Easter V – A
May 14, 2017
John 14:1-14
New
King James Version (NKJV)
The Way, the Truth,
and the Life
14 “Let
not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In
My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you.[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
5 Thomas
said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the
way?”
6 Jesus
said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.
The Father Revealed
7 “If
you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know
Him and have seen Him.”
8 Philip
said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
9 Jesus
said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me,
Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us
the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father
in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but
the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the
Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works
themselves.
The Answered Prayer
12 “Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do
also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And
whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son. 14 If you ask[c] anything in My name, I will do it.
Footnotes:
John 14:2 Literally dwellings
John 14:2 NU-Text adds a word which would cause the
text to read either if it was not so, would I have told you that I go to
prepare a place for you? or if it were not so I would have told you; for I go
to prepare a place for you.
John 14:14 NU-Text adds Me.
"Many mansions....no one come to the Father..." this Gospel reading has often
been used to exclude others from the Divine Promise of new life. The following is a reflection that argues
against such exclusion.
Many
Mansions
40 + years in the
Holy Ministry
answering the
question:
“How many?”
How many in worship
on Sunday?
How many
calls/visits have you made?
How many hours did
you spend in administration?
We are so subject
to quantifying our lives:
Numbers / bean
counters rule the day.
But what
if
we ceased to ask
“How many?”
and choose
to explore
the depth
of the
Divine and Human?
Can you measure the
weight of your grief?
Can you count the
ways of love?
Can we measure the
ache of the heart,
the awe in an open
sky,
the mystery of the
Divine
in bread and wine?
~ ~ ~
So, dear Church,
for 40 + years
you’ve asked of me
the wrong question
It has never been
and never will be:
“How many?”
when a shepherd
leaves 99 sheep
to save one.
Ask the
Christ: “How many?”
and be ready
for
an answer
that will
leave
you
angry
or in
awe and wonder.
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