Hi everyone. Welcome back to our podcast
where we really dig into the gospel texts and today we're
looking at John chapter 14, verses 1 to 6.
So we'll have a look at the text and then we'll try and pull it
apart a little bit. Jesus said, to his disciples.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in.
God, still and trusting me. There are many rooms in my
father's house. If there were not, I should have
told you. I am now going to prepare a
place for you and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I
shall return to take you with me.
So that where I am? You may be too.
You know, the way to the place where I am going.
Thomas said, Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how
can we know the way? Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No one can come to the father
except through me. So the context here is that it's
in the Last Supper. So the Last Supper has already
begun, and Jesus has just finished washing their feet.
And that's in the first part of John Chapter 13.
That first part of the Last Supper is read on Tuesday of
Holy Week. See, you might like to go back
and look through the podcast, archives.
To find that Tuesday of Holy Week is the start of John
Chapter 13. So in that passage, Jesus gives
them the new commandment to love one another as I have loved you,
and And he foretells Peter's denial.
So he starts. What's called the farewell
discourse, which is a set of final instructions for his
Apostles before he departs. And now we continue with the
farewell discourse. He says, do not let your hearts
be troubled. So by this point, the Apostle's
have worked out that he's leaving because he's told them
that and the Greek word for here for troubled is distressed.
So he doesn't want them to be anxious and sad that he's
leaving. He says trust in God still and
Trust in Me. Now other lik other translations
have this word as believe in God steel but I think the lectionary
translation gets it right here, it puts the word trust and
really in the New Testament context to believe.
Was to trust. So Jesus, he says trust in God's
tool and trust in me and the basic meaning is he's talking to
the apostles, you have trusted in God up until now keep doing
that and trust in me as well. I am his perfect representative
and messenger, even though things may look Bleak, keep
trusting us, that's the idea. He wants them to stay strong in
their faith, in both the father and the son even though
difficult times are coming. Verse 2, there are many rooms in
My Father's House. Sir presumably, Jesus is talking
here about heaven, where God, dwells and he says it has room
for many people. When he says this, the apostles
probably would have thought of the temple in Jerusalem because
the temple, which was considered to be God's house at that time.
Actually did have many rooms. There were rooms all around the
outside of the temple. Some of them are for storage,
some were for worship, and some of them were actually living
quarters, people lived in the temple.
So, that's probably this model of God's house that Jesus
starts. With if there were not, I should
have told you. So Jesus wants them to trust him
again. He wants them to know that they
will be with him in heaven, and he's basically saying I would
not deceive you about this. If I did, not think that you
would actually get to be with me in heaven, then I would tell you
that. So, he's stressing to them, I'm
being honest, you will be with me, trust me, you will get to be
with me in heaven. Now some Scholars think this
imagery of my father's house might not refer to the the
literal place of heaven but maybe just the state, the
Believers can be in. So the state of divine communion
with the father that the Ascension makes possible,
although I think as we see, I think it really is trying to
elicit some visual imagery of an actual place.
Now, Jesus is going to go on here to use this, do this famous
short little Parable and he's going to Use wedding imagery
that will be quite familiar to the apostles.
And so, here's the background. And this is why doing an
exegesis is really important in that culture.
First century Jewish culture, a groom?
And a bride would be betrothed. So that was the first step of
the marriage, which meant that they signed a legal consent in
front of witnesses and they were considered to be married but
that was only stage one. Then what would happen is the
groom would leave the bride for an indefinite period of time.
To go and prepare a room for them to live in.
And usually that would be an extension of the father's house.
He would actually go and build another room in his father's
house for them to live in. So while that's happening, the
bride, would await the return of the groom?
Although the bride doesn't know when the groom is coming back,
it could be a short time. It could be a long time.
One day, the groom would come back unexpectedly and he would
take the bride to be with him in the new house, and it will be a
very joyful time with great ceremony.
And you can see that appearing in some of the other Parables,
for example, the parable of the ten virgins, who light their
lamps while they wait for the groom.
So you can start to see some really clear parallels and it's
such a beautiful image as well as Jesus as the groom and he's
actually going away to prepare a place for us to extend his
father's house in heaven. Even so that we can live in it
and that's exactly what he says. I'm going now to prepare a place
for you. So Jesus is teaching and this is
probably what they would have thought of that.
He is the groom that's going to prepare a place for his Apostles
in heaven. So the ID here in context is
that the reason that Jesus must go away to Heaven at his
Ascension or at least one of the reasons that he has to go away
is so that he can prepare heaven for the arrival of the Apostles.
Isis wants to comfort the Apostle, so he tells them that
him leaving temporarily is actually going to be a good
thing because it means that they can be with him for eternity
forever in their glorious home in heaven.
So he wants to comfort them. He wants them to know that.
It's a good thing that he's going away.
Verse 3, after I have gone and prepared you a place.
I shall return to take you with me.
So that where I am, you may be too.
So this is a prediction that Jesus makes he says that he is
going to Back at the end of time.
So one day he's going to come back for his bride and his bride
can be understood as all Christian Believers, not just
the apostles and he's going when he does come back, he's going to
lead his bride to heaven to go to their permanent glorious
home. So it's quite an amazing image,
actually. Verse 4.
You know, the way to the place where I am going now, keep in
mind that Jesus hasn't actually told them where he's going yet.
We can assume that he means heaven but he hasn't told them
that Nevertheless he says to them you know the way to the
place I'm going. Now as we soon learned the
apostles think they don't know the way they don't know what
he's talking about, but Jesus says actually you do know the
way if you think about it verse 5 Thomas said.
Now this is the first Thomas doesn't appear a whole lot in
the gospels but here in John, he shows some doubt and some
elements of die out here in his question and later after the
resurrection in the same that he's very famous.
