5.12.20 - Farewell Discourse John 14:1-2

Greetings biblers (as Taylor would say). Below is the recap from last night, which focused on our eternal wedding feast experience, who Jesus says he is vis-a-vis God, and our amazing sacramental relationship with the Trinity. At the end, I provided answers again to the two tough questions posed by Antoine and Gina. Next week we will be spending more time analyzing on our next Trinity member – our Best man/Bride's maid in the wedding – The Holy Spirit! Don't miss it. Ron

RECAP

Also called the Farewell Discourse, for although it took place at the Last Supper, it was not about the Last Supper. Jesus’ Farewell Discourse spans three chapters (14-17).

Setting: Jesus has told the Apostles that he is going to be crucified, that one of them will betray him, and that Peter will deny him. Now he decides to tell them it is time to leave them and return to the Father. This revelation fills the disciples with trepidation: How can they be disciples without a master? How will they manage without his presence? Jesus’ “farewell discourse” seeks to assure them that he has a plan and that they will not be left alone without strength and guidance. In today’s reading, Jesus begins to unfold that plan.

1. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter. What they are about to go through will be beyond difficult, but it would do more harm than good if Jesus didn’t prepare them. However, if they have faith in God, and faith in him, they will be fine.

2. In my Father’s house, there are many rooms (dwelling places)… I go to prepare a place for you…I will come back again to take you there.

(The King James Version says “many mansions” rather than “rooms,” but the Greek translation actually says abode/dwelling place.)

You may recall our talking about how, in Revelations 19:6-9, Jesus coming back for his people (the Church) at the end of time is described as a wedding feast, with Jesus as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride. Now, let’s finish the story.

In ancient Jewish tradition, the marriage process begins with the betrothal and then a contract between the families, which included a payment (purchase price), usually made by the bridegroom. After the marriage agreement was completed, though they were legally married, the bridegroom did not go to live with his bride right away. He went off to do things, such as build a new home – usually on his father’s land. Later, the bridegroom would return for his bride and then the wedding ceremony/reception begin, often lasting several days to a week.

In today’s reading, Jesus is again using nuptial language. Prior to this — the last three years Jesus had been wooing humanity with an outpouring of love — this was the betrothal period. The Last Supper was the wedding agreement (the New Covenant) where the bridegroom’s payment terms were set — the purchase price to make this covenant marriage happen would be his life. That brings us up to date – today’s reading. Jesus is now telling them that he is going off to his Father’s house to prepare a dwelling place for his disciples. Then Jesus says he will come back to them so that he can take them to where he is.

In the disciples’ current state of anxiety, I doubt very much they caught the depth of all that, especially since they didn’t catch the depth of very many things until after the resurrection. Nevertheless, the reality of the wedding references made in the OT and Revelations was now underway.

Keep in mind, although the marriage contract is set, the wedding celebration still hasn't happened yet. The only uncertainty is how many of humans plan to show up.

3. You believe in God, believe also in me. If you know me, you will know the Father as well. I AM the way, the truth and the life.

These are extraordinary directives by Jesus regarding his divinity. Ultimately, he is even the source of life. If the Apostles were able to grasp this, they would have no reason to fear for their lives.

4. I am the way.

Thomas tells Jesus they do not know the way to the Father’s home. Jesus responds, “I am the way.” First, what is “the way,” and, second, what is the Father’s home?

The translation for way is actually path, or road, which would suggest that following Jesus’ teachings and example is the way, especially since he is the Word of God. But it also seems to suggest that Jesus is also the path itself, or perhaps doorway. This would also explain why he later says, “Nobody comes to the Father except through me.” In this case, it would mean that Jesus is the only way to the Father (same as the sheep’s gate). More on this below (see I am the truth).

The “Father’s house” is usually considered to be heaven; but heaven is rather undefined. Due to our finite minds, our usual sense of heaven is that it is some kind of place; a sort of a Disney World of happiness. But, as illustrated in our story of the Mona Lisa, heaven is more a state of higher being. Many theologians believe that heaven really means becoming part of the life of the Trinity. Although that is a little harder to imagine (perhaps a subject for another day), it would explain why one must enter through Jesus. Jesus is our doorway to the Trinity.

