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5 Easter 14 (Jn 14:1-12)
In
a conversation about faith that Jesus has with his disciples, Jesus talks about
faith in terms of both trust and reason.
Jesus makes the point that trust and reason both function as grounds for
having faith in him. To demonstrate this point, Jesus first focuses on faith as
a matter of trust.
Jesus
begins with a twofold appeal to the disciples: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” In appealing first to the hearts of the
disciples, Jesus shows that faith is primarily a matter of trust, that is, a
matter for the heart rather than the head.
We can take to heart the word of Jesus.
We can rely on him, we can trust him, and therefore, we can have faith
in him.
Jesus
does not ask for trust on false pretenses.
For, he makes it clear that he has no intention of abandoning his followers
and leaving them to their own devices.
Rather, he goes ahead of them to prepare a place for them, and they know
how to follow him. Such consequences show
the disciples that Jesus has their best interests at heart. This is the nature of trust.
We
trust someone because our hearts tell us that he or she has our backs. Whether we have evidence for such trust may
not matter all that much. What seems to
matter most is that we are confident that the person knows us, knows what is
important to us, and will always act in ways that serve and protect our interests. The critical aspect of trust is therefore
confidence in the person we trust. Thus,
the initial appeal that Jesus makes to his disciples puts faith in him on par
with trust in him, and trust is primarily a matter of the heart.
By
explaining faith first in terms of trust, Jesus in effect appeals to an ancient
understanding of faith in God. For the
ancient Hebrews, faith in God was a two way street. God wanted and eagerly sought out a
relationship with his people. They
responded and entered that relationship by placing their trust in God. Faith in God for the ancient Hebrews was an
active relationship with God built on a lively belief and trust that He would
make good on his promises; that God would indeed do as he said he would. For this reason, their lives centered on
their faith, and their faith shaped the way they lived. For the ancient Hebrews, faith was a matter
of trusting God.
But,
the disciples Thomas and Phillip are less than convinced. They apparently need
more than trust alone as the basis of their faith. Thomas is the first to express such reservation
by admitting no knowledge of where Jesus is going or how to get there. Philip displays a similar
need for proof in asking to see the Father as reason enough for faith in Jesus. These two disciples do not mistrust
Jesus. They simply express a very human need
for having good reason when it comes to trust.
And, rather than taking offense, Jesus obliges. He gives the disciples good reason for
trusting him.
To
show good reason for faith in him, Jesus relies on the second part of his
twofold appeal: “You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” This second part suggests a close union
between Jesus and God, his father. Jesus
appeals to the close union between Father and Son as sufficient reason for
having faith in him. In other words,
because of this close union, faith in God is the same thing as faith in Jesus. We need no other proof. This is the sense in which Jesus claims that
faith in him is a matter of reason.
But,
Jesus goes a step further. Jesus in
effect says to the disciples, if you do not believe in me based on my word
alone as a matter of trust, if you want proof, then, at least have faith in me
because of the works that I do. See what
I have done out of love for you, for others, and for God. Love proves itself in deeds. These deeds are reason enough to have faith
in Jesus. Indeed, Jesus claims that “whoever
believes in me, will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than
these, because I am going to the Father.”
Some
of us may be able to trust with our hearts, and some of us are like Thomas and
Philip, and trust with our reason. Jesus
understands this and acknowledges that there is more than one way to the
Father. The challenge for all of us, no
matter how we arrive at our faith, is what to do with our faith. In a sense, we are like the ancient
Hebrews. We too see faith as an active
relationship with God, but we can be unsure of what that means.
The
expected result is to live in imitation of Jesus. His deeds grew out of his love for God and
showed his love and care for others, all of whom he viewed as the beloved
children of God. For this reason, Jesus
calls us to do the same by loving God with our whole hearts and minds and our
neighbors as ourselves. The encounter
between Jesus and his disciples shows that our calling to love is primarily a
matter of striving to do our best and trusting God. Faith really demands no more.
