John 14:1-14
Alan Taylor / General Adult
5th Sunday of Easter / Trinity; Christ / John 14:1–14
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+ In Nomine Jesu +
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Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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We turn out attention this morning to John 14, the Gospel reading for today. It begins with a some wonderfully comforting words of Jesus for His disciples who were troubled by the future was going to bring. It is ends with Jesus answering Phillip’s inquiry about the Father. Jesus said, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”
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Bart Ehrman is modern day critic of the Scriptures and of the Christian faith. At one time though, he was an Evangelical Christian himself. In those days he wanted to know how God became a man, but now, as an atheist and historian of early Christianity, he wants to know how a man became God. When and why did Jesus' followers start saying "Jesus is God" and what did they mean by that? For Ehrman, Jesus’ disciples invented many of the teaching of the Christian faith, particularly those teachings that relate to the person of Jesus and who He claimed to be. 
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Ehrman’s new book is called How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee.  Of his book, he says, "I actually do not take a stand on either the question of whether Jesus was God, or whether he was actually raised from the dead. I leave open both questions because those are “theological questions” based on “religious beliefs” and I'm writing the book as a historian."
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Ehrman is an incredibly gifted and bright scholar, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. But he commits a grievous error in rejecting passages of the Bible that the early church believed and confessed, and that the martyrs of the Church believed even though their confession of the faith ultimately cost them their lives. There is one point that he makes in his recent book that is true though. The disciples did struggle to understand the Trinity and how the persons of the Trinity, namely, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, were, in fact, One God, and yet, three persons. That, in itself, is not a remarkable thing to say about the disciples. After all, we struggle with the same things, don’t we?
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In this morning’s Gospel reading, it was Phillip who expressed the disciples lack of understanding of God. Jesus had told the disciples that He was going away. They were understandably troubled by what He told them. That’s the reason the Gospel reading for this morning begins as it does. “Let not your hearts be troubled (Jesus said). Believe in God; believe also in me.”
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“I have prepared a place for you (Jesus said). And, if I have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you to be where I am.” Having comforted His disciples with the promise of a place for them in heaven, Jesus went on to say, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  It was at that point that Philip revealed his personal struggle and presumably the struggle of the other disciples regarding the Trinity. “(He) said to (Jesus), “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  10 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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.”
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Jesus didn’t say these things to Philip simply to fill his mind with information about the Trinity. It wasn’t that Philipp and the other disciples were going to be tested later on with what Jesus taught them. No, these words of Jesus are foundational to the Christian faith. They are essential to our confession of the faith, particularly as it relates to Jesus Himself.
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The central question, the one that Bart Ehrman chooses not answer, presumably because he is a historian and not a theologian is, who is Jesus? The question, by the way, isn’t for some to answer. Rather, it is posed to all of us as a matter of historical accuracy and as a matter of faith. The disciples were asked the question at another time. Granted, the question was slightly different, still, it got to the same point. Jesus asked them, “who do you say I am.” Peter answered on behalf of all the disciples. He said, “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus praised Peter for his answer and he reminded him that it was given to him by the Father in heaven. He went on to say, these words, this confession of Peter, would be the rock on which the church is built.  
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And so, in this one question, namely, who is Jesus, we find ourselves at the foundation of our Christian. Who do YOU say Jesus is? “If you have seen Me (Jesus said), you have seen Father.” How is that so, since the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father? Remember, within the Trinity there are three distinct persons. At the same time though, each of the persons is fully God. In other words, Jesus isn’t 1/3 of God, and the Father and the Holy Spirit are another 2/3. No, each of the persons is fully God. As the Scriptures say, “in him (that is, in Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
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While this might seem like a purely academic exercise, it is so much more. After all, we don’t believe simply in the name Jesus. We believe in the person of Jesus. Some 1,700 years ago, the Council of Nicea took great pains to get the Church’s confession regarding Jesus absolutely correct according to Scriptures, because it’s this Jesus who saves us from sin and death. And so, we confess that He is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.” “If you have seen Me (Jesus said to Philip), you have seen the Father.” 
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Jesus is God in human flesh, which means, it was God who took on your humanity in order to live a perfect life in your stead, in your place. The commandments of God that so trouble you and cause you guilt and shame for having left them, as it were, undone,  have, in fact, been fulfilled. As Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And fulfill them He did, perfectly, in every respect. Have you perfectly fulfilled God’s Law? On the one hand, the answer to that question is no! You have haven’t and I haven’t. “All have sinned (the Bible says) and fallen short of the glory of God.” But on the other hand, you have fulfilled the Law because Jesus, God in human flesh, is the second Adam, He is your life and salvation.
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As you know I’m a bit of bumper sticker enthusiast. I recall the one that says, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” I get the sentiment. It’s kind of a way of saying, “Hi, I’m a Christian, but don’t expect to be perfect.” I get that. But in another sense the statement is absolutely wrong. As a Christian, you are perfect in the eyes of God, through perfect life of Jesus that was lived in your stead, in your place. So, you are ever so much more than forgiven. You are the child of God in whom He says, “you are my son, you are my daughter, and in you I am well pleased.” 
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Jesus is, of course, also your substitute in death. It boggles the mind to think that when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, it was, in fact, God who died for the sins of the world, including your sins and mine. I know it’s the Easter season of the Church year, but I’m reminded of a verse from a Lenten hymn that says,
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“The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
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The sinful child of man may live in gladness;
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Man forfeited his life and is acquitted;
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God is committed.”
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Who Jesus claimed to be is of historic record. More than that, it is the foundation on which God has built His Church. It is a solid foundation, one that will survive the Bart Ehrmans of the world, as well as, the confusions and the lack of understanding of disciples like you and me. As Jesus Himself has promised, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell (will never) prevail against it.”
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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.
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+ Soli Deo Gloria +