May 3, 2026, at St William on Saturday & St Peter on Sunday
Acts of the Apostles 6: 1-7 + Psalm 33 + 1 Peter 2: 4-9 + John 14: 1-12
In John’s Gospel Philip is a main character. He is named twelve times as opposed to once in the other three Gospels. He is the first disciple to lead someone to Jesus. He is troubled that there will not be enough when asked to feed the crowd. He is the one the Greeks seek when they come wanting to see Jesus, and he is the one present with Andrew as Jesus prays that his hour has come.
Today we hear Thomas speak as a representative of the group, and Jesus answers him as such. When Philip tries the same move, Jesus gets personal with him. Jesus has made it clear that he will return to the Father. The disciples are stalling almost as though their questions can delay what is not only inevitable, but also God’s plan. And so, Thomas and Philip ask questions that are a bit silly, and it annoys Jesus. With that he scolds a bit and then reaffirms his intimate relationship with the Father offering all who follow him the same relationship.
“Show us the Father” says Philip, and with those words he speaks for many in this world who wonder “where is God” when tragedies happen and death and evil rage uncontrollably. They wonder, like Philip what God is like and what if anything God is doing.
The response of Jesus to Philip is echoed to all of us who too often get stunned by violence, fear, a personal tragedy that leaves us stunned and wondering how this could happen to us raising that question, “Where is God when we need God?” What happened to that part, “Whatever you ask in my name?” He says to us, look at my works, what I do: changing water into wine, healing the servant of a royal official, healing a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, feeding 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, walking on the water, restoring sight to a man born blind, and calling Lazarus from the tomb.
More than these works, Jesus points us to where we might look when we find it hard to believe his words. Wherever Joy and abundance replace embarrassment and scarcity, hungry people are fed, calm overcomes a storm. It is astonishing. Christian people can do what Jesus did and more, and many have over 2,000 years. This is where we must look to see what God is up to and where God is to be found.
The issue is whether we will do what Jesus did or not. It is up to us. The fact that we can do them is due to the fact that Jesus completed the very work God set him to do which was to show us the Father, show us what the Father is like and what the Father’s love can accomplish. To Thomas and to Philip he gave that task, and they have passed it on to us. No one should ever wonder why God has abandoned them as long as we hear their cry.