Jesus prepares his friends for his absence while he is still with them. In a conversation that takes place just before Sunday’s gospel, Thomas, Philip, and Judas ask Jesus questions and receive words to live by for themselves and for us. Thomas wants to know where Jesus is going, so he can know the way. To him, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14.7)
Philip asks, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” To him, Jesus explains a little impatiently, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”(14.9).
A little later Judas, the son of James, asks the question to which Sunday’s gospel is the answer. He asks, “How is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” This question touches on the mystery of who believes. Some see in Jesus’ actions the works of God. Some see the same actions but don’t believe.
The power Jesus reveals is not military strength like that of the Roman legions but love. Jesus reveals the word his followers must keep at the last supper when he gives them two commands. First, he washes their feet as an example and tells them, “As I have done, so you must do.” Then, second, between prophesies that Judas will betray him and Peter will deny him, Jesus directs, “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another.”
Jesus has demonstrated the words his friends must keep — love one another as he has loved them and will love them to the end on the cross.
- What question would you ask Jesus?
- What gospel words do you live by?
Israel’s wisdom writings insist God is knowable in creation. Wisdom begins in awe and wonder. It is always looking for a home, a dwelling place among the human race. Wisdom finds a home in Israel and wherever people recognize that creation comes from the hand of God. The Wisdom of Solomon says human knowledge or wisdom is “a breath of the power of God,… a spotless mirror of the workings of God “ (7.26).
Jesus mirrors in his words and deeds who God is, just as wisdom mirrors the creator. Jesus and his Father make a home with those who live his teachings and follow his example. Jesus’ love for his friends unites them with him and his Father.
Where Jesus lives is a question that arises early in John’s gospel. When John the Baptist points out Jesus to Andrew and another of his disciples, they follow Jesus, who asks them what they are looking for. “Where are you staying?” they ask (1.39). The word stay can mean to abide, to reside, to continue in memory. Jesus invites them to come and see. In his farewell at the last supper he readies his friends for his new staying power.
By the time Jesus takes his leave, where he lives is clear. Wherever his friends lay down their lives for one another as he is about to on the cross. Wherever they serve one another humbly as he has done rather than lord or lady it over one another like earthly leaders. Where his friends love one another, they reveal God as Jesus does. They continue his work in the world.
- How do you answer the question today, “Where does Jesus live?”
- Where do you experience awe in God’s presence?
This gospel tells us that when people live like Jesus, they discover Jesus and the Father within them. We learn and relearn Jesus’ message from living it. Jesus comes as a friend, an equal who does not exempt himself from the conditions of human life but lives them to the end, facing death on the cross at the hands of empire.
Friendship is a joyful, free attraction, a delight in each others’ company. Common vision brings friends together. The love of friends always has room for more; it is an inclusive love, mutual, reciprocal. Friends are not dependent on each other but are responsible to each other.
Friends trust each other. Betrayal is the way we sin against a friend. Sharing a meal and conversation are common activities of friends. To invite people to eat is to invite them to share something of one’s own with them. The Spirit befriends us from within and lives within us, breath by breath, as companion and advocate.
- What do you appreciate about Christians understanding themselves as friends of God?
- What best describes your relationship with Jesus — friend, disciple, follower, servant?