At the Last Supper, in conversation with the apostles, Jesus prepares them for his final departure to the Father's House.
Forty days after his resurrection, he will ascend into heaven. Jesus announces to the apostles that He is going there to prepare a place for them. "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places" (John 14:2), he says. He declares that anyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and can live forever in the Father's House.
It is, however, extremely significant in today's Gospel that one of Jesus' seven so-called self-declarative formulas appears there. Indeed, the Evangelist John includes as many as seven times Jesus' statements beginning with the Greek phrase Ego eimi - I am. For example, “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:51), “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), “I am the gate” (John 10:9), “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). And in this case, another self-declarative formula appears - Jesus says of himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
It is very interesting, however, that several times in the same Gospel of John the phrase "I am" appears without a specific complement. For example, Jesus says: " I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." (John 8:58), or says: "For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24). For the Jews of Jesus' time, this was a powerful statement. As we read the Gospel in Greek, we encounter the phrase ego eimi. If Jesus had spoken in Hebrew, which is the language used for the majority of the Old Testament, he would have needed to say the name of God out loud. The name that the Jews at the time, out of respect, did not dare to utter aloud.
In today's Gospel, it is evident that Jesus identifies himself with God when he explains to the apostles that the Father is in him and, he is in the Father (cf. Jn 14:11). In this way, Jesus prepares his disciples to discover his divine dignity.
Rev. Prof. Dr. Mariusz Rosik - biblical scholar, professor of theological sciences, director and research, and didactic employee of the Institute of Biblical Sciences at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw, Poland. He specializes in the theology of the New Testament, exegesis of the Synoptic Gospels, and ancient Jewish history. Author of numerous scientific, popular science, and pastoral publications. www.mariuszrosik.pl www.lumenvitae.pl