You Know the Way

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, May 7, 2023
John 14:1-10

    A few years ago, I think our girls were 3 & 4 years old, I decided to take them on what I thought would be a short hike on my own, without Rich.  I studied the trail map; it was an easy one-mile loop on level ground, no hills. I brought plenty of water and snacks, but after we had walked for 45 minutes, I realized we were only continuing to get farther away, not closer to where we had started.  The girls were complaining of being tired, and I knew I only had so many piggy back rides in me.  The trails were not well-marked, and I knew there were much longer, 5-6-mile trails that we could accidentally be on if I had possibly taken a wrong turn.  More disturbingly, I realized I had no cell phone signal, and we had not seen another soul on our hike.  What started out as a peaceful morning hike with my children was becoming somewhat frightening.  If I had been by myself, I would have continued on, but I decided to turn back and go the way we had come, because that was the only direction I knew would for sure get us back to the car without too much more trouble.
    Jesus’ words to us this morning in John 14 are familiar to many of us.  In fact, I believe I have preached on this gospel text more than any other passage in the Bible, because it is a popular reading at funerals.  Jesus reassures us that we have a place in the Father’s house that he has prepared for us, and that where he is going (he is referring to his death, resurrection, and ascension), we will be there also.  Jesus promises the disciples and all who follow him that he is the way to eternal life, and we already know the way when we know Jesus.  This is the good news of Easter!
    For we who still hope to have a long way of our journey here on Earth yet to go, though, Jesus comforts us as well, that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that he will walk with us and guide us daily as we strive to follow him in THIS life.  Remember that in John’s gospel, Jesus uses seven “I AM” statements to describe himself.  We need to pay attention whenever Jesus uses this phrase because in Hebrew, “I AM” is the holiest name for God, what we translate into English as LORD (all capital letters).  Jesus is telling us again today that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, and through him we can be in relationship to God the Father, as he tells Philip.  In the gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am… the bread of life, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, the vine.”  Last week, he encouraged us by saying “I am…the Good Shepherd” and “the gate.”  And today, he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  In other words, we can trust Jesus to lead the way in life!  His way is true!  His way is full of life abundant as we heard last week!   If we stick with the metaphor of Jesus as a road or trail map, Jesus is saying that the trail markings in following him are clear – the pathway is smooth, the gateway is wide open, with good signage pointing us in the right way to go.
    And so in our gospel for today, it seems Jesus is getting a little impatient or frustrated with Thomas and Philip as they continue to question him about this idea of him being the way. They are trying to wrap their minds around his relationship to God the Father, even though this is at least the sixth time Jesus has said, “I AM, I AM the one. I AM God.”  Jesus just gets done saying, “You know the way to the place where I am going” and Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  You can sense the panic in Thomas’s voice.  He’s 45 minutes into a hike that was supposed to take an hour total with his preschool kids and no end is in sight!  He is 3 years into leaving his career and family behind to walk sometimes seemingly aimlessly around Galilee with this guy who is calling himself the Messiah, and who is now talking about suffering and going to the cross to die for the people.  Or perhaps we want to ask Thomas’s question ourselves, “How can we know the way, Lord?”  when we are faced with difficult decisions – trying to find mom or dad home health care or a skilled nursing care facility, because it is no longer safe for them to be alone.  Going college shopping with our kids before they graduate.  Wondering whether to take a new job or stay in the one you have.  Planning for retirement in a volatile market.  Picking your battles with your kids and often praying that you’re doing your best as a parent or grandparent.  Life often presents us with different paths where the way forward is uncertain.  It may feel at times like we’ve lost the GPS signal, the road signs are few and far between, and there are not many other people to ask for directions.  “How can we know the way, Lord?” seems like a fair question for us to ask, like Thomas does.
    Let’s recognize that Jesus’ famous, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” is his reassuring answer to Thomas’s anxiety about fearing that he does not know the way to go next.  “If you know me, you will know my Father also,” Jesus goes on to say.  And again to Philip, when Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  In other words, Jesus is trying to tell the disciples, which includes we modern-day followers of Jesus, that we know more than we think we do at times, because we know Jesus.  In knowing Jesus, we know God himself.  And even better – when we aren’t even sure how well we know Jesus, actually, Jesus has told us again and again these past few weeks, “I know my own, and my own know me.”  Jesus knows us, and Jesus knows where we’re going.  When we can’t trust ourselves to find the way, we can always trust Jesus to be our way.  
In learning more about Jesus through reading the Bible, in worshipping him, in looking for Christ out there in the world in our everyday lives, we are brought into closer relationship to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!    Jesus our good shepherd, our gate, and the way promises to be our guide throughout life and never leave us abandoned or alone.  Even in the more uncertain moments of our lives when the way forward is not clear, Jesus promises he will show us the way.  Even more than that, whatever direction we go in life, if we are committed to following Christ, he assures us that he IS the way, the very road on which we are traveling.  And when our lifelong journey comes to an end, we will know the way to the Father’s house, a place that Jesus has already prepared for us.  In times of uncertainty, may we look to Jesus our way, truth, and life.  May we listen to the voice of Jesus telling us, “You know the way.  I am the way.  Follow me.”  Amen.