Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 3, 2014 - May 3 - Sts. Philip and James, Apostles
[1 Cor 15:1-8 and John 14:6-14]Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."
The gospel scripture for this feast day, like many of the days ahead in the liturgical calendar, comes from the "farewell discourse" of the Last Supper scene. If we find this discourse to be rambling and convoluted at times, we can scarcely blame the apostles for feeling that way, too. Poor Philip serves as an example!
The general point of the evangelist in constructing this scene from the materials he had is to show Jesus preparing the disciples for his death and resurrection and what comes after that, especially the gift of the Holy Spirit which will enable them to "do the words that I do, and will do greater ones than these...." The situation of the disciples at that moment is influenced in the telling by the situation of the evangelist in putting together the statements and traditions. The result is not a tightly organized and logical speech but a kind of collage of reflections on Jesus' relationship to his Father and what that relationship will mean for the disciples.
Philip's confusion and misunderstanding is something that occurs throughout the Gospel of John with other dialogues - e.g. the Samaritan woman [4:4-42]. Jesus uses the misunderstanding to "teach" something about himself. In dramatic terms, there is a tension in the scene because of what will happen after the discourse is over. The disciples are trying to understand something that will not become clear to them till after the trauma of Jesus' death and resurrection. We who are situated more than 2,000 years later have to rely on that same Spirit to enable us to do the works of Jesus and to understand the words he spoke so long ago on that fateful evening. AMEN