Sermon Devotional: I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life
Sermon Title: I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life
Scripture: John 14:1-8 (NIV)“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4
In today’s scripture, we read of a lot of going and coming. Jesus tells us that he is going and that he is coming again. Later in the chapter, we learn that the Father will be sending the Spirit of truth. God the Spirit is coming! To the weary and frightened disciples, these last days of Jesus’ life on earth were full of important and seemingly incomprehensible teaching. Jesus tells the disciples that “You know the way to the place where I am going” (14:4). Thomas is confused and his query is also our own. “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’” (14:5). We ask: “What is the way to the Father?” “Jesus, where are you going?” “Where are we going?” “How do we get there?”
Jesus believes that we already know the way.
Thomas a Kempis, the fourteenth century theologian, reflected on Jesus’ words in John 14 and rewrote them in his own.
“Follow thou Me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou must follow; the truth thou must believe; the life for which thou must hope. I am the inviolable way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated.” The Imitation of Christ
Ann Voskamp wrote, “[Jesus] is not a sign pointing to true things; He is the Truth. He is not just one way; He is the Way. He is not just life-giving; He is Life.” Loved to Life
Jesus is the WAY.
Jesus is the TRUTH.
Jesus is the LIFE.
Jesus is the TRUE WAY of LIFE.
Jesus is the WAY of TRUE LIFE.
True Life here and now, true life lived abundantly. Life not measured by comfort, possessions, or power. But abundant life experienced every day on the WAY with the One TRUE Son of God who came to give his people His own LIFE.
When we enter through Jesus-the-Door, we discover the long path of faith. Jesus is the way of the journey. Jesus is the companion on the journey by God the Spirit. And Jesus is the destination of the journey. Jesus is the truth-telling Prophet who reveals the Father. Jesus is the one true Priest who sacrificed himself, the Lamb of Life, for the sins of the world. And Jesus is the eternal, righteous, ruling King of heaven and earth. Jesus, who is Prophet, Priest, and King, is the way, the truth, and the life! There is no other.
Consider—
╬ Jesus is the Way of True Life.
Why do we stubbornly believe that our own WAY is preferable to the way of Jesus? Why does it sometimes seem more fun or more appealing than what Jesus offers?
Is it really? Is there a way of life that is falsely claiming to be true? What is it for you? How will you resist its wooing deception?
╬ Jesus is the True Way of Life.
What would it cost you to embark even more fully upon the path that is the True Way of Life?
╬ Jesus, you are the Way of True Life. In life and in death, enable us to seek you and receive all that is true. Because you are the True Way of Life, keep us from all the ways that are imposters to life. In your name we pray. Amen.