“Parting is such sweet sorrow”. That’s all very well for Juliet – she’s looking forward to marrying Romeo the next day, and the delight of expectation is building with each hour’s delay. Little does she know what’s going to happen.

Neither did the disciples, and according to John’s Gospel account of the Last Supper, unlike Juliet, their troubled hearts suggest they’re not looking forward to it much.

Jesus tries to reassure them, but only after His passion and Resurrection will they remember what He said and understand that the road to Freedom will necessitate travel through the darkest of dark moments. However they will not be alone, and His parting from them will only be for a short time – and then they will be with Him for eternity.

Peter’s letter shows that he did finally understand. Initially, he was reluctant to allow Jesus the Servant King to wash his feet. In the garden late that night He fought those who came to arrest Jesus. In fear, he denied that he was one of Jesus’ followers. After the crucifixion, he hid to escape being arrested.
And then, his life changed. No longer frightened no matter what happened. The empty tomb. The upper room. The miraculous catch of fish at the sea of Tiberius. Forgiveness and commissioning. Establishing the Church. Proclaiming the gift of the Holy Spirit. Proclaiming the Good News. Eventual martyrdom. Faithfully doing right, whatever suffering might ensue.

We too are challenged to live as disciples, and we have the benefit of scripture and history. We know that the story will end with Christ victorious. Whatever the ups and downs of life, no matter how we are maligned, whatever difficulties we face, we know that He is with us always; we lift high His Cross – and live.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

Go in peace, to love and praise the Lord and all His creation, giving thanks for the blessings of tomorrow – and the day after, then the day after that, and all your days. In the name of Christ. Amen

The way. The truth. And the Life

We probably quote Jesus’ familiar reply to Thomas most often at a funeral, when we wish to bring comfort and hope to the bereaved. We understand Jesus’ message of hope, because we know the context of the cross and the empty tomb. But the disciples, hearing those words for the first time, and not knowing what was to happen in the following hours, are confused. Thomas thinks that Jesus is telling them that He will be travelling somewhere, and Thomas wants a map. Philip still sees Jesus as a prophet who can help them understand the sometimes distant God about whom they have been taught in the Old Testament. They still struggle to grasp who Jesus is, they are feeling unsure about what’s happening and they want reassurance. They know they are being sent on a journey, but that’s all they know. They want to make sure Jesus will be with them.

In our Christian lives, we too are all on a journey; unlike the disciples, we have the advantage of knowing our destination; but like them, without Jesus, we couldn’t know how we’re going to get there. With Him alongside us, we can be certain.

He is the Way. On our journey, there will be signposts that will ensure we keep to the path. Prayer. Scripture. Worship. Spiritual guides. He walks alongside – even if sometimes we don’t recognise Him.

He is the Truth. False teachers will tempt us, lies will be told to deceive us but we will recognise them when we keep our eyes upon Jesus.

He is the Life. Eternal life, through God’s grace and Jesus’ sacrifice We are on this earth for a season, our gifts given to further God’s purpose, and when our task is complete, we are called home. And then Life actually begins

Jesus uses the metaphor of the sheep and the shepherd to describe the relationship between leaders and the people they lead. He describes those ‘thieves and bandits’ who are in a leadership position for what they can get out of it, in a direct criticism applicable to all of them, both then and to this day.

The litmus test of true leadership is their motivation. Do leaders act primarily out of political expediency to preserve their own status, or are they prepared to do what is right for the common good, even at the expense of their comfort and position?

The Temple authorities, legalists, Pharisees, and Sadducees each had their own motives, largely concerned with maintaining status and religious structures; King Herod was more interested is keeping on good terms with the Roman occupiers in order to underpin his (dubious) right to the throne. In neither case was there due (if any) regard paid to the benefits and needs of the ordinary people.

