In John 15.1-17, Jesus uses a powerful image to communicate our relationship with him. He likens himself to a vine and us to the branches. Powerful as this image is, there is another in the passage that Jesus uses to link the various ideas in the passage. This is the idea of ‘remaining’. He first says, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you.” Later he says, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” And still later, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”

What does this mean? What is Jesus trying to tell us by using this idea? Since it first comes up in the context of the image of the vine and branches, it pays to try and understand what it would mean in that context. Branches, simply by virtue of being connected to the vine, receive the life sustaining nutrients from the soil. The transport of nutrients from the roots to the branches is not something that requires any special effort. This is unlike in the case of animals, especially more complex animals, where dedicated organs – the heart, for instance – are required to distribute the nutrients to the various parts of the body. In plants, there is no such dedicated organ. Rather, it is the connection between the roots, the stem and the branches that is all that is needed.

The same can be said about Jesus’ relationship with the Father. The connection between them is all that is needed for there to be a mutual love between them. Neither the Father nor the Son strives to be united with the other; the union already exists.

I think this is what Jesus is getting at. Our relationship with him is to be organic and without striving. It is to find in Jesus our true home – the one place where we know that we are accepted fully and loved deeply and yet the one place where we are transformed to be more like Jesus – no matter how painstakingly slow that process might be.