Understand meno, understand discipleship

Q: Archbishop J, what is a disciple?

A disciple is one who follows his master, sits at the feet of the master, and learns and is docile to the teaching, morals, and life of grace. Each of the New Testament writers offer perspectives on discipleship. Each has a way of envisioning discipleship through stories and descriptions.

There are observable actions that disciples are expected to do. There is also an internal view and dynamism of discipleship. I want to explore the internal dynamism; for this I will delve into the Gospel of St John.

Discipleship 101

In John 8:31–32, the evangelist says: “If you abide in my word, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The first task of the disciple is abiding in the word. What does that mean? Well, by ‘word’ the text uses the same Greek word as in the prologue—logos.

In the beginning was the Word. So, this is both abiding in the Holy Scriptures and at the same time abiding in Jesus, the word made flesh.

To understand discipleship in St John, you need to understand what Jesus means by ‘abide’. In St John, the word translated as abide is a very technical and loaded Greek term—meno. There is no easy English equivalent to the word, so we need to explore it a bit.

The chart has the Greek word meno in the centre and then all the different ways it is interpreted: remain, abide, and stay are the most frequent ways. Look at all the other words that are used. Together they give you a picture of what meno really means.

How do you remain, abide, continue in His Word? That is the disciple’s question and the key to discipleship.

Discipleship 201

To understand meno, let us look at the way the Gospel uses the verb in other passages. At the very beginning of the Gospel, in 1:32, the Baptist says: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”

Remain is the same Greek word, meno. What does it mean? The relationship that the Spirit had with Jesus at the baptism, is our first clue to understanding the word meno. It rested on or came to indwell.

Meno has the connotation of intimate relationship. The relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit at His baptism, is the relationship that the disciple needs to have with the Word.

A little further on in the first chapter of St John, the Baptist points out two of his disciples to Jesus. They engage Him and ask: “where are you staying?” (Jn 1:38) The answer is interesting: He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and they remained with Him that day (Jn 1:39).

Here meno has a quality of dwelling, staying with another—again, with a deeply relational and enduring aspect. This is not just a quick encounter; it has the quality of depth and intimacy and relational growth. As Jesus relates to the Holy Spirit, so the disciple is to relate (meno) with Him.

Discipleship 301

The understanding of meno gets exciting when we go to the Eucharistic discourse in John 6. In this chapter we see two perspectives on meno.

John 6:27 says: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”

There, in the Bread of Life discourse, the evangelist now uses meno in relationship to the food from God. Here meno is endurance, a bridge between Earth and Eternal Life in Heaven.

The Word is used to move our gaze from the earthly to the heavenly realm as the ultimate object of our desire. Now the Word takes up a transcendent quality. It unveils to us the real food, the true sustenance of our life.

Our second text from John 6 goes to an even deeper place in exploring meno: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever” (Jn 6:56–58).

This is Jesus’ core teaching on the Eucharist. If you eat His body and drink His blood you will meno in Him. What is more, the comparison in the relationship between Jesus and the Father is now held up as the relationship between Jesus and the disciple.

This is not a casual meeting; this is a profound interpenetration. I will dare to use the word indwelling. It is a living in Jesus that is envisioned here—or better, making your habitation, abode, home in Jesus. It gets more exciting.

Discipleship 401—the masterclass

When we move to the farewell discourse in the Gospel of John, things take a significant twist. Here, we are now confronted with a paradigm shift. Phillip asked to see the Father, to this Jesus answers: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (Jn 14:10).

The eternal relationship that Jesus has with the Father is described using the term meno.

To understand what makes for a disciple, we need to contemplate the relationship between Jesus and the Father. This transports us to the heavenly realm where each person of the Holy Trinity meno in each other.

The relationship that Jesus has with the Father and the relationship that the Holy Spirit has with Jesus is the relationship that you and I are invited to have with Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

When the disciples asked Jesus how it is He would show Himself to them and not to the world, He says, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23).

Again, in John 15:4: “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”

Here, meno is indwelling, inhabiting, making your home in. It is the deepest form of intimacy that a human can have with God. The model for meno is the relationship of the Holy Trinity.

As we contemplate the relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we begin to understand the call of the disciple to nuptial union. That is the quality of the relationship we are called to, with each person of the Holy Trinity, and with our brothers and sisters who make up the Body of Christ.

This is mystical union with God.

Key Message:

Discipleship has many stages; each is vital to move you to the ultimate stage of mystical union with God.

Action Step:

Carve out time for prayer every day. Spend time with Holy Scriptures, with the Eucharist and with the poor.

Scripture Reading:

Jn 15:4–7