Do We Have The Courage of Christ?
Commentary
It is hard for us, living after the resurrection, to understand how Jesus, who was clearly a mortal man, could come to be worshipped as though he were God. Since we believe that Jesus did rise from the dead, we tend to endow his ministry with a divine glow. How could the authorities not see that Jesus was, indeed, the son of God? How did they explain away his miracles? How did they ignore how the average people felt about him?
Well, we can start with the concept of “fake news.” Never mind that the people followed him around to listen to him speak, and with the hope that he could heal their crippled and blind and sick -- it was all a conjurer’s trick. This Jesus obviously had people working the crowd for him, finding him people who were willing to believe so strongly in his power that they would seem to be healed just at his touch. As for the forgiveness of sins — well, how would you know that your sins had been forgiven? Because you got up and walked? Ever heard of the placebo effect? There is always some way to ignore what you don’t want to hear or see.
Today’s texts describe how the community of followers took up the work that Jesus had done. They half-believed at first that he was resurrected -- alive again despite a public, humiliating and excruciatingly agonizing death. Except for Peter, they apparently weren’t out there trying out their Lord’s power to heal, but soon they were all witnessing miracles they could never have done by their own power. And so, their ministry grew, the reputation of their movement spread, and they began to get into the same kind of trouble that led to Jesus’ suffering and death. But they did not stop using Jesus’ name for healing, despite threats, arrests and jailing. Today’s passages tell us about their concept of themselves, their faith that Jesus was not only the anticipated Messiah (Christ, in Greek), but that he embodied God, and had promised that the work that he had done they, too, would be able to do.
The challenge is, do we believe that this ability to accomplish in the name of Jesus extends to our churches, today? There are many who are offended when I refer to what Jesus did is magic. But I do not mean a conjuror’s trick. In his day, there were others who went about the country healing people. They were called magi (like the three Magi who came from the east to see the newborn king), and this title was also applied — by the crowds who came to see him, at least — to Jesus. Our modern word, ‘magician’ does grow out of that root word. But Jesus was no sorcerer or magician. He was the real thing, cleansing a fallen world, not using sleight of hand, but the power of God. How do we know? Because he promised his followers that what he could do, they could also do. And they did.
Acts 7:55-60
St. Stephen is widely recognized as the first martyr of the Christian Church. He was one of seven deacons charged with seeing to it that the Greek widows got their share of food and other distributions in the first generation of the followers of Jesus. They felt that the Jewish widows had precedence. (Who says that discrimination in the church is a modern problem?) He was only one person in a movement (though it does seem that he was in charge of that movement in Jerusalem) that said that the temple and the sacrificial system conducted there was outmoded, the Sanhedrin corrupt, and that the followers of the way, as they called themselves, needed to reject the forms of Judaism. He had said as much in a speech (see earlier in chapter 7) and added, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” This caused the men involved to cover their ears, raise a loud shout and haul him outside of the city and stone him to death.
Stephen was using the title that Matthew says Jesus used for himself, a title that had been used about the Old Testament prophets (see Daniel 7:13 for example). God used this title when He called Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 2:1-4a) to go and speak for God to the people. ‘Son of Man’ meant that God was talking through this one person, who stands for all the people of Israel, and who could speak to God on behalf of the people. In this way, Jesus is the very fulfillment of the prophets’ preaching.
Daniel had a vision of “a Son of Man” who was lifted very high in the estimate of God, and ascended to the throne, to stand next to God. We see “one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.”1 Daniel goes on to say, “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority (as Jesus was given authority, even to forgive sins),2 glory (radiant garments and jewels) and sovereign power… “His dominion is an everlasting dominion… and his kingdom…will never be destroyed.”
On earth, there were often men who stood at the right hand of the king, regardless of the nation. These might be court officials, or the son of the king, or some other advisor, including religious advisors. The position at the right hand of the king conveyed the importance or power of the man, but to stand to the right hand of the king also meant that the king trusted this man and listened to what he had to say. The king relied on his ‘right hand man’ to give him good advice, based on the contacts the man had built around the royal court, the religious establishment and among the gossips on the street.
