On the Way-Lent 12, 2015

John 14:4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Desperately seeking a destination. 

I try to give the disciples a break though–they don’t have the benefit that we have of being on this side of the written New Testament.  With Christ in the Upper Room, Jesus tells them they know the way and Thomas who was scientifically minded and driven by evidence (not so much doubt as his caricature suggests) states the obvious:

Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

It’d be like leaving the destination blank on MapQuest and trying to get directions from where you are to where He is…wherever that may be.  The red asterisk says it’s a required field.  You can’t get directions to follow if you don’t have a destination.  Perfectly logical, Thomas.

Except for one thing: we don’t find directions to the place He goes.  We don’t get there on our own. 

Jesus responds with one of the greatest statements ever spoken, one of the “I AM” statements of the Bible:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We don’t work at finding Him.  We are found by Him.  So, Thomas, take a step back and think about it.  You’ve been found by Him therefore you know the way.  He’ll take you the rest of the way there Himself.

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Give it Up for Lent:  Trying to find other ways or your own way to heaven

Put it On for Lent: Trust in Him

For further thought:

• To a world that likes inclusiveness and diversity, needing Jesus (and only Jesus) to take us the rest of the way there sounds remarkably narrow.  Is a narrow way still better than none at all, when it comes to salvation?  If yes, then why do you think so many people reject Him as the Way?
• Do you think Thomas could have comprehended the directions or the destination if Jesus had spelled it out?  Why or why not?
• What are some benefits that we have being on this side of the New Testament and being able to read the rest of God’s Word explaining matters?
• Read John 1:18 ”No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”  How does this help Jesus to know where to go and to be the Way?

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