In John chapter fifteen, Jesus uses the words abide or remain, eleven times in only seven consecutive verses.
I think God wants us to understand the concept of “remain in me,” better than we do now. In these days of societal swirl, I hunger for a refuge and wisdom.
When reading this chapter, I really have to slow down to grasp the deeply integrated relationship between Jesus, the Father, the Spirit of God and us.
Jesus uses the image of a grape vine, because people back then understood vineyards.
Looking into the original language The Passion Translation expresses the concept of remain, as life-union.
Jesus said, “So you must remain in life-union with me for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine.”
“I am the sprouting vine and you are my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.” John 15:4-5 TPT
Abide is what many versions use here, but in our day remain captures the concept better. Remain implies rest, less running around, and settling in for the long haul.
We arrive here by surrendering to the perfect love of God.
Life-union is what gives us everything we need for life and godliness, the fruit.
Understanding a challenging translation will hopefully begin to lead us there.
The origin of the word fruit that Jesus uses in this context is not the fruit we eat that grapes invoke, or the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians five.
This fruit finds its origin in Hebrew, then into Greek ,and finally we receive it in English. Something is almost always lost in translation. Read more here.
The original word Jesus chose really means fruit of the womb.
Yes, this is why I have an ultrasound of a human baby as my photo this week.
Contemplating the living fruit of a human womb, I realized Jesus called His disciples to be “fishers of men.” We already know He did not call them to catch fish, but to bring people into the Kingdom of God. We know that grapes represent a spiritual harvest, but the fruit of a womb emphasizes this is about people and the Kingdom of God.
As people come to faith in Jesus, they are “born again.” Each new life must remain in life-union to mature and multiply.
The vine is a more universally accessible image for all to grasp than an umbilical cord. They did not have ultrasounds.
The vine gives life to and nourishes the fruit. The umbilical cord gives life to and nourishes the new life in a mother.
The life-union in a mother’s body prioritizes the needs of the “new fruit.” Like with a vine, there is literally a life-giving relationship.
And the womb expresses the life of a disciple of the kingdom of God. This love, care and provision are where all true followers of Jesus must remain to mature and remain fruitful.
Even after birth, the newborn suckles at the mother’s breast for nourishment and growth.
As the child matures it learns to feed on its own, growing and eventually repeating the cycle of life, both physically and spiritually.
The humanity of the womb is primarily different from a vine because of the emotional and spiritual elements that a vine lacks.
I greatly appreciate verse nine:
“I love each of you with the same love that the Father loves me.
You must continually let my love nourish your hearts.” V9, TPT
Abba invites us all to continue meditating on why, where, and how we receive and remain in loving life-union with our Lord. I know I will be here for a while.
I bless all who pass by here with a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.
