Deity of Jesus

As with the other "I am" statements in the gospel of John, Jesus' words "I am the vine" not only claim He is the great Jehovah ("I am Who I am") but also describe one of His roles as God within the Godhead that is the trinity.

Jesus is with the apostles in the upper room during the last supper. He had already told them "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), an unmistakable claim of deity. When Jesus adds "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser" (John 15:1) He was then clarifying His and His Father's roles in the lives of those who worship the true God. Both He and the Father perform duties the Old Testament had already made clear were unique to God. As "the true vine" Jesus is claiming to be the source of life, like the grape vine that shoots out from the ground. Yet, Deuteronomy 32:39 affirms of God "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand."

Abraham, through successful completion of God's greatest test, came to know God as "Jehovah Jireh," the "I am" Who provides (Gen. 22:14). Jesus asserts here that He alone is the source of all life, spiritual or physical, and provides not only the path to His Father but also the ability to walk it. The Father Himself is not the root, the source of life to the vine, but the "vinedresser," the One Who prunes the vines. This picture, a little obscure today, would have been readily understo

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heaven) that the world couldn't contain all the books required to describe them. John chose a few to prove to the world that Jesus is both the Messiah and God. When Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2:1-11) he demonstrated His power over the physical universe. Later on He would compare Himself to a grape vine (John 15:1-6); here He shows that He is the One Who makes the grape vine bear fruit. He slaps down Bacchus by doing what God does every year, but this time He does it in front of a crowd to prove Bacchus has nothing to do with it. "In a certain sense, He constantly turns water into wine, for wine, like all drinks, is but water modified . . . God, now incarnate, short circuits the process: makes wine in a moment" (Lewis 136-137). When Jesus heals the nobleman's son (John 4:46-54) He demonstrates His power not only over the physical body (hence in reference to Deut. 32:39 Jesus also demonstrates He is the God Who made that body) but Jesus also demonstrates His power over space, as the boy was healed in Capernaum while his father was begging Jesus for mercy in Cana, 20-25 miles away. The official or nobleman ascertained later that the boy was indeed healed at the moment Jesus spoke (v. 53). Although Jesus rebuked him (a

Category: Philosophy - D