_9:7) and might be a sign of God’s displeasure (Deu_28:30; Zep_1:13; Amo_5:11). Not to plant vines might be a sign of deliberate avoidance of permanent habitation (Jer_35:7). A successful and prolonged vintage showed God’s blessing (Lev_26:5), and a fruitful wife is compared to a vine (Psa_128:3); a failure of the vine was a sign of God’s wrath (Psa_78:47; Jer_8:13; Joe_1:7)
- Psa 80:8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
- Psa 80:14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
- Isa 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
- Jer 2:21 But I was the One who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?
- 1 Kings 4:25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
This reference is interesting because it links us back to what Jesus says in John 1:48, 50 about seeing Nathanael under the fig tree. Both the fig tree and the vine had the same symbolism. Is Jesus picking up the symbolism from the reference to Nathanael and taking it further here. You figure it out.
There is much more but I will stop at this point and leave you to ponder it. You don’t need me to tell you what to think. Having dug up some gold you decide what you do with it.
Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
Regina Brett
Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still.
L. Erickson