A reading from the Gospel according to: John 14:1-12
1 Jesus said to his disciples: Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be.
4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.
5 Thomas said to him: Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus said to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me.
7 Jesus said to his disciples: If you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him.
8 Philip said to him: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.
9 Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that sees me sees the Father also. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10 Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. But the Father who abides in me, he does the works.
11 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
12 Otherwise believe for the very works’ sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do. Because I go to the Father.
Gospel reflection: John 14:1-12
The gospel reading above is a repetition of Jesus’ claim of His oneness with God. Previously, He stated that, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). This means that we see God the Father in Jesus, that we know the Father as soon as we know Jesus, that we go to the Father through Jesus, and that the power of God is in Jesus. Jesus is inviting us to believe in Him because only through Him that we can have eternal life.
Just as God is in Jesus, God is also in us because through baptism, we become His sons and daughters. Just as we see God in Jesus, other people can see God in us if only we live in Jesus, walk in His ways, and believe in His truth. Just as God works through Jesus, we are also called to do the work of God. It is Jesus who said it so that we who believe in Him shall do the works He did and He even promised that we can do greater things if we abide in Him.
We may easily be tempted to think of doing miraculous things that Jesus did. Not necessarily so but not impossible. Jesus has empowered His apostles by sending to them the Advocate and we can read in the Acts of the Apostles all the amazing things that they performed. Those may be tough tasks to do for us in the twenty-first century. However, nothing is further from the truth. Jesus is the same before, now and forever. What He promises, He fulfills. So why can’t we hear of miracles today being done by His followers? Can we say His followers lack faith and so, they are lacking in power?
Perhaps the better question to ask is the necessity of “miracles” or even the proper understanding of miracles. Do we really need to see “miracles” like raising the dead to life in order to believe in Jesus? More importantly, do we have the eyes of faith to see that Jesus is actually still doing amazing things through His servants?
The gospel reading above is a continuous invitation to abide in God, the source of life, love and power. May we always be grateful to all the amazing things He is still doing through His followers. Moreover, may we be available to be used by Jesus to spread His word and complete His work of redemption.
Go here to read further gospel reflection.
