John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.”
The “true vine” is contrasted with all the want-a-be vines that look nice, but they bear no real fruit. When I was a young boy, I greatly enjoyed wondering through the woods, watching all the little creatures and admiring all the undergrowth and trees; I was especially intrigued with the vines. I quickly learned that some vines were just nice to look at, but others consistently yielded dark purple grapes. These wild grapes were large and very tasty; I would pick and eat them and fill my pockets full of them. Mom made the world’s best jelly with them. There was a hazard though, the birds loved these delicious grapes too, and the snakes loved the birds. So, it was always good to look carefully before approaching the vine. Our Lord allegorizes Himself as “the true vine” so that we can have a better understanding of how He relates to us. Using our Lord’s allegory, there are plenty of want-a-be christs in this world, and “the serpent” (Genesis 3:1) will do everything in his (limited) power to keep us away from “the true vine”. In the world around us we often encounter meanness, wickedness, and hatred; but, on “the true vine” we find the blessed “fruit of the Spirit” which “is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23)! This blessed “fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9); but, in the world around us we frequently encounter bad things, unrighteous attitudes and behaviors, and untruths that would discourage us and lead us away from “the true vine”. Our Lord lovingly Commands us to “Abide in” Him (John 15:4)!