<p>15:1- see on Lk. 13:8.</p><p><em>I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman</em>- The Lord Jesus in John&rsquo;s Gospel describes Himself in terms of the &ldquo;I am&hellip;&rdquo; formula. Each time, He was referring back to the burning bush revelation of Yahweh as the &ldquo;I am&rdquo;; and by implication, the Lord&rsquo;s audience are thereby placed in the position of Moses, intended to rise up in response as he did. This parable is in the direct context of the promise of the Spirit. This is expressed here as the Father's constant activity as our husbandman, seeking to elicit spiritual fruit from us. And likewise our partaking in the vine means that we receive the sap, representing the Spirit, without which we are &quot;none of His&quot; are dead, unable to bring forth fruit.</p><p>&quot;The true vine&quot; suggests that the community in view is the true one compared to a false one; and the false vine was the community of Israel: &quot;Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt and planted it in this land&quot; (Ps. 80:8).</p><p>In this parable, the mediation of the Spirit is envisaged as being provided collectively, to the whole vine. If we opt out of realistic mixing with each other, we are effectively resigning from Christ. For He <em>is</em> His brothers and sisters. He didn&rsquo;t say &lsquo;I am the trunk and you are the branches&rsquo;, He said &lsquo;I <em>am</em> the vine, and you are the branches&rsquo;. We <em>are</em> Him, His body. Our attitude to our brothers and sisters is our attitude to Him. We cannot claim to love God if we don&rsquo;t love our brother. It&rsquo;s as simple as this. &nbsp;</p><p>The Father is the husbandman, and is noted for His long patience in waiting &quot;for the precious fruit&quot; (James 5:7). Every bit of spiritual development is so precious to Him. To hinder it by our attitude to others, or enforcing situations which are going to limit the development of spirituality in others, is deeply displeasing to God and frustrating of His purpose and work for people.</p><p>The same word is used by the Lord in the synoptics concerning the parable of the husbandmen in Mt. 21; Mk. 12 and Lk. 20. This is surely John's take on that parable. The Jewish husbandmen had failed to develop fruit for the Father, and had been replaced by other husbandmen. But ultimately, the owner of the vineyard also becomes the husbandman. He is manifested through our efforts to be husbandmen. If we consciously seek to develop spiritual fruit in others then we will experience God's especial blessing and empowerment of our efforts.</p>