He has a similar attitude of doubt as to the claims of Jesus
resurrection. So doubting Thomases what he's
become known as probably not a feel like feel label because he
he asks reasonable questions but that's certainly what he's known
for. So this is what he asks.
Lord we do not know where you are going.
So how can we know the way? Now that makes sense really
because they don't know where Jesus is going, he hasn't
actually told them. So as a result, they really
think where we don't know the way but if they reflected on the
past three years and all that his taught them, they would
probably realize that they do in fact know the way And that's
what Jesus says. He says, I am the way, the truth
and the life. Now, this is 6 Jesus sixth.
I am statement in the Gospel of John, there's seven of them in
the gospel and they're all about Jesus trying to communicate his
identity. Now here it's actually a summary
of all the others that have come before and it requires a bit of
unpacking. So he's three things.
He's the way the truth and the life.
And obviously there's a lot you could say about each of them
when he says I am the way. Basic meaning of that is, he's
the way that people can access the father and access eternal
life and that's discussed, particularly in the parable of
the Good Shepherd. In John chapter 10.
He says, I am the truth and that seems to basically mean that, if
one follows Jesus Commandments, they will know God's will, which
is the truth. So, the truth is, what is God's
will, for people. That's discussed more earlier in
the Gospel of John in. That famous phrase, you will
know the truth and the truth. Earth will set you free.
And then Jesus also says, I am the life, the Greek word there
is Zoe which is kind of like eternal life, spiritual life.
So Jesus is the source of that spiritual life for all who
believe and that's unpacked, particularly in the bread of
life discourse in John, chapter 6.
So he's the way the truth and the life.
Why does Jesus say this in context?
Well, remember what Thomas is question was?
We do not know where you were going so how can we know the
way? So, Jesus basic answer to Thomas
is if you know me, you already have everything you need to get
to the father and to get to heaven.
That's the basic reason he says that.
The last thing he says here is no one can come to the father
except through me. So, Jesus teaches here that the
only way to get to the father's house which is essentially what
he means here by the father is to continue to believe in Jesus,
identity and teachings. That's how you get to be where
the father is in the father's house.
Now, that's developed more in the synoptic gospels.
This idea of no one can come to the father, except through me in
the Teachings about enter through the narrow gate.
So it is unpacked a little more and particularly later in the
New Testament. In the book of Acts, it says,
there is only one name under Heaven by which, we can be
saved. And then Paul and Peter, both
unpack, this idea of Jesus being the only savior.
So basically Jesus in context is telling Thomas, keep trusting me
and you will make it to the father's house.
Now that last line though does have profound theological
significance. No one can come to the father
except through me. The only way to the father is
through the son. And that applies to lots of
different things, primarily to applies, to Salvation.
The only way we can be saved and get to heaven is through
trusting, the Sun. And obviously, this teaching has
been developed through church history and the basic teaching.
Now of the Catholic church is that this line does not mean
that non-christians definitely can't get to heaven.
That's not the teaching. The teaching is though that
anyone who does get to heaven, does so through the grace of
Jesus, even if they don't. Explicitly believe in him.
So it is true. That no one can get to heaven.
No one can get to the father except through the son even if
that operates in mysterious ways that we don't fully understand.
Now that's the end of the passage we have before us at the
moment. But that farewell discourse
continues over the next couple of days in the lectionary.
So we'll pick it up there again tomorrow.
Let's take a brief. Look at some passages in the
catechism that make reference to John chapter 14.
And the point of this is so that we can get to know our Catholic
faith, a little better. It's always good to go to the
catechism. There's quite a few places here.
There's some references to the Ascension.
There's some discussions of Heaven, there's some discussions
about Jesus identity. So, we'll just take a look at a
few of them, but I'll put all of these in the show notes for you
to look at paragraph, 15 14, a Christian believing in God
cannot be separated from believing.
In the one he sent his beloved Son in whom the father is well
pleased, God tells us to listen to him.
The Lord himself said to his disciples, believe in God
believe. Also in me then in paragraph 2
7, 9 5. Which is a discussion about the
line Who Art in Heaven in the Our Father It says he is in
heaven. His Dwelling Place, the father's
house is our homeland sin, has exiled us from the land of the
Covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to
the father to heaven in Christman.
Heaven and Earth are reconciled for the sun alone.
Descended from heaven and causes us to ascend there with him by
his cross resurrection and Ascension.
Paragraph 661 is discussion about the Ascension.
It says, this this final stage stays closely linked to the
first that is to his descend from heaven in the Incarnation.
Only, the one who came from the father can return to the father
Christ. Jesus, no one has ascended into
heaven, but he who descended from Heaven, the son of man left
to its own natural Powers Humanity, does not have access
to the father's house. To God's life and happiness are
only Christ can open to man such access that we his members might
have confidence, that we too shall go where he our head and
our sauce has preceded us. So that's a nice summary about
the Theology of why Jesus had to ascend and it's largely informed
by what we see here in our reading today, from John chapter
14 about, he goes to prepare a place for us.
And then the last paragraph will look at is paragraph 2614.
And this is a discussion about Jesus teaches us how to pray
when Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples.
The mystery of prayer to the father, he reveals to them what
their prayer and ours must be. Once he has returned to the
father, in his glorified Humanity, what is new is to ask
in his name, Faith in the son, introduces the disciples into
the knowledge of the father, Because Jesus is the way the
truth and the life. And this is one of those
passages that could be meditated on a lot and there's a lot of
Rich meaning in there. But hopefully, today, this has
helped you understand, the literal sense of the text a
little more. Thanks again for tuning in.