“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1, 5)
In the gospel according to St. John, seven (7) times, Jesus Christ referred to Himself, using the phrase “I AM”.
I AM the bread of life – John 6: 35, 48
I AM the light of the world – John 8: 12
I AM the door of the sheep – John 10: 7
I AM the good shepherd – John 10: 11, 14
I AM the resurrection and the life – John 11:25
I AM the way, the truth, and the life – John 14: 6
I AM the truth vine – John 15:1,5
Even in the Old Testament, God also used this “I AM” to describe Himself. He said “…I AM your shield,…”(Gen. 15:1b); “…I AM the Lord…”(Gen. 15:7); “…I AM Almighty God…” (Gen. 17:1). You remember in Exodus 3:13-14, Moses said to God when He asked him to go and deliver the Israelites from Pharaoh in Egypt, and bring them out to the promised land, if they ask me ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.”
Jesus said ALL THESE ‘I AM’ to reveal His nature as the one who is dependable, reliable; and as the one who changes not, even in this changing world. Today, we are not going into the theology of the “I AM”, but to briefly charge ourselves on the last “I AM” saying of Jesus from the gospel according to John as listed above. When Jesus says “I am the true vine…”, with the adjective (true), it quickly suggests that, perhaps, there are other vines apart from Jesus, and who are not true and genuine . But Jesus is the original and the real vine; and as the true vine, we who are named after Him can do but absolutely nothing without Him (John 15: 5).
In Genesis 1:22, 28; 8: 17, God blessed man and said “Be fruitful and multiply”. To be fruitful is to increase, to have things in abundance; and to be fruitful in this context includes physical fruitfulness, material fruitfulness, spiritual fruitfulness, fruitfulness in every area of life. And Christ was saying that, if you must fulfill destiny of fruitfulness, then you must abide in Him. Forthermore, He said, “…for without Me, you can do nothing”(John 15:5). Without Christ, every man labours but in futility. This also corroborates what Paul the apostle said in Phil. 4:13 “I can only do all things (fruitfulness inclusive) through Christ who gives me strength.”
Someone sometime mathematically proves this accretion of Jesus Christ that without Him we can do nothing, as follows: C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N – C.H.R.I.S.T = I.A.N. This acronym I.A.N. means I-AM-NOTHING. In other words, even as a Christian, without Christ, we are nothing and can do nothing.
Beloved in Christ, as we go into the new week and the new month, let us always remember that we are just branches and Jesus Christ is the vine and the true vine. We are nothing but ordinary sand; hence on our own, we can do nothing. If we separate ourselves from Him, we become failures. With our own ability, we can but achieve nothing. Let us therefore hold to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
Have a fruitful week ahead.