The Gospel of John 14:1-12, proclaimed on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year A, is set within Jesus’ long farewell discourse at the Last Supper (Jn 13–17). The apostles have just heard the announcement of Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial, and their hearts are troubled. It is in this context that Jesus pronounces the words of consolation that open this Sunday’s Gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me” (Jn 14:1). The verse that synthesizes today’s meditation, however, is Philip’s request and Jesus’ answer: “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” — “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:8-9). It is one of the clearest revelations of the Father made by the Son in the entire Gospel.
To help you pray with this Word, we present five central points that we meditated on in the podcast episode — available with subtitles in several languages on our YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/fHkypzLb_F8?si=9QtPGad9UAoboPux).
1. “You have faith in God; have faith also in me”
Jesus is not inviting those who believe in God to also believe in Him as if they were two separate objects of faith. Rather, He is addressing disciples who already believe in God (the Father) and offering them a word of consolation in the face of the approaching Cross. It is as if He were saying: “You believe that God is Almighty and knows what He is doing; believe also that I know what I am doing.” Faced with the imminent trial — the passion, the cross, their abandonment — Jesus asks the apostles not to lose their trust in Him.
This same Word resounds today over our tribulations. When anguish, illness, mourning, persecution, or misunderstanding knock at our door, it is easy for the heart to become troubled. Jesus repeats to us: “Have faith.” The Father knows what He is doing, and the Son, likewise, knows what He is doing. Let us recall David’s faith before Goliath: “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam 17:37). It is the same trust the Lord asks of us, especially knowing that our path also passes through the cross, yet we believe that “all things work together for the good of those who love God” (Rom 8:28).
2. “In my Father’s house…”
The Father’s house evokes, above all, the Temple of Jerusalem — the “house of prayer” from which Jesus drives out the merchants (cf. Mt 21:13) and where, as a child, Mary and Joseph find Him saying: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49). But spiritual Tradition opens, on this image, three great horizons for our prayer.
The first is our soul as the dwelling place of God: Saint Teresa of Ávila, in her book “The Interior Castle, or The Mansions,” and Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, in her doctrine of trinitarian indwelling, teach us that the Most Holy Trinity dwells in the soul in a state of grace. And Saint Augustine lamented in his book “Confessions”: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, and I was outside.”
The second is the heavenly Jerusalem of Saint John’s Apocalypse, Heaven, the definitive House where the Father will wipe away every tear from our eyes (cf. Rev 21:2-4) — for which Jesus is going to prepare a place for us.
The third is the Father’s house as the lap of mercy: it is the parable of the prodigal son (cf. Lk 15:11-32). If you find yourself outside — outside the Father, outside yourself, outside grace — the Father’s house always has its doors open. The Lord stands at the door and knocks (cf. Rev 3:20).
3. “I am going to the Father”
Who is the Father of whom Jesus spoke so much? Philip then asks: “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (Jn 14:8). And the Lord answers 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” (Jn 14:9). This is one of the most central affirmations of Christian Revelation. Jesus is not a schizophrenic talking to himself: He is addressing another Person, distinct from Him, who is the Father — and at the same time He is one substance with Him. “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30).
Here, in seed, the theology of the Most Holy Trinity is revealed. The divine Persons are distinguished from each other by relation and by mission — the Father is the Creator, the Son is the Redeemer, the Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier — but there is one God in three equal and distinct Persons. The trinitarian doctrine was not a later invention of the Councils: it was already in the Scriptures and was set down in the Creeds of the Church. The Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) merely made explicit, in the Greek language of substance and Person, what was already revealed in the Word of God.
In the Johannine Prologue we read: “No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him” (Jn 1:18). Whoever wishes to find the invisible God, let him seek Jesus: He is the human face of God. And further: the Second Vatican Council, in Gaudium et Spes 22, teaches that “Christ, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of his love, fully manifests man to man himself.” It is in Jesus that we discover who the Father is — and who we are.
