Why did Jesus, at the end of His wonderful message in John 14, tell the disciples:

“Rise, let us go from here”?
— John 14:31

His very next words were His famous statement:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”
— John 15:1

As C.H. Macintosh (1820-19896) , the great Brethren teacher, points out (see below), the Holy Spirit includes this statement in Scripture to remind us that if we only had the incarnated Christ, we could never be joined to Him; we could never share in the holy, undefiled humanity that He took on by the incarnation. It is only through His death and resurrection that His humanity becomes available for us to share in.

So, to have the real experience of abiding in Christ spoken of in John 15, we must have a transfer, just as the first disciples did, from knowing Christ only according to His incarnation, the One who was then speaking to them, to knowing Him as the resurrected One. In brief, we must “Rise” and “Go from here” if we are to heed His word, “Abide in Me,”

May the Lord grant us to not only appreciate the incarnated Christ, but to enter into the real experience of, and abiding in, the crucified and resurrected Christ who is today at God’s right hand in the heavens!

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C.H. Mackintosh:

It is death and resurrection which render incarnation available to us. It is nothing short of a deadly error to suppose that in incarnation Christ was taking man into union with Himself. This could not be. He Himself expressly teaches the contrary.—“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat all into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). There could be no union between sinful and holy flesh, pure and impure, corruptible and incorruptible, mortal and immortal. Accomplished death is the only base of a unity between Christ and His elect members. It is in beautiful connection with the words, “Rise, let us go from here,” that He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”
— From Notes on the Pentateuch, on Exodus 26

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— 29 October 2022 —