3-25-15 The Way

21Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.  (Isaiah 30:21)

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' (Jeremiah 6:16)

13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13,14)

I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but by me.  (John 14:6) 

Thoughts: The Christian life is described as a road- a path- a way.  We can choose the fashionable, wide and popular way that leads to destruction.  Or we can ask for the ancient, holy, narrow way.  Today the term "Narrow-minded" is seen as wrong-headed.  It is the broad thinker that is seen as more human.  But the one who is able to find the path of life through the valley of the shadow is the waymaker- the Lord who leads us through.  The One who made the path came down to show us the only path out.  That is the message of the Bible.  There is a way out, and God has come to show us that ancient, true, holy path that He has made.  We must take a path.  We can choose the path of life or the path of death.  We can choose the holy way- the way and the person of Christ or we can stay on the path of death. 

Prayer: Lord, lead me along the level ground, the ancient path of life.  Lead me to yourself and to the kingdom of heaven- your abode. 

3-23-14- The Way, Truth and Life

 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7If you really know me, you will know^b my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  (John 14:5-10)

Thoughts: Thomas and Philip speak for those of us in the West who have a hard time believing if we do not see.  Jesus had more confidence in them than they had in Him, in themselves, or that the way would really work for getting them to heaven.  Jesus was trying to get His disciples who had lived with Him and seen His miracles, love, and grace to trust that He is the One who will pave the way to heaven for them.
      Jesus makes the outstanding and unique claim that he is the only way to the Father.  Then He says He is the way, truth, and life.  The way- was not just the gate to heaven, but the path of righteousness and holiness that led to the holy Father (Dt. 5:32,33; 31:29; Isa. 30:21; 35:8).  Jesus not only is holy and teaches holiness, He is able to make us holy by His sacrifice-providing a way of restoration to the right path to God.  He is the truth.  Pilate asked- looking at Jesus- "What is truth?" For many there is no purpose, meaning, or truth in life- but Jesus stands against them all as a marker of truth and hope.  Jesus is the life.  He makes life worth living- giving direction and purpose to it.  Jesus earlier had said He comes to give us life to the full (Jn. 10:10).  He offers us meaningful life here and eternal life after this life is over.  Many others would claim to know the way, teach the truth, and show us how to live- but Jesus claimed more- to actually be the way, truth, and life.  He claims divinity here when He claims that to see Him is to see the Father.  His claims to be more than human are everywhere in the Gospels, and they make a claim to give the path, the truth, and life to us.  

Prayer:  Lord, keep me from going the wrong way, seeking falsehood or apathy instead of truth, or giving up on life instead of living my life for you and in you.