This week, as we consider the earliest Church and its lessons for the future of the larger church, we have a flashback of sorts to the night Jesus was betrayed and to a portion of His “Farewell Discourse” to His closest disciples. It is everything He wants them to know before His death, according to the Gospel of John, and the portion that we read has within it a famous verse in John 14:6 that has historically been used as an argument for Jesus as the only way to Heaven and salvation. But within its context that night, was that what Jesus was up to in this speech? Was that the point of all this? Or was something deeper going on?
At its core, I see that night Jesus offering companionship, comfort and reassurance to disciples who had more questions than answers. And that’s okay. That is the Christian journey! Questions are not a bad thing; questions often are what keep us moving forward, searching and seeking and reaching for God. And just as Jesus promised to somehow still be with them, abiding with them after His death, so too Jesus is still journeying with us, often through the works we do as we follow Him.