I AM the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

In today’s gospel, we see Jesus having to reassure Philip that “𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚” and this is nothing but emphasizing the importance of trusting in Jesus. This gift of trust offered by Jesus only enables each of us to open our mind and heart and to have more strength and hope to guide and supports us through our lives.

Philip is so gripped by Jesus and His works, that he starts to wonder what the Father is like. We too like Philip can think that the Father must be very different from the Son. But in fact the Son is the presence of the Father in visible form. The words and deeds of Jesus are the words and deeds of God. People say, ‘Nobody knows what God is like!’ This was true before Jesus came, but now we can know! God is like Jesus.

“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙖𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚”, is one of the seven ‘I am’ statements of Jesus. In this sentence and like all the others, we have a summary of who Jesus is. He offers us a sure pathway to guide us. When the mist of uncertainties descend on us, we can cling to His abiding presence because He said ‘I am the way’. We will never be misguided by living according to Jesus’ teachings, however difficult they may seem, for He is the Truth. And although He asks us to deny ourselves, it is so that that in letting go of our self-centredness, fear and comfort zones, we will find life in its fullness.

With such a profound statement made by Jesus about Himself, we need to ask ourselves how central is Jesus in our spiritual life, how strong is our desire to know Him better so that we can love Him more and follow Him as the only way to the Father?

“𝙄 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙄 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨…..”Oh my! What trust this involves! How often we can feel our work seems to bear little fruit. Jesus here is encouraging us not to be too preoccupied by results, but to keep sowing the seed of good deeds and truthfulness, leaving it to the Lord the when and how of the reaping. It also shows us that What Jesus is saying about his signs, miracles, teachings etc, were all an overflow of His Relationship with His Father in Heaven, and is inviting us to engage God, that we may like Him bring God’s Kingdom on earth, through our heavenly living.