So, although the title “Son of Man” does not make Jesus a rival for God’s authority and power, it is a signal that he has been granted the same by God. And this teaching — that Jesus is not only a prophet, but the Anointed One (Messiah in Aramaic; Christ in Greek) of God. Jesus, they had crucified. He was dead, and that should have been the end of him and his movement! What else can they do to stop this belief from spreading? Obviously, they cannot stopper their ears forever, nor shout Stephen down for long. He needs to die.
It is for this teaching that they pick up brick-size stones and throw them at him until he drops dead. They leave his body for the birds and walk away. That, they probably thought, was that! Though they surely must have been a bit shaken that he would ask God not to judge them for the “sin” they were committing. As with all societies, the commandment not to kill is abridged in the case of criminals or in time of war. This man was a threat to their belief system, the worst crime in all societies. His death was justified, they thought. But they had forgotten one important fact: martyrs give a movement cachet.
Interestingly, the only two names that are remembered from this incident are Stephen’s and the young man who guarded the coats of those doing the stoning. And both of them were on the Christ side of the argument.
1 Peter 2:2-10
In the New Testament, there is little finer writing than in the letters of Peter. The Greek is sophisticated, and in both language and argument, it is compelling. For these reasons, as well as the grace with which it is written, modern scholars doubt that this is written by the apostle Peter but was named after him to honor him (or was written by another of the same name). The passage for today upholds the honorific ascription approach, as it is based in a pun on Peter’s name, which means stone.
The argument that the apostle did not write it is based on the assumption, which is widely upheld in the gospels, that the apostle Peter was a Galilean fisherman, who might have spoken Koine Greek (the common form used by the lower classes, which would have included tradesmen as well as those who worked with their hands). The fact that it is one of the most beautiful books in the Bible certainly reflects the love that Peter had for his teacher, as shown in the gospel narratives. Also, internal references would be more in keeping with the world situation toward the end of the first century.3 And, finally, the letter is first quoted by early Christian writers in the second century.4
Stones were important in ancient Judea. In an arid and hot land, they are essential for building, since there are not many trees suitable for the purpose of building walls.5 Although the houses of the rich might be covered over with mosaics, frescos and tile, worked by professional craftsmen, the simplest homes were often built by the family themselves, under the direction of a professional builder. So, the second image that Peter uses in this passage, that of the spiritual person as a living stone, was tangible to his readers. “You may be rejected by mortals,” Peter says, “but you are chosen and precious in God’s sight,” just as the stones you trust to keep a roof over your head.
The Babylonians faced their public buildings and the famous gates to the city in fired enamel brilliant in color and highlighted in fired-on gold. In Lower Egypt, where it never rained, they built with mud bricks, strengthened with grasses and dried in the sun. But Judaism forbade the use of images of people or animals and they had seasonal rains. In the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, they have left parts of the wall of the model house without the plaster that would be applied over the stones, so that we can see the round fieldstones that were flattened on top and bottom to provide a foundation, and then flat stones that were stacked up like so many pancakes, or common pita bread, (like those pointed out to Jesus when Satan temped him in the wilderness). This method has more possibility of surviving earthquakes, which were common in the Iron Age, the area being volcanic.
Peter says Jesus applied the same metaphor to himself (quoting Psalm 118:22). He is “the stone that the builders rejected” which has become the cornerstone. Thus the meaning becomes clear for us Christians: to become a ‘living stone,’ we must be willing to be trimmed and shaped by the hand of God, just as building stones are shaped with chisel and hammer, or grinding stones, aided by throwing sand across the stone to be shaped and thus ground smooth. Such equipment — which can be run without electricity — has been uncovered in Egypt.
The cornerstone had to be the best in the construction, because it literally held up the building. Just as we do today, it might have decorative work done on the face of the stone and have the name of the ruler who ordered the work, or memorial lines, engraved into it. In Isaiah 8:14, God tells the prophet that “I will be a sanctuary [for the people] but will also be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” Jesus is quoted in all three of the Synoptic Gospels6 as applying this verse to himself, “as a trap and a snare”, as Isaiah says, for the powerful in Jerusalem.
We may be reminded, in this way, of Jesus’ words to his disciples that the student need never expect to be treated better than the teacher. We must know that we may need to suffer pain in order to be used by God for the sake of the Reign of God to be realized on earth.
