The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — the Fifth Sunday of Easter — with food for thought about the call to lovingly serve. Gnaw away!
Fifth Sunday of Easter: John 14:1-14
Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me as well. In God’s house there are many dwelling places; otherwise, how could I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I will come back to take you with me, that where I am there you may be as well. You know the way that leads to where I am going.”
Thomas replied, “But we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I myself am the Way – I am the Truth and I am Life. No one comes to Abba God but through me. If you really knew me, you would know Abba God also. From this point on, you know Abba God and you have seen God.”
“Rabbi,” Philip said, “show us Abba God, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and still you don’t know me? Whoever has seen me has seen Abba God. How can you say, ‘Show us your Abba’? Don’t you believe that I am in Abba God and God is in me? The words I speak are not spoken of myself; it is Abba God, living in me, who is accomplishing the works of God. Believe me that I am in God and God is in me, or else believe because of the works I do. The truth of the matter is, anyone who has faith in me will do the works I do – and greater works besides. Why? Because I go to Abba God, and whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that God may be glorified in me. Anything you ask in my name I will do.”
The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?
This is the beginning of what scholars call “The Farewell Discourse” of Jesus … in other words, this is Jesus’ long goodbye to his disciples. Look at the events that have happened leading up to this speech.
First, three things that are signs of things to come:
*Jesus has been “anointed for burial” by Mary (12:1-8)
*Jesus has had his “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, the place were his death will take place (12:12-19)
*Clear teachings about Jesus’ death that are not received by the people (12:20-43)
Then we have a major shift from the other four Gospels. At the meal with the disciples the night before Jesus dies, John doesn’t tell the traditional story of the last supper. Instead Jesus’ last act with his disciples isn’t the meal but him washing their feet. It is a demonstration of Jesus’ final summation to his disciples — the New Commandment, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Knowing this build-up is critical to understanding this week’s Gospel. We must remember that Jesus’ act of washing their feet and these words of the New Commandment have just happened and it is in this context Jesus’ conversation with Thomas and Philip must be heard.
A few things to chew on:
*The fullest statement of who Jesus is happens here. “I myself am the Way – I am the Truth and I am Life. No one comes to Abba God but through me. If you really knew me, you would know Abba God also. From this point on, you know Abba God and you have seen God.” The first Christians understood this, calling themselves “People of the Way.” But what is this “way” to God? Taken out of context, many have used this as a way to claim that a verbal statement of faith in the person of Jesus is the “only way to Abba God.” But remember the context. The
“way” of Christ is the way of the New Commandment. That is what he has just told and shown them. It is not about saying the name of Jesus. He has just washed their feet and told them to love one another as he has loved them and said “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do.” The way to Abba God is the way of self-giving service, not any “magic words” professing belief … and that invites people of many, many faiths, tribes and conditions to travel together on the journey.
*One sure danger sign that we are straying from true faith (The Way) is when we try to manipulate God for our own ends. Historically, many people have seen Jesus’ words that “whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that God may be glorified in me. Anything you ask in my name I will do.” as more “magic words” that help them get what they want. But remember the context — Jesus is talking about the disciples giving themselves fully to one another in a life of service. In that context, Jesus promises to give whatever they ask in his name … so that God may be glorified in (Jesus). Remember that original sin is when we put ourselves in the place of God. “The Way” is living a life of loving service as a way of loving God and returning God to the place of centrality in our lives. The promise is not that Jesus is some divine ATM … but that as we lay down our very lives in loving service for one another, Jesus will join us and God will be glorified.
Try This:
Many of us don’t have a chance to formulate our last words. Death often comes suddenly. We are so aware of that now. But impending death has a way of focusing us on what is most important. The fear in this pandemic gives us a new lens into that. This week, spend some time each day with this Gospel reading and ask yourself, “What would my final message to those I love be?” Even take the time to write it out. What message — what important truth — would you want to leave for those you love most?
Then when you have it. Make sure you take the time this week to share it with at least one of those people. After all, we never know the day or the hour…
Famous Last Words
This passage begins Jesus’ farewell discourse, his last words to his disciples before his passion begins. We tend to think about the “it is finished” on the cross as Jesus’ last words, but this is really the last message he had to his disciples — the things he really wanted to tell them and wanted them to hear before he died.
Last words are powerful. They are our parting wisdom to the world. Think about it. If you are with the people you care the most about in the world and you know you are about to die … what would your last words to them be?
Whatever they would be, I’ll bet they would be important. I’ll bet they would be something that you’d want to stick with them for a long time.
History has given us some amazing last words.
*John Adams cried out from his deathbed “Thomas Jefferson – still survives” as they died the same day, even at the end embracing the contentious relationship out of which a nation was founded (and not knowing that Jefferson had actually already died!)
*Martin Luther King, the night before he was killed, invoked the image of Moses and holding out the hope of the people “getting to the promised land” without him.
*Indira Gandhi, similarly prescient about her impending death, said the night before she was killed, “I don’t mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation.”
Some have used last words to send a political message. Ethel Rosenberg’s last words before her execution were: “We are the first victims of American fascism!” Others have used them to express final regret (John Maynard Keynes famously quipped as he died, “I wish I’d drunk more champagne.”)
And so the last words of Jesus must be listened to with great care. He could have said, “Get those Romans” or “Remember to pray always” or even, with a prescient nod to W.C. Fields, “On the whole, I should have stayed in Nazareth.”
But instead, Jesus said “love one another as I have loved you.” He washed their feet and said “this is the Way.” Of all the things Jesus could have left us with, he left us with the call to lovingly serve — to lay down our lives for one another.
And then Jesus’ death spoke those words even louder than the words themselves … as on the cross that is exactly what he did.
Amazing last words. Words to live by. Words to die by. Words wherein death no longer is death, but life.
What does it mean for you, for us, to love and be loved that deeply?
Collect for Sunday
Pray this throughout the week as you gnaw on this Gospel.
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
