I am the way and the truth and the life

I am the way and the truth and the life Psalm 42: 1-5, John 14: 1-14 Today our passage from John's gospel finds Jesus and his disciples in the upper room and coming to the end of their Passover meal. At this point the twelve will, without doubt, have been in very low spirits. After following Jesus for so long, hearing and seeing him say and do so many wonderful things, the situation will have become very confusing and uncertain. Because, more and more Jesus has been talking about leaving them, one of their number Judas has already left and they don't understand why, and now Jesus has told their leader, the brave Peter, that he'll shortly disown him. So what hope then is there for any of them as things are about to tougher? And yet the fact is that they hoped for so much more! As was the case for the psalmist who wrote Psalm 42 they've been in the position where, like the deer that pants after streams of water, they've known that soul-thirst which can only be quenched by God. And then they received their calls from Jesus, and in a similar way to the two men who the risen Jesus would meet on the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24, their hearts will have burned within them as it began to dawn upon them who they were following. As they thought: "Surely here at last is the one who both the psalmist and our forefathers were waiting for; the one who will finally satisfy our need for spiritual fulfilment, who will give us the answers, the peace with God that we so crave. Yes we're surely on the verge of knowing God intimately as did our heroes of old". But now all that has been thrown into confusion. Have they got it wrong after all? Have their hopes finally being dashed? How easy it is, isn't it, even after a long period when our lives have seemed to be going so well, when plans and hopes have been fulfilled, to become discouraged and to suddenly lose hope when dark clouds begin to appear, when things don't happen as we'd like. Then our convictions of God's faithfulness to his promises can begin to waver? Well to his disciples, as well as to us, Jesus responds to such feelings by saying "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." Before telling them basically, "Don't worry; this is all part of the plan. There's a place for you in heaven, and what's going to happen to me will be the means by which you'll obtain that place. Because I'm going ahead of you to get things ready". And then, in verse 3 of our passage, he reassures them further by saying, "I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the place where I am going." However these words of Jesus only serve to confuse the disciples even more and Thomas voices their uncertainty, telling Jesus that he doesn't understand what he means, they don't know where he's going, so how on earth can they ever hope to get there? Now Thomas is often seen as a bit of a weakling as far as the disciples are concerned, "doubting Thomas" we call him. And even today anyone who we see as lacking faith, might well be given this label. But then the truth is that in other circumstances Thomas showed great courage ... only back in John 11:16, from last week's passage, we find him urging the others to follow Jesus back to the tomb of the dead Lazarus, as he himself intended to do, despite the real dangers that this would put them all in. No, Thomas's willingness to express his own confusion in verse 5 of chapter 14 is really a lesson to all of us. Because our determination to follow Christ shouldn't simply be based upon a blind unquestioning faith that refuses to be put off by whatever circumstances we meet. There are times that we aren't going to understand, and when that's the case then we have to be able to admit it and trust in God's providence, but actually what we believe and what we experience as Christians is generally capable of being rationally understood and argued out. You see it is God's intention that we be certain of what we believe ... that's why we have his Word, that's why the Lord Jesus reveals the Father to us, and so we shouldn't be afraid to ask for clarification where we're confused. God doesn't give us all the answers, but neither is it his aim that we be left completely in the dark over his plans for us. Jesus then is saying to his disciples that he's the promised Passover lamb, the one whose death has long been predicted, who has to die so that the long yearned for new relationship with God might be a possibility. And as such he's able to put Thomas's mind at rest by telling him and the rest, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me". But what does this mean? I am the way etc. Well, let's take the individual parts in turn. Firstly, "I am the way" - The Jews talked much about "the way". This was God's way, the way that God wished his people to walk. So that in Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 33, after giving the 10 Commandments, God said to the Israelites, through Moses: "Walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess." And in Isaiah Chapter 35, verse 8, we read that the redeemed will have a highway called "the Way of Holiness" where they will walk and know gladness and joy. And now we find Jesus saying, "I am the way". William Barclay provides a helpful illustration of the meaning of these words by suggesting that we imagine ourselves driving along and asking for directions in a strange place. The person we ask might well give us a long list of the different turnings we need to take to arrive at our destination but the chances are that after a few minutes of trying to follow them we'll be lost, probably more lost than before. And perhaps like me this has happened to you ... on more than 1 occasion. On the other hand if the person says to us: "I'll get into the car and take you there if you like", obviously something that wouldn't happen at the moment with social distancing, then they, in effect, become to us the way. They're like living directions ... even better than a sat nav. Well this is what "Jesus the way" does for us says Barclay. He not only gives us directions, advice and counsel, he also takes us by the hand and leads us. He walks with us, he strengthens us and he guides us and directs us personally every day. Secondly, "I am the truth" - Jesus not only spoke the truth, he embodied the truth. The old saying goes "Do as I say, not as I do". A saying that demonstrates a truism, which is that even the greatest of our teachers of morality isn't without their personal faults. Jesus the Son of God though is without fault and so he's the living truth. David, in