John 14:1-14
And so we come to the farewell discourse, as it is often called. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible likens this to such speeches as the farewell speeches of famous men, such as President Eisenhower’s, where the group being addressed is charged with carrying on the work begun by the leader, given a view of the future to strengthen them for the task ahead, and warnings, such as Eisenhower’s comment to “beware the military-industrial complex.”
Jesus’ reference to “the way I am going” is the root of the early name of the movement by which the disciples called themselves: “Followers of the Way.” The name “Christians” was applied by outsiders to the fellowship some years later. Thomas, who is often tagged with the designation “the Doubter” is voicing the questions of all the disciples, and even members of the outside community. Jesus’ reply, “I am the way, the truth and the life” doesn’t mean that we may exclude outsiders to our community of faith as being unworthy of heaven. Only God may say who is going to heaven. He is offering the disciples assurance that they may continue to follow him, for he has marked the path and assures all that they have access to life eternal.
Some years ago, I had the interesting experience of having a young lady in Confirmation Class who was enrolled in a nearby conservative Christian school. Her mother felt she would get a better education there than in public school. But the education included religious training in that faith, which is different in some important ways from our denomination’s beliefs. However, this proved to be an exciting way to educate the entire class. When I said something that didn’t connect with what she was being taught in school, I rapidly understood that this was an opportunity to talk about the difference between their beliefs and ours. I was an eye-opener for the kids in the class, who often heard it said, “Well, all Christian churches teach the same thing.” I would say, “Well, that’s what their church believes, but in our church, we teach something different.”
The kids rapidly started paying attention and asking more questions. “Well, who’s right?” was a favorite. “I don’t know. That church teaches what she said, our church teaches what I said, and (if I knew for certain) ____ church teaches something else. If we knew for sure what the truth is, there would be no room for opinions or the need for different denominations.” Our conversations became lively, and often the young lady would say, “Well, our church makes more sense to me,” which would often lead to a discussion of preferences, which I could then challenge them to find something in the Bible that upheld their preferences. The result was that this class was far firmer in their beliefs than any previous class I’d prepared for Confirmation.
Back to our passage. The first question is, where is Jesus going? He is returning to the one (as mystical Judaism calls God) he calls ‘Father.’ And where does God dwell? Most people might say heaven, but Jesus’ ministry has emphasized the constant presence of God in his followers. So he says, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” His words “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” point to the relationship that the disciples have had with Jesus — walking, talking and learning from him, and even more, seeing the power that Jesus has already assured them will sustain them in the days and years ahead.
But those first disciples are not the only ones who tend to misread what Jesus is saying here. Too often, Christians comfort themselves with the thought, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” They cling to an exclusionary meaning — “You gotta know Jesus!” All others need not apply, because they are closed out by not knowing Jesus. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is most important in this life. We do not have to wait until we die to know God. We do not have to wait for death to make us happy. Nor do we have a superior place to other Christian denominations, no matter that we believe somewhat differently from one another.
Rather, Jesus is saying that he is a solidifying agent for those who gather to do his Father’s work. Philip asks for more: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Like many Christians today, he thinks that God will come and change the world. But through the centuries of the plague, wars — which lasted up to 100 years -- in nearly every corner of the globe, disasters that have taken thousands of lives (like Hurricane Katrina or the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 that killed 250,000 people, or the Fukishima nuclear power plant explosion following another tsunami) God did not appear in the sky to magically sweep away the messes or horror left behind. Jesus has tried to impress the disciples with the fact that the Holy Spirit can breathe in us, giving us the strength to work through disasters and fight against evil, no matter how profound (such as the genocides in WWII Europe, Rwanda and Burundi in the 80s, and at the hands of Isis in our own day).
It’s natural to be afraid to risk our reputations, our livelihoods, our homes and families, let alone face the risk of being killed or tortured ourselves. What Jesus is saying to the disciples here is that God has worked through Jesus and will work through them as well. If we today can believe that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to God, there is nothing we cannot face and overcome. If we believe in Jesus as the anointed one, who claimed that the Father was in him, and who died at the hands of humans but rose again, scarred but triumphant, then we can dare to oppose any evil, confident that death is not the end of us. And if we cannot simply believe what Jesus is saying, “then believe [in me] because of the works themselves.”
