By: Erin M Diericx 

A devotion on John 14:1-14 and Acts 7:55-60.

The pandemic has everyone facing the reality of death and dying. Two months into the pandemic everyone has heard of someone they know or a friend of a friend has died from the coronavirus. Children are even facing the uncertain future and the possibility of burying family members and dying. The coronavirus does not discriminate based on age, race, or gender. The sting of grief and death hangs in the air.

Even as we exclaim, “Alleluia, Jesus Christ has risen, Alleluia,” we find ourselves questioning what comes after the grave, where do we go, who will we be with, and how do we get there. These questioning hang in the air as life has been paused; children are doing their schoolwork from home; adults are working from home, if they have work; essential workers are separated from their families in order to keep their loved ones from getting sick. How do we even provide answers to our children? 

Last week we analyzed the painting, The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt and John 10:1-18. Jesus is the way to the truth and our way into the Kingdom of God.  This week Jesus asks us to have faith in the Triune God—in God the Father and God the Son. 

In John 14:1, Jesus asks us to believe in God the Father and him as one being. It takes trust on our part to believe that God the Father and Jesus are one. It takes trust on our part to become into a relationship with God the Father and Jesus when the world warns against such an action. Trusting God brings a hostile environment as we begin to separate ourselves from the world. Jesus knows what he asking of us and is going ahead to provide a way.

Jesus is also asking us to preserve in out faith as we live in a hostile world where Satan tries to takes us away from God the Father. By believing in God the Father and Jesus Christ as one being, we are trusting in what we cannot see and preserving for the truth. We need to preserve against Satan and his false promises in order to be in a relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

Now Thomas and Philip question Jesus on what he is describing. First, Thomas asks Jesus, “If you are going ahead of us, how will we know the way?” (John 14:5). Thomas is asking an honest question since Jesus is talking about a place no one has heard of or seen. Some days I have to admit asking Jesus the same question when the darkness seems to have take over. But Jesus answers Thomas and us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7). Jesus is the way to get into heaven; all we need to believe in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. God the Father sent Jesus, his only begotten son, to earth, so we may know God the Father through Jesus Christ. When we follow Jesus, we follow God the Father.

Philip requests to see God the Father (John 14:8).  Jesus answers, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his work. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.” (John 14:10-11). Jesus acts on the behalf of God the Father with his words and action. 

Jesus is his disciples, Thomas and Philip, and us to place our hope in Jesus who is able to grant us access to God the Father. This hope can only be possible after we place our faith in the Triune God, when we come to know God. 

Then Jesus gives us the promise that whoever follows him will do greater works than himself (John 14:12). Anytime we do the work of God the Father we are acting on his behalf. When we bring an individual to the light and show them God’s love, we are doing works of God the Father.

In Acts 7:55-60, even as he is being stoned to death, Stephen is proclaiming the good news in Jerusalem. As the first martyr in the Christian church, Stephen acted with the Holy Spirit as he was in the midst of giving a sermon to the people in Jerusalem on what it meant to be a Christian. After watching the stoning of Stephen, Jesus’s followers decided to go out of Jerusalem and reach out to the Gentiles. 

Stephen leads Christians as Jesus requested in John 14 by praying for the individuals who were stoning him. Stephen believed and trusted Jesus Christ would deliver him to heaven. He was also hoping to bring individuals to the light, even on his deathbed. Stephen trusted Jesus so much that he died preaching the good news. Stephen lives out the message Jesus preached and lived by showing compassion to even those who were killing him. This compassion fulfills the love commandment: to love the Lord God with all your heart and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself (John 13:34). This compassionate love is only possible when one puts their faith and hope in the Lord God. 

By sharing God’s love with other, we are working towards bringing the beatific vision into the world. We are working towards being one with God, our creator and savior. We are working towards bringing the Kingdom of God into the world. We are working towards perfecting this love in order to be one with God and to be at peace.

O Heavenly Father, Thank you for Jesus being in you and you being in him. Help us to do greater works than even Jesus Christ through you. Thank you for being in us and using us to do your works. Amen.