Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, March 20, 2014 Read John 14:1-14 John’s Passion Narrative contains four chapters that are not to be found in any of the synoptic gospels. That about one-fifth of John’s gospel. The narrative that unfolds in these chapters are obviously very important to John. To sum them up, they deal with the issues of how the followers of Jesus are to survive after Jesus has been glorified, lifted up on the cross, and returned to the Father from whom Jesus came. Jesus is “from above” and once he returns to his place “above” he will no longer be physically present for his disciples. How are they to survive? How are they not to feel abandoned? These chapters deal with the survival of the church! No wonder John has given them so much space. They address crucial questions about how God is present and active in the church following the death/resurrection/ascension of Jesus. They address the question of the presence or absence of Jesus. John sets these crucial questions in the context of the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples on the evening before the day of preparation for the Passover which would occur on the following evening. It is striking that none of the synoptic gospels mention a word of this. We will have to ponder this striking difference as we move along. Two questions dominate our reading today: (1) once Jesus has return above what will be the destiny of his followers? (2) what is the relationship between Jesus and the Father – who is Jesus? Jesus answers the first question by promising his disciples that their destiny will ultimately be with him, “above” where he is. Jesus had told them that he was soon going where they could not come, but that they would come to where he is going later. Now Jesus makes that even more explicit – he is going to prepare a place for them “above” where Jesus came from and where he is returning. Once again misunderstanding is a part of the story. The disciples to not understand where Jesus is going and so they do not know the way. They have not perceived that the death of Jesus is in fact a great victory through which Jesus will ascend to where he was and will bring his followers to be with him. They have heard Jesus say to them that he will be “lifted up” but they have only heard that in terms of its meaning that he will be crucified. They have not heard that his “lifting up” will be an exaltation – the glorification of Jesus. Jesus had told them that this was his glorification but, perhaps in their humanness, they have been deaf to those words. Maybe it just sounded too good to be true. Or maybe, more profoundly, human beings just can’t see the power of the cross until it happens. It is only after the fact that human beings have the possibility of understanding. That has also been a theme of the synoptic gospels – in fact it is the most pointed message of Mark’s gospel – no one can perceive that Jesus is the Son of God, the crucified Messiah, until after Jesus is dead! So maybe John is dealing with this same reality – even the disciples in John’s story cannot know that Jesus is the Messiah until after his crucifixion. John has just pushed the question backward into the ministry of Jesus to deal with it more fully there. So often in John’s story the disciples have misunderstood and so they ask questions. The question of Thomas in this story serves to move it along and provides Jesus with the opportunity to once again use the “I am” phrase. In response to the question of how they might know the way Jesus tells them that “I am” is the way – Jesus, the “I am” is the way. I think this is not so much an exclusive statement by Jesus as a statement through which Jesus is saying that he is responsible for his followers progressing on the way. Often this statement is used to exclude others – Jesus is the only way. On the other hand John has told us repeatedly that no one can come to the Father unless the Father draws them to himself. We don’t choose God – God chooses us. So here too Jesus is providing the way. He is the way and we cannot find the way without him, without his action of drawing us on the way. The disciples are not satisfied with Jesus’ response to Thomas. They still do not understand. The reason they fail to understand is that they still do not really comprehend the identity of Jesus. They do not perceive that Jesus and the Father are one. And so Jesus needs to state it to them again. If you want to see the Father then just look at Jesus – the Word became flesh and lived among us. The very essence of God is present in the human Jesus. Of course the disciples could see the human Jesus with their eyes. To see the Father in Jesus would take belief and that is the driving motive of John’s gospel – that people might believe in him (John 20:30). John is dealing with how the church is to think of Jesus. In the time following Jesus’ death/resurrection/ascension they are to know that Jesus is God the Son, in fact, he had been God the Son all along. Such a one can be depended upon for all of our needs. So Jesus promises his followers that whatever they ask in his Name will be done for them. They will do his works, in fact even greater works, in the time after his death/resurrection/ascension because he will still be with them. John will now move on to talk about just how Jesus will be present to his disciples after his death/resurrection/ascension.