Jesus did not come just to show his power or the power of God. Jesus came to share that power with us. Not just those first disciples, but us as well. We all were taught John 3:16 in Sunday School, but we need to memorize John 14:12 — 14 as well:
Here is a new understanding [the meaning of ‘Very truly’ in this sentence]: the one
who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works
than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything,
I will do it.
But it takes courage to exercise this kind of faith. It takes the Holy Spirit to set us down in the exact spot for meeting an Ethiopian eunuch and telling him that even though he was limited to worshipping God in the courtyard of the women at the Temple because of his castration, God had told Isaiah that there is a place for a eunuch in the family of God. (See Isaiah 56:3-4 and Acts 8:27-38) And when the eunuch asked if there was anything to prevent him from being baptized, Philip took him down to the river and baptized him immediately, and “the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.” 7
There is a Jewish story that says that when Moses and the people arrived at the Reed Sea, Moses raised his staff, but nothing happened. The people began to fidget, then to murmur, and then to demand of Moses, “Did you bring us out here to die?”
At that moment, unnoticed by Moses, an old, old man walked down to the water’s edge. Standing for a few seconds, he shrugged and stepped forward. And the minute his foot stepped into the water, the water pulled back, out of the way, and he began to cross the sea on dry land. Seeing this, Aaron pulled on Moses’ sleeve, and the two of them followed, and so all the people crossed the Sea on dry land.
The question for today is:
Do we have the courage of Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the faith in the Creator to step out and dare to heal a world that is in desperate need of healing? Remember, it is normal to be afraid; it is faith to take the first step.
1 God Almighty was said to come with the clouds of heaven, riding the thunderheads and with flashes of lightening coming from his upraised sword.
2 See Matthew 9:1-8 for one example where Jesus specifically says he has such authority.
3 His reference to Rome as “Babylon” indicates that he was writing from Rome, perhaps to the churches in Asia Minor, according to The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, introduction to the First Letter of Peter, p. 2181
4 Specifically, by Tertullian, Iraneaus and Clement of Alexandria.
5 Go to https://hmane.harvard.edu/ to see life-size mock-ups of houses as they appeared in the Ancient Near East
6 See Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, and Luke 20:17.
7 The Candace of Ethiopia was the ruling monarch. The Christian church in Ethiopia is the longest-standing Christian church in the world.
Well, we can start with the concept of “fake news.” Never mind that the people followed him around to listen to him speak, and with the hope that he could heal their crippled and blind and sick -- it was all a conjurer’s trick. This Jesus obviously had people working the crowd for him, finding him people who were willing to believe so strongly in his power that they would seem to be healed just at his touch. As for the forgiveness of sins — well, how would you know that your sins had been forgiven? Because you got up and walked? Ever heard of the placebo effect? There is always some way to ignore what you don’t want to hear or see.
Today’s texts describe how the community of followers took up the work that Jesus had done. They half-believed at first that he was resurrected -- alive again despite a public, humiliating and excruciatingly agonizing death. Except for Peter, they apparently weren’t out there trying out their Lord’s power to heal, but soon they were all witnessing miracles they could never have done by their own power. And so, their ministry grew, the reputation of their movement spread, and they began to get into the same kind of trouble that led to Jesus’ suffering and death. But they did not stop using Jesus’ name for healing, despite threats, arrests and jailing. Today’s passages tell us about their concept of themselves, their faith that Jesus was not only the anticipated Messiah (Christ, in Greek), but that he embodied God, and had promised that the work that he had done they, too, would be able to do.
The challenge is, do we believe that this ability to accomplish in the name of Jesus extends to our churches, today? There are many who are offended when I refer to what Jesus did is magic. But I do not mean a conjuror’s trick. In his day, there were others who went about the country healing people. They were called magi (like the three Magi who came from the east to see the newborn king), and this title was also applied — by the crowds who came to see him, at least — to Jesus. Our modern word, ‘magician’ does grow out of that root word. But Jesus was no sorcerer or magician. He was the real thing, cleansing a fallen world, not using sleight of hand, but the power of God. How do we know? Because he promised his followers that what he could do, they could also do. And they did.
