Jesus is the Safest Way

Fifth Sunday of Easter (A) Readings: Acts 6:1–7; Psalm 33:1–2, 4–5, 18–19; 1 Peter 2:4–9;  John 14:1–12

(Heaven’s Protection by Henry John Stock, ca. 1896.)

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The scriptural readings in today's liturgy are full of wisdom. They are timely during this time of Covid distress.

I

Fix your problems at the earliest. The first reading from the Acts of Apostles 6:1–7 speaks about how the first Christian community is making in roads in those places and people who were not part of Jewish tradition. When the Word of God enters into a new culture the differences become very vivid. We see the Christianity taking roots in the Hellenistic culture, among the Greeks.  The Greek lands accept Jesus as their saviour. The meeting between Greek and Hebrew culture leads to some sort of differences, deceptions and divisions. Greeks feel that their widows are being neglected in the daily distribution of food. Even though it might not be a big problem to such a growing and enthusiastic, vibrant and intellectual community the apostles make a note of it and take a quick decision to fix this problem. Moreover, they select "seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom" as deacons. In other words, these men would look into daily running of the services of the community, e.g. distribution of food. When a problem or an issue arises in a Christian community or in an institution, there should be a quick decision to solve it. Thus harmony and peace is established.

II

Jesus is the safest way and there are no short cuts. The Gospel reading from St John 14:1–12 is central in Jesus' preaching ministry. Jesus communicates to his disciples who have a number of questions which are close to their heart.  Jesus answers the questions of Thomas and Philip from his heart. They are very intimate and leaves them in no perplexity. In all its certainty, Jesus tells his disciples that he is "the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14.6). He is the safest way to the Father in heaven. There are no short cuts in life moreover in our spiritual life. Hence our way to God is often, a narrow way. The way is open to everyone. Are you ready to follow that way?

III

In Jesus is our true and authentic identity. Through this Gospel passage, John the Evangelist brings home the true and clear identity of Jesus. When you know things are clear then you may follow boldly. Jesus has a great confident in his disciples because they know his voice. They have travelled with him in his public ministry. They have heard him preach, pray, teach, heal, touch, raise the dead, condemn the wicked, speak for God in every moment of his life. Jesus could communicate with his disciples very personal things of him because he had a great trust in them. You cannot speak something very personal or intimate with someone who is a stranger, enemy or not trustworthy. Even in our daily life all our mundane things that we do depends on the confidence and trust in the other, including business, health care system, etc.

IV

Jesus is the answer to our existential questions. By answering the queries of his disciples, Jesus is answering some existential questions of our life. The existential questions deal with life, here and now and afterwards. As intellectual beings we cannot run away from the questions that we have. They may come to us at any moment or anytime of our life. Who am I? Where am I going? What will happen after my death? etc., all  are part of our inquisitiveness which are real questions. In other words, these questions are about our life, about truth of our life. We cannot get truth from history books or science books. We get narration or opinion from such books. If history is written by the conquerers then scientific inquiries are done by a mind which in finite, limited and incomplete beings. Therefore, a theory like geocentric to the heliocentric and now the relativity, as the years passed we have moved from one to the other. Probably even the theory of relativity will be replaced with some other better theory in the future. With Jesus no other theories on God have replaced. Because Jesus is the truth. Jesus and God the Father are one.

V

The voice of Jesus is an authentic one, a real one. We are living in a world of fake news, hoax news. Telling lies have become order of the day from the Prime Minister to a peon. To be loud means to be lying. Unfortunately, same lie is repeated in our television/radio news channels, news papers, social media, twitter, facebook, and everywhere. Aa a result we too are becoming part of this conundrum. During this time of Covid turbulence, we are called to remain intentional, truthful, graceful and hopeful. In this time of helplessness, we should be hopeful; too many myths are being created. So that people can climb the ladder of power. It may be either in political and  secular life and even in religious and ecclesial life. Looking at Jesus we need to stop belly gazing attitude in our personal and social life. Just as the scriptures call us to be the imitators of God, so too, in our life we have to become Alter Christus, Another Christ.

VI

Let not your hearts be troubled. In John 14:1, Jesus said to his disciples "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me." Heart is the center of our being. Jesus speaks corde et corde, heart to heart. In the theology of the Fathers of the Church and especially St Maximus the Confessor notes that heart is the innermost core of our being; it is the root of our existence; the place where we are most ourselves. Therefore, the human person is microcosmos. In our ordinary langauge we have many expressions connected with the heart. We often describe people in terms of their hearts; people can be cold-hearted, hard-hearted, warm-hearted, great-hearted or half-hearted, stone hearted, pig hearted, etc!

What Jesus says here about heart is not in biological or physiological sense but in symbolic sense. The heart that Jesus refers is something that is whole, that connects and combines both temporal and eternal at once once and always.  Follow your heart means follow your conscience. In the First book of Samuel, we are told that ‘Man looks on appearances, but the Lord looks to the heart.’ (1 Sam 16,7)   The penetrating gaze of God cuts through the deceitful defences that we build around us and our heart. The Book of Proverbs puts it straightaway: ‘My son give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways.’ (Prov. 4:30)

During this time of different kind, we will have to develop more of God consciousness. The kind of assurance that Jesus is trying to instil in the lives of his disciples should be ours too. They were worried because their master began to speak of his departure from their midst very soon. In fact, we can learn from our Lord Jesus to fix our gaze on that right way, real truth and eternal life while we walk in turbulent waters of our fears, darkness and anxieties.  

- Olvin Veigas, SJ

10th May 2020