The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Pastor Kevin Sullivan

I don’t blame Jesus’ disciples for being confused here. Jesus said he was going away, and when Peter wanted to follow, Jesus said that he wasn’t ready to follow him, but he would be later. And then he said that he was going to his Father’s house … and they didn’t even know that he had a Father. Did he mean Joseph (and we thought he was dead …) or might he be speaking of God … and where is His house? And Jesus said he was going to prepare places for them, and then he would come again to take them there, but that they will know the way themselves … so why does he need to come back at all?

Confusing enough?

Living with Jesus, following him for three years, must have been a time full of insights into the divine—and times of confusion and muddled meanings. How could it have been otherwise? Jesus is God and human all at once. His thoughts are spiritual and eternal, but his body is human, earthly. He knows the limitations of the human mind and the human senses, and the limitations of being in one place (and only one place) at one time, and of only vaguely being able to see what lies ahead.

I imagine Jesus grasping for words and images and experiences on which he could hang the thoughts of God in a way that his followers could understand. We get the physical, we get places and things and, to some extent, people … so Jesus tries to speak in that language for our sake. But it still can get confusing.

God is your Father, does that mean, like our fathers? And if so, in what ways? And in what ways not? And “God has a house …” You mean a place built of stone and wood and brick, a roof on the top, and a microwave in the corner? Or does that mean something else? For that matter, what is this stuff about a kingdom? And is heaven a place above the clouds, and is hell a place beneath the crust of the earth? Jesus, this is all so confusing!

So, as Jesus is talking about his plan to go away, and the confusion builds, Thomas finally says, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” We sense his frustration. They want to know, they want to understand, they want to be good disciples … but sometimes it gets overwhelming.

And, we live, like the disciples, overwhelmed at times by the teachings of Jesus. And we, like the disciples and like generations that have gone before us, become weary of the confusion and often seek something simpler, more straightforward. We want a map to a place called heaven. We want step-by-step directions guaranteed to get us to the pearly gates, a recipe for holiness, standards for admission. We want something plain, something easy, something concrete.

How do we get to the Father’s house? Give us an address, give us a road map, type it into our GPS, show us the signposts, give us a guidebook. Do something. Throw us a bone here because we really don’t get it.

And, of course, Jesus knew that. So he made it as simple as he could. “I am the way,” he said. “I am the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And he goes on to make it very clear to the disciples that he is in the Father and the Father is in him, and that he and the Father are one. Do you see what he’s done? As best as human speech will allow, he said, I am your path and your destination, I am the truth as God is the truth, I am the life as God is the life. It’s not just about learning rules and facts and my teachings and memorizing my sayings. It’s not just about petrifying my actions and worshiping the fossil remains of my ministry after I’m gone so you can get in to heaven. It’s about following me—today, tomorrow, and every day.

Yes, there are helpful hints for travelers: the Ten Commandments are good things, helpful along the way, but they’re not The Way—Jesus is the way. Scripture is true, and it’s full of good stuff, full of truths. But we don’t worship it. It’s not The Truth, not in the same manner as the one who said, “I am the truth.” Religious rituals and traditions and spiritual disciplines can enhance our lives, but they’re not The Life in themselves; it is God in Christ Jesus who is The Life.

Sometimes we lose focus, we rely so much on our maps and devotional books and the authors who give us ten easy steps to salvation that we forget the one who proclaimed himself our Way and our Destination. He gives himself to us, not just as a map or a guidepost or even a GPS system for finding heaven. He gives himself to us as our guide, our living and loving gentle leader. He gives himself to each of us and to all of us. He gives himself to us in dynamic and individual ways, ready to walk with us and lead us by the paths that best serve our unique faith journey. You can’t get that from a map or set of step-by-step instructions. And as we go, he becomes for us not just our guide, not just our role model, not just a tool for us to use to gain entrance to the eternal kingdom. We find, as we follow, that the journey with him is the goal, that being with him is the reward, that the Father’s house is wherever he leads us, that the path he leads us on is the room he has prepared for us.

What a joy to journey with him, surrendering ourselves to him every day. This is where we find life in the fullest. It’s not always the happy-clappy kind of life that some try to sell, as though God were a cosmic vending machine for us, but a life of deep love, rich relationships, and meaningful sacrifices—a life in harmony with the God we follow.

I pray that this week each of us will come to know our Lord, who is the Way, just a little better as we read and hear his Word. I pray that we will know the Truth that he is as we practice following him in and through acts of stewardship and service to God’s creation. And I pray that we will be filled with his life, the life that is rewarding and satisfying and overflowing as only life in God can be.

May we meet often along the Way and finally share the infinite peace of our Father’s house, only through the grace of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, who live and reign, One God, forever and ever.

Amen.