That You Should Follow in His Steps

Acts 7:55-60   John 14:1-14

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.”

What beautiful and comforting words. Most if not all of us are well acquainted with them, because the first half of this Gospel reading is the one most often chosen to be read at funerals. As we say our earthly farewells to those we love and hold dear, we hear from Jesus’ that all will be well with them, that they have gone to be with Him. Even if their beliefs were a little different from ours, there are many dwelling places in God’s house. All will be well.

This is how we hear this passage, but is it what Jesus disciples heard? The disciples have settled down for a meal, one that will turn out to be their last supper with Jesus. The synoptic Gospels lead us to believe this meal was a Passover seder, John doesn’t clarify for us which meal it was. Whichever one it may have been, what is important is what Jesus has to say. We can picture it. Twelve men, quite a crowd, and Jesus settle down, and the men turn to their leader to hear what He may tell them. Let us settle down with them and listen.

Jesus begins, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” We know what this sort of introduction means. He might just as well have said, “Do not get upset”. And what is the first thing anyone does when they’ve been settled in a group of friends or family and someone gets everyone’s full attention and then says something like that? That’s the moment when your stomach does a flip, and you think, “Oh no! What is he or she going to say next?”

And Jesus continues, Believe in God, believe also in me. Is there doubt in the group? They have been following Jesus for three years.  Have any of these faithful men begun to wonder if or when Jesus is going to do the work of the Messiah as they think it should be done? Will He ever overthrow Roman rule, restore Jewish power? Are they following the right person? Is this man, their friend and Rabi, really the Messiah?  Doubt is a human condition, and it can happen to anyone.

What Jesus has said to them by using the word “also” is to draw a direct parallel between Himself and the Father. He is clearly stating that He and the Father are one – and He wants to emphasize this now to strengthen the faith of His beloved friends. Believing in Jesus means for the disciples, as it means for us, trusting Him with the same faith we place in God the Father, following His commandments, and living in communion with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus continues - “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” Perhaps there were some disagreements between His friends, or, even more likely, the redactor, who gave us this Gospel reading, is addressing differences within the early Church, but to disagree is human – as long as one’s faith and belief does not stray into heresy. The image used, of a house expanded to accommodate successive generations, is a familiar one to the disciples, as it was a common practice for the patriarch of a Jewish family to increase the size of a dwelling for this purpose. So, it makes sense to Jesus’ listeners that the Heavenly Father should likewise.

There is room for all in the Father’s house, and this same “house” can also be understood as the Church—the community of believers built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to God. In this sense, “many dwelling places” includes both home in heaven and the present life lived in communion with Jesus and the Church. And the Church today is us!

Jesus has spoken a mere two sentences - and then comes the bombshell, If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And there you have it. He is going away – and though He continues to talk, to tell them, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also, all of which is meant both to inform, to comfort and strengthen them, we can easily imagine the confusion and emotional turmoil they must be experiencing. He even goes so far as to assure them and you know the way to the place where I am going. But none of this has full impact. What is undoubtedly sticking in their minds is exactly what would be sticking in ours - the shocking news that He is leaving.

Putting ourselves in the disciples place, it is not at all surprising what they say in response. Thomas is flabbergasted – how should they know the way? Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 

And Jesus tells them and us that He and the Father are One. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me

This beautiful Gospel now seems quite different from our first impression of it. Jesus wants to reassure His followers, but there is far less immediate comfort in His words than we may at first have thought, because everything He promises is set in an indefinite future. For the disciples, as for us, it is clear there is going to be a waiting time before we enter our Father’s house. The very early Church thought Jesus would return before the disciples died, but with the passing of John, the Beloved and last living disciple, they realized that was not the case. And we’ve all been waiting ever since.

And while we wait, we might be tempted to wonder if Jesus knew what He was promising, and more important, if He did know, what are we supposed to be doing while we wait for Him to come again and take us to Himself, so that where He is, there we may be also? Our lives can be joyful as we wait, but they also will contain pain and suffering. What is that about? We forget that before He returned to the Father, there was another stop He had to make – on a hill, on a cross, where He ransomed our souls.

Suffering doesn’t have a very good reputation in the world, which sees it as something to be avoided all cost. The popular idea is that being a follower of Jesus should give a person a life of comfort and ease, but this inaccurate. Between our Father’s House and where we are now, each of us, in our life’s journey, has a cross to carry. And that, as the saying goes, is the gift Christ gives His friends.

It isn’t by chance that today’s Old Testament lesson is the story of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Being filled, as each of us is through our baptism, with the Holy Spirit, and living in that Spirit, can have very dire consequences.

Pain and suffering, be they great or small, are not pointless, as it seems to those who have missed the role such play in our lives as Jesus’ friends. Just a little further on past the reading in 1 Peter, from which our Epistle came today, Peter tells us, To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

What can our suffering do for us? Does it really have a holy purpose?

Suffering can strip away illusions of self-sufficiency and force deep reflection on our beliefs, values, and priorities. It can produce endurance, character, and hope. Pain can awaken trust when answers are absent, leading to reliance on divine strength rather than human ability. Pain and suffering can make us more attuned to others’ pain and suffering, creating bridges of empathy and community, and can shift focus from personal control to surrender, allowing God’s Presence to be felt. On the cross, Jesus showed us that suffering can be redemptive, can transform despair into purpose.

Knowing all this, however, does us no good, unless we are willing to be open to the reality that, like joy, suffering is a gift from God. Mother Teresa told the story of an Indian woman she was caring for who was in a lot of pain. To comfort her, Mother tried to explain to the woman that this was Jesus, reaching down from His suffering on the cross, and kissing her. “Mother,” said the suffering woman, “please tell Jesus to stop kissing me”.

Jesus said, I will come again and will take you to myself. This is indeed the end of time of which He speaks. The dead shall rise, and Jesus will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead, and His kingdom shall have no end. But, in-between now and then, in-between here and our Father’s house, we have work to do, our own calling, our own cross to bear. All life is not suffering, there is joy, but it is good to know there is also a holy reason for pain, and that when our time comes, He will take us to Himself where there is no suffering only joy and light everlasting.

And we have specific instructions as to how we can find our way on the road from here to there, from now until the times comes.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, 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.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, when weakness comes, when we cry out and do not see our cross as Your gift, look on Your Son’s anointed face, and only look on us as found in Him; look not on our misusings of Your grace, our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim: for lo, between our sins and their reward we set the Passion, the suffering, of Your Son our Lord. In His Name – Amen.