“The Way, the Truth and the Life”
John 14:1-9
Recently, I came across a cartoon in which a man was lying on the couch of his psychiatrist.
When the psychiatrist asked the man what his problem was, the man told him he had all kinds of fears about the future.
“Doctor,” he said, “I’m worried about the Covid-19 Pandemic, the economy, political and social upheaval in Africa, climate change, our diplomatic relations with China…” and he went on and on.
In the final frame the psychiatrist responded: “Shut up and move over,” after which he proceeded to get on the couch with his patient.
There is a lot of truth in that cartoon.
The problems of the present and the future seem almost overwhelming.
And we are all in the same boat.
We are all just human beings.
No one has a leg up on anyone else.
We are all just fumbling along, are we not?
None of us have all the answers.
Not one of us holds the key.
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, the disciples are gathered together with Jesus on the last Thursday night of His life.
He has washed their feet, and given them a new command: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
He has foretold that Judas will betray Him, and sure enough, Judas has slipped out into the night.
He has told His disciples that He will be with them just a little longer, and that where He is going they cannot come.
He has also predicted Peter’s denial.
No wonder the disciples are troubled.
Their beloved Teacher and Friend—their Hero, their Leader—is leaving them.
It’s as though the ground is shifting beneath their feet.
I know a bit of that feeling, do you?
I’ve been doing funerals for about 21 years.
And for 21 years, I have been telling people who have lost their parents in death that I can’t imagine what they are going through.
But that is no longer the case.
My dad died more than 3 years ago, and my dear sweet mother--I watched her die this past January for nearly two weeks until she took her last breath and then her heart stopped beating and her eyes glazed over.
And I felt like I was in hell.
I felt so lost, troubled, alone.
And so now, when someone has lost a parent, I can say, “I know what it is like, and it feels like you are in hell.”
And so far, every person I have said that to agrees, “Yes it does.”
So, I would imagine, that in our passage for this morning, Jesus’ disciples were feeling like, well, like they were in hell.
And we know that Jesus was distressed as well.
He was God in the Flesh—but the key word here is “Flesh!”
He knew what He was facing.
Jesus was going away, by means of a tortuous Roman cross.
And yet, even though Jesus was the One headed to this nightmare—He comforted His fearful and confused disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said to them.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled”? they must have thought: “how can’t we be troubled?”
The disciples couldn’t imagine life on earth without the earthly Jesus--
just like many of us cannot imagine life on earth without our earthly parent, or spouse or child.
They cannot see how Jesus leaving them can be good in any way.
So, Jesus says what He always says: “Trust me,” “Believe me.”
“You believe in God; believe also in me.”
And there can be no doubt; Jesus gives us many reasons to trust Him!
Remember when the disciples were on the Road to Emmaus?
We talked about that two weeks ago.
Two disciples were walking home on Easter day.
They couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
But one thing was for sure--they thought Jesus was dead.
And as they were walking along, Jesus suddenly appeared and started walking with them—but they didn’t recognize Jesus.
And then, “beginning with Moses and the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
Later on, after their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus “They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened Scriptures to us?’”
Have you ever felt your heart burning within you as Jesus opened the Scriptures to you and you saw the Truth…
…and you experienced and recognized the Risen Christ…
…not just as Someone you recite in a Creed…
…not just as a blond-haired guy in a painting…
…not just as someone far away and far out of your reach—but right there with you—as real as anyone else and even more so?
Have you ever experienced that?
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Him.
Why is that, we might ask.
Because of sin, there is a great chasm between us and God, and we cannot cross that chasm on our own.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot get to God without God—without Jesus—without the Cross.
The Cross of Christ is the bridge we must cross in order to get to God.
But we don’t cross it on our own.
And we don’t need to be nailed to it either.
That wouldn’t do it anyway.
Jesus has already done that for us.
We need only to trust in Jesus and believe.
But what does it mean to believe?
Well, if you or I believe in something, it means we are willing to trust in it, perhaps with our lives.
Think about it.
When we get onto an airplane we are trusting it and the pilot with our lives.
We have made that decision.
We bought the ticket.
We drove to the airport.
We waited in line.
We got on the plane.
And we trusted that it would take us to our destination.
When we believe in Jesus, we are making a decision to trust in Jesus with our lives.
Only in this case, Jesus has bought the ticket—He paid for it with His life.
Jesus drove us to the airport—that is prevenient grace…the grace that goes before us…
Jesus waited with us in line.
And Jesus escorted us onto the plane—that is the moment of salvation—the moment we made the ultimate decision and accepted Christ’s offer to put our entire lives into Jesus’ hands.
And oh, what an amazing time that is.
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Jesus tells His troubled disciples: “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?
You know the way to the place where I am going.”
And then Thomas, often referred to as “doubting Thomas,” but I think he should, perhaps be referred to as “honest Thomas,” says “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
And that can be said of all of us.
On our own, none of us know the Way to God and heaven.
Without Jesus--in this world we are lost, broken and controlled by our flesh and sinful nature, and headed to an eternity without God.
So how can we find our way out of this mess?
How can we be saved?
Suppose we are in a strange town and ask for directions.
And suppose the person we ask says: “Take the first right and the second left.
Cross the square, go past the Burger King, take the third right and the road you want is the fourth on the left.”
Chances are that we—or at least I—will be lost before I get halfway there.
But suppose the person we ask says: “Come with me. I’ll take you there.”
In that way, the person, to us, is THE WAY, and we can’t miss it—we can’t miss our destination.
That’s what Jesus is for us.
Jesus is the Way to the Father.
Jesus is the Way to heaven.
Through Jesus’ death on the Cross, we have access to God.
Jesus died to forgive us for our sins, our sins which keep us separated from God.
And if we allow Him, He will bring us into His Kingdom right now and into eternity.
Paul puts it so well in Ephesians Chapter 2, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air…
…gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Can you relate to what Paul is saying?
I sure can.
But we can’t take it for granted.
It doesn’t work that way.
Jesus is not a magic rabbit’s foot.
Grace is free, but it’s not cheap.
Our salvation cost Jesus His life.
And when Jesus calls us, as Dietrich Bonheoffer put it so well, “Jesus calls us to come die.”
But, of course, in dying, we are set free to live--dying to the old self—the old way of life; and being Resurrected in Christ Jesus.
And we are born again and all things become new.
Jesus says: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”
It’s an amazing thing, and sometimes—too many times I take it for granted.
But in and through Jesus Christ, I have met and seen God.
God is not an absentee landlord.
He has not left us alone.
God is here with us, if only we will open our eyes and believe and accept His free gift of salvation.
Have you accepted God’s free gift of salvation?
Jesus died to save you and me.
Jesus loves us more than we could ever imagine, perhaps more than we love ourselves.
(pause)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Whatever you do—don’t miss out.
That would be the Ultimate Loss.
Jesus really is all we need.
Praise God!
Amen.