Acts 7:55-60
St. Stephen is widely recognized as the first martyr of the Christian Church. He was one of seven deacons charged with seeing to it that the Greek widows got their share of food and other distributions in the first generation of the followers of Jesus. They felt that the Jewish widows had precedence. (Who says that discrimination in the church is a modern problem?) He was only one person in a movement (though it does seem that he was in charge of that movement in Jerusalem) that said that the temple and the sacrificial system conducted there was outmoded, the Sanhedrin corrupt, and that the followers of the way, as they called themselves, needed to reject the forms of Judaism. He had said as much in a speech (see earlier in chapter 7) and added, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” This caused the men involved to cover their ears, raise a loud shout and haul him outside of the city and stone him to death.
Stephen was using the title that Matthew says Jesus used for himself, a title that had been used about the Old Testament prophets (see Daniel 7:13 for example). God used this title when He called Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 2:1-4a) to go and speak for God to the people. ‘Son of Man’ meant that God was talking through this one person, who stands for all the people of Israel, and who could speak to God on behalf of the people. In this way, Jesus is the very fulfillment of the prophets’ preaching.
Daniel had a vision of “a Son of Man” who was lifted very high in the estimate of God, and ascended to the throne, to stand next to God. We see “one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.”1 Daniel goes on to say, “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority (as Jesus was given authority, even to forgive sins),2 glory (radiant garments and jewels) and sovereign power… “His dominion is an everlasting dominion… and his kingdom…will never be destroyed.”
On earth, there were often men who stood at the right hand of the king, regardless of the nation. These might be court officials, or the son of the king, or some other advisor, including religious advisors. The position at the right hand of the king conveyed the importance or power of the man, but to stand to the right hand of the king also meant that the king trusted this man and listened to what he had to say. The king relied on his ‘right hand man’ to give him good advice, based on the contacts the man had built around the royal court, the religious establishment and among the gossips on the street.
So, although the title “Son of Man” does not make Jesus a rival for God’s authority and power, it is a signal that he has been granted the same by God. And this teaching — that Jesus is not only a prophet, but the Anointed One (Messiah in Aramaic; Christ in Greek) of God. Jesus, they had crucified. He was dead, and that should have been the end of him and his movement! What else can they do to stop this belief from spreading? Obviously, they cannot stopper their ears forever, nor shout Stephen down for long. He needs to die.
It is for this teaching that they pick up brick-size stones and throw them at him until he drops dead. They leave his body for the birds and walk away. That, they probably thought, was that! Though they surely must have been a bit shaken that he would ask God not to judge them for the “sin” they were committing. As with all societies, the commandment not to kill is abridged in the case of criminals or in time of war. This man was a threat to their belief system, the worst crime in all societies. His death was justified, they thought. But they had forgotten one important fact: martyrs give a movement cachet.
Interestingly, the only two names that are remembered from this incident are Stephen’s and the young man who guarded the coats of those doing the stoning. And both of them were on the Christ side of the argument.
1 Peter 2:2-10
In the New Testament, there is little finer writing than in the letters of Peter. The Greek is sophisticated, and in both language and argument, it is compelling. For these reasons, as well as the grace with which it is written, modern scholars doubt that this is written by the apostle Peter but was named after him to honor him (or was written by another of the same name). The passage for today upholds the honorific ascription approach, as it is based in a pun on Peter’s name, which means stone.
The argument that the apostle did not write it is based on the assumption, which is widely upheld in the gospels, that the apostle Peter was a Galilean fisherman, who might have spoken Koine Greek (the common form used by the lower classes, which would have included tradesmen as well as those who worked with their hands). The fact that it is one of the most beautiful books in the Bible certainly reflects the love that Peter had for his teacher, as shown in the gospel narratives. Also, internal references would be more in keeping with the world situation toward the end of the first century.3 And, finally, the letter is first quoted by early Christian writers in the second century.4
Stones were important in ancient Judea. In an arid and hot land, they are essential for building, since there are not many trees suitable for the purpose of building walls.5 Although the houses of the rich might be covered over with mosaics, frescos and tile, worked by professional craftsmen, the simplest homes were often built by the family themselves, under the direction of a professional builder. So, the second image that Peter uses in this passage, that of the spiritual person as a living stone, was tangible to his readers. “You may be rejected by mortals,” Peter says, “but you are chosen and precious in God’s sight,” just as the stones you trust to keep a roof over your head.
