From: John 14:1-12
Jesus Reveals the Father
[8] Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” [9]
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me,
Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; 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 say to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the
Father who dwells in Me does His works. [11] Believe Me that I am in the Father
and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the words themselves.
[12] “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me will also do the works that
I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.
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Commentary:
1-3. Apparently this prediction of Peter’s denial has saddened the disciples. Je-
sus cheers them up by telling them that He is going away to prepare a place for
them in Heaven, for Heaven they will eventually attain, despite their shortcomings
and dragging their feet. The return which Jesus refers to includes His Second Co-
ming (Parousia) at the end of the world (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:5; 11:26; 1 Thessalo-
nians 4:16-17; 1 John 2:28) and His meeting with each soul after death: Christ
has prepared a Heavenly dwelling-place through His work of redemption. There-
fore, His words can be regarded as being addressed not only to the Twelve but
also to everyone who believes in Him over the course of the centuries. The Lord
will bring with Him into glory all those who have believed in Him and have stayed
faithful to Him.
4-7. The Apostles did not really understand what Jesus was telling them: hence
Thomas’ question. The Lord explains that He is the way to the Father. “It was
necessary for Him to say ‘I am the Way’ to show them that they really knew
what they thought they were ignorant of, because they knew Him” (St. Augus-
tine, “In. Ioann. Evang.”, 66, 2).
Jesus is the way to the Father—through what He teaches, for by keeping to His
teaching we will reach Heaven; through faith, which He inspires, because He
came to this world so “that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life” (John
3:15); through His example, since no one can go to the Father without imitating
the Son; through His merits, which make it possible for us to enter our Heavenly
home; and above all He is the way because He reveals the Father, with whom
He is one because of His divine nature.
“Just as children by listening to their mothers, and prattling with them, learn to
speak their language, so we, by keeping close to the Savior in meditation, and
observing His words, His actions, and His affections, shall learn, with the help
of His grace, to speak, to act, and to will like Him.
“We must pause here...; we can reach God the Father by no other route ... ;
the Divinity could not be well contemplated by us in this world below if it were
not united to the sacred humanity of the Savior, whose life and death are the
most appropriate, sweet, delicious and profitable subjects which we can choose
for our ordinary meditations” (St. Francis de Sales, “Introduction to the Devout
Life”, Part II, Chapter 1, 2).
“I am the way”: He is the only path linking Heaven and Earth. “He is speaking to
all men, but in a special way He is thinking of people who, like you and me, are
determined to take our Christian vocation seriously: He wants God to be forever
in our thoughts, on our lips and in everything we do, including our most ordinary
and routine actions.
“Jesus is the way. Behind Him on this Earth of ours He has left the clear out-
lines of His footprints. They are indelible signs which neither the erosion of time
nor the treachery of the Evil One have been able to erase” (St. J. Escriva,
“Friends of God”, 127).
Jesus’ words do much more than provide an answer to Thomas’ question; He
tells us: “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life”. Being the Truth and the
Life is something proper to the Son of God become man, who St. John says in
the prologue of his Gospel is “full of grace and truth” (1:14). He is the Truth be-
cause by coming to this world He shows that God is faithful to His promises,
and because He teaches the truth about who God is and tells us that true wor-
ship must be “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). He is Life because from all eterni-
ty He has divine life with His Father (cf. John 1:4), and because He makes us,
through grace, sharers in that divine life. This is why the Gospel says: “This is
eternal life, that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
Thou has sent” (John 17:3).
By His reply Jesus is, “as it were, saying, By which route do you want to go? I
am the Way. To where do you want to go? I am the Truth. Where do you want to
remain? I am the Life. Every man can attain an understanding of the Truth and the
Life; but not all find the Way. The wise of this world realize that God is eternal life
and knowable truth; but the Word of God, who is Truth and Life joined to the Fa-
ther, has become the Way by taking a human nature. Make your way contempla-
ting His humility and you will reach God” (St. Augustine, “De Verbis Domini Ser-
mones”, 54).
8-11. The Apostles still find our Lord’s words very mysterious, because they can-
not understand the oneness of the Father and the Son. Hence Philip’s persistence.
Then Jesus “upbraids the Apostle for not yet knowing Him, even though His works
are proper to God—walking on the water, controlling the wind, forgiving sins, raising
the dead. This is why He reproves him: for not recognizing His divine condition
through His human nature” (St. Augustine, “De Trinitate”, Book 7).
Obviously the sight of the Father which Jesus refers to in this passage is a vision
through faith, for no one has ever seen God as He is (cf. John 1:18; 6:46). All ma-
nifestations of God, or “theophanies”, have been through some medium; they are
only a reflection of God’s greatness. The highest expression which we have of
God our Father is in Christ Jesus, the Son of God sent among men. “He did this
by the total fact of His presence and self-manifestation—by words and works,
signs and miracles, but above all by His death and glorious resurrection from the
dead, and finally by sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God was with us,
to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life”
(Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 4).
12-14. Before leaving this world, the Lord promises His Apostles to make them
sharers in His power so that God’s salvation may be manifested through them.
These “works” are the miracles they will work in the name of Jesus Christ (cf.
Acts 3:1-10; 5:15-16; etc.), and especially the conversion of people to the Chris-
tian faith and their sanctification by preaching and the ministry of the sacraments.
They can be considered greater works than Jesus’ own insofar as, by the Apos-
tles’ ministry, the Gospel was not only preached in Palestine but was spread to
the ends of the earth; but this extraordinary power of apostolic preaching pro-
ceeds from Christ, who has ascended to the Father: after undergoing the humi-
liation of the cross Jesus has been glorified and from Heaven He manifests His
power by acting through His Apostles.
The Apostles’ power, therefore, derives from Christ glorified. Christ our Lord
says as much: “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it”. “It is not that he who
believes in Me will be greater than Me, but that only that I shall then do greater
works than now; greater, by him who believes in Me, than I now do by myself
without Him” (St. Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang.”, 72, 1).
Jesus Christ is our intercessor in Heaven; therefore, He promises us that every-
thing we ask for in His name, He will do. Asking in His name (cf. 15:7, 16; 16:
23-24) means appealing to the power of the risen Christ, believing that He is all-
powerful and merciful because He is true God; and it also means asking for what
is conducive to our salvation, for Jesus is our Savior. Thus, by “whatever you ask”
we must understand what is for the good of the asker. When our Lord does not
give what we ask for, the reason is that it would not make for our salvation. In
this way we can see that He is our Savior both when He refuses us what we ask
and when He grants it.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
|
First reading |
Acts 13:44-52 © |
The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’
It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
|
Psalm |
Psalm 97:1-4 © |
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
|
Gospel Acclamation |
Rm6:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
|
Or |
Jn8:31-32 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
and you will learn the truth, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel |
John 14:7-14 © |
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’