4. “I am the Way”
Thomas asks: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5). And Jesus answers with one of the seven great “I AM” statements of the Gospel of John: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Today we highlight the first: “I am the Way.”
As in the text of the Good Shepherd, where Jesus says: “I am the gate” (Jn 10:7), and in Matthew, when He speaks of the “narrow gate” (Mt 7:13), the “Way” is a typology: Jesus does not have a paving stone in His hand when He affirms being “the Way.” He presents Himself this way because He truly is: the One through whom one passes, the One in whom one remains, the One who leads to the Father. The first Christians were, for this reason, known as “followers of the Way” (cf. Acts 9:2; 19:9.23; 24:14.22).
And this Way passes through the Cross and culminates in the Resurrection. Jesus had already warned His disciples: “If they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Lk 23:31). The Cross is, in the Fourth Gospel, exaltation and glory: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself” (Jn 12:32). For this reason too, every Eucharistic Prayer ends with the doxology: “Through Him, with Him, and in Him, O God, Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.” Everything is directed to the Father, through, with, and in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit.
5. “You will do greater works than these”
Today’s Gospel ends with the phrase: “Amen, amen, I say to you, 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” (Jn 14:12). At first sight, this promise is surprising: how can the disciples do greater works than the Lord Himself? The key does not lie in a greater “power” of the disciples — Jesus is God and we are creatures, “useless servants” (Lk 17:10) — but in the scope and humility of the works that He allows us to perform. Jesus preached for about three years to a limited people, in Galilee and Judea. The apostles preached to the ends of the earth and, through them, billions have come to faith to this day. Saint Peter, in a single discourse at Pentecost, baptized three thousand people (cf. Acts 2:41); he healed, in the name of Jesus, a paralytic at the gate of the Temple (cf. Acts 3:1-10); his very shadow brought healing to the sick (cf. Acts 5:15) — a sign that the Gospels do not even attribute to the shadow of Jesus. Paul healed several people, raised Eutychus (cf. Acts 20:9-12), was bitten by a viper without any harm (cf. Acts 28:3-6). They will be “greater works,” because performed by little servants.
The more we recognize ourselves as little, the more God can work wonders through us. Every healing, every conversion, every grace that passes through our action or intercession is, in truth, His work — and for that very reason it is “greater” than anything we could do by our own strength. “Without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5); but “I can do all things in him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
Steps of the Lectio Divina
- Reading (Lectio): Read calmly and attentively Jn 14:1-12. Notice the sequence of the dialogue: Jesus’ initial consolation (vv. 1-4); Thomas’ question about the way (vv. 5-7); Philip’s request to see the Father (vv. 8-11); the promise of greater works (v. 12). Underline the words that most touched you.
- Meditation (Meditatio): What “troubles” of your heart is the Lord inviting you to hand over to Him today? Do you really have faith in God and in Jesus, or do you try to handle things your own way in the face of trials? Do you seek the face of the Father in Jesus — in prayer, in the Word, in the Eucharist? Have you been walking through Him or through other paths?
- Prayer (Oratio): Speak with Jesus from the words that most touched you. Ask for the grace of faith and trust in moments of trial. Ask the Son to reveal the Father to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you remain in the Way that is Jesus. Continue, as the Spirit moves you.
- Contemplation (Contemplatio): Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament — in person or, at least, spiritually. Allow yourself to be looked upon by the One who is the human face of the Father. Recall that your soul, in grace, is the dwelling of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell within you from Baptism. Rest and contemplate this truth at length.
- Action (Actio): What small concrete “work” is the Lord asking of you this week? A gesture of trust in a difficult situation; a visit to someone who needs consolation; a postponed reconciliation; a fixed time for prayer. Every work done out of love, with Him and in Him, is “greater” than you imagine.
Watch the full episode and follow the detailed meditation on our YouTube channel — https://youtu.be/fHkypzLb_F8?si=9QtPGad9UAoboPux — choosing subtitles in the desired language.
Until next Saturday!
Shalom!
