Fifth
Sunday of Easter
John
14:1-14
Rev.
Neli Miranda
Today, our Christian spirituality invites us on a journey
that will lead us to Ascension Day, which happens forty days after Jesus’
resurrection. To guide us on this path, the lectionary leads us through a
series of lessons that tells us about the endearing moments that Jesus and his
disciples spent together just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. So, for three
Sundays we listen to some sections of Jesus’ farewell discourse he gave to his
first community of disciples at the Last Supper. For the Johannine community these words were very
relevant, and they are included in the Gospel account so that Jesus’ words could
reach the disciples throughout the centuries.
Today we read chapter 14 which is preceded by the account
of Jesus who washes his disciples’ feet during the Last Supper and foretells
his coming suffering, Judas’ betrayal, and Peter’s denial. “Little
children, I am with you only a little longer...,” Jesus
announces (13,33). So,
at the beginning of chapter 14,
night has come;
Judas has gone out to meet the Jewish authorities to plan Jesus’ arrest with
them, and Jesus has told Peter, “Very
truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times” (13,38).
What a moment! What a scenario! For a moment, let’s try to
empathize with these women and men, disciples of Jesus, who are hearing that
life is going to change very soon for them. No
wonder Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; [and]believe also in me” (14,1).
Jesus, faced with this perplexing moment, continues to encourage his disciples by saying, “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?” (14,2). These beautiful words have been interpreted by
many in such a way that what people hear is that Jesus is speaking about
“mansions in heaven”. However, Jesus is not referring to “heaven”
but to “My Father’s house”. He uses domestic imagery to speak about his return
to “his Father’s house”, to God’s bosom—a dwelling place lighted by God’s
glory, full of love, joy, peace, and reconciliation. Jesus does not speak about
“mansions” but about “many dwelling places” where there is plenty of room for all
with God. Later, Jesus speaks
about the abiding relationship that he and his father share and in which all
believers are invited to live, “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” (14,23). So, “The place” Jesus prepares is not a
physical dwelling but a “place” in God’s great family.
Jesus, amid uncertainty, assures his disciples that through his coming
suffering and the overcoming of death in his resurrection, he is returning to
his Father and will come again to them and all together will make a community
with God, “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” (14,3). For us 21st century Christians,
this is not a promise for the future but a current experience because through
Jesus we already live in the Father’s house, in God’s family.
Jesus is confident that his disciples
already know where he is going and the way to arrive because he says, “And you know the way to the
place where I am going” (14,4). However, Thomas (the
disciple who asks to see the marks of crucifixion in the resurrected Jesus) says,
“Lord, we do not know where
you are going. How can we know the way?” (14,5) Some in the community still do not know
Jesus!! Jesus responds with these momentous, lasting words, “I am
the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me” (14,6). Really, Thomas has not paid attention to
Jesus’ lessons; “the way” is not a route or a map but “someone”, and that is Jesus
himself! Jesus does not say that he points to the way, but that he, himself, is
the way. “Knowing the way” means “knowing Jesus”. For “knowing” Jesus uses a verb which refers
to the kind of knowledge one gets through intimate experience. When we “know” Jesus intimately, we know God the
Father, “If you know me, you will know my Father
also…” (14,7).
How many might there be like
Thomas who never enjoy the Father’s house in the here and now!
Philip, another of his disciples, asks
Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied [it is
enough for us]” (14,8). If Thomas represents those who ask for demonstrable
proof, then Philip represents those who are never satisfied. In his previous
appearance in John’s Gospel, Philip appears worried because there was not enough
food to feed a large crowd (6,7) … food had not been enough, and now, Jesus is not
quite enough either. Jesus reproaches
Philip by saying, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still
do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show
us the Father’?” (14:8-9).
How did the disciples imagine God? Perhaps like a great, almighty, inaccessible,
and impassible God? But Jesus showed
them a loving God who lives among the people, who has compassion for the needy,
who heals the sick, who holds children in his arms, who weeps, who suffers
among us… it seems some of them did not see God.
Dear sisters and brothers, living as Jesus’ disciples and spending time
with him leads us to see God who lives among us. Jesus teaches us about God with
a very human face, God who loves, who stands in solidarity, who experiences
vulnerability and suffering, who everyday denies power to death! Have you seen
God?
Today, Jesus invites us to see God
whom he tenderly calls the Father and tells us that there is enough room for all in his Father’s house. Amen.
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