I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.
John 14:6-7
We are still in the Easter season, but today’s gospel reading (John 14:1-14) takes us back to the upper room, to the time leading up to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is a wonderful passage, to be sure. It is filled with comforting words from Jesus. In fact, this passage is often used in funerals because it is so very comforting and reassuring. But why are we hearing it now? In the Easter season? Shouldn’t we still be hearing the Easter stories? Why are we hearing this farewell passage instead?
Well, to be honest, I don’t know the reason. But I have a hunch. I think it is because these farewell stories can be better understood in the light of the resurrection.
When Jesus first spoke these words, the disciples were not exactly sure what he meant. But looking back at what he said, after he was raised and ascended into heaven, they began to better understand his message to them. They began to see new meaning in his words. So that’s what he meant when he said those things! We can now see new meaning in many of Jesus’ words, in light of his resurrection, while we wait for his promised return.
Think of it this way. It’s kind of like reading a book over again, or seeing a movie over again. You see new things, and gain new insights into the story, the second time around. So as we look at these farewell words from Jesus over the next couple of weeks, we can look for these new insights that come by reading these words in light of his resurrection.
The first words in today’s reading from John 14 are wonderful, familiar words of comfort.
[Jesus said,] “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
Here is the promise that we need to hear again and again – that Jesus has left us, but not abandoned us. He has gone to prepare a place for us. And he will come again. And take us to himself.
There are many times in life when we experience God’s absence more strongly than God’s presence. That was true for Jesus’ disciples, and it is true for us. But Jesus assures us that his absence is not permanent, and not punishment. It is for us. And even when he is absent, he is present in a new way.
Next Sunday – and again at Pentecost – we will learn about how the Holy Spirit makes Jesus present to us even now. For now, we simply give thanks for the promise in this reading that Jesus will come again. He has left us, but only to prepare a place for us, and he will come again to take us to himself.
In the next part of today’s reading, we hear from the disciple Thomas. Sometimes, he is called “Doubting Thomas” because of the time he doubted that Jesus was raised from the dead, and did not believe until he put his finger in the mark of the nails and his hand in Jesus’ side. But I prefer to think of him as “Honest Thomas” rather than “Doubting Thomas.” Because that is what he is. He is honest. And we see that again in this reading, in these next words:
[Jesus said,] “And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, 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.”
Here is Jesus’ famous promise that he alone is the way, and the truth, and the life. And that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. What does Jesus mean by that?
Well, I think it is so important to remember that these words were originally meant for Jesus’ disciples, not for non-believers. These words are a reminder to us, his followers. Jesus is talking to us. And reminding us that if we want to find our way to God, the way for us is through Jesus. There is no other way.
After Jesus ascends into heaven, he knows that we will be tempted to find another way, a different truth, or an alternative life. That is human nature in this fallen world. Or, you might say, it is the nature of sin. To do it our way, rather than God’s way.
But there is only one way that leads to life, to abundant life, and that is through Jesus. For us, his followers, he is our only way, our only truth, and our only life. Because of Christ, we have everything. We have the only way that leads to life, the only truth that always matters, and the only life worth living. Jesus alone is our way, our truth, and our life. There is no other way to the Father, and no other way to true life, for us. Jesus is all we need.
In the next part of the reading, it is the disciple Philip who has a “turn at bat.” Thomas has asked his question. Now it is time for Philip. Philip wants Jesus to show him the Father. Do that, he says, and we will be satisfied. And don’t we all want to see what it is we are supposed to believe? That, too, is human nature.
So what does Jesus say to Philip?
“Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Philip does not yet understand that what he sees in Jesus is everything that he could ever hope to see in God. Jesus is not just the way to the Father, in other words. Jesus and the Father are one.
After Jesus’ resurrection, it is Thomas who will see this and understand this, when he encounters the risen Jesus in that same upper room. Thomas will famously say to Jesus: “My Lord and my God!”
Yes. That is who Jesus is. And what Jesus says to Thomas, he wants us to hear:
“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
We don’t need to see Jesus to believe. When we trust in Jesus, we don’t need to see anything else. Jesus is all we need. Jesus offers us this amazing way to see God in our life. Through Jesus, we have a way of getting to know God in a deeper and more intimate way than ever before.
Jesus offers us that way. He teaches us about the love and mercy of God. He shows us what God is truly like. And when we place our trust in Jesus, we see the love, grace, and mercy that flows from God through Jesus to us each and every day of our lives. Jesus truly is all we need.
The last part of this reading gets us ready for the next step, which is to bring our faith into the world. Jesus says:
“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”
We who follow Jesus, in other words, are supposed to do the works that he does. And in fact, do greater works than him. The obvious question here is: How? How can we possibly do greater works than what Jesus has done? He raised the dead, cured the sick, and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom to everyone he met. How can we do that?
But when you think about it, the church has in a very real sense performed greater works than Jesus. After all, he spent his entire life in one small corner of the world. He directly touched a very limited number of lives. But the church, in his name, has changed the world. As Martin Luther put it,
“Christ preached and worked miracles only in a small nook, and for just a short time. The apostles and their successors, however, have come to all the world, and their activity has extended over the whole history of Christianity.”
The church may not always get it right, that is true. Churches and denominations can err. There are times throughout church history when the church and its leaders have made mistakes. That is why the church has always needed prophets like Martin Luther to point this out and to urge the church to come back to the teachings of Jesus.
Yes, the church can err. But day in and day out, and throughout church history, the church has changed lives, for the better. And it has done this by doing what Jesus once did, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in every corner of the globe.
But which works, you might say, does the church do? It doesn’t seem to perform the same kind of miracles that Jesus performed. So what are these great works that we, the church, do? Here, again, Martin Luther – in a sermon on John 14 – has some very interesting words:
Let us consider the true, great works of which Christ speaks here – works which are done with the power of God, which accomplish everything, which are still performed and must be performed daily as long as the world stands.
In the first place, Christians have the Gospel, Baptism, and the Sacrament … With these [we] comfort, strengthen, and preserve poor consciences that are saddened and troubled by the devil and others. [We] are able to teach and instruct people in all walks of life and to help them live in a Christian and blessed way …
In the second place, [Luther goes on to say,] the Christians also have prayer … Through prayer they obtain for themselves and for others all that they ask of God … This is one of the greatest works they do to help and preserve the world, even if they did nothing else.”
Yes, through Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do what Jesus does, and, in fact, do greater works than these, and we are charged with doing them until he returns in glory.
Closing
What Jesus teaches in the upper room before he dies is more powerful than ever in the light of his resurrection. Because his living presence among us helps us to believe and do all that teaches.
Jesus is all that we who follow him need. And sharing what Jesus has given us is all that we need to do. There is no better way, no clearer truth, and no more meaningful way to live, than with Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus.
May we do this faithfully, until he returns in glory. To the glory of God. Amen.
My Pastoral Ponderings 