Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. (John 15:4)
What does the Lord mean when He instructs His listeners (or in our case His readers) to remain in Him?
This is not an insignificant question. According to Jesus Christ, there are great benefits to remaining in Him:
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Conversely, there are serious consequences for not remaining in Him:
Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire, and they will be burned. (John 15:6)
With such high stakes, remaining in Jesus cannot possibly mean merely listening to Him or reading His words, as so many mistakenly presume. If listening or reading were all Jesus was referring to, He would not have added, as I remain in you. He clearly wants us to remain in Him in the same way He is in us, and that is not by just listening to Him or reading what He said.
Listening and reading indicate there are two separate parties involved. One speaks while another listens. One writes so another may read. But Jesus does not use either of these analogies. Instead, He uses the analogy of a fruit-bearing tree.
The fruit-bearing tree indicates there is only one entity. The branches of the tree are attached to the limb and the trunk, but they are all one. There is a constant sharing of the different elements necessary for the tree to grow and bear fruit.
These elements include sunlight, rain, nutrients from the soil, and of course pollen from similar fruit trees in the area. All of these contributors to growth are distributed throughout the tree, but the tree remains one. This is a good analogy, but what does it mean for us?
Just like the growth of a tree, we must accept that remaining in Jesus is not an automatic process. We must grow into it; it is an ongoing process of formation.
My children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you! (Galatians 4:19)
How does this formation take place?
Well, the most important activity on our part is prayer, and not just any prayer.
We must come to the place where prayer — deep prayer — is not an activity; it is a state of being, it is a disposition of the heart that develops and eventually becomes continuous.
Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:16)
In order for this to happen, there are two simple things we must understand.
First, Christ is already within each Baptized person, albeit to varying degrees.
Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Second, since the analogy of the tree indicates unity, meaning there is only one entity, we must continuously give way to Christ in our lives, allowing Him to completely take over our lives. There is no room for a second will in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we must conform ourselves to His will in all things.
This is one of the most fundamental teachings of the Christian faith; it is also one of the least understood. The entire mission of the Christian journey is to be reconciled to Christ, to be made one with Him, so that He can then reconcile us to the Father.
This is an ongoing process of spiritual growth, and it requires total self-forgetfulness, not allowing ourselves to become the center of our own lives. Here is one scripture verse to meditate on to gain a deeper understanding of this teaching:
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
For us to remain in Jesus, we must come to the point where every thought we conceive, every word we utter, and every action we undertake is animated by Jesus Christ. We must allow Jesus to think, speak and act through us. Our lives should be lived entirely for Christ.
If we do this, we will remain in Christ and He will remain in us. And Jesus will bring about the reconciliation necessary to unite us with Himself and with the Father.
It is not by accident that Jesus uses the analogy of a tree. For this is the very instrument He used to bring about the redemption of our sinful souls with the Glory of God.
Reconciling them both in one body to God through the cross. (Ephesians 2:16)
Let us pray for the Grace to allow Christ to dwell in us in all His fullness.
That Christ may make His home in your hearts. (Ephesians 3:17)
Copyright © 2024, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit:"Christ the True Vine Icon," Anonymous (possibly Leos Moskos), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons