BIBLE STUDY #43
FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
MAY 22, 2011

Gospel John 14:1-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
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.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
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’?
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.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
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.”

The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection

The two main sections of Jesus Gospel are the Book of Signs and the Book of Glory. The Book of Signs begins with chapter 1, verse 19, and ends with chapter 12, verse 50. The Gospel immediately starts the other main section, the Book of Glory, which begins in chapter 13, verse 1 and ends with chapter 20, verse 31.

The Book of Signs contains 7 great signs, which really are the wondrous deeds of Jesus. Many of these are familiar: the wedding feast at Cana; the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

The Book of Glory begins in the upper room the night before Jesus dies and ends with the story of Doubting Thomas and a short conclusion before the Epilogue. In this book, the “hour” of Jesus arrives. Jesus has come down from heaven to do the Father’s will, and before he returns, he must undergo his passion, death, and resurrection. Our gospel passage this week is in the early part of this Book of Glory. In chapter 13, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples (remember, there is no Last Supper in John’s Gospel; John talks about the Eucharist in chapter 6), announces Judas’ betrayal, he gives a new commandment to love one another, and predicts Peters’ betrayal, all familiar aspects of the gospel.

Chapter 14 begins with the Last Supper Discourses, where Jesus gives words of consolation because of his words about going away (going back to the Father) from chapter 13. He has told the apostles that he is going home to the Father; they can’t come now, but they will come later.

They become troubled because they do not understand what Jesus is telling them. They think he is going away and they won’t see him again. He is going away to ‘prepare a place for’, that is, his suffering, death and resurrection will open the gates of paradise for those who believe in him

Jesus will not abandon us. He will be with us in this life, guiding, directing, and inspiring us to follow him. When it is our time, he will guide us over the waters of death to the eternal banquet table. In fact, it is more beneficial for him to go than to stay. He will bring us to his Father’s house where there are many mansions; in other words, his Father’s love is so large and so great that there is more than enough for everybody.

Jesus tells us that we know how to get there. I, like Thomas, would have been confused and I would have asked the same question. “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus responds by saying “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

The term ‘the way’ in the Old Testament means conformity to the Law which reveals truth and life. In Isaiah, God promises to bring the exiles home through the desert. Jesus is the way because he brings us home through the desert of life to eternal life at the banquet table of heaven.

He is the truth because he tells us what God wants for us; Jesus is the final and definitive revelation of God’s will for us in our lives. God had been reaching out to his people all through salvation history through people like Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets, but we just didn’t understand. God sent his Son to be human and he taught us how to be divine,

Jesus is the life because when we follow his way and live his truth we will have life in abundance.

So, Jesus is right – we do know how to get to where he is going (to be with the Father in heaven).

What can God ask us to do, anyway? He can’t ask us to be perfect, because he made us to be imperfect. I think all God can do is to ask us to be the best disciples we can everyday, given our limitations and our circumstances. When we fail, which we will, we seek forgiveness and keep on going, knowing that if we keep the faith as best as we can, we will gain the prize of eternal life.

An elderly lady was in hospice; she was dying and she knew she was dying. Her family asked her if she had any last requests, and she said, “Yes, I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” They were a little surprised at this statement, and they asked her to explain. She said, “At the nursing home, when dinner was finished, and they told us to keep our forks, we knew that something better was coming.” Someday I’m going to have little forks made up to hand out at wakes and funerals as a reminder that there is something better coming.

After Jesus tells us that he is the way to the Father, he explains about his own relationship with the Father. He is in communion with the Father; he is the obedient Son who perfectly carries out his Father’s will. When we see Jesus, we see the Father because they are part of each other: they are intimately bound together in love.

How does Jesus reveal the Father? By his words and his works. Jesus does the work of the Father and therefore reveals his Father’s will. The word of abundant life he shares comes from his Father. He shares his communion with the Father with us through our eyes of faith. He is also the conduit of grace, strength, and peace between God and us.

And to top it off, he tells us that “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.”

As a church, we are called to continue the mission and ministry of Jesus. When we give ourselves over to Jesus, he will provide all we need to live out our vocation in life to spread the Good News. I can think of many great saints who did wonderful things and knew that it was God working through them.

But I think that all great saints are somehow inspired by the unknown saints in their lives. You know what I mean: those people who won’t be written about, or canonized, who didn’t do great things (like found a community or become a well known preacher), but did what they were called to do with great faith, love and dedication.

These are the people who inspire the great saints, and I think all great saints had more than one of these unknown saints in their lives. They are the foundation and basis for spreading our faith. I can’t think of a greater ‘work’ than being the conduit by which God blesses someone with a faith that saves them.

Someone had to plant and then nurture the seed of faith in such great saints as Blessed John Paul II or Mother Theresa. Great saints aren’t born in a vacuum, but come from an environment that teaches and nurtures them with the love of God.

Few of us are called to be great saints, but we are all called to be unknown saints. We never know who we will inspire with our faith filled words and actions. And we may never know, but that’s not important. God knows, that’s what is important.

God bless all those inspirational, faith filled, and holy unknown saints in our lives. Thank you for opening your hearts to the Lord and letting him inspire you so you can inspire us. May God bless all of you with peace and happiness in this life, and eternal life in the next.


Fr. Phil