The Way the Truth and the Life

Preached by Rev. Lucy Flatt 10th March 2020

This morning we dive back into the gospel of John.
Last week Josh spoke to us about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. This morning we’ll be exploring what it means for us today to hear Jesus claim to be “the way the truth and the life.”

A lot has happened in John since Jesus called himself the good shepherd.
Lazarus has died and been brought to life.
The Chief priests and Pharisees have gathered together to plot Jesus death.
Jesus has washed his Disciples feet.
Judas has betrayed him.
And now the Disciples are gathered round a table on the eve of his death being told that “where Jesus is going they cannot come – yet”.

So in this morning’s reading…
in the face of uncertainty.
in the face of doubt and confusion…
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

What an encouragement for us to hear this morning.
We, like the Disciples sit in this awkward place of uncertainty.
Of doubt and confusion about our lives and the future.
Level up or level down – returning to relative normality or extending a form of lock down.

Jesus’ words to his disciples are words to encourage them - to remember who they follow.
“Believe in God, believe also in me”.

Jesus draws their attention and ours away from our troubles and onto himself.
Away from our fear and onto our belief.

Another translation for the word belief is trust.
You trust in God trust also in me.

This naturally leads us to the question - who do we trust?
When stuff hits the fan – when things are going well – where do we go? what do we look to?

Do we zone out on Netflix?
Drink too much?
Have some me time?
Do yoga?
Go running?
Back a politician?

Where do we put our trust?

Jesus tells his Disciples to trust him.
They have trusted in God – now they are to trust in him.

He is preparing a place for them.
He is preparing a place for us.

Jesus told his Disciples – twice – that where he was going they cannot come.
We cannot go.
But then he adds, I will come again and where I am, there you may be also.

Understandably confused, Thomas voicing our own confusion interrupts Jesus by asking - how can we know the way to where you are going?

How can we know the way when we do not know where you go?

I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is claiming to be THE path for the Disciples.
He is claiming to be God.
He is claiming to be the key to what the world calls wellbeing.
The key to a fullness of life, a steadiness of heart and an assurance of hope that all will be well.

Philip like many of us with our doubts and our uncertainties asks Jesus for clarification. Just show us the Father and then we will be satisfied.

Like us he is hoping for a theophany.

A visible manifestation of God.

When we hit a fork in the road we ask, we plead, we get on our knees before  God and we say - turn up visibly! show us a Moses Mountaintop – send lightning and thunder so that we might experience you, see you and make the right decisions.

But Jesus rebukes him gently – I already have. He says.
My words were not my own.
My acts were not my own.
They were the Fathers – for I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

Jesus is drawing on an expectation that his Disciples know the Father. An expectation that the Disciples will be linking their prior knowledge of God to what Jesus is saying and doing.

It’s easy for us to judge them.
Like our descendants who will look back at this moment in history.
They will know the story.

They will know the outcome.

We know the story.
We know what happens next.

But the invitation for us this morning is to be present with the uncertainty, like we have today.
Could we have recognised who Jesus was?
Would we want to recognise him?

Imagine being in such close relationship with God – it’s a terrifying and wonderful thought.

Today there is so much on offer promising us full wellbeing.
There are so many things we can do and buy to fit the “well” mould.
So many distractions to draw our attention away from God.
To call us away to trust in something else.

At school this week we took a quick look at what the Bible is.
At its core it is the unified story of Jesus.
It is the only source of our knowledge of Jesus.
Every page whispers his name.

For so many of us reading the Bible, or even locating a Bible can be tricky.
I mean it’s hard going –

It can get lost in our current cultural context.
We hear Jesus’ words and we can hear his Disciples responses and we can feel deflated.
We are so far away. It was so long ago.

Like Thomas we can say “how CAN we know the way?” How can we know the truth and the life – how can we reach this wellbeing?

Jesus words minister to our doubt when he says. I am – Eimi ego, I am Yahweh. I am God.

While our world interprets God in all manner of forms Jesus brings clarity and assurance.

In ancient Jewish literature god is Elohim.
There are many Elohim but only one God of Israel – The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – and his name is Yahweh.

When we get to the new Testament, Greek translators use Theos to translate God. Technically theos is as ambiguous as Elohim but the New Testament writers never use this form of the noun for any God but Yahweh.

In their traditional forms Elohim and theos are impersonal – they simply imply a spiritual being with power of some form.

Yahweh is a name.
Yahweh is knowable.
Jesus says no one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the key to life.
We know Yahweh through a personal relationship with Jesus.

The personable, and knowable God is Jesus.

So, what if we take a moment and reflect on the god that we follow?

Does it look like Jesus? Sound like Jesus? What if it looks like one of the many gods before us in society? Money, power, technology, individualism, success?

Like Jesus’ disciples we are invited to come and to sit around the table with him. To prioritise him in our lives and recentre on the God we say we believe in and trust and ensure that is IS Jesus.

Spending time with Jesus – reading the Bible, taking some alone time (intentionally) to pray, bringing our highs and lows before him, being vulnerable and honest, bringing our hopes and dreams – grows our relationship with Jesus.

We can feel close.
We can know the way when we prioritise this relationship.

Relationships, as many of us know need time. A few years ago we were driving through the Auckland motorway and we saw this great big billboard which said “what do your kids want for dinner? – you” – they weren’t advocating for cannibalism – they were advocating for time.

Where do we put out time?

This past lent I was challenged by my family to give up hurry.
I’m that classic mum whose all love and hugs until suddenly I turn on my children and rush them out the door – just to ensure I meet the timeframes that no one else knew existed.

Time is always the thing we have least of but the way we use that time fundamentally determines who we are.
What we prioritise forms us.

We grow with one another and with Jesus when we give quality time to grow the relationship.

When we sit with Jesus – we become more like Jesus.
As John the Baptists says “I must decrease in order . he may increase.”

Its this idea that we lay down our desires to seek Jesus

Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God.
There is no other path to full wellbeing.
Jesus reconciles humanity, he reconciles us to the Father.
And Jesus is open to reconciling us today.

We can before him with our highs and lows our failures and our successes our hopes and our dreams and he calls us children –he gathers us into the fold. He gives us a life of hope.

So, how do we take time for Jesus?
How do we prioritise our wellbeing in him? How do we get the life?
The easiest way I’ve had this explained is to imagine Jesus is one of your friends or family members.

You naturally spend time with them in your day.
You prioritise them over that task, that email, that phone call, or that thing you’ve just got to do.

Jesus’ relationship with his Disciples was formed over three years.
They sat, ate, drank, walked, and yarned with him.

And what a beautiful model it is for us to follow.

Have a go at it this week.

Have a coffee, have a bite to eat – talk over the hardest and murkiest parts of your heart.

It is hard to stop and prioritise something.
It can be annoying and get in the way… like Covid messing up all our 2020 plans.

But Jesus promises life.
He promises the way the truth and the life – he is the past to full wellbeing… and who doesn’t want that?

So, if Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
If he is the key to our wellbeing there is no better time to spend with him than now.
So why would we wait?

I invite you to take some time now to pause.

To put away anything that’s distracting – perhaps go into another room – and pray.

Jesus, thank you that you invite us into deeper relationship with you.
Help us this week to seek you.
To recognise that new habits are hard to form and to have grace with ourselves.
Help us to lay aside the distractions a purposefully spend time with you.

Bless us this week we pray.
Amen.