The Babylonians faced their public buildings and the famous gates to the city in fired enamel brilliant in color and highlighted in fired-on gold. In Lower Egypt, where it never rained, they built with mud bricks, strengthened with grasses and dried in the sun. But Judaism forbade the use of images of people or animals and they had seasonal rains. In the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, they have left parts of the wall of the model house without the plaster that would be applied over the stones, so that we can see the round fieldstones that were flattened on top and bottom to provide a foundation, and then flat stones that were stacked up like so many pancakes, or common pita bread, (like those pointed out to Jesus when Satan temped him in the wilderness). This method has more possibility of surviving earthquakes, which were common in the Iron Age, the area being volcanic.
Peter says Jesus applied the same metaphor to himself (quoting Psalm 118:22). He is “the stone that the builders rejected” which has become the cornerstone. Thus the meaning becomes clear for us Christians: to become a ‘living stone,’ we must be willing to be trimmed and shaped by the hand of God, just as building stones are shaped with chisel and hammer, or grinding stones, aided by throwing sand across the stone to be shaped and thus ground smooth. Such equipment — which can be run without electricity — has been uncovered in Egypt.
The cornerstone had to be the best in the construction, because it literally held up the building. Just as we do today, it might have decorative work done on the face of the stone and have the name of the ruler who ordered the work, or memorial lines, engraved into it. In Isaiah 8:14, God tells the prophet that “I will be a sanctuary [for the people] but will also be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” Jesus is quoted in all three of the Synoptic Gospels6 as applying this verse to himself, “as a trap and a snare”, as Isaiah says, for the powerful in Jerusalem.
We may be reminded, in this way, of Jesus’ words to his disciples that the student need never expect to be treated better than the teacher. We must know that we may need to suffer pain in order to be used by God for the sake of the Reign of God to be realized on earth.
John 14:1-14
And so we come to the farewell discourse, as it is often called. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible likens this to such speeches as the farewell speeches of famous men, such as President Eisenhower’s, where the group being addressed is charged with carrying on the work begun by the leader, given a view of the future to strengthen them for the task ahead, and warnings, such as Eisenhower’s comment to “beware the military-industrial complex.”
Jesus’ reference to “the way I am going” is the root of the early name of the movement by which the disciples called themselves: “Followers of the Way.” The name “Christians” was applied by outsiders to the fellowship some years later. Thomas, who is often tagged with the designation “the Doubter” is voicing the questions of all the disciples, and even members of the outside community. Jesus’ reply, “I am the way, the truth and the life” doesn’t mean that we may exclude outsiders to our community of faith as being unworthy of heaven. Only God may say who is going to heaven. He is offering the disciples assurance that they may continue to follow him, for he has marked the path and assures all that they have access to life eternal.
Some years ago, I had the interesting experience of having a young lady in Confirmation Class who was enrolled in a nearby conservative Christian school. Her mother felt she would get a better education there than in public school. But the education included religious training in that faith, which is different in some important ways from our denomination’s beliefs. However, this proved to be an exciting way to educate the entire class. When I said something that didn’t connect with what she was being taught in school, I rapidly understood that this was an opportunity to talk about the difference between their beliefs and ours. I was an eye-opener for the kids in the class, who often heard it said, “Well, all Christian churches teach the same thing.” I would say, “Well, that’s what their church believes, but in our church, we teach something different.”
The kids rapidly started paying attention and asking more questions. “Well, who’s right?” was a favorite. “I don’t know. That church teaches what she said, our church teaches what I said, and (if I knew for certain) ____ church teaches something else. If we knew for sure what the truth is, there would be no room for opinions or the need for different denominations.” Our conversations became lively, and often the young lady would say, “Well, our church makes more sense to me,” which would often lead to a discussion of preferences, which I could then challenge them to find something in the Bible that upheld their preferences. The result was that this class was far firmer in their beliefs than any previous class I’d prepared for Confirmation.
Back to our passage. The first question is, where is Jesus going? He is returning to the one (as mystical Judaism calls God) he calls ‘Father.’ And where does God dwell? Most people might say heaven, but Jesus’ ministry has emphasized the constant presence of God in his followers. So he says, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” His words “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” point to the relationship that the disciples have had with Jesus — walking, talking and learning from him, and even more, seeing the power that Jesus has already assured them will sustain them in the days and years ahead.
