Jesus as Way
Series: Meeting Jesus Again - Part 5
2023 - A Lenten Journey
John 13:33-14:7
(based on the book Freeing Jesus, by Diana Butler Bass)
Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
John 14:5-6a (CEB)
Apologies that we do not have an audio recording of the sermon this week. Please enjoy the reflections below on Jesus as Way.
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John 14:6 is likely among the most quoted verses in the Bible. There is only one problem. It is rarely quoted in the context in which Jesus spoke these famous words, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Typically this verse is used as a way of bolstering Christian exceptionalism or exclusivity, often condemning those outside of Christianity to hell. Interestingly enough, people are more willing to use this verse to condemn someone born and raised in another religion with minimal or even no access to the Christian gospel than they are to challenge those who call themselves “Christian” while living in a way very much opposed to the way of life Jesus taught and modeled for us.
The truth is, Jesus did not have Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus or Atheists or Samaritans or even his own Jewish people in mind in this moment. There is no indication in John’s presentation of the Last Supper (John 13—17) that anyone is concerned about the fires of hell or eternal punishment. The disciples are not worried about eternity, they are worried about losing their friend and teacher right now. They are grappling with the fear of the unknown as Jesus’ tries to prepare them for his own imminent death at the hands of the religious leaders and the state. What will become of them when their leader is gone?
Throughout these chapters, Jesus emphasizes the way of love and service. It is in this way of life that his disciples must continue on. As John would later write, “perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment” (1 John 4:18). We must remember, Christianity did not even become a religion until well after Jesus’ death. It is unlikely that Jesus, the disciples, Paul, or any other good Jew at that time would have threatened the whole world with the fear of eternal punishment if they did not convert to a new religion and subscribe to creeds and doctrines that would not be firmly established for another 200 to 300 years.
Jesus is not setting up a barrier between us and God. Rather, he is reminding the disciples that through the way of life and love he has modeled for them, they have already seen and known the Father’s heart. “No one comes to the Father except through me” is simply away of saying that except for Jesus, they would never have known the deep love and mercy of God and would have remained in fear. Except for Jesus, or to put it another way, “if it were not for Jesus,” we would continue to live in fear. We would continue to fight and scrape our way to the top through violence, anger, hatred, greed, jealousy and every other vice that turns us against one another in a desperate effort to protect ourselves and our own interests.
But Jesus showed us another way. We have nothing to fear from our enemies, not even death, because we know how much we are loved by God the Father and we are invited and called to live out the truth of that love in the way we give ourselves for the sake of others. As the Mandalorian says, “This is the Way.”