Philip and James are singled out in the scriptures today appropriately since it is their feast day.
First mentioned is James in the first letter to the Corinthians.
Paul is “reminding” his fellow Christian brothers and sisters in a litany, listing all the salvific events that had taken place: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. That he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve, then to more than 500 all at once. Then he appeared to James, and all of the apostles — including Paul. All of this was according to and in fulfillment of the scriptures.
The Gospel of John today picks up in Verse 6 just after an interesting conversation in which Jesus had just told the disciples that he was “going away but would return.”
Jesus further told them that, “where he was going they knew the way.”
To which Thomas responded —
“Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?”
And Jesus, having set all of them up, gives the greatest punchline which opens today’s Gospel in Verse 6 —
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Surely, this is one of the most quoted and quotable lines of all of the Gospels. And as Jesus begins to explore and explain further his relationship with the Father and, therefore, their relationship also, Philip asks in a statement-like form —
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus was so good at these setups! He knew how to say things in such a way that they would provoke and pull out of his disciples the very truths and teachings he so wanted to give to them.
And today was no exception. This was a double whammy for sure. Not only did Jesus reveal the Father, but also, and equally importantly, that —
“I [he] am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
No one, like John in his Gospel, reveals so clearly Jesus’ teaching about his Father, and his and OUR relationship with the Father.
Jesus, in his own words today, indeed does show us the way, and the truth, and the life.
As we look at and listen to Philip and James, and Thomas and Paul, they all help to open up and reveal to us the same stuff as revealed through their questions, and their comments and their searching, to know this Jesus more and more and more.
Welcome all to the world of the disciples, for that is who and what we have become!
