5th Sunday of the Holy Fifty days - The Way, the Truth & the Life
Written by Father Louka Sidarous
Sunday, 01 June 2008
This is the dialog the
Lord had with His disciples during the Sunday directly preceding the
Ascension. This is how the church acknowledged - that the Lord has
completed everything on the cross. He paid off the debt; He buried
death with His death and revealed the resurrection from the dead with
His resurrection. He presented Himself, living and rising from the
dead. He gave us Himself as the living bread and living water for the
new life. So, what will His disciple need Him for? The Lord started
raising them to heaven itself. We can hear Him saying in today's Bible,
"In My Father's house are many mansions." (John 14:2).
Therefore, the meaning of the resurrection is to be in the presence of
the Father. It is the living in the upper mansions in the bosom of the
Father. Jesus wants to raise us, with all our bodies, up to sit at the
right hand of the Father. "And raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:6).
Jesus reveals to us
the extent of the Father's love, and our actual life is in the Father's
house. Every one of us has a special mansion in the heart of the
Father. Like the loving Father with a lot of children, embracing each
one with a special love according to his or her needs, conditions or
weaknesses. O beloved ones, today all we have to do is enjoy our status
and our relation with the Father. The Lord told the disciples, "For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God."
(John 16:27). Jesus became the special relation for us with the Father,
giving us courage, allowing us to approach, and giving us special
treatment, "Now we are children of God." (1 John 3:2).
Observe which sign the Father gsve us to be called the sons of God. Where I am you also will be: The
bosom of the Father! Is that place made only for Jesus? The Son of the
Father is truly the one with the Father in essence… Where are we from
the Father's bosom? Jesus gave us this blessing, where He is we also
are. He took what's for us and gave us what's His… He took our body
(nature) to give us His divinity… He became like the people, so that we
could be in the Father's bosom… Christianity is the unity with Christ,
and our living communion with Christ in God. When we pray we call unto
the God, and say, "Our Father in heaven." (Matt. 6:9). Where
Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father, all the church is
there, as well. Also there, are all those who have united with Christ.
Therefore, we are also there, where Jesus is, always in the Father's
bosom. This is our being with God, our lives with Jesus and always in
Jesus. Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and and it is sufficient for us."
(John 14:8).
Jesus came to reveal for us the Father, and that was His
objective. But to know the Father is not just by talk, as others talk
about God. The knowledge of God should be acknowledged in our lives and
deeds. Jesus doesn't inform us about the Father, by word or preaching,
but through the personality of the living Jesus, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9), and "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me."
(John 14:10,11). Seeing the Father and knowing Him, in the feature of
Jesus Christ, changes our lives in every day's deeds, to become a
reflection of His glory… We change from glory to glory, and from day to
day. Our minds are renewed; our features are changed, to be
like Him. Our knowledge of the Father and our love will not be by word
or say, but by work and truth. Jesus on the day of His ascension, He
didn't show us the Father, but He gave us a partnership with Him, "Our fellowship is with the Father."
(1 John 1:3). The eternal life, which was with the Father, and was
revealed to us in Jesus, we now have a share in it. The joy and power
of Jesus are not in the information about the Father and seeing Him,
but are in the partnership with the Father. That is amazing! The way to the Father's bosom: Wonder,
was this the extent of how much the Father loved the world, that He
sacrificed His Son, and if we hear that about the father, and we are we
recognized by Him! Then, what is the way to His bosom? How can we find
as the only way? This is what Luke the Apostle asked, and Jesus
answered, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." (John 14:6).
Here it is clear that the way to the Father's bosom is Jesus, Himself.
Jesus doesn't tell us about the way to live with the father. He doesn't
give us directions for worship, nor an obligation or orders or
prohibitions, but He gives us Himself as, the Way. Then how can we walk
it? To enter into the Way, one has to go through the door, which is
Jesus? The Way is Jesus Himself. The way to reach heaven is the
incarnation. Jesus has made peace between the earthly and the heavenly,
and He bound heaven with earth… All we have to do is unite in Him and
hold to the eternal life in Jesus… That is why the Lord said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me."
(John 14:6). There are no other ways to the Father's bosom except
through Jesus. There is no road to salvation except through Him. When
we partake of His body in the Eucharist, we enter into a partnership
with the Father, by uniting with Him, and becoming the members of His
body, flesh and bones. Believe Me because of My deeds, the sign of uniting with Jesus and our enjoyment of the Father's bosom are the deeds. "The work that I do shall he will do also; and greater works than these he will do."
(John 14:12).
Our deeds and lives with Jesus are those that reveal
Jesus and are witness for Him. Jesus didn't declare a witness for the
Father, or by words, from the heaven He descended from… He was a
witness of the Father as the Living Word… It is impossible to be
witness for the Father except by the deed of Jesus Himself… It is
living within the commandments of Jesus. This is the elevation and the
hovering above the earth and earthly. He who is not concerned about the
world, not afraid of anything in the world like honor, reputation,
position or estate… Truly proves that he is dwelling in the Father's
bosom. He witnesses that, Who is from above, is above all. He who
forgives the enslaved, blesses the believers, prays for the prosecuted,
rises above hatred, insults, disgrace, but blesses everyone, is witness
that he is from the Father. Then he has a special relation with the
Father. If the world doesn't believe by the say, it will believe when
it sees our deeds, about which the Father said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven."
(Matt. 5:16). Wishing that during this Ascension Feast, that we lift up
our hearts where Jesus is sitting and where He will have us sitting
with Him. Spiritually be aware of our place and to bond with Him.
Rebuke from all our hearts, all thoughts, deeds on earth and at its
earthly level, and to be aware that we are born from above. Our path is
in the heavenly and our hope, lingers for desiring that is above.
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