I’ve been reading through the Gospel according to John in recent weeks. No matter what else I read in the Bible, my attention is continually drawn back to this simple yet rich book. This morning I was reading John 14:1-7
This is the scene: Jesus just confronted Peter and told him that he would stab Jesus in the back through three denials. Jesus’ other followers are logically distressed about what is going on. I can imagine the questions: “If the leading disciples fall, what will happen to us?” “What will happen to all that we have worked for?” “Where are we going?”
The questions the disciples are asking are no different than ones I hear today. Whether it’s someone laid off or a new graduate looking for work or someone just struggling to find their way in life, these questions of “Where do I fit in?” “What’s going on here?” “Who am I?” “Who do I trust?” never seem to go away.
Jesus cuts through it all: “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
How do we respond in our times of confusion or worry? Jesus calls us to intentionally not let ourselves give in to despair, but “Believe in God, believe also in me.” Questions beget more questions, worry leads to anxiety, fear, and more worry, and discouragement feeds on itself. Jesus calls us to a better way, the way of intentional faith. The way of putting aside what our perceptions tell us, what frustrated desires cry out for, and what our own sense of getting for ourselves what we think we are entitled to, in order to trust God to take care of our deepest longings and hopes.
Jesus then describes his journey to bring us back to God, to have a place in his dwelling, to feel connected with our Creator again in a way that feels like home because it is.
“And you know the way to where I am going.” His disciples followed him 24-7 for three years, but they are puzzled. I too was puzzled with his flow of logic but as I dwelt in the passage more, I began to understand what Jesus was talking about. Recent conversations in my life also echo Thomas’ question, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” So many in my life, including myself, express a desire to know where they are going, to have a greater sense of direction. Some wonder why God feels distant, his revelation seemingly esoteric, and his world so harsh and cruel. Yet Jesus tells those who follow him, in spite of the confusions of life, that they know the way.
What way is this? What is the path and the destination? Jesus reply: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The destination is God the Father, the path is Jesus, the method is Jesus, the perspective is Jesus. In this, Jesus encapsulates our approach to the Divine.
So where am I going in life? Jesus.
What’s my purpose in life? Jesus.
How do I find my way in the world? Jesus.
Jesus is the path of life, the way to go, the journey to pursue. This requires staying on the trail, not wandering off after idle curiosities, not giving up at the first hill or difficult place. It requires listening to Him so as not to get lost, watching His step so that we might not stumble, and leaning on his strength when taking another step seems too exhausting. It also means that all who follow Jesus are on the same road and are traveling companions. It is a marathon where getting first place is not the goal for most but merely finishing well is enough. It is having someone alongside to walk with, to struggle with, to strive up the mountains with, and to carry one another through the dark valleys. This path is hard, but leads to a immeasurable destination and is never traveled alone
Jesus is the foundation. The one who gives faith to believe, who helps through shadows of doubt and unbelief, who defines reality because he created it. His glasses are the ones through which we can best see the world. His standards are the plumb line of life. He is the foundation of all true presuppositions, the support of all true premises, and the verification of all accurate and logical conclusions.
Jesus is living. When we are confident of the way and of the proper view of the way, we must respond. Truth demands action. Proper understandings of reality naturally affect our lives. And knowing the One who sustains us, who shaped us, who knows the length of our days, our lives are compelled to be different. Jesus is the only reason to live, and live well. He is the one to live for since he is the source of life. He is the best hope, the greatest delight, the most profound and compelling purpose, and the destiny along with God the Father. He is worth obsessing about as a parched man does with water.
So where am I going in life, when hypocrisies, backstabbing, and questions abound? Jesus. We are called to be followers, not of ourselves or some human guru that tells us what we want to hear, but of Jesus, the one who knows what we NEED to hear and meets our real needs. We cannot predict what will happen tomorrow, when we will get a job, or whether our kids will turn out the way we hope. But Jesus says that if we stay on the path which is him, shape our perspective on him, and shape our actions around him, we will reach our destination that we have been longing for. We will be home.
