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{{Short description|Biblical term of Jesus}}
{{for-multi|the 2016 book|Truevine|the English country house in Hampshire|The Vyne|other uses|Vine (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Leos Moskos Christ on a Vine.png|thumb|''[[Christ the Vine (Moskos)|Christ the True Vine]]'', 17th century Greek painting by [[Leos Moskos]]]]
The '''True Vine''' ({{Langx|el|ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή}} ''hē ampelos hē alēthinē'') is an [[allegory]] or [[parable]] given by [[Jesus]] in the [[New Testament]].  Found in [[Gospel of John|John]] {{Bibleverse|John|15:1-17|DRA|15:1–17}}, it describes Jesus' disciples as branches of himself, who is described as the "true vine", and [[God the Father]] the "husbandman".

==Old Testament==
[[File:Christ the Vine.png|thumb|250 px|right|''[[Christ the Vine (Angelo)|Christ the Vine]]'' by [[Angelos Akotantos]] completed between 1425 - 1457]]
There are numerous [[Old Testament]] passages which refer to the [[people of Israel]] as a vine ({{Langx|he|גָּ֫פֶן}} ''gephen''): {{Bibleverse|Psalm|80:8-16|DRA}}, {{Bibleverse|Isaiah|5:1-7|DRA}}, {{Bibleverse|Jeremiah|2:21|DRA}}, {{Bibleverse|Ezekiel|15:1-8|DRA}}, {{Bibleverse|Ezekiel|17:5-10|DRA|17:5–10}}, and {{Bibleverse|Ezekiel|19:10-14|DRA|19:10–14}}, and {{Bibleverse|Hosea|10:1|DRA}}.<ref name="Talb">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VM9ffKseVYgC|title=Reading John: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles|last=Talbert|first=Charles H.|publisher=Smyth & Helwys Publishing Incorporated|year=1994|isbn=1573122785|edition=Revised|series=Reading the New Testament|location=[[Macon, Georgia]]|pages=219–221}}</ref> The Old Testament passages which use this symbolism appear to regard Israel as faithful to God and/or the object of severe punishment.[[File:Victor (iconographer) Tree of Jesse.png|thumb|175 px|left|''[[Tree of Jesse (Victor)|Tree of Jesse]]'' by [[Victor (iconographer)|Victor]], 1674]]  Ezek 17:5–10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the [[Davidic line|house of David]], [[Zedekiah]], who was set up as king in [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar I|Nebuchadnezzar]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/intro-to-ezekiel/|title=Intro to Ezekiel|date=2016-10-09|website=Biblica|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref>  Christians link the theme to the [[Tree of life]] and the [[Tree of Jesse]].  The Tree of Jesse originates in a passage in the biblical Book of Isaiah. The book metaphorically describes the Tree of Jesse in a passage and references the descent of the Messiah and is accepted by Christians as referring to Jesus. The various figures depicted in the lineage of Jesus are drawn from those names listed in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.  Sometimes the Virgin Mary is also depicted in a vine.{{sfn|Bladen|2021|pp=20-50}}

