Sunday Gospel Reflection
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life"

Introduction:

This statement by Jesus that he is THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life comes in the middle of a long discussion which began during a conversation with Jesus that we commonly call the Last Supper. This last supper meal, and this discussion took place
because Jesus was aware that his ministry while walking on earth, was drawing to a close and that he would soon depart out of this world to go to the Father. As the dinner ended and Jesus tells of his betrayal and begins to talk about his departure, a sense of heavy dread descends on the disciples.

Peter responds in John 13:36 with the question, "Lord, where are you going?" Shortly thereafter Thomas blurts out, "We do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" And Philip too expresses his anxiety with, "Lord show us the Father, and it is enough for us." The air is thick with their feelings of anxiety, doubt and confusion. Feelings many of us have experienced at one time or another.  We can learn a terrific lesson from these very human disciples, it is okay to cry out to Jesus  with our fears, doubts, and confusion regarding important issues of life, death, and eternal life.

The struggle these disciples were facing is one we all face when confronted with the departure of a loved one, a desire to stay together. Jesus knew this was the issue, that is why His first words of assurance were, "If I go...   I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also." This was the issue, Where you are Jesus, that's where we want to be. The disciples realized during the short time they had been together, less than three years, that Jesus was unique. They had seen something in Jesus that they had not seen anywhere else. They had experienced something akin to God. They didn't understand it at this point, but they knew that Jesus was a unique link to the Father.

Here then is the second lesson we can learn. When we really experience Jesus, he will become the most important reality in our life. E. Stanley Jones has said, "A lot of people have just enough Christianity to make them miserable. They are not free to act according to the standards of the world, nor are they free, through lack of self-surrender, to do what the Christian way demands. They have just enough religion to create irritation and not enough to create iridescence." May the glow of our experience of Jesus increase in intensity.

If we could take time to read the remaining chapters of Jesus' discourse, John 13-17, we would see that Jesus discussed the many provisions he made so that we his disciples could continue to experience his presence. Provisions that would remove their fears and give them hope, provisions that would both nourish and sustain their lives. Namely, his Word, his Spirit, and his body. Though physically absent from walking the earth he remains for us THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life, if we will but avail ourselves of him.

First Reading
 Acts 6:1-7

1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
2 And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
3 Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty.
4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."
5 And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.
6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Second Reading
1 Peter 2:4-9

4 Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight chosen and precious;
5 and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it stands in scripture:"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame."
7 To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,"
8 and "A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall"; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Gospel Reading
John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
1   "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
2   In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.  If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
3   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
4    Where (I) am going you know the way."
5   Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
6   Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.   No one comes to the Father except through me.
7   If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
8   Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
9   Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells  in me is doing his works.
11  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.
12  Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these,  because I am going to the Father.

Bible Study

Jesus said to his disciples:
1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled.
    -----Jesus begins His teaching with reassurance in view of the fact that His preceding words about His departure had saddened the disciples.

1b You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
     ------Jesus has never hesitated to put Himself on the same level with the Father in the common work of salvation, thus He and the Father are equally the object of faith. To be a Christian, you must have faith in God and faith in Christ, who is God.

2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.
   -----This is usually interpreted (even in ancient times) to mean the heavenly kingdom to which Jesus is returning (although there are no grounds for understanding "many" to mean "many kinds" or "many degrees"). However, John probably means another sense as well: In one way, after all, Christ has never left heaven and consequently need not return. The Father's house is where God is, and whoever is with God is in His house; one of Paul's favorite metaphors for the Church is this "House of God". In this sense, the "many" would refer to the many members of the Church on earth, where Christ will also be (this too is an ancient interpretation).

2b If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
     -----Though He has told the disciples that He will join them only later, Jesus has just reassured them that there is ample room where He will be. Therefore, they need have no fear that they will not find a place for them in His company.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
   -----These words could refer to the parousia - the end of time - but could also refer to Christ's invisible return through the Spirit.

4 Where (I) am going you know the way."
   -----The way here, is of Jesus Himself. The term "The Way" is also a designation of Christianity in Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22.

5 Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
    -----Although Jesus has repeatedly told the disciples that He is going to the Father, and in what way, through His sacrificial death, which the model that all must take if they would follow Him, Thomas reflects the ignorance of all the disciples. The disciples have shown themselves to be as obtuse as Jesus' Jewish opponents - what saves them is their good will.

6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
   -----Truth in John is the divinely revealed reality of the Father manifested in the person and works of Jesus. The possession of truth confers knowledge and liberation from sin (John 8:32).

