On a recent trip to the U.S., I had the opportunity to visit a friend. He’s someone I’ve only known a few years, but every time I’m in his company I absolutely love it. There was something about our most recent meeting, though, that struck me afterward. I’ve always been switched on in his company—because he’s just so engaging—but on this occasion my sense of awareness was heightened. Why? Because he has a terminal illness and this may have been our last visit, this side of eternity.

The prospect of death does that. It brings a clearer and sharper focus to words. It gives them a heightened sense of importance. In John 13 and following, we have a record of what took place on the night that Jesus was betrayed. During the evening, Jesus confronts His disciples—men whom He has lived with, eaten with, laughed with, cried with, taught, loved, and challenged during the previous three years—with the shocking news that He is going to die. They don’t get it initially. Seeing the distress etched on their faces, Jesus tells them about heaven and promises them that He will ask the Father to give them another helper, the Holy Spirit.

In John 15, He teaches them about how He sees their lives and the life of His Church going forward. It’s really thought provoking what He does. Instead of laying out in blueprint format the principles that will govern the church’s life (her offices, the sacraments, worship practices, etc.), Jesus draws the disciples’ attention to something they saw around them every day: the “vine.” He uses it to teach them about the necessity and nature of the relationship between Himself and the Church. This is what Jesus wants us to understand and get about the Church too.

The necessity of this relationship between the vine and the branches is absolute. Two words stand out in the first 16 verses of John 15, “abide” and “fruit,” and they are conjoined. Jesus uses the word “abide” 11 times in 16 verses to describe the absolute necessity of the Church’s relationship with Himself. He speaks of the means of “fruit” production 8 times in these same 16 verses. Simply put, the branches must abide in the vine if they are to be fruitful. Jesus says that “the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (v. 4). He’s very categoric. Again: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). The bond between abiding and fruit-bearing is inescapable.

In terms of the nature of the fruit produced from this relationship, both its quantity and quality are determined by the branches abiding in the vine. If “much” fruit is to be produced, then the branches have to abide in the vine. When they do, the promise is clear: they will produce much good fruit to the Father’s glory. Now we can debate whether Jesus is talking here about the fruit of salvation or sanctification. I think He is talking about both, but the bottom line is that if the Church is going to be a fruit-bearing, living organism, it must abide in Jesus.

This begs the question, What does that involve? Jesus tells us. We must have His words abide in us, we must keep His commandments, and we must love Him and one another. Here’s the key point, though, about this abiding, this keeping, and this loving. It’s not about our self-determination; it’s about grace-driven discipline. We can and must abide in the vine because Jesus says He has loved us, in exactly the same way as the Father has loved Him. That is an astonishing point! As individuals and churches, we can and therefore must abide in Jesus, because—and it’s a huge because—we are loved by and bound into union with Him.

Therein lies the secret of success in the Church. It’s simple and it’s clear. He is the vine; we are the branches. We must abide in Him, in His Word, in His commands, and in His love. When we do, He promises that we will be filled with joy. It’s all about Jesus!