There are a number of different leadership styles; in brief, they can be summarised in three groups. We see Directive leaders who tell people what they should do; Collaborative leaders , who act as coaches and work alongside their team to maximize their use of gifts and talents to achieve their goals; and Servant leaders, who put their followers first and do whatever it takes to help their team become self-fulfilled. The best leaders of all are those who are not restricted to just one of those approaches, but can deploy them according to the needs of a situation. Jesus is the exemplar of them all; but His servanthood is overwhelming, even unto death.

Certainly in history there are leaders who have put themselves at risk for the sake of justice for those they lead, and history rightly celebrates them. The apostle Peter commends all those who suffer in following the footsteps of Christ – but the supreme example of leadership is seen in Jesus Himself. Despite rejection, betrayal, humiliation and unspeakable pain, He is the Shepherd who comes to give the gift of abundant life. He offers the ultimate sacrifice, not just for His immediate followers, but for all who ask, then and now. He is the Lamb who loves His lambs, even enough to give them the freedom to reject Him – and His pain is magnified when they do.

Go in peace, to love and praise the Lord and all His creation, giving thanks for the blessings of tomorrow – and the day after, then the day after that, and all your days. In the name of Christ. Amen

In the ground-breaking 1972 TV series, John Berger’s ‘Ways of seeing’, one sentence speaks out to me. ‘We only see what we look at’.
Over the weeks since Easter, we have read of a number of occasions where people see the resurrected Jesus. One common factor is their initial lack of recognition. Mary thought He was the gardener, and only when He called her by name did she realise who He was – ‘I have seen the Lord!’ she cries out to the apostles. Thomas couldn’t accept resurrection until he saw Jesus’ wounds for himself, and proclaimed Him – ‘My Lord and my God!

On the road to Emmaus, the two disciples walked and talked, but only when He broke bread with them did their eyes open and they realised who had been talking to them on the road, and why their ‘hearts were burning within us’.

Saul of Tarsus had been persecuting Jesus’ followers. It was only when Jesus appeared to Him in person on the Damascus Road that Saul became Paul.

All of these saw His physical body. But Jesus Himself told of those millions upon millions who would believe even though they hadn’t ‘seen’ Him. How can that be? It depends on what you mean by ‘see’.
In each case, Jesus comes to meet them – but only when they ‘look’ can they see Him for who He is. Before that, they had not seen Him ‘with the eyes of their heart’.

He comes to us in so many ways in order that we may see Him.. In creation. In forgiveness. In salvation. In love. In new life. All these free gifts of grace – but it is up to us to choose to see them, with every one of our senses.

As depicted in Holman Hunt’s ‘Light of the World, Jesus comes to us, and waits for us to open the door, recognise and acknowledge Him. He waits for us to ‘look’ – and when we do, we see Him. Our Lord and our God.

You’ll have heard people tell you that they’ve ‘earned’ trust. Trust in you, trust in their leaders, trust in Jesus.

But that’s not how it works. In reality, trust can never be ‘earned’. I cannot insist that you should trust me, that I deserve your trust. We can’t tell people that they must trust Jesus, because He ‘earned’ their trust through His suffering and His cross. There’s no point in persuading them that they should – because even though they might say so, deep down, they probably won’t.

Trust is not ‘earned’. It can only be ‘awarded’. Doesn’t matter how much you think you should be trusted by someone – it’s entirely their choice, probably based on their perception, evidence and understanding, not of your words, but you behaviour and actions. You could say that ‘proof’, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

That’s Thomas in a nutshell. He’s heard the others describe what they saw – but rather than making a superficial commitment because they say so, he wants proof. When he receives it, he awards Jesus his future, whatever that may be.

Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Those who have not seen? Physically seen, like Thomas? No. But they have seen in a different way. It might be in the jaw-dropping beauty of creation. It may be that they have seen the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, in the behaviours and actions of Christians they know personally, or those through the ages who have lived as Jesus body on Earth. Perhaps they’ve observed sacrificial love in action; commitment to truth and justice despite suffering and persecution. Faith opens their eyes, they ‘see’, and they believe.

However it may happen, when we see Him, we proclaim Him in the same words as Thomas – ‘My Lord and my God’ – and award Him our trust. Forever.