The way and truth of Jesus’ life
May 3, 2026 – Fifth Sunday of Easter
Reading: Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 33, R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.; 1 Peter 2:4-9; Gospel – John 14: 1-12
During this Sunday and the days to come, we are going back to the Final Discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of John. This time around, we view it from the perspective of the Resurrection. Three promises of or graces from the Lord define this. One, “Do not let your hearts be troubled… I am going to prepare a place for you… I will come back again and take you to myself…” two, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” and three, “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…”
The promise of reuniting with the Lord
His invocation for our hearts not to be troubled is an invitation to peace. And as we read on, we understand more deeply the source of this peace.
There was the promise of a place for us in heaven where he is going. Not just a simple promise, but one backed by an active effort to prepare this place for us. Then Jesus also promised to “come back again and take [us] to [himself].”
Yes, eventually we can view this as our reuniting with the Lord as we go back home to Him in heaven. But I consider this more as his promise to be present with us here and now, in our day-to-day lives. This we can see clearly when he said he will come back again to us.
He does so through his Spirit, and repeatedly we have mentioned that the Church, we, now live in the time of the Spirit, which is the Spirit of the Risen Lord.
To live as friends of the Lord
But there’s more. He comes back to us to guide us, to “take us to himself,” to be able to live as disciples, as companions, as friends of the Lord. A classic example of this is his encounter with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He came back to them and took them to himself on so many levels.
First, he walked with them and kept them company on the road. Then the guiding and taking them to himself happened on many levels. He helped them remember the story about him, the Messiah. He broke bread with them. He made their hearts burn within them again.
This was how the Risen Lord came back to them and took them to himself. He reunited them with himself as members of the early Christian community to continue his mission to proclaim the good news that he is Risen.
That same grace is available to us to feel our hearts burn within us and to come to know the Lord more at the breaking of bread and be renewed to live a life of mission.
A powerful promise of grace
“I am the way and the truth and the life.” One of the most often quoted lines from scripture—not as a nice Bible passage to hang on a wall, but as a powerful promise of grace. It tells us that our way of life can be patterned after and inspired by Jesus’ way of life and the truth on which he rooted and grounded his life.
The early Christians, prior to Antioch, were called People of the Way, as they followed and imitated Jesus’ way of life. Jesus lived his life rooted and grounded in a fundamental truth, his core values, his identity, and mission as the Beloved Son.
All this—his way and truth—is what gave life to us, an inspired life with hearts burning within and living a life of purpose and mission.
This is capped by an impressive promise of grace, “whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…” We can do greater works than what the Lord did. It first reminds us that as followers of the Lord, we share in and continue his mission. We have the power and grace to do so.
We can do greater works because the Risen Lord has overcome sin and death, darkness and evil. We can do these because we do it in and with the power of the Spirit of the Risen Lord.
Today’s Gospel is a promise of amazing graces. The promise of the Lord’s presence and union with us. The promise of a way of life rooted and grounded in the truth of his identity and mission as the Beloved Son, the Risen Lord.
And the promise of the greatness of God’s grace and love in our hearts.