But those first disciples are not the only ones who tend to misread what Jesus is saying here. Too often, Christians comfort themselves with the thought, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” They cling to an exclusionary meaning — “You gotta know Jesus!” All others need not apply, because they are closed out by not knowing Jesus. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is most important in this life. We do not have to wait until we die to know God. We do not have to wait for death to make us happy. Nor do we have a superior place to other Christian denominations, no matter that we believe somewhat differently from one another.
Rather, Jesus is saying that he is a solidifying agent for those who gather to do his Father’s work. Philip asks for more: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Like many Christians today, he thinks that God will come and change the world. But through the centuries of the plague, wars — which lasted up to 100 years -- in nearly every corner of the globe, disasters that have taken thousands of lives (like Hurricane Katrina or the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 that killed 250,000 people, or the Fukishima nuclear power plant explosion following another tsunami) God did not appear in the sky to magically sweep away the messes or horror left behind. Jesus has tried to impress the disciples with the fact that the Holy Spirit can breathe in us, giving us the strength to work through disasters and fight against evil, no matter how profound (such as the genocides in WWII Europe, Rwanda and Burundi in the 80s, and at the hands of Isis in our own day).
It’s natural to be afraid to risk our reputations, our livelihoods, our homes and families, let alone face the risk of being killed or tortured ourselves. What Jesus is saying to the disciples here is that God has worked through Jesus and will work through them as well. If we today can believe that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to God, there is nothing we cannot face and overcome. If we believe in Jesus as the anointed one, who claimed that the Father was in him, and who died at the hands of humans but rose again, scarred but triumphant, then we can dare to oppose any evil, confident that death is not the end of us. And if we cannot simply believe what Jesus is saying, “then believe [in me] because of the works themselves.”
Jesus did not come just to show his power or the power of God. Jesus came to share that power with us. Not just those first disciples, but us as well. We all were taught John 3:16 in Sunday School, but we need to memorize John 14:12 — 14 as well:
Here is a new understanding [the meaning of ‘Very truly’ in this sentence]: the one
who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works
than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything,
I will do it.
But it takes courage to exercise this kind of faith. It takes the Holy Spirit to set us down in the exact spot for meeting an Ethiopian eunuch and telling him that even though he was limited to worshipping God in the courtyard of the women at the Temple because of his castration, God had told Isaiah that there is a place for a eunuch in the family of God. (See Isaiah 56:3-4 and Acts 8:27-38) And when the eunuch asked if there was anything to prevent him from being baptized, Philip took him down to the river and baptized him immediately, and “the eunuch went on his way rejoicing.” 7
There is a Jewish story that says that when Moses and the people arrived at the Reed Sea, Moses raised his staff, but nothing happened. The people began to fidget, then to murmur, and then to demand of Moses, “Did you bring us out here to die?”
At that moment, unnoticed by Moses, an old, old man walked down to the water’s edge. Standing for a few seconds, he shrugged and stepped forward. And the minute his foot stepped into the water, the water pulled back, out of the way, and he began to cross the sea on dry land. Seeing this, Aaron pulled on Moses’ sleeve, and the two of them followed, and so all the people crossed the Sea on dry land.
The question for today is:
Do we have the courage of Christ, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the faith in the Creator to step out and dare to heal a world that is in desperate need of healing? Remember, it is normal to be afraid; it is faith to take the first step.
1 God Almighty was said to come with the clouds of heaven, riding the thunderheads and with flashes of lightening coming from his upraised sword.
2 See Matthew 9:1-8 for one example where Jesus specifically says he has such authority.
3 His reference to Rome as “Babylon” indicates that he was writing from Rome, perhaps to the churches in Asia Minor, according to The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, introduction to the First Letter of Peter, p. 2181
4 Specifically, by Tertullian, Iraneaus and Clement of Alexandria.
5 Go to https://hmane.harvard.edu/ to see life-size mock-ups of houses as they appeared in the Ancient Near East
6 See Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, and Luke 20:17.
7 The Candace of Ethiopia was the ruling monarch. The Christian church in Ethiopia is the longest-standing Christian church in the world.
