Every Christian seems to love this
sixth verse.
Jesus answered, I
am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.
We usually take it out of context and
apply it to unbelievers, but before we begin, I hope you can see that this
answer that Jesus gave to Thomas and to us is to believers, and perhaps to
those truly seeking the truth.
Let’s jump backwards to chapter 8. It
begins with Jesus in the Temple Courts and the teachers of the law and the
Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to him. They want to see if he will comply with the
Law of Moses and order her to be stoned.
The law is the law, right? What other choice did he have?
He could have dismissed the charge
noting it takes two to tango and you brought only one. The scripture says that she had been
caught. Her neighbors didn’t accuse
her. She was caught and that means there
should have been a second party.
But Jesus does not take the legalistic
and confrontational approach. Instead he
writes in the sand and says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
You know the story. Oldest to youngest, rocks start hitting the
ground and Jesus asks the woman who is left to condemn her. She says, “No one sir.”
Jesus sends her on her ways saying,
“Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
It’s a powerful story not only about
the mercy of God but about those entrenched in the letter of the law who had
totally forsaken the Spirit of God. This
ploy didn’t work, but the religious hierarchy still wanted to get Jesus, so they
launched another verbal attack upon his authority.
Who is this guy who testifies about
himself? He can’t do that. It’s not valid!
Jesus continued that he knew exactly
what he was testifying to and who sent him.
This time Jesus threw the law back at the law keepers, noting that the
testimony of two is valid. Jesus said
that he was one and his Father makes two.
This led to the question, “Just where
is your father?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t know me and
you don’t know my Father. Where I am
going you can’t go.”
The Pharisees surely wanted to seize him,
but his time had not come. This was a
very public place and if you didn’t have your ducks in order, your passion to
kill this man wouldn’t be enough at least for now.
Jesus confronted these Jews with the
truth that they just would not see. Unless
they believe Jesus is who he says he is, they will die in their sins. Ouch!
The discussion continued and the
Pharisees claimed righteousness in being Abraham’s children but Jesus reminded
them that if they were Abraham’s children, they would not being determined to
kill a man who told them the truth.
Let’s jump back to our scripture from
John 14. We will skip healing the blind
man in chapter 9, and the Good
Shepherd in 10, and Lazarus
being raised from the dead in 11.
Jesus said to
her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live,
even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do
you believe this?
The intervening
chapters get us to this
very intimate time that Jesus spent with his followers before he went to the
cross.
Do not let your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that
were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for
you? 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.
We could take a rabbit trail down how
this resembles a marriage proposal from ancient times, but that is for another
day. Today, let’s focus on the sentence
that follows.
You know the way
to the place where I am going.
Thomas answered, “We don’t know where
you are going.”
Let’s think about this question and
answer for just a moment. Did Jesus say
that you know where I am going?
No. He did not.
He described his Father’s house and
that he would prepare a place and come back and get these men when the time was
right. They couldn’t come now.
Thomas wanted the GPS coordinates, but Jesus told his followers that you know the way.
Jesus answered, I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus alone is the way to the Father. Now understand that Jesus is talking to his
own disciples. He is talking to those
who should have known.
These words that follow should be a
little familiar.
If you really
know me, you will know my Father as well.
Are these not the words that Jesus
confronted the Pharisees and teachers with?
But, he is talking to his believers.
The one who would betray him has already departed to do his work. He is talking to 11 men who followed him all
over Judea, and Galilee, and even Samaria.
These were his disciples.
Listen to what he told them next.
From now on, you
do know him and have seen him.
This is where Phillip jumped in.
Lord, show us the
Father and that will be enough for us.
I might paraphrase a bit here.
Philip, where
have you been the last three years. Did
you think that my teaching was something different that what the Father has to
say? Can you not see the Father living
in me?
If you are that
blind, at least consider the miracles that you have witnessed. Those had to come from the Father.
I am in the
Father and the Father is in me. You have
seen the Father!
Jesus continued telling Phillip and
the others that they would do greater things than they had already witnessed if
they kept their faith in him, if they continued
in his way. That should take us back to chapter 8 again.
To the Jews who
had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
If you keep reading in John, you find
the promise of the Holy Spirit and directions to continue following what Jesus
taught and commanded. Among the things
he commanded, remember
this one without fail.
A new command I
give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another.
Understand that when Jesus said he was
the way, the truth, and the life, he was speaking to his followers. Those same words should speak to us now.
We don’t always seem to know the way. Some days, things just seem really, really
hard. Sometimes we feel lost, not
salvation lost, but navigating this world, lost.
The truth seems elusive. Once upon a time there were two sides to
every story. Now, there are twenty-two
sides to every story. This truth that
sets us free doesn’t seem to be out there, mainly because it’s not out there.
Sometimes, we even question this life. Why am I alive? Why am I here? What’s up with this thing called life? I have read The Purpose Driven Life and some
other really cool books but life still has me befuddled.
We who have professed Jesus as Lord
have a very direct answer. Jesus is the
way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is
how we know the Father. Jesus will come
and collect us when the time is right, and we have a place prepared especially
for us.
These words are for believers. If you have to beat someone over the head
with a Bible verse about Jesus being the only way to salvation, use Acts 4:12.
But understand that Jesus being the
way, the truth, and the life are words given to those who already believe. If you keep
reading in John, Jesus prayed
to his Father and noted that these followers have already been cleaned by the word
the Father gave Jesus.
Why is this important? We need to use these words not as a sword but
as a mirror or sometimes as an invitation to the one who is truly seeking
meaning in his or her life. But they are
not a sword for us to swing. We ask
ourselves.
Am I seeking the way?
Am I seeking the truth?
Am I seeking real life from the One
who is the resurrection and the life?
Am I seeking the Kingdom of God and
his righteousness before everything else?
Am I seeking the guidance of the
Spirit of the Living God that is so readily available? Do I try to navigate this world on my own?
Am I seeking the full biblical witness
that has been given to me or do I compartmentalize and seek only the parts that
don’t disrupt my comfort zone?
Am I inviting or discouraging others
with these words.
I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
He is talking to those who already
believe. He is talking to us.
Everything we need starts and ends
with Jesus. Through Jesus we know the
Father. Through Jesus, we receive the
Holy Spirit. Through Jesus God’s word
speaks to us like never before. When we
are at a loss as to what to do or where to turn or if something seems too tough
to handle, turn to Jesus.
Keep you eyes
fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith.
We have been talking about truth for
some time now, but understand that we will not know truth apart from
Jesus. He is the only way to the Father.
He is the way,
the truth, and the life.
Throw these words at an unbeliever and
they are poorly translated subtitles on a foreign film. These words are for us and for those hungry
for the truth, and I remind us of that today because sometimes we lose track of
that simple statement and insert our own ways, and our version of
the truth, and our definition of life.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the
life. He is the only way we truly come
to the Father. We can look at creation
and know there is a Creator. We can read
God’s word and follow his directions and do as well as the Pharisees.
We try can.
No one has
ever fully accomplished living by the law except
the One who came to fulfill
the law.
But Jesus is the only way to God the
Father. Let’s not be
distracted. Let’s not get
cut off in our race. Let’s press on
towards the goal knowing
this simple statement.
Sometimes the answers are just that
simple.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!
Amen!
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