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Morning Devotion for the Season of Christmastide

January 4, 2023

The Invitatory

Alleluia. To us a child is born. Come let us adore him. Alleluia.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: John 14:6-14

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and 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.’

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 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 works. 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. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

How surprising and unsettling to find oneself in Christmastide and reflecting upon a passage from John that normally one encounters during Holy Week. For this passage comes from the Farewell Discourse. Jesus is attempting to reassure his disciples. After he had washed their feet and eaten with the twelve, Jesus foretold his betrayal by Judas and his betrayal by Peter. He has commanded his disciples to love each other.

Perhaps this is not so strange. For while we are still celebrating the birth of Jesus and coming to grips with God born as a human in our midst, this passage does provide a statement of the Incarnation. “I am the way, and the truth and the life…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” For almost three years the disciples, these close companions and followers of Jesus, have been taught at his feet, have witnessed his miracles and have received his unfailing love, care and truth. We can imagine the disciples thinking back over the works Jesus has accomplished. What do they say about Jesus? About the Father? Water to Wine? Lazarus to life? Healings? Works that bring healing, delight, abundance, life itself? These would be the works of God, Father and Son. When the “Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” How difficult it is to recognize God in the face of the familiar one. There are many works of providing for us that we simply take for granted. “Show us the Father.”

In his very person Jesus has revealed God to them and to the world. And yet, despite all this, the disciples still have doubts and questions, even as they are on the very brink of his crucifixion, resurrection and their being sent into the world to bring this Good News to others. And we are no different in our earthly journey.

To be frank the very notion of revelation is complex. There is both the final disclosure of God at the end of time and the more general notion of “making God known.” This is the very singular purpose and function of the Gospel. Revelation proceeds from God to the world, only through the revelation of Christ. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Jesus challenges his disciples and us to perceive and know this, to believe this and for this to undergird our faith.

Nonetheless, there are always those among us whose heartfelt prayers have gone unanswered and whose hearts have been broken, whose trust shattered by Jesus’ failure to keep this promise. Since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…the true door into the sheepfold where life abounds, in all those places where truth and life are served, Jesus reveals God to us as we see him. Might we think again about the great works, and the blessings, and abundance and see God at work among us? Since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life in all those places where truth and life are served, Jesus reveals God in himself as we see him.



The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

     hallowed be thy Name,

     thy kingdom come,

     thy will be done,

         on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

     as we forgive those

         who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

     and the power, and the glory,

     for ever and ever. Amen.