1My dear brothers and sisters, in this sacred Easter season, our hearts turn with deep gratitude and reverent devotion to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and remember His merciful mortal ministry, His perfect love, and His marvelous gift of the Atonement. Throughout His ministry, the Savior spoke on several occasions the sacred words “I am,” using sublime metaphors to bear witness of who He eternally is—the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Among these declarations is one of the most solemn and tender teachings of His ministry, spoken on the night preceding His suffering and death: “I am the true vine. … Ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
2Through this beautiful and moving metaphor, the Savior teaches that He is the true, trusted, and essential source of spiritual nourishment for our souls. Through Him, we receive strength beyond our own not only to survive the challenges of life but to grow and thrive. Through Him, life becomes more hopeful and more joyful and the fruits of the Spirit are manifested in us. Therefore, just as the branches cannot bear fruit of themselves unless they remain connected to the vine, neither can we reach our full spiritual measure unless we abide in Him and His gospel.
3Abiding in Christ is not an occasional or casual act; it is a constant, conscious, and sacred choice. It is allowing His holy teachings to abide in us, elevating our thoughts and governing our words in every setting—including the digital spaces where we so often interact—and purifying and consecrating our actions unto Him. It is letting our daily choices be guided by the covenants we have made with Him and allowing our lives to be directed by His loving and constant influence through the Holy Ghost. It is choosing to listen to His voice and the voice of His servants and following what they teach, above all the enticing voices of the world.
4Abiding in Christ does not remove the burdens of life, but through His grace they are made lighter, and our hearts are strengthened by the comfort and peace He promises. As we place ourselves in His loving care and take upon us His yoke, we receive the spiritual power to endure and overcome the trials, weaknesses, and sorrows of mortality—burdens often too heavy to bear without His redeeming help and healing influence. In his first epistle to the Saints, the Apostle John taught that he who “abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” The Apostle Paul likewise testified, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”
5Returning to John’s account, we read that the Savior declared: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” It is within this context—of abiding in Him and allowing Him to abide in us—that the Savior’s declaration that He Himself is the True Vine takes on even deeper meaning. The word true suggests that there are, in the world, other vines that present themselves as legitimate, even appearing to represent the loving voice and word of the Savior, the True Vine, and His gospel, while subtly and deviously leading minds and hearts elsewhere.
6We live in a world filled with many voices—voices that relentlessly seek our attention and offer persuasive messages and invitations. Some speak with eloquence and influence and are well intentioned in their desire to promote goodness. Others are attractive in appearance but lack substance. Still others are misleading and may even appear to be connected to Christ and His gospel.
7Over time, many of these voices grow into tangled vines, rooted in popular philosophies and spread through various forms of media. They promise security, happiness, or authenticity, yet they cannot satisfy the soul. Often, they quietly introduce doubt and division—first in the mind and then in the heart—leading to spiritual loss and sorrow. Although becoming entangled in such voices may feel exciting at first, it ultimately draws us toward fleeting worldly pursuits and weakens our connection to the True and Living Vine, Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul warned, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
8My beloved brothers and sisters, true wisdom in our technological day is found in using modern tools with spiritual discernment—through the Holy Ghost—without allowing them to replace the rightful voice of the True Vine. Only our Redeemer can truly redeem us. He is the way, the truth, and the life of the world. “His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.” In his first message to the world as our prophet, President Dallin H. Oaks declared with clarity and conviction: “Jesus Christ is the way. … ‘There shall be no other name given, nor any other way nor means, whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent’ (Mosiah 3:17).”
9The True Vine offers something far greater and eternal than visibility or acclaim—the promise to “dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.” With patience and perfect love, He continues to invite us to come unto Him through His words and the words of those whom He has called and ordained to represent Him, to speak in His name, and to testify of Him. If we desire to bring forth good fruit, as the Savior taught, we need to receive our spiritual nourishment directly from the True Vine, for He is the source of all light and truth. Only then do the precious fruits of the gospel grow in our souls, and only then do we find the true light, life, and hope that flow from Him.
10After His Resurrection, Jesus walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke records that when they reached their destination, “[the Savior] made as though he would have gone further. But [the two disciples] constrained him, saying, Abide with us.” Those disciples invited the resurrected Savior to abide with them. Without first the desire and then the invitation, their hearts would not have been transformed, their eyes would not have been opened to recognize Him, and they would not have returned to Jerusalem to bear witness of the living Christ—the True Vine.
11My beloved brothers and sisters, in a world of many voices, remaining connected to the True Vine is not merely desirable; it is essential to our spiritual survival. Those who abide in Jesus Christ come to recognize and trust His voice, especially as it is spoken through those He has called to represent Him. I will forever treasure the moment when Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called me over the phone to welcome me to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, just a few minutes after I received this invitation to serve as a special witness of the Savior to the world. In that sacred moment, I felt the Savior ministering in love to me through the voice of one of His anointed servants. I felt the peace and comforting assurance flowing from the True Vine. Elder Holland’s life and mighty ministry testify that as we hear the Savior’s voice through His servants and abide in Him—the True Vine—we bring forth much fruit, “for without [Him we] can do nothing.”
12In this sacred Easter season, I solemnly testify that Jesus Christ is the True Vine. He lives. He rose from the dead, and His redeeming power is real. I bear witness that His voice is the voice of truth and life. With perfect love, He invites all to abide in Him and to continue in His love that we may recognize His power in our lives, that God’s love may be perfected in us, and that we may know that we are in Him. I bear my solemn witness of these eternal truths in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, amen.