5. I Am the True Vine

Question 1

1. Wine Culture

Answer 1

• Discourse involves Jesus comparing himself to a vine in a vineyard and God to the gardener.
- Gardener cuts away useless branches (making plant healthier)

• Both Jews and Romans enjoyed wine as a ‘soft drink’.

• Romans had a God of wine: Bacchus
• Jews set aside a cup of wine for the Messiah.

• In claiming to be the True Vine, Jesus identifies himself as the true god of wine instead of the false Bacchus and the real source of the Passover celebration.

Question 2

2. Symbolic of Jewish People

Answer 2

• OT uses the Vine as a symbol for the Jewish people or Israel.

• Jesus claims to be the root of the Vine and that God will cut of the branches that don’t ‘bear fruit’.
- This isn’t just a warning to sinful Jews; it’s directed at the Pharisees who don’t show humility in their lives.

Question 3

3. Fruit

Answer 3

• “If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit”
• Those who believe in Jesus bear fruit. (Fruit = Eternal Life)

Question 4

4. Brown’s Interpretation

Answer 4

1. Sapiential Theme: Focuses on Jesus’ teachings of love.
   - Jesus makes clear that the ‘fruit’ is agape love
2. Sacramental Theme: describes Christian ceremony of the Eucharist
   - Wine that is drunk in the Eucharist. (Jesus also claims to be Bread of Life)

Question 5

5. Implications

Answer 5

• In Mathew’s Gospel, Jesus claims the greatest commandment is…
• “Love your neighbour as yourself”
• Fletcher developed Situation Ethics based on the idea of solving moral problems by putting agape into practice..
• However, there are many problems with this theory.

Question 6

Summary

Answer 6

1. Wine Culture
2. Symbolic of Jewish People
3. Fruit
4. Brown’s Interpretation
5. Implications