The Vine and the Vineyard

Israel the vineyard that disappoints — and Jesus the true vine that bears fruit.

God plants a vine — Israel — and tends it with care, but again and again it yields wild or bitter grapes; the prophets sing of a vineyard that breaks its owner's heart. Then Jesus says, quietly and astonishingly, "I am the true vine." Where the nation failed to bear fruit, he succeeds — and those who abide in him share his life. The trail runs from the songs of a failing vineyard to the abundance of the vine who never fails.

1
A vine out of Egypt
Psalms 80:8
¶You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.
Psalm 80 remembers Israel as a vine God planted and asks why its walls are broken down.
2
The song of the vineyard
Isaiah 5:7
¶For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Isaiah's vineyard yields wild grapes — injustice instead of righteousness.
3
A choice vine gone wild
Jeremiah 2:21
“Yet I planted you as a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
Jeremiah: planted as a pure vine, the people became a corrupt, wild one.
4
"I am the true vine"
John 15:1
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Jesus is the vine that bears the fruit Israel could not; his people abide in him.

The Vine and the Vineyard

A vine out of Egypt

The song of the vineyard

A choice vine gone wild

"I am the true vine"