“I am” saying of the Fourth Gospel (random order)

Question 1

I am the good shepherd (10: 11, 14): views of scholars & symbolism

Answer 1

Schnackenburg - “In the origin of ancient times as well as in Greece & the Hellenistic world, the use of “shepherd” as a designation for divine of human leader was widespread.”
Okarie - “Jesus is the gate and its keeper…Jesus opens the door for humankind to God.”
Beasley-Murray - “ ‘kalos’ (good) relates primarily to the readiness of the shepherd to lay down his life for the sheep.”
Morris - “the death of the Good Shepherd means life for his sheep”

Question 2

I am the good shepherd (10: 11, 14) - OT background

Answer 2

• a shepherd was required to lay down his life for the sheep as was the King of Israel (Isaiah 53:5)
• however, in the Old Testament, God condemned the leaders of Israel for being like Shepherds who were more concerned with their own safety

Question 3

I am the good shepherd (10: 11, 14) - Content & meaning (nature & purpose)

Question 4

I am the true vine (15:1)/the vine (15:5) - OT background

Answer 4

1. cutting off branches that are useless; further pruning branches that bear fruit -> link to Jeremiah 2:21 -> “Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?”
2. “I am the vine; you are the branches” -> link to Hosea 10:1 -> “Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increase the more altars he built; as his country improved his pillars.”
3. Isaiah 5:1-7: parable of the vineyard -> yielded wild (inedible) grapes despite the luxurious setup i.e. “very fertile hill”, “built a watchtower in the midst of it”; said landowner begs for answers as to why his ‘perfect’ vineyard has failed; the landowner eventually destroys his vineyard for the greed & drunkenness of the people: the vineyard is Israel, & the owner the Lord

Question 5

I am the true vine (15:1)/the vine (15:5): Symbolism

Answer 5

• God had showed that he would judge faithlessness when he sent the Israelites into exile
• Jesus is the way to access the Kingdom of God: once you trust in Jesus you become part of the vine
• if you are in the vine you must bear fruit
• the way to bear fruit is by showing love for each other

Question 6

I am the true vine (15:1)/the vine (15:5) - meanings (nature & purpose)

Answer 6

1. in this new age (i.e. NT) Jesus is the vine & the Father is the gardener; it seems apt (fitting) that Jesus used this OT language in relating to the Jews e.g. Isaiah 5:1-7
2. branch cannot bear fruit along, away from the branch: nor can a Christian, unless they are firmly rooted in Jesus (touched upon in John 15:6)
3. Jesus has already been seen to replace the temple, the law & festivals but here is seen to replace all of Israel
4. Old Israel (metaphorically speaking) became faithless & fruitless; eventually it ‘passed away’ for a new age of believers rooted in Christ
5. John 15:7: written intimately through Christ’s washing of the feet; similar to “eat my flesh, drink my blood”
6. this particular saying is significant in the context of the Eucharist: you gain life from abiding, not drinking (another link to Isaiah 5:1-7)
7. the mark of the Christian is spiritual fruitfulness; which is achieved through dependence upon Jesus: this contrasts with the failure of the vineyard (Israel) to bear fruit
8. being obedient is defined by love (the mark of the disciple); this can only be achieved by the disciples, through Christ’s influence
9. scholarly meaning: “Jesus is his own Person the whole people of God” (Temple, quoted in Okarie, 2001)

Question 7

I am the true vine (15:1)/the vine (15:5) - views of scholars

Answer 7

Simmons: “some scholars have seen echoes of Mandaism [Gnostic (there is a creator but no higher power) religion] or Platonic philosophy here.”
Okarie: “Jesus presents himself as the faithful remnant discharging the purpose of God”
Lyall: “In order to bear fruit a branch must have the life of the vine passing into and through it”, “…we remain in him and he remains in us - the result is fruit”
Bultmann: he sees the background of the true vine as a Gnostic idea; specifically the Gnostic idea that the vine is the ‘tree of life’

Question 8

I am the bread of life (6:35; 48)/the Living bread (6:41, 51) - OT background