Passages & Pathways 2: Knowing the Way
This is part 2 in a series of blogs called ‘Passages & Pathways’. In each of these, we are looking at a passage in the Bible where we see language about paths, ways and journeys. Together they’ll build a picture of what we believe and how we approach things as a church. You can find all of the posts here.
Today, we are looking at a bold statement from Jesus. It comes as he is having a meal with his friends, and has said he will soon be leaving them. So Thomas asks a fairly obvious question…
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Jesus: the ONLY way?
So Jesus has said he will soon be leaving the disciples. And as you read on in the story you get to what we now know as Easter. Jesus is arrested and killed. That isn’t the end of the story, of course, because he bursts back to life, but then does come true on his promise and departs the earth to return to Heaven. He does leave.
Thomas doesn’t know that is what Jesus means because he can’t flick forward in the story. He’s in the story. So perhaps he thinks Jesus is just going to go on ahead of them to another place and he wants to know the way there. So he asks his question so he can catch up wherever Jesus is going.
And Jesus seizes on his question to make a big claim. Because Jesus does know what is coming, and more important why it is coming. It’s not just some nearby town or village he wants to take people to – it is far more than that. And the claim he makes is that this place he is going on ahead of them can only be reached through him. There is no other route, no other path, no other way.
“I am the way and the truth and the life” Not only is he the only way to get where he wants people to go, he is the only way to know what is true and false, right and wrong, and the only way to know and have true life. Big claims! They are either totally arrogant or totally true. I believe they’re true. I’d stake my life on it.
The only way to…where?
But let’s make sure we understand what Jesus is (and isn’t) claiming. He is not saying he is the only way to find enjoyment in life. Lots of things are fun and give us pleasure. He’s not saying he’s the only way to succeed in life. Lots of people are successful in lots of different ways in this world. And he’s not saying he is the only way to have a purpose. There are lots of different ways to find that.
But Jesus isn’t talking about things as small as being happy, successful or fulfilled. If that is all there is to be found in life, we can get it from good food, entertaining TV, our families, our friends, and our careers. Jesus has his sights set far higher. He isn’t just interested in finding the very best in this world or in this life.
What is it he says? “No one comes to the Father except through me.” So what is it that Jesus is the only way to? Nothing less than God himself. Not just temporary pleasure, security, or meaning, but a real, living relationship with the real, living God who made you and knows you and loves you.
So if you’ve ever had a niggle that maybe there’s more to life than the daily grind, the annual holiday, the joys and challenges of life, if you’ve ever thought maybe there’s more than all that… perhaps it is because there is? Perhaps it is because you weren’t just made for physical life. Perhaps you are a spiritual being, and the way to know true purpose is to be spiritually alive.
Do you know the way?
So, what about it? Do you know the way to true life? Have you met him? Have you ever wanted to have security not just for this life but for when you breathe your last and ‘meet your maker’? I believe one day you will, so it’s worth thinking about now.
But you might be thinking about all the other ways people say you can get to God. There are other faiths out there who seem to offer the same thing. Are they all just the same? Well, simply, no they aren’t.
To say that all the different religions of the world are just different paths to the same place might sound very inclusive, but does it really make sense? When you examine what they actually teach, they are chalk and cheese! Is the destination paradise (where all your human desires will be met), or is it a relationship with God himself, or is it reincarnation? It can’t be all of them! Is the way to get ‘there’ to live a good life, to convert the most people, or to receive forgiveness freely? Again, it can’t be all of them.
Saying all religions are the same is a lot like saying football and rugby are the same. Sure, they may have some things in common when you look from a distance, but get up close and you’ll discover different rules, different goals and totally different ways to play them.
So what is it that is truly distinctive about Christian faith? Simple: Jesus! The idea of God becoming one of us, dying in our place, and leading us into an eternal, face-to-face relationship with God isn’t found anywhere else.
And how do we get all that? We just have to believe it, to say it is true. To know Jesus really is the way, the truth and the life.
This post was a follow-up to the last Passages and Pathways post which opened up the idea that Jesus is the pathway we believe everyone should find and follow. It felt important to dig into that a little, because for us as a church Jesus is absolutely central. Take him away and we have nothing left!
In the next few of these, we will explore the four major values we have as a church, and how passages in the Bible speak about how it is that we walk the way of Jesus.