Monthly Archives: May 2026

Show us the Father

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Lectionary Cycle A. In posts over the last two days we considered possible understandings of the manner in which Jesus would return to prepare his disciples followed by the explanation the disciples sought. Jesus’ statement in v.7 (If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”) is cast in the light of a deep human desire: to see and know God. Jesus tells the disciples – in knowing me, in seeing me, in my words, and in my deeds, you have seen and come to know the Father. 

But Phillip is essentially asking for a theophany (v.8) – the visible manifestation of God – which raises the question of Phillip’s understanding of who Jesus really is.  What comes next in Jesus’ reply is somewhat obscured by the translation of singular/plural second person pronouns, i.e., “you.”  While not clear in English it is quite clear in Greek.  Brian Stoffregen offers this clarifying paraphrase (vv.10-11):

“For such a long time I have been with y’all
and you have not known me, Philip?
The one having seen me has seen the father.
How are you saying, ‘Show us the father?’
Do you not believe that I am in the father and the father is in me?
The words which I am saying to y’all I am not speaking from myself,
but the father dwelling in me is doing his works.
[Y’all] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me;
but if not, [y’all] believe through the works themselves.”

While this might indicate a lack of understanding and belief on the part of the disciples about the person and being of Jesus, it clearly shows their lack of understanding about the relationship between Jesus and God as Father. Jesus wanted the disciples to understand he was not just a prophet, not just a teacher, not just their disciple-master, not only the Messiah; he was the Word made flesh, God incarnate. To be in his presence was to be in the presence of the Father. And if you can’t do that on a personal level – then believe the works.

Greater Works than These. To know what this means we need first to understand what is meant by ‘the works’ of Jesus. This expression is used repeatedly in connection with Jesus’ ministry, and denotes (1) evangelizing the Samaritan woman (4:34); (2) healing the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda (5:20; 7:21); (3) healing the man born blind (9:3, 4); (4) Jesus’ miracles generally (7:3; 10:25, 32, 33, 37, 38; 14:11, 12; 15:24); (5) Jesus’ teaching (10); and (6) Jesus’ entire ministry generally (5:36; 17:4).

But what does it mean to do greater works that Jesus did? The word meizona does not mean greater in quantity, but is reserved as a qualitative assessment. No credible scholars hold that the disciples will later, in mission, perform works of a greater quality…however understood. Nor do they hold that the disciples/their works would more clearly reveal the Father. How are our works greater than Jesus’? Maybe it is as simple as the fact that our works come after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension – when Jesus has gone to the Father. The disciples’ work/ our works come during the new, eschatological age ushered in by Jesus’ “hour” of glory when those later works reveal the complete story of the Word made Flesh and hence the fullness of God’s love.  By doing what Jesus does, the disciples of every age continue the glorification of God through Jesus that was the purpose of his own works (v.13; cf 5:44; 11:4; 17:4)

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain

Into the Unknown

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Within my friar community, given my experience as a naval officer, these days I am the easily accessible subject matter expert on all things afloat in the current war in the middle east. The brothers ask questions because they are curious, concerned, and want to know how it will all end. I wish I knew.

The Apostles are concerned because in the gospel reading for today Jesus has told them He is going away. “Master, we do not know where you are going?” Already things seem to be going “off the rails” in these moments following the Last Supper.  What will happen next? How will this all end?

In the first reading, St. Paul is doing “his thing” in Antioch. It is only the beginning of his missionary endeavors. There are another 15 chapters in the Acts of the Apostles.  He has been arrested, transported and is now imprisoned in Rome. What will happen next? How will this all end?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities) Historian David McCullough named the unsettling reality of living in the tension between the darkness and the light. He called history “an unfolding drama in which the men and women of a given moment could not know how everything turned out.”

Except we do. Some days we just need to be reminded.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:1-4)

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain

In the Father’s House

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Today’s gospel contains the verse we all remember from the King James translation version: “In my Father’s mansion, there are many rooms.” As grand as that image is, in fact, the word “mansion” does not appear in the original Greek. It simply says,  2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. 

Verse 2 also has some translation options: “In my Father’s house [oikia] there are many dwelling places [monai].”  Should oikia be translated “house,” i.e., a physical structure. Or perhaps “household,” i.e., a community of people? What about the royal lineage as in the House of David or the House of Windsor? Or even “family” – all of which are valid translations.

If one is convinced that house [oikia] refers to heaven alone (v.2) then the prepare a place (v.2) and the where I am (v.3) refer to a place in heaven where Jesus is. The I will come back speaks to the parousia – although that is not a topic this Gospel speaks about elsewhere. But clearly oikia has other meanings: household, community, family. If one lends credence to those understandings, then the reference can be heaven and earthly life.

