Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter
One of the characteristics of the Gospel according to John is Jesus’ using the tetragramic “I am” in describing himself. In today’s passage he says, “I am the true vine.” In other places he says of himself as “I am the Good Shepherd,” “I am the Bread of Life,” “I am the light of the world,” etc. It is not likely that Jesus made such gargantuan claims about himself. Rather the evangelist John uses the images with which Jesus spoke of God’s Kingdom – vineyards, shepherds and lost sheep, bread feeding thousands – to indicate the Lordship of Jesus.
By having Jesus call himself the “true vine,” the evangelist means that he gives life. As a branch would wither if it were disconnected from the vine, so would those who cut themselves off from the Church soon fail to live productive lives. Productive lives are not necessarily those which generate a lot of money or children. They are lives which work for the good of all and end in true happiness.
We may have difficulty appreciating all the images the evangelist John uses to describe Jesus’ Lordship. Most of us get our fruit from stores, not from trees. Living in an age that prizes autonomy, we may think we are being underestimated when compared to sheep in need of a shepherd. But if Jesus is all that we proclaim of him to be in the Creed, then we need him as much as we need air.
