Text: “I am the way and the truth and
the life. No-one comes to the Father
except through me” John 14.6
After his defeat at Culloden in 1746, Bonnie Prince Charlie's
hopes of regaining the throne were dashed. His only chance of safety seemed to be in saying
farewell to all his plans, escaping to
Charles, now hiding in a hut on the seashore, sent a message to
the old Laird of Clanranald to ask for help. And he in turn, asked Flora
Macdonald, because of her connections to do what she could in this desparate
situation. Showing great initiative, Flora Macdonald went to Hugh Macdonald,
commander of a troop of fusiliers, and asked for a letter from him to allow for
three people to visit the
There is a departure here in John’s Gospel, but one which is entirely different.
There is, it seems, no pressing danger, and at this moment, nothing seems to have failed. Yet, after washing the feet of the disciples in those unforgettable moments in the Upper Room, Jesus tells the disciples that He is leaving. Jesus, we are told, says to the disciples
‘I will be with you only a little longer, and where I am going you
cannot come…..
the silence which envelopes the disciples, is broken and Peter says,
Lord where are you going ? ….
Where I am going, says Jesus, you
cannot follow now, but you will follow later…..
What Jesus says to the
disciples, there in the Upper Room, is cryptic, mysterious, he speaks of a
departure, His departure. Then again,
Jesus speaks: I am going 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,
so that where I am, you also may be………
When we read John 14, we find that after the disciples have heard these words,
a conversation begins… with Jesus. Thomas and then Philip begin to ask questions.
Thomas is the first: – Lord,
he says, we don’t know where you are going,
so how can we know the way….
Jesus says: I am the way…….I am the way, says Jesus, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me
You might remember that there are 7 wonderful sayings of Jesus in John’s Gospel, known as the I am sayings…….. each of them reveals something to us of who Jesus is, His relationship to us, our fellowship with Him.
Jesus says, here, I am the way.
I am the way, says Jesus… What does He mean ?
Well, for the blind man who could not see, Jesus was the way into the light of the world around, a touch of Jesus hand opened his eyes and flooded his life with light. For the woman at the well, the gracious words of Jesus were the way into the living, cleansing waters of new life. For Lazarus, Jesus was the way from death to life, from the darkness of the tomb to the light of day……….
But there is something new revealed here,
when Jesus says I am the way………….
and it is this:
that Jesus is the way, the way to the Father
I am the way…. says Jesus, no
one comes to the Father but by me.
What is newly revealed here,
is that Jesus is the way, the way to the Father
What does this mean ?
Well, in many different words the gospel of John declares this:
that the Father has sent Jesus into the world. This is made quite clear in the opening chapters of John’s gospel. It is from the Father that Jesus has come.
And, furthermore,
All along there was a reason, a purpose, why the Father sent Jesus into the World.
Why did the Father send Jesus, His Son into the world ?
It was to open up a way for us into the Father’s presence
And all along this has been the Father’s purpose in sending Jesus into
the World,
It was to open up a way for us into the Father’s presence
this is why Jesus says
No one comes to the Father but by me………….
Jesus came to open up a way for us into the Father’s presence
does that mean the way was closed ? barred ? gone ?
Well, yes, that is the declaration of the whole New Testament….
Because we are sinful men and women……….
we cannot simply enter into the presence of the Holy God,
come into the Father’s Holy presence. The relationship between ourselves and the living God has been broken.
But through Jesus Christ, and this is the glorious good news of the gospel,
through Jesus we now can come into Father’s presence, because of all that Jesus has done
What has Jesus done ?
Well, first, He has come into the world, as a human being like you and me,
lived our human life. How could He do that – when we know all the faults, the failings, the sin that is in us ? Well, that is the wonder of all that He has done, He has come into the world, and taken up this same human life, this human body, and mind and soul with all its sin, and rejection of God. And this is what He has done - Jesus has straightened human life out, from our side.
He has restored human life, and restored the way back to God.
Made a new life for us.
And, what about the old life, all the faults, the failings, the sin that is in us ?
What of that ?
Well, He has taken our old self, our old human nature, our old life with its burden of sin and guilt, to death on the Cross.
The old model, the old way of human life is outdated, and surpassed.
Risen from the dead, Jesus now offers us the new life.
What life is that ? His own, the new life He has shaped – the new creation as Paul calls it. Life lived in the light of the Father’s love………. life lived in loving trust in the Father.
In the life which Jesus gives us, there is victory over all that is against us,
in all our difficulties, sorrows, challenges, there is victory, as Jesus says, over the world.
As an old-time preacher once said: There are many locks in my house and all with different keys, but there is one master-key which opens them all. Whoever walks in fellowship with Jesus possesses the master-key which will open all the richest gifts: in Jesus, the well beloved we can come to the Father, and receive from Him every blessing
And not only this, but there are blessings beyond this life itself:
if you read the words of Jesus in the opening verses of John 14,
this is what He says….
I am going 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 with me where I am…..
This is the radiant truth…….. this is the word of the One who is the Way …
as we walk on the way with Jesus, not only do we have the blessings He gives us now, on the way, but at the end of this way He has made everything ready for us…. and His promise is that we will be with Him, where He is………
His promise is that we will find in Him, our harbour, our home .
And you, Jesus says to all of us,
you know the Way.
AMEN.