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Easter V: Christ the Way, the Truth & the Life

‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’

‘Myfi yw’r ffordd a’r gwirionedd a’r bywyd’ (Io 14:6)

Today’s Gospel reading is taken from an important moment in Christ’s life and ministry. After the Last Supper, Jesus gives a number of farewell discourses to His disciples. Before Our Lord’s Passion and Death, He spends time talking to His followers, to set their hearts at ease and to prepare them for what is about to happen. Jesus begins by saying:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (Jn 14:1)

Our Lord is telling the disciples not to be afraid, and to put their trust in God, and also in Him. Fear and trust motivate people at the deepest level. However, trust casts out fear. Because God is trustworthy, we can rest secure in Him. We know that we are safe, that we are loved, and that we are cared for. This is the foundation upon which our spiritual life is built.

Jesus then develops His teaching:

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (Jn 14:2)

The Father’s house is the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Temple is also Christ’s Body. Jesus goes to prepare a place for His disciples by going to the Cross on Good Friday. The word translated as ‘rooms’ is μοναὶ in the original Greek, and means ‘somewhere to abide’. Christians are called to abide in Christ, in His Death and Resurrection. Our Lord prepares a place for us by dying and rising from the dead. We abide in Him by living the way of Jesus; following His example and His teaching, and putting these into practice in our lives.

Jesus’ teaching, however, leaves His disciples somewhat confused:

‘Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”’ (Jn 14:5-7)

His followers do not yet understand where Christ is going. This is because the reality of His Death and Resurrection is something they must experience before they can begin to comprehend it. We, by contrast, are in a better position than the disciples. We know where Jesus is going, and how He will get there. Our Lord refers to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Firstly, Jesus is the Way, leading through death on the Cross to the new life of Easter. He is the way to life in all its fullness. Those who follow Him are said to be ‘on the Way’. Those persecuted by Saul in Acts 9:2 are described as such by St Luke. Christians are people ‘on the way’, a pilgrim people, with Heaven as our true home. Secondly, Jesus is the Truth. He is God, the source of all truth. We can have faith and put our trust in Him. Thirdly, Jesus is the Life. He is the Creator and source of all life. He offers us Eternal Life in Him, the new life of Easter, which we continue to celebrate.

Despite Our Lord’s statement that to know Him is to know the Father, His disciples are unable to understand what He means. So Philip asks: 

“Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (Jn 14:8)

This leads Jesus to say:

“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is 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. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:9-11)

When we see Jesus, we see God. When we hear Him speak, we hear the voice of God. When we see His works, we see the works of God. To know Jesus is to know God, and be in a relationship with Him. This relationship finds its culmination with Him, forever in Heaven. 

Thus we can share the confidence of Peter, who writes to Christians who: 

‘like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1Peter 2:5)

The apostle Peter is the rock and he calls all the faithful, that is you and me, to be ‘living stones’. We are all called to be living temples of the Body of Christ.

‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.’ (1Peter 2:9)

Peter calls Jesus’ followers, the Church, to be holy, and set apart for service to God and to others. This is symbolised by the anointing with holy oil which forms a part of our baptism, the ordination of clergy, and the coronation of a Monarch. We are united in Christ; we become His Body, and are nourished by Him so that we may be strengthened for service. Our royal identity comes from the King of Kings, the source of all earthly power. We plead the sacrifice which has reconciled God and humanity on the Cross. He who is the Word of God, who is the Living Bread, has come so that we may have life and have it to the full. We are nourished so that we may live lives characterised by proclamation of the Gospel, and the service of others. This is shown by the calling of seven deacons in this morning’s first reading.

