And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:3
Question: Is Jesus
behind you,
beside you, or
ahead of you? Which one? Well, in the spiritual life, Jesus is certainly all three. But that being said, the Scripture passages from these last two Sundays point to a critical concept in Biblical Theology:
Jesus goes ahead of you, to prepare the way.
In John 14, Jesus says that his Father's house has many rooms, and that He goes to to prepare a place for his disciples. Last week, Jesus said that He is the Good Shepherd - note that a shepherd leads the sheep by walking in front of them. The common thread: Jesus goes ahead.
In modern parlance we often say that someone "has our back," or that someone is "behind us all the way." This is nice. But how much better to know that someone is in front of us, leading the way, blazing the trail, making the path safe? Instead of looking back, we look forward with our eyes on the one who confidently leads. This is Jesus.
The concept of Jesus going ahead is hammered home in Hebrews 12:22, which says: "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." Did you catch that?
Pioneer. What do pioneers do? That's right, they go first; they go ahead into uncharted territory so that others may later follow. The Bible says that Jesus went ahead of us to the cross, sacrificing his life so that we might follow him to eternal life.
How about one more Biblical example? Think back to the days of the Israelites and the Temple in Jerusalem. Once a year the High Priest would go into the innermost room of the Temple – the Holy of Holies – to offer a sacrifice on behalf of the people. See the connection? That's right, the High Priest went
ahead of the people, to a place where they could not go, in order to redeem them. This was a glimpse of what Jesus would later do, as the Great High Priest who goes before the people to achieve salvation.
So is Jesus behind you and with you? Yes of course. But always remember how the Bible says He is ahead of you and before you. Jesus is your shepherd; He prepares a place for you; He is your High Priest and the
pioneer of your salvation. Pretty neat, right?
God bless you!
Fr. Matthew
