The Disconnection Paradox

I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.  John 15:5  NASB

Apart from me – On the surface, Yeshua’s claim seems patently false.  Just look around.  Men have accomplished amazing things apparently without any connection to the Messiah.  If fact, by any reckoning, it seems as though virtually all human accomplishments don’t draw directly from a relationship with a man who lived an obscure life in the first few decades of the common era.

Theologians have noticed the audacity of this claim and have proposed various solutions to try to reconcile the words with the facts of human history.  The first attempt is to claim that even if men aren’t aware of the connection, it is still there.  Why?  Because Jesus is God, and God is the One Who sustains all life.  Therefore, anything that happens is ultimately under God’s authority, and since Jesus is God, ipso facto, under the Messiah’s authority.  Of course, this solution rests on a Trinitarian doctrine.  Once that doctrine is debunked, the problem reemerges.  If Jesus isn’t God, what can this claim possibly mean?

The second solution (and perhaps a better textual one) is that Yeshua isn’t speaking universally.  His words are for his followers in the first century and perhaps for followers from later times.  If he were God, of course, we might think that he’s uttering universal, timeless truths.  But he isn’t God.  He’s the Messiah.  And he’s speaking with contemporaries—human contemporaries.  Furthermore, he’s using an analogy taken from everyday life in Israel.  Vines and branches were pretty common.  Everyone knew that if you wanted grapes you had to be sure the branches were firmly connected to the vines.  Just plain common sense.  If this is the preferred interpretation of his analogy, then it simply means that his followers’ accomplishments are a direct result of their relationship with him.

But that still leaves us with a question.  Does he mean that everything his followers do is the result of this relationship?  Like, for instance, cooking a meal, walking to the market, writing a letter, having a drink?  Everything?  Or is he using hyperbole in the analogy to press the point—accomplishments that further the Kingdom require relationship with the King?

The Greek doesn’t help much.  The term is chōris.  It means “independent, separate, apart, without relationship.”  It’s clear that a relationship is required.  The real issue is ŏu, the Greek for “nothing.”  What exactly does “nothing” entail? Does it mean every single thing, or does it mean all of those things that meet some standard, some purpose.  How much of nothing is included?  Perhaps the answer is found in a review of the purposes of the Messiah.  His conversation with Pilate mentions that purpose.  Maybe we should start there.

Topical Index:  apart from me, chōris, relationship, nothing, John 15:5