During one of my basic theology courses at Northwest University, I had what I thought was a completely original epiphany regarding the nature of the trinity. I thought, “what if the trinity operated like a single human person, in that God is Father, Son and Spirit in the same way you and I are mind, body and spirit? Each one equal parts God like each part of your being is equal parts you.” Pretty slick, huh?
Well don’t be too proud of me, this is an idea that’s existed for a long time; that we are “triune beings.” I simply hadn’t heard of that yet. Though, admittedly, the model does have some holes in it (God has love between His beings, ie between the Father and the Son, while I don’t necessarily have love between my mind and body), this breakthrough proved helpful for my understanding of the Godhead regardless of who thought of it first.
This laid the foundation for another sort of aha regarding John 14:20:
“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Jesus continues sharing this truth a chapter later in John 15. The purpose of these passages is, of course, to show us the power of abiding in Jesus, and to show us how utterly ineffective we are on our own. But using the triune personhood model, we can look at this in another way that was helpful for me.
In that model, the Father is the head of Jesus, and Jesus is obedient to Him. So, if that is what Jesus abiding in the father looks like, then if we are to abide in Jesus it would look like us placing Jesus as our head, our mind, and revering him as our authority in the same way He reveres His Father (in this model, His mind). So you have a sort of Russian doll scenario of descending authority, where you are definitively at the bottom.
If this seems like I’m thinking in a circle to you, I understand. But for me it is a useful model for understanding one of the more ethereal concepts of following Jesus. Maybe the process of sanctification is the continued, Spirit-driven reshaping of your mind, your authority, more and more into that of Jesus. Maybe that is the physical reality of what it is to abide in the vine?
Just some thoughts!