6b No one comes to the Father except through me.
    -----Jesus is not just a guide to salvation, the map of the heavenly geography, He is the source of life and truth; the only way. "Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood . . ."

7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
   -----With the glorification of Christ and the coming of the Spirit, their understanding will be made perfect; even though they don't understand now.

8 Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
   ------The incomprehension is such that Philip asks for some kind of extraordinary manifestation. He is asking for a theophany like Exodus 24:9-10; 33:18.

9   Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
    -----Jesus repeats almost word-for-word what he has stated on other occasions (John 7:16; 8:28; 10:38; 12:44-45).

10b The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
11  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.
12  Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these,
      ------It follows from this that the Christian will also perform the works of God, even as Christ has done on the same principle. These words, as addressed to the first apostles, refer not only to the fact that the works of the Christian believer are performed within the supernatural order, but, first and foremost, to the Church as possessing and continuing Christ's divine power for salvation. Performance of greater deeds doesn't refer primarily to miracles, though these will continue, but to the far greater scope, geographically and numerically within which the Church will exercise its salvific power.

12b because I am going to the Father.
       ------The condition of this activity is Christ's glorification and the giving of the Holy Spirit.

Meditation

Do you allow any troubles to rob you of God's peace? As much as we try to avoid it, we all inevitably encounter troubles and difficulties, and sometimes more than we think we can handle!  Jesus knew his disciples would have to face adversity and trials after he left them to return to his Father. Jesus assured them that his departure is for their good, in order to secure a place for them in God's house -- a place of refuge, peace, and everlasting happiness.  Homer's Odyssey describes a moving scene when Odysseus miraculously finds his way home, after twenty years of wandering the nether world.  After much struggle he convinces his dear father, son, and wife that it is really he who  has returned from the "land of the lost" to the land of the living.  He secures freedom for his wife and household after fighting off the suitors who have imprisoned them in  his own home.  The Lord Jesus assures us of a safe passage to our true home in heaven with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If heaven is our destination, how can we be sure we know the way without some kind of map or guide? The scriptures speak of the way we should go. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and fools shall not err therein (Isaiah 35:8). You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.  You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you (Deuteronomy 5:32-33). Teach me your way, O Lord; and lead me on a level path (Psalm 27:11).  Jesus proclaims: I am the Way.  The Lord Jesus does not simply give advice and direction.  He personally is the way, and we cannot miss it.   He leads  and guides us personally every day.  The Lord Jesus also is the Truth.  Many can say, "I have taught you the truth."  Only Jesus can say, I am the Truth.  Moral truth cannot be conveyed in words alone; it must be conveyed in example.  Jesus embodies the truth in his person.  Jesus also is the Life.  He not only shows us the path of life  (Psalm 16:11); he gives the kind of life which only God can give -- eternal life.  Is there any fear or trouble which keeps you from the perfect peace and happiness of a life surrendered to Jesus Christ?

One of the greatest truths of the Christian faith is that we can know the living God.  Our knowledge of God is not simply limited to knowing something about God, but we can know God personally.   The essence of Christianity, and what makes it distinct from Judaism and other religions, is the knowledge of God as our Father.  Jesus makes it possible for each of us to personally know God as our Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is like.   In Jesus we see the perfect love of God -- a God who cares intensely and who yearns over men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life for them upon the Cross.   Jesus is the revelation of God -- a God who loves us completely, unconditionally  and perfectly. Jesus also promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in his name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily bread.    Do you pray to your Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for you?

Reflections:

· Please re-read the phrase(s)/sentence(s) that move(s)/touche(s) you.

·  Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. (John 14:1)
   ----What causes your heart to be troubled these days? Anxiety? Depression? Lost of love one? Job? Family? Temptation? Crisis in our Church? War?

·  In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.  If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. (John 14:2-3)
    ----- How  have you prepared yourself to be received by him?

·  Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (John 14:5)
    ----- Do you confuse about the direction and the goal in your spiritual life?

· Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:8-9)
  ----- How close is your relationship with Jesus?

. Can you name a couple of reasons why the disciples'faith was not strong, even though they had witnessed what Jesus did and said when they followed Him?

·  What assurances does Jesus provide to soothe your troubles?

To live His Word this week:

·  List one or more blessings God gives to you each day.
.  Say "Thank you" once someone in your family does something for you

For Youngsters:

.  Read one short paragraph about Jesus at least one time this week.
.  Put 50 cents into the piggy bank for the poor.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence and you give us the hope of everlasting life with the Father in Heaven. Show me the Father that I may know and glorify him more fully.