==Cretan School==
[[File:Christ the Vine (Victor).png|thumb|250 px|right|''[[Christ the Vine (Victor)|Christ the Vine]]'' by [[Victor (iconographer)|Victor]], 1674]]
The True Vine was a popular theme painted by Cretan artists. One of the earliest painters of the theme was [[Angelos Akotantos]].  Angelos painted several versions of the work during the 15th century. One of Angelo's paintings of the True Vine entitled ''[[Christ the Vine (Angelo)|Christ the Vine]]'' is located at the Monastery of the Virgin Hodegetria, Heraklion, Crete.  The theme was copied by many artists and Christ the Vine or Christos o Ambelos is a depiction of the nine original apostles with [[Paul the Apostle|Paul the Evangelist]] sometimes referred to as the thirteenth Apostle, [[Luke the Evangelist]] and [[Mark the Evangelist]] on a tree. The theme is linked to the [[Tree of Jesse]] which is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy. The theme originated in a passage from the biblical Book of Isaiah and describes the descent of the Messiah. The tree is the depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ and Christ is shown in a branching tree. The tree typically rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, Jesse was the father of [[King David]]. The Tree of Jesse (Ρίζα του Ιεσσαί) has appeared numerous times in Greek Italian Byzantine art and the True Vine theme is also part of the New Testament. It is a parable or allegory found in John 15:1–17. It describes Jesus's disciples as branches of himself.  [[Leos Moskos]] completed his version of the work between 1650-1690 and it is entitled ''[[Christ the Vine (Moskos)|Christ the Vine]]''.  [[Victor (iconographer)|Victor]] completed his version of the ''[[Christ the Vine (Victor)|Christ the Vine]]'' in 1674.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.searchculture.gr/aggregator/edm/TAPA/000054-11631_13795
|title=  Christ the Vine
|publisher= National Documentation Centre  
|author=   Fafalis Giorgos
|date=      June 15, 2022
|accessdate= April 19, 2024
|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419121635/https://www.searchculture.gr/aggregator/edm/TAPA/000054-11631_13795
|archive-date=April 19, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.benaki.org/index.php?option=com_collectionitems&view=collectionitem&id=107548&lang=el&Itemid=540&lang=en
|title= Greek Art Catalogue
|publisher= The Benaki Museum
|author=   Staff Writers
|date=      December 5, 2021
|accessdate= April 19, 2024
|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206000135/https://www.benaki.org/index.php?option=com_collectionitems&view=collectionitem&id=107548&lang=el&Itemid=540&lang=en|archive-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Acheimastou Potamianou |first= Myrtalē |author-link= |date= 1998 |title= Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athens
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9f5JAQAAIAAJ&q=Christ+the+Vine+moskos |location= Athens, Greece |publisher= Ministry of Culture |page= 170 |isbn= 9789602149119}}</ref><ref name="times">{{cite book |last1=Hatzidakis |first1= Manolis |last2= Drakopoulou |first2= Evgenia|title=Έλληνες Ζωγράφοι μετά την Άλωση (1450-1830). Τόμος 2: Καβαλλάρος - Ψαθόπουλος |trans-title= Greek Painters after the Fall of Constantinople (1450-1830). Volume 2: Kavallaros - Psathopoulos |location= Athens |publisher=Center for Modern Greek Studies, National Research Foundation |year=1997 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10442/14088 |isbn=960-7916-00-X|pages=205–208|hdl= 10442/14088 }}</ref>{{sfn|Bladen|2021|p=51}}

==Interpretation as parable==
[[File:Spas Loza Istinnaya ikona.jpg|right|thumb|[[Icon]] of Christ as the true Vine]]
Several authors such as Barbara Reid, Arland Hultgren or Donald Griggs comment that "parables are noticeably absent from the Gospel of John".<ref>Barbara Reid, 2001 ''Parables for Preachers'' {{ISBN|0-8146-2550-9}} page 3</ref><ref>Arland J. Hultgren, 2002 ''The Parables of Jesus'' {{ISBN|0-8028-6077-X}} page 2</ref><ref>Donald L. Griggs, 2003 ''The Bible from scratch'' {{ISBN|0-664-22577-2}} page 52</ref> According to the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'', "There are no parables in St. John's Gospel";<ref>{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|id=11460a|title=Parables|last=Barry|first=William|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref> and according to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "Here Jesus' teaching contains no parables and but three allegories, the [[Synoptic Gospels|Synoptists]] present it as parabolic through and through."<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=John, Gospel of St|volume=15|pages=454|first=Friedrich |last=von Hügel|author-link=Friedrich von Hügel}}</ref> These sources all suggest that the passage is better described as a [[metaphor]] than a parable. Some writers, however, notably [[John Calvin]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom35.v.i.html|title=Commentary on the Gospel According to John|last=Calvin|first=John|others=Translated by William Pringle|year=1553|volume=2|access-date=5 July 2016}}</ref> referred to the passage by a [[Latin]] term that is typically translated into English as a "parable".

==Text==
John 15:1–17 in the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]]:<ref>{{Bibleverse|John|15:1–17|DRA}}</ref><blockquote>I am the true vine; and my [[God the Father|Father]] is the husbandman. Every branch in me, that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean by reason of the word, which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. If any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the [[Christian views on hell|fire]], and he burneth. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]]. As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's [[Ten Commandments|commandments]], and do abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled. This is my [[New Commandment|commandment]], that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you. I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you. You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that you love one another.</blockquote>

==See also==
* ''[[Christifideles laici]]''
* [[I am (biblical term)]]
* [[Fruit of the Holy Spirit]]
* [[The Tree and its Fruits]]
* [[Gufna]], heavenly grapevine in Mandaeism

==Notes==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last= Bladen  |first= Victoria |author-link= |date= 2021 |title= The Tree of Life and Arboreal Aesthetics in Early Modern Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeNBEAAAQBAJ&dq=Christ+the+Vine+moskos&pg=PT51 |location=New York, NY|publisher=Taylor & Francis |page= |isbn= 9781000454819}}

==External links==
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{{Jesus footer}}
{{Parables of Jesus|state=expanded}}
{{Gospel of John}}

[[Category:Doctrines and teachings of Jesus|Vine]]
[[Category:New Testament words and phrases|Vine]]
[[Category:Gospel of John]]
[[Category:Vines in religion]]
[[Category:Trees of life]]