Kathleen Rushton discusses John 14 and the significance of disciples understanding their part in God’s work.

The earliest Christians would have recognised John 14 — part of Jesus’s long farewell address (Jn 13:31-16:33) — as a well-known form of speaking by a leader about to die. In the address Jesus expressed deep concern for the well-being of the group and for individuals after his death. He announced that his death was about to happen, stressed that relationships were to continue and talked about the good things that were to come as well as the hard times ahead.

Jesus’s words at the supper of the early 30s are recorded in John’s Gospel for the community of the 90s — a community probably in the Roman city of Ephesus. Many of them had suffered for their belief in Jesus. The focus on Jesus’s encouragement to “believe into” him and “finishing the works of God” is as relevant for us as it was to this early Christian community.

Forming Hearts

Jesus is intent on forming the hearts of his disciples. He recognises their lack of understanding and is mindful of their feelings and responses as they are facing times of hardship and uncertainty.

He begins and ends by reassuring the disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:1, 27; cf. 16:6, 22). The word translated as “troubled” means “stirred up” and was used earlier in the Gospel to describe Jesus’s own inner agitation and emotional distress at the death of his friend Lazarus and now at his imminent death.

“Believe Into” Is Dynamic

Jesus appeals to the disciples’ hearts: “Believe into God, believe into me” (Jn 14:1, 12). The Gospel Prologue (Jn 1:1‒18) gives the clues about what will unfold in the Gospel. It begins: “to all who received [the Word], believed in (pisteuein eis) his name, he gave power to become children of God.” What Bibles translate as “believed in” means “believed into". This expression, which is repeated 34 times, is one of this Gospel’s favourite phrases. It is not found anywhere else in ancient literature.

The Evangelist writes about discipleship as actions. Although “faith” and “belief” permeate John’s Gospel, the nouns themselves are not used — instead, actions illustrate faith. In the Middle Eastern world faith and belief, fidelity and faithfulness bound one person to another. They are sentiments coming from the heart, the centre of a person’s being. They are the expression of social and emotionally-rooted values of solidarity, commitment and loyalty.

“Believing into” is dynamic. Raymond Brown describes it as “an active commitment to a person and in particular to Jesus … it involves much more than trust in Jesus or confidence in him; it is an acceptance of Jesus and of what he claims to be and a dedication of one’s life to him.” This means a willingness to respond to God’s demands as they are presented in and by Jesus.

Believing “Into” — A Work of God

“Believing into Jesus” is a work of God required of all who seek to follow him (John 14:12). That this verse begins with Jesus saying: “Very truly (Amēn, amēn) I tell you …” indicates that he is telling us a significant truth. Believing into Jesus means becoming like him and doing what he does — disciples “will also do the works that I do” (Jn 14:12).

Throughout this Gospel, there are 28 references to the work(s) of God and Jesus, to God and Jesus working or to disciples, including us today, working with God. In participating in God’s mission, Jesus reaches out to those on the fringes of society and religion (Jn 7:49); the physically marginalised (the sick man by the pool Jn 5:1-15); the beggar born blind (Jn 9:1-41); and the geographically marginalised (the official Jn 4:46-54); the woman of Samaria (Jn 4:4-42). Believing into Jesus requires a dedication of our lives to him and working with him.

“Believing Into” — Today

Believing into Jesus, believing into God, gifts us with the ability to live with unanswered questions, paradox and mystery — balancing knowing with unknowing as we seek with Jesus to complete the works of God by responding to both the cry of Earth and the cry of the poor in God’s evolving, unfinished universe. Richard Rohr explains: “That’s the heart of the mystery of biblical faith — the ability to live without knowing.”

It can be fruitful for us to shift our focus from a search for answers to an affirmation of mystery. Novelist Ken Kesey advises: “If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you’ll always be seeking. I’ve never seen anyone really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery …” He suggests we plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries will bloom! The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer. If we move towards certainty about mystery and what it is, we stop the process of growth and living with faith, hope and love into the questions.

Our Experience of Death-Resurrection

The way we are saved by the death and resurrection of Christ is by walking through our own death and resurrection. The important word here is "and". We are not usually told about how to live the resurrection or even how to go there. We recognise death and have rituals surrounding it. But we may not recognise and celebrate resurrection in the same way. It can be in the new life of spring, the love of pets, the delight of family, a baby’s first steps and the beauty of the natural world. Resurrection surrounds us everywhere all the time.

But Richard Rohr reminds us that resurrection is always tempered by the fact that it does not last and not everyone experiences resurrection all the time: “We all have to walk through the valley of death, and through solidarity we are with others in their pain as they do so.”

We are there with others as we watch the evening news, as we see the destruction experienced in our country and elsewhere through climate change, as we see Palestinians removed from their land and homes, as we see refugee camps.

Rohr describes our balancing act: “We have to stay in both the dance of death and the dance of resurrection. We can hope and pray any one day, or through any one period of our life, that God leads us to both resurrection and the valley. There is no other path.”

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 281 May 2023: 24-25