John 14:6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
These are the ‘going away’
words of Jesus to his disciples. He has just washed their feet. He has begun to
prepare them for the horrors to come. And he is also preparing them also for
life in the Spirit after the resurrection.
It should be said again that
one of the special things about John’s gospel is that it is the deep memory of
the apostle written down on paper years after it was written upon his heart.
Everything about the narrative of John is about remembering the life and work
and words of Jesus in the light of the resurrection. His looking back is in
fact also a way of looking forward too.
The words of chapter
fourteen are often read at a funeral. In that specific context, they are meant
as words of comfort. Its perhaps worth having the full paragraph that wraps
around ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’. Notice, also, how it is Thomas who
Jesus is addressing when he gets to this fifth ‘I am’.
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in
God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it
were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ 5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are
going. How can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 25 ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give
to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let
them be afraid.
One of my favourite ‘spiritual’ artists
is Elizabeth Wang. She died in September last year quite suddenly from
pancreatic cancer. She was a woman of tremendous faith and her insights into Jesus’
way of life were expressed through colour and form. I have found her study of
the Trinity (left) very powerful and moving. What is quite striking, first of
all, is that all the Trinity appear to have a female form. We have the hand of
Jesus, marked by the wound of the nail, reaching out to an approaching human.
We have the arms of the Creator wrapping the community of the Trinity, creating
a welcoming circle. And we have the Spirit carefully cradling the people who
are being welcomed into the Life of the Trinity. And all that is required of
the approaching human is two things: that they are walking towards the Trinity
and they are reaching out to the Trinity. I would like to imagine that the
human being approaching the Trinity is Thomas.
Thomas is the one who asks Jesus the
straightforward question: ‘We don’t know where you are going so how are we to
know the way?’ It is Thomas, who after the resurrection, finds it hard to
believe that Jesus has indeed returned in his resurrected form. It is Thomas
who questions if it is possible. It is Thomas who will only believe if he can put
his hand into Jesus’ side and see the nail wounds. And it is Thomas who bows
down at Jesus’ feet and proclaims him ‘my Lord and my God’.
Thomas stands for us. We ask the way. We
don’t understand the resurrection. We wonder where God is in our lives, often.
Yet we can’t let go of the searching and the travelling. And we find that the
more we focus on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we find a way through
this life.
The purpose of a funeral sermon is to proclaim
the gospel in the context of the death of the particular person. It is not the
same as the tributes which are made by those who loved the particular person.
It is an opportunity to point to the ways that the truth and life of Jesus had
been evident in life of the person who has died. But, I have often felt it such
a shame that we only do this at the end of
a person’s life. How good it would be to talk openly to each other about
the ways we see that truth and life of Jesus at work in each other while we
live. What an encouragement that would be!
Truth is an important theme in John's Gospel right from the opening chapter: 1 v.14 "The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth".
ReplyDeleteAnd Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will continue to lead us into all truth by reminding us of all the things Jesus said and did. The Spirit's work is focused on Jesus.
Jesus is Truth for he embodies the true life of God. He shows us the Father, so to see Jesus is to be truly in the Father's presence. We don't need to look anywhere else or in anyone else to see God.
And Jesus is Truth as opposed to falsehood. He is light as opposed to darkness.
How does the Truth of Jesus speak into our world today when deception, delusion, dishonesty seem to be so prevalent. Is there truth in the spin of politics?
And this raise questions about how honest our lives are. Last night we went to see the film La La Land which in part is about being true to ourselves. I won't say any more in case you haven't seen it yet. Do, it's a wonderful feel good film which left me smiling and singing!
In contrast I feel disturbed by today's House of Bishops report not to change the Church of England's stance on same sex marriage. Whilst recognising the strongly held traditional view of marriage I wonder how LGBTI Christians can live honest and truthful lives without having to keep monogamous, faithful and loving relationships secret and behind closed doors. Does not truth set us free?
I am the way, the truth and the life.
ReplyDeleteThe way - Jesus is the route to take, he is the way to live, he is the journey that leads to unending life. He shows us the direction to take.
As we travel on that route, we take with us truth. The dictionary defines truth as :
Indisputable fact, certainty , verity.
"Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth." John17.
Jesus is the word of God, so if His word is truth, then Jesus is truth.
Jesus is indisputable fact, certainty, verity.
The Oxford dictionary named post truth the word of the year 2016.
".. an adjective defined as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’."
Post truth existed in the time of Jesus too. It was not the truth that mattered; the truth that people were healed, Lazarus brought back to life, the true interpretation of God's word revealed. What appealed to the leaders of the temple was their power, and Jesus threatened it, so he had to be done away with.
Ultimately we all look for meaning in life and just as a child longs to be with its parents when separated from them, we too long to be with our heavenly father. St Augustine said,
"Our hears are restless until they rest in you. "
It is the search for belonging that creates friendships, groups, and even churches. We all have a fundamental need to be loved and wanted. Just as the happiest children are those who have their parents attention and love, not those who have an abundance of belongings, so our satisfaction is greatest when it comes from being with God. May our prayer be that of the psalmist who cried,
"One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." Psalm 27:4