Psalm 86, prays, "Teach me thy way, o Lord, that I may walk in thy truth". Jesus says I am the truth, don't trust anyone who would disagree with me. Instead walk without fear in me. Then lastly, "I am the life" - The bible teaches us that when we're apart from God we're in effect dead, even whilst we're apparently alive. That's why, in the parable of the lost son, the father says of his son who's repented and returned to him: "This son of mine was dead and is alive again". Whilst in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 Paul reminds the Ephesians: "you were dead in your transgressions". But now Jesus the man, having tasted death and then having risen to new life, offers this new life to all of humanity who trust in him for their salvation, who are crucified as it were along with Christ (Romans 6: 6). It's a new kind of life, radically different from the old, so that again Paul is able to say, this time to the church in Corinth (2 Cor. 5:17) "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!" It's life which is both eternal and full, which becomes ours when we believe in Jesus and are born again ... birth being the recognised start of life as we know it. This then was what Jesus had to say to his fearful disciples nearly 2000 years ago; to a group of men who represented a Nation which had waited expectantly for hundreds of years for the dawning of a new age, when the broken relationship with God would at last be fixed. However we live in a different age. An age where the only time the majority of people, men, women and children alike, think of God is to use his name as a swear word. Where the very idea of there being only one right way, would likely lead to outrage. "After all", our society says, "we each have opinions, all of which should be respected, no- one has a monopoly on truth". And in fact the sad reality is that Jesus the one way isn't a popular concept even amongst a good number of "Church people", who seem to think that this would be a very arrogant position to take. Perhaps because they don't feel confident themselves in the words of Jesus, because for them it's just so much head knowledge. As a result these people can be found looking for ways of harmonising previously conflicting views, both views held by different religions and different views held by those within the Church itself. These are people who somehow feel that they're doing the church and indeed God a service by winning friends for him through telling them that God doesn't really care what we think, as long as we love and accept each other. Not the way Jesus did of course but they don't see that. Choosing, it seems, to forget that along with his forgiveness goes the Lords' command to the forgiven sinner: "Go now and leave your life of sin", your life of error. But is the idea then of Jesus being the way, and the truth, and the life, one that's out of date? A concept which informed modern men and women correctly see as being too restrictive, the product perhaps of a bygone age when society was ruled entirely by men who wanted to impose their narrow views on everyone else? Well as we've suggested there are those within the church who would most definitely be saying 'yes' to this question, as they bend over backwards, it appears at times, to make the Church more accessible, more people friendly, more "sinner friendly". As the often "hard teachings" of the Bible become less important and are even discarded. But then those who believe, as many of us do, that the Bible is the fully inspired Word of God, still give a very definite unqualified: "no, it's not out of date". Because if the Bible, as it claims to be itself, is God's word, then Jesus is indeed the way and the truth and the life. It's a fact that of course these words can only be proved to us as we experience Jesus as being the way, the truth and the life. But it's also a fact that the proof of them reveals itself in changed lives. So that we only have to look at those times of past great revivals, both within our own country and across the world to see that these times of mass individual spiritual conversion, changed individual lives and subsequent changed society, have occurred when people have been taught and accepted the truth of the uncompromising message that Jesus is indeed the only way, the only truth, the only life. And it's no coincidence either that today the church is often growing where the full inspiration of the Bible is being taught, where the simple uncomplicated message as we find it in our bibles is being proclaimed. But, some might say: "surely this idea that Jesus is the only way is an easy option, because it does away with the need to look elsewhere. It panders to people who tend to be narrow-minded and lazy. Whilst it's unacceptably restrictive to those who realise that we live in a world where we've almost unlimited access to information and are able to explore that information". Such a criticism might well be levelled at a Church built upon these words of Jesus. But is this fair criticism? Is the Christian life an easy one, for those who want not to have to think any more? Well a mathematician for instance would be foolish once they'd arrived at the correct answer to seek another solution, so too with Christ when it is realised that he is the way the truth the life, it would be foolish beyond belief to look elsewhere ... now wouldn't it? Is the Christian life an easy one? Far from it; just as it's always more difficult to swim against the tide rather than with it. Also, speaking of the power of faith in verse 12 of our passage, Jesus tells his followers "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these ..." Well if it was all so easy then surely we'd all be aware of the reality of these words and the Church would be making a much bigger impact than it is. No, Jesus' words I am the way, and the life, and the truth aren't for the faint hearted. They're not the easy option. They are, however, words that offer great encouragement and hope to all people who're truly searching for the reasons for mankind's existence. And indeed many, many, millions have found, in this uncompromising message, the answer to their soul's yearning for God. Therefore, finally, it's surely beholden upon all of us who've come to realise just how true these words of Jesus are, if we wish to see the society in which we live change for the better, to continue to proclaim them to others. As well as, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to strive to live out the kind of life that knowing Jesus the way the truth and the life both demands of us and enables us to live. Amen