He Was Teaching the Church

In some of the very last words Jesus spoke to His Apostles before being crucified, our Lord promised to lead them into all truth. Now, we have to ask: who gets this blessing? There are a number of options, but only three are commonly held. One option is that it only applies to the Apostles, with no real benefit to anyone else (the position of Mormons and other anti-Christian cultic groups). Another option is that it applies equally to every single Christian who obeys Jesus (the position of most Protestants). And then there is the position of the Catholic Church: Jesus said "you" because He meant "you" to the Apostles. He did not mean that this same blessing was spread abroad to everyone in the same way, but He also did not intend to give them a blessing that was theirs to keep and never have any true impact on others.

If we consider ourselves to be infallible interpreters of Scripture, then we are placing ourselves on the same level as the Apostles (and therefore, over every Pope since the first century--not a good idea). If we think that Jesus led them, but the rest of us are on our own, then that makes Jesus into a cruel and heartless deity--also not a good idea. Do we trust our Lord to have led the Apostles into all truth? We are supposed to. That means that they knew the truth, communicated it rightly, and that Jesus maintains that truth for us for the last 2000 years regardless of who wants to corrupt it. That is why He began this process on that night of the last supper (which we now call Maundy Thursday); He was teaching the Church. He was opening up the Apostles' hearts to the truth of our salvation.