5. I am the truth.

As Pilate asked so well, “What is truth?” Many religions today claim to have the truth. And, truth be told, most of the sane ones do have a piece of the truth. It is in our spiritual nature to seek the truth, whether it is from our spouses, our friends, our bosses, our politicians, or the meaning of things in our lives, especially suffering. We must have truth, always. Even conspiracy theories are convoluted truth seeking; and the best lies always have some truth to them – that’s what makes them the best. Atheism says there is no truth, but that’s just an attempt at making a truth statement that they wish others would believe. Science, religion, cults, academics, journalism – all are seeking the truth of things. Where might all this truth-seeking lead? God; where else? When Jesus says he is the truth, he is saying HE IS truth. Notice Jesus saying, “I AM,” the identification of God. Yet another word for truth is the “Word” of God. As John writes in his first chapter, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” All existence comes from God so the Word of God can be the only truth. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, so he also is the only truth. Everything else is just the pursuit of truth.

6. I am the life.

In case you haven’t noticed, this life we live is not really the fullness of life — it is temporary; a shadow f the real thing. Like everything else on this physical plane, we are dying. In a sense, you might say death owns us, because it has the final say. But if life were truly life, it would not be ruled by death but rather the other way around. True life must be greater than death or else life is a fallacy. Where is this true life? In our heart of hearts, humans have always known there was more to life than this. That is the reasons for all the religions since the earliest, primitive man – not for an emotional crutch as the secularists like to say but for seeking the truth about life. Jesus came to reveal this truth to us, and to tell us that it is available to everyone who wishes to follow.

7. When Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replies, “Philip, do you not know me? He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

God is not visible because He is neither human nor physical, BUT Jesus is God incarnate. Therefore, he is explaining that he is the visible image of the Father.

There is a deeper point to this, and it takes us to the word sacrament. This word has gotten overused and probably has some baggage, but I can’t think of another word to make this point. Some of us may remember the definition of sacrament: “a visible sign of inward grace.” But let’s understand what this really means. Grace comes from the Holy Spirit and is made real in our lives. When this happens, God is interacting with humans, which means that grace is kind of a handoff between heaven and earth; the spiritual is crossing over into the physical. In this context, we could say that the first “sacrament” was when God created the universe; God’s “word” manifested into the physical universe (be it the Big Bang, or whatever). An even greater sacrament than that was the Incarnation, when the all-powerful, spiritual God/Logos became human (Jesus). Then, the Holy Spirit came to us in Baptism when Jesus was in the Jordan River – bam: Baptism was now a sacrament! At the Last Supper, Jesus makes his presence forever available to us in the bread and wine – bam, sacrament! Then, at the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes to us in a whole new way, bam, sacrament!

And, if you stop to think about it, humans are also a sacrament, since we have one foot in both the physical and spiritual realms – in the 6th and 7th days. Jesus is trying to help his disciples – and us – finish connecting the dots and move completely into the 7th Day.

In closing, two excellent questions were asked:

1. Jesus doesn’t say in the readings that he IS God. He either says he and God are one, or he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Since Jesus isn't more explicit, some people say this proves that Jesus wasn’t God.

It is important to note that Jesus and God are not the same thing. They are different, that’s why we say the Trinity is three persons in one God. Yes, this is difficult for our finite minds to grasp — kind of like your dog trying to wrap its brain around molecular chemistry. But what we do know is that they are not the same. If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all the same person, then God would just be presenting himself to us in different ways: the same person in three different costumes. Since that's not the case, how would you suggest Jesus describe himself? Not an easy task, especially to these Apostles. Let’s see what Jesus says... He and the Father are one – that’s pretty accurate. He also says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me – that seems pretty accurate, too.

Btw, the more one studies (contemplates?) the Trinity, the more one begins to see that this relationship between these three persons seems to be the essence of perfect community. In that sense, I'm not sure how could God be perfect love otherwise.

2. The question was asked, “Why did Jesus have to go and prepare a dwelling place for us? Why didn’t God just do that Himself and save time?”

It is important to point out that not all “betrothed/contracted” brides made it to the wedding celebration. Some may have had a change of heart or run off with someone else. Mary almost didn’t make it, right? She got pregnant after the betrothal/contract but before living with Joseph. Fortunately, an angel intervened and Joseph did a very smart about-face and brought her into his home.

In this case, we are the bride. Will we be ready when Jesus comes back for us? That’s a question all of us have to answer individually. We are fortunate in that our bridegroom – a member of the Trinity – desires very much for us to make it, so he left Trinitarian bread/sustenance behind to strengthen us along the way; and he sent the Holy Spirit to be our personal advisor, counselor, advocate, sounding board, GPS, and protector. We need all of this, too, because this life journey of ours is fraught with a million material temptations and self-centered distractions.

At the end of the day, we still have to make the choice to get on God’s train every morning when we wake up. And, thanks to forgiveness, if we miss the train one day, we can get on tomorrow morning’s train. And the one after that.