What does it mean to abide [remain] in Jesus? It’s a beautiful word but too often we miss out on any substantive definition or depiction. The Gospel reading for this Sunday provides some specific representations of this concept: trust, obedience, proclamation and a sort of “knowing” that moves beyond perception and into something deeper.
To abide in Christ is to know him as the way, the truth and the life. To know him ‘perfectly’ is to abide in his love just as he abides in the love of his Father. To follow him (think about last week about the Good Shepherd) requires a trusting obedience and foundation of “knowing” that moves beyond mental approval. It is knowledge that is based in love and based on faith. Jesus is the life and therefore to know him is to have life, both now and evermore.
In John 13 and 14, Jesus has shared a meal with his disciples, he has washed their feet, and he has declared himself to be “the way, the truth, and the life” and that “no one comes to the Father but through me.” We now enter into a section with the analogy of vine, vinedresser and branch. Much of the western world is no longer agrarian and so certain references that were normal for 1st century Israel are lost on us. The analogy is simple: Jesus is the vine, the Father is the vinedresser, and we are the branches. Branches that bear no fruit are removed. Branches that bear fruit are pruned. Why would you prune a fruitful branch? By removing the branches that have no fruit you are able to give more nutrients to those that do and by pruning the fruitful branches you are helping them to grow stronger. How do we abide? Well, it’s a two-way street as Jesus abides in us. Jesus’ words are to live in us and we can then live in him. In fact, we can do nothing apart from Jesus! Have you ever heard someone say, “I love Jesus but not the church. I’m just going to do “church” on my own,”? Church cannot be down alone or apart from Jesus because it is the body of Christ. You cannot have the church without Jesus. Through obedience, and love, and action we are able to abide in the vine and therefore in the Father as well. To abide in Jesus is to love him and to know him to be the way, the truth, and the life. To abide is to have the abundant life promised by Jesus and to have it now. Jesus said that the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another.
Jesus is calling us to abide in him through keeping his words. We are invited into an abiding relationship with Jesus through our baptism and through regular participation in the Lord’s Supper. The Word of God and the Body of Christ his church is inviting you to come and worship together to have life giving relationship with Jesus even if you have to receive and offer some pruning along the way. See you at worship at 2:30 pm.
Dear God, thank you for Jesus who shows us the way to go to you. Be with us as we walk with Jesus, our True Vine who gives us abundant life if we open our hearts to him. Amen
We will be praying for you and your family. Please include us in your prayers as well.