So then, my brother and sister in Christ, let us then be living temples which proclaim Christ’s victory. Let us share the Good News of His Kingdom with others, so that all peoples may come to know and love God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

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Easter VII

In 1959 the first photograph of the Earth was taken from space by an unmanned satellite called Explorer 6. The image was blurry and very basic by today’s standards. Almost a decade later, the crew of Apollo 8 took a famous picture of our planet rising over the lunar landscape. It was named Earthrise. This iconic photograph helped people to understand the world better and take greater interest in environmental issues. As Christians we are called to care for our planet and all the people, plants, and creatures that dwell on it. At the same time, as Christians we are called to be in the world, but not of the world. This world is simply somewhere we will reside for a short while. Our citizenship is in Heaven, our true home, where we long to spend eternity with God. One of the ways in which the Church lives out this other-worldliness is shown in today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

After Jesus’ Ascension, the disciples spend time together in prayer and fellowship. One of their first actions is to appoint a replacement for Judas Iscariot, so that the Eleven Apostles may become Twelve again. For Jews the number twelve is very significant. It stands for wholeness and the completion of God’s purpose. There are twelve months in a year, and twelve tribes of Israel. It was therefore important to the Apostles that they were restored to their proper number of twelve. So, out of all the current followers of Jesus, Peter states that they need someone who has been with them from the beginning, to act as a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Two candidates are put forward: Justus and Matthias. Peter then prays for guidance:

“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 

“Adwaenost ti, Arglwydd, galonnau pawb. Amlyga prun o’r ddau hyn a ddewisaist i gymryd ei le yn y weinidogaeth a’r apostolaeth hon, y cefnodd Jwdas arni i fynd i’w le ei hun.” (Acts 1: 24-25)

The disciples do not decide for themselves, they leave the choice up to God. Through the random process of casting lots, God can show them whom He wants to be an apostle. This feels strange to us nowadays. We want to be in control. We want to choose. Perhaps we would be better served by putting God back in control. 

The Gospel reading continues the exploration of the Farewell Discourses between the Last Supper and Jesus’ Arrest. Today we have arrived at Chapter 17, known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. This is a truly solemn moment of intimate conversation between the Father and the Son. Before His Passion and Death, Christ is entrusting His Church to the Father, that it may be kept safe, and that it may be filled with the glory of God, and also strengthened to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom. This is a moment of profound emotion and intimacy, a window into a conversation between two Persons of the Holy Trinity. 

Jesus is committing us, His Church to God, for God to care for us. His prayer sees His followers as being in opposition to a world which rebels against God; a world of sin and corruption; a world of power and politics. Christ prays that His people may be set apart, to be holy, devoted to God, and filled with love. To love is to will the good of the other. God loves us, and it is God’s will that we flourish and enjoy life in all its fulness, united to Him. This is why Jesus taught us to pray,

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

“deled dy deyrnas, gwneler dy ewyllys; megis yn y nef, felly ar y ddaear hefyd.”(Mt 6:10)

Christ is praying that we, His Church, stay close to God. That we be united with God’s will, and filled with God’s love. This is why we look forward to next Sunday, when we celebrate Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is a sign of God’s love for us, the love which unites Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God invites us to be united with the life of the Trinity, and wants us to offer that invitation to others. If we place ourselves in God’s hands He will take the initiative, just as He did in choosing Matthias to replace Judas.

Th name Matthias means ‘gift of God’. The disciples receive this gift after praying together and asking for God’s guidance. As Christians we too need to spend time together, to pray for our needs and those of the world. In prayer we are united with each other and with God. Together we are nourished by sharing the Eucharist and hearing the Word of God. These things are crucial to who and what we are. United together we experience the love of God and the joy of community. The world may be indifferent to what we do, or it may mock us when we fail to live up to the example of Jesus. But, as Christians, we strive to live in the love of God, and forgive each other our trespasses. We aim to live out that same radical love and forgiveness which sees Jesus die upon the Cross and be raised to New Life for love of us, and for all the world.

This message of profound love and forgiveness is one that much of the world cannot or does not want to understand. We may not understand the depths of God’s love, but we know that it can be experienced, through personal encounter with Jesus in prayer, Word, and Sacrament. We are living testimony to love’s power to change lives. It sets us free to live for God and to proclaim his saving truth in our words and actions.

As I mentioned earlier in this sermon, Matthias’ name means ‘gift of God’, and his appointment comes just before God’s wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. So as we wait with the Apostles for this gift, let us pray that God may be at work in us, building us up, and giving us strength to live the Christian life. Let us then share these gifts with others, so that they may also come to believe and give glory to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

Peter Paul Rubens Matthias (Museo del Prado, Madrid)