Have Faith Also in Me

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

By Melanie Rigney

We ourselves are proclaiming this good news to you that what God promised our fathers he has brought to fulfillment for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second psalm, You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.” (Acts 13:32:33)

You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. (Psalms 2:7)

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” … Thomas said to him, “Master, 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.” (John 14:1, 5-6)

Piety

Lord, be patient with me as I struggle to follow Your Son.

Study

The linkage still isn’t there for the disciples as they sit down to the Last Supper, despite the fulfillments to date of the Old Testament prophecies, of Jesus’s confirmation he is the Messiah. Now, the greatest test of all is coming.

And so he tries again. You have faith in God, so have faith in me, he advises them. They still don’t get it. Finally, after Thomas in all his literalness asks Jesus to spell it out plain, Jesus does:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

It’s his boldest, clearest statement to date as to just who he is. And still, they don’t get it. Philip and Judas have more questions in John 14 beyond today’s reading, just as we still have questions two thousand years later, even with the advantage of knowing the glory of Jesus’s resurrection and what it means to each and every one of us who follows him.

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Could he be any more direct? “Believe in me.” “Follow me.” And, “Through me, live.”

Action

Where is Christ leading you today? Stop asking questions and follow.