Some of this should sound familiar to those who would study the Gospel According to John. The encounter with Nicodemus (ch. 3) and the Samaritan Woman at the well (ch. 4) hinge of the ambiguity of words. And there is more. The same ambiguity exists with mone (singular). It means a “place where one may remain or dwell,” It can mean a physical structure – and often in secular use it refers to a transient or overnight lodging – rather than a fixed  dwelling.

Then again, all the focus on the “where” might be a diversion from the more important element. Many argue that the context does lend itself to a permanent dwelling – but is it physical?  The only other NT use of mone is John 14:23, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling [mone]with him.”  The use there seems to imply an abiding relationship between people and God – and one in which the Father and the Son come to the human person!

This noun is related to the verb menō meaning “to remain, stay, await”. The verb occurs often in this part of John’s gospel, most often referring to the relationship between God and Jesus or God and us. Another reference with this meaning of menō is 8:35 (where oikia also occurs): “ A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains.”  Do the words “remain” and “house” refer to a physical place or to a relational state? Our children remain our children forever, even though they may not be living in our house. The relationship remains even while the physical presence may not.

Why mention all this? Jewish traditions that identify the ‘Father’s house’ with a heavenly dwelling place clearly lie behind the imagery of v. 2a (e.g., Pss 2:4; 66:1; 113:5-6; 123:1; Is 66:1). But as with many of Jesus’ teachings, we are asked to look more deeply into meaning. Here in this gospel “my Father’s house” needs to be read first in the context of the mutual indwelling of God and Jesus, a form of  indwelling that has been repeatedly stressed from the opening verses of John’s Gospel.

And that indwelling is the critical relationship for the disciples in the post-Resurrection era – and for us in our age.

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain

I am the Way

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This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Easter in Lectionary Cycle A. In yesterday’s post we considered possible understandings of the manner in which Jesus would return to prepare his disciples. In vv.6-11 we have the explanation the disciples seek.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever 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 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. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. 

In v.6 there is a shift from the “where” (as in , “where you are going” – to the way to get there (“how can we know the way”). In response to this shift Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life.” This statement contains the sixth of seven ‘I am’ sayings with predicates in the Fourth Gospel (6:35, 48, 51; 8:12; 10:7, 9; 10:11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5). Fundamental to Jesus’ response to Thomas’ question was that Jesus himself is the way. It is in this context that Jesus as ”the truth and the life” seem to be supporting statements.

Within Judaism, “the way” denotes the life-styles of the “wise” – those who live in accordance with the teachings of the sages (Prov 28:2,20).  In the Psalms the “way” describes a life lived in accordance with the will and desire of God.  Within this context, O’Day makes two interesting notes on these verses:

This is the heart of the good news for the Fourth Evangelist, that in Jesus, the incarnate word, the Son of God, one can see and know God in a manner never before possible. (743)

In many ways, John 14:6 is both truism and tautology, because, following John 1:18, it is indeed only through the incarnation that the identity of God as Father is revealed. John 14:6 is not a general metaphysical statement about ‘God’; Jesus does not say ‘No one comes to God except through me,’ but ‘No one comes to the Father except through me,’ and the specificity of that theological nomenclature needs to be taken seriously. John 14:6 is the very concrete and specific affirmation of a faith community about the God who is known to them because of the incarnation. (744)

O’Day goes on to assert that these verses (vv.6-7) are simply a joyous affirmation of a particular religious community, in a particular place and time in history, and was the means of defining themselves – who are in fact a minority within their own time and place. She asks the question of the verse “No one comes to the Father except through me”: is this a firm ontological statement that admits of no exceptions – e.g., a 21st century Muslim would find a different way to God, but not to the Father – or is it simply a statement of what we Christians believe?

This topic is called the “scandal of particularism.”  In short, the scandal (that which causes people to stumble) is stated as: Would God really have uniquely picked Israel, and its fulfillment in Christianity, as the one and only particular way to achieve salvation?  Some answer that “for Christians, yes; for others, who knows?” The Catholic Church proclaims Christ as the sole and unique savior for all and strongly rejects any idea that Christ is one among many others. But then that is just the start of a debate of extra ecclesiam nulla salus – outside the church there is no salvation.

The expression comes from the writings of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, a Christian bishop of the 3rd century. The phrase is an axiom often used as shorthand for the doctrine that the Church is necessary for salvation. It is a dogma in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, in reference to their own communions. It is also held by many historic Protestant churches. However, Protestants, Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox each have a unique ecclesiological understanding of what constitutes ‘the Church’. For some, the church is defined as “all those who will be saved”, with no emphasis on the visible church. For others, the theological basis for this doctrine is founded on the beliefs that Jesus Christ personally established the one Church, and that the Church serves as the means by which the graces won by Christ are communicated to believers. There is no shortage of views.

Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255–1319), “Jesus taking leave of his Apostles,” ca. 1310 | Panel 4 of the Maestro, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena | Public Domain