Jesus - The Way, The Truth and The Life

 John 14:1-14

 The disciples are with Jesus at the Last Supper; this should be a great occasion where they can celebrate the Passover meal as friends together; however, the disciples are anxious because Jesus has said things they are unsure of, things that don’t always make sense to them.


We only need to look back in John’s gospel 13.33 Jesus says to them, ‘where I am going you cannot come’. What! They’d given up everything to follow him, and now he says they cannot go where he is going
 

Jesus in 13.21 says one of them will betray Him, which creates mistrust amongst themselves, to say the least
 

He predicts that Simon Peter will betray Him in answer to Peter saying he will follow Jesus anywhere.
 

Put these things together, and what do you get? An anxious bunch of disciples who sense something is wrong.
 

It’s these examples, and there are lots more of course, that bring us to the opening of our verses today when Jesus says to the disciples ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled’
 

What is happening?  Is he leaving them behind? Jesus knows they are troubled, and he points them forward, which is ‘trust God and trust me too!’ These are difficult times so their trust needs to be solid and that trust needs to be in God.
 

During the time they have been with Jesus, he has been their anchor; they have given up everything to follow him, so now it is important they continue to let Him be at the centre of their lives.

Jesus helps them with that trust when he says, ‘In my Father’s house there are many rooms’ and that He will be going to prepare that place for them.
 

This must give them some comfort a place ready for them.
 

As you know, we moved house a few months ago, chaos, everything in boxes, it makes you quite unsettled trying to keep your house as a home in the midst of all the uncertainty of moving. However, someone had gone ahead of us, prepared our new home for us, our daughters were there heating on, cups of tea ready, they had prepared our house.
 

Jesus is saying I’m not abandoning you, I’m going ahead of you to prepare a place for you, and I will come back for you. He is reassuring them in their doubts.
 

Then Jesus speaks those great words, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’. To Christians words of confirmation, what more do you need than those words of reassurance?


The Way, the Truth and the Life, let’s take a quick look at those three statements:
 

I am the Way

How often do we stop to ask someone the way? Well, I do as soon as I am not sure which way to go, I pull up in my car, wind down the window and ask the first person I see which way I should be going. Unlike me, my husband would never ask the way, he would rather go round in circles - dare I ask, is that a man thing!

When Jesus says he is the way, he isn’t a map or directions but the way itself. And not only does he prepare the way, but he actually shows us the way. 


A couple of years ago, we were cycling in the Netherlands. We were cycling in the city centre of Lieden looking for a particular destination, but we were hopelessly lost.  This wonderful lady saw us all poring over a map and spoke to us when we told her where we were heading. She said don’t worry, I happen to be going that way, I’ll show you the way.  So we were back on our bikes, being taken through many back roads and shortcuts, and she brought us to our destination, and a bonus was that she showed us some wonderful areas of beauty on the way. Very special, because she showed us the way. That’s what Jesus promised in these verses when he says that he is the way.

 
He shows us the way. He prepares the way. He provides the way. He is the way – not only the way to heaven but the way to a meaningful life. He shows us the way to a fulfilling life. 


Through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Come, he says. Follow me. I happen to be going that way. I will show you. I will walk with you.
 

 I amThe Truth

And the same happens with the truth 

Jesus is the way. And he is the truth. And once again, he doesn’t just tell the truth. He is the truth. But what does he mean? In the first chapter of John’s gospel, we are told that grace and truth come through Jesus and in chapter 8, that the truth will set us free. Later, he says everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
 

Through Jesus, we learn the truth about God, the truth about the universe, and the truth that we are made in the image of God.
 

At the end of our prayers, we often say we pray in the name of Jesus, we come to God through Jesus because he is the way, the truth, and finally we look at the life.
 

I amThe Life 

In John chapter 1 v 4  it says “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”
 

It is a misunderstanding that we treat eternal life as only something after death. Because of Jesus, we can experience eternal life now. When we make a commitment to Jesus and allow the Spirit to live in our hearts, we have eternal life. Knowing Jesus means we can live life to its fullest, what God offers us is life to its fullest now, not just at the end of our earthly life where we are promised entry to those rooms in the Father’s house.
 

Jesus, calling himself the life enables us to overcome separation from God.
 

So when we look at the way, the truth and the life we see how we reach God, the reality about God and the power of the living God.
 

Jesus is the source of eternal life, not just someone who teaches about eternal life. 
 

“We may not know the way ahead—but we can know the One who is the Way.”
 

It is so important that we do know the way, the truth and the life because Jesus goes on to say ‘whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and even greater things.
 

We have a lot to fulfil in our lives if we are to follow those instructions so let us pray for God’s guidance.
 

Heavenly Father, guide us and help us to believe that you are the way, the truth and the life and through knowing you we can experience that journey in our lives today. AMEN

Revd Irene


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