The bible draws so many comparisons between plants, trees, and our faith or works. Knowing this makes today's scripture reading all the more special as we look at Jesus not as the branches, but as the vine. The vine consists of the trunk and its root, and although we consider the branches to be the most beautiful part of a plant, and the root to be unsightly, it is the root and trunk from which all new branches grow, and from these comes the nourishment that produces the fruit. Jesus is the vine.