Word to the Wise
Friday, April 22, 2016 - 4th Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 13:26-33 and John 14:1-6]FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2016 FRIDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER [Acts 13:26-33 and John 14:1-6] "Where I am going you know the way." Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [John] Jesus speaks these words as part of his "farewell discourse" at the last supper. He is trying to reassure the disciples that whatever happens next, they will be cared for. Two classic features of this gospel show up even here: misunderstanding and an I AM statement. The "way" is not a geographic feature but a person: Jesus. This word, "Way," would come to be used by the early Christian community to describe their faith. Unfortunately, down through the centuries, some folks have used it to exclude from eternal life the billions of people who have never had the opportunity to know Jesus or whose faith in God did not include an explicit or implicit faith in Jesus (Jews, Moslems). Although the Holy Spirit has given tremendous powers to humans in the church, the power to determine the individual salvation of persons is not one of those powers. We do our best to enable that to happen, but when our feeble efforts at communicating the way, the truth and the life are not sufficient, we have to leave the rest to God. Those "many mansions" in "my Father's house" will not go empty and we may be surprised to see who is there when we get "there." AMEN