'Remain' attached to the true vine
Through the Eucharist, Word, and Holy Spirit, we remain with Christ
May 14, 2006 -- Fifth Sunday of Easter
By Fr. Michael Stubbs
One of our parishioners, an older man, until recently lived in the same house in which he was born. Now that's quite an example of continuity, especially in our mobile society. For a person to remain in the same house for such a long time serves as a good metaphor for steadfastness, for perseverance.
It's easy for a word to slide into metaphor. We see a good example of that in Sunday's gospel reading, John 15:1-8. Jesus tells the disciples, "Remain in me, as I remain in you."
Jesus then draws upon the image of the vine and its branches to explain his point. "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit."
The Greek verb translated as "remain" plays an important role in this reading. It appears eight times. That reflects its high use in the gospel of John, where it occurs a total of 46 times. That is significant, especially compared to its use in the synoptic gospels. For example, Matthew uses the verb "remain" only three times. Mark uses it twice. Luke uses it seven times.
In the gospel of John, the verb "remain" frequently takes on a metaphorical sense. That explains its high usage. It has a meaning that goes beyond the usual. The same also holds true for the other writings of John. For example, in the First Letter of John, the verb "remain" appears 24 times.
At its most prosaic, the word "remain" means "to continue physically in the same place." That is the meaning reflected in the synoptic gospels. On the other hand, in the gospel of John, the word "remain" often serves as a metaphor to mean "to engage in a lasting spiritual relationship." That is the meaning we find in Sunday's gospel. It is a spiritualized meaning, a use of the word beyond the physical.
Sunday's gospel reading uses the image of the vine and the branches to explore the necessity and fruitfulness of this spiritual relationship expressed by the word "remain." Only if we remain attached to Jesus Christ, as a branch is attached to the vine, will we continue to live and bear fruit.
Earlier, the gospel of John mentions the ways by which we can achieve the spiritual relationship indicated by "remaining." For example, Jesus says, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him." (John 6:56) Similarly, we hear Jesus tell us, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples." (John 8:31) And finally, Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit, whom the disciples will accept and know, "because it remains with you, and will be in you." (John 14:17) All this is linked together by use of the word, "remain."
In other words, by taking part in the Eucharist, by reflecting on the Word of God, by allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us and to guide us, we will remain with Christ. We will continue on in that deep and important spiritual relationship. We will remain attached to Christ, the true vine. We will live and bear fruit.
(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)
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