Reflection on John 14: 1-14

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Saturday, May 9, 2020

Beloved in Christ, in this Gospel Jesus boldly declares, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Previously he had said in John 8:28, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” In John 13:19, he also says, “From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.” There are other places in the Gospel where Jesus speaks and acts like God. No other religious figure or founder or a spiritual leader would speak in the manner that Jesus does. The Buddha could say he found a way that he would like to share with his followers, but Jesus said, “I am the way.” Mohammed could say that God, Allah, has communicated the final message of truth  to the world through him, but Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Confucius could insist that he had discovered a new and uplighting mode of life, but Jesus said, “I am the life.” So, if we believe that Jesus is who he said he is— the way, the truth, the life, the I AM— Yahweh in human flesh, then we are obliged to give our whole lives to him. There should be no sitting on the fence. It is either we are with Jesus or we are against him. Jesus wants us to make a choice in a manner that no other religious founder does.

Additionally, no other religious founder ever made a direct connection and link between them and God. In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “If you know me, then you will also know my Father.” And when Philip urged him saying, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us,” Jesus did not go into an elaborate theological description of the Father, but simply said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And shortly after that, he also said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” This Gospel passage and many others are the foundation and the starting point of the whole course in Trinity in major seminaries and theological colleges. I am not going to go there because this is not the place for it. 

“If you know me, then you will also know my Father,” Jesus said. In his earlier conversation with the Pharisees, he also told them, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (Jn. 8:19). In John 10:14, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” Jesus certainly knows his disciples. He knows us. He knows both our strengths and weaknesses. The challenge now is on us to also know him although we cannot know him as much as he knows us. But what does it really mean to know Jesus? In biblical language, to know someone is not a detached knowing but to know the person by experience and to have an intimate relationship with that person. Our knowledge of Jesus therefore should be both intellectually highly concentrated and experientially highly potent as well. On how we can experience Jesus, I turn our attention to the encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI titled, “Mysterium Fidei.” This letter was published in the Fall of 1965 just as the final session of Vatican II was underway. In his letter, Pope Paul VI talks about the various modes of Christ’s presence in the Church. First, he said that “Christ is present in his Church when she prays, since it is he who prays for us and prays in us and to whom we pray as to our God.” This means that whenever we gather to pray, Jesus is among us and we can encounter him and experience him in our prayers. Secondly, the Holy Father said that “He (Christ) is present in the Church as she performs her works of mercy…because it is Christ, performing those works through the Church, who continually assists men with his divine love.” So, when the Church does its great work with the poor, it is Christ present who is performing those works through the Church. Thirdly, “He (Christ) is present in the Church as she preaches, since the Gospel is preached through the authority of Christ.” Fourthly, the Pope said, “In a manner still more sublime Christ is present in His Church as she offers in his name the Sacrifice of the Mass…and as she administers the other sacraments.” So, when the priest baptizes, it is Christ who baptizes; when the bishop confirms, it is Christ who is confirming, and when the priest ministers the anointing of the sick, it is Christ who anoints and who heals. At Mass, it is Christ acting, Christ speaking, Christ sharing his life. Going further Pope Paul VI said, “However, there is still higher, more sublime and indeed unsurpassable manner Christ is present in his Church. It is the Eucharistic Presence.

Beloved, if you want to encounter and experience Jesus do the following:

1. Pray
2. Be involved in works of charity
3. Read the word of God, the teachings of the Church and listen to the word proclaimed
4. Receive the sacraments 
5. Receive the Eucharist reverently and believe in your heart that the same Jesus born of Mary, who preached powerfully, worked signs and wonders, who suffered, died and rose is truly and really present Soul, Body and Divinity in the Eucharist.