Consider Jesus! He is THE WAY!
Good Morning!! It is wonderful to be reminded to Consider Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior! Think on HIM! Ponder WHO HE is! Recall what He has done! We are going to be challenged again today to THINK CAREFULLY, to FIX OUR THOUGHTS ON, and CONSIDER JESUS! This will be a simple encouragement for you this morning, but one in which I pray you will take to heart.
In John chapter 14, starting in verse 1 Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me! There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for You? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will ALWAYS be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” “NO, we DON’T know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have NO Idea where you are going, so HOW can we know THE WAY?”
A story popped into my head as I was reading this the other day. I remembered my dad telling me about a time when he and my grandpa were traveling together in a different state. They were stuck in a very busy part of a large city, trying desperately to find out how to get to their destination. After following the wrong roads, getting lost and turned around many times, they finally pulled over and my dad did the unthinkable. He asked someone for directions!! He found an older gentleman walking down the street and my dad asked if he was from that area. The man said yes, so my father explained where they were trying to go, and asked how they could get there. The man just shook his head quite adamantly and said, “You Can NOT get there from here!” My dad was perplexed and asked again, repeating the destination and telling him that they only needed to know the directions to this area. Again, the man shook his head firmly and repeated himself, saying, “You Can NOT get there from here!” This conversation went on for another round or so before my dad was completely frustrated and gave up talking with this gentleman. He returned to the car, and when he entered, my grandfather asked where the man had told them to go. My dad just shook his head and said, “Dad, you’re not going to believe this, but that man just kept telling me, ‘You can NOT get there from here.” Now my southern accented grandpa, being a very literal man, had his stern face on, put the car in gear, and said, “OH, YOU CAN TOO!!” And began to drive even more determined to uncover the Way!
I know how upsetting it is when you are lost or stuck and cannot find your way to your destination. I believe the disciples may have felt a little like this when Jesus was talking to them. You here the frustration in Thomas when he says, “We have NO Idea WHERE you’re going, so HOW can know the WAY?” These men wanted to be WITH Jesus forever, but they had no Idea where He was going, so how could they possibly know the Way to get there. Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for them so they could be with Him ALWAYS. He has offered US that same promise! He is preparing to take us to be with HIM forever! Jesus declared that God SO loved this world that He gave His ONLY Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him shall Not Perish, but have Eternal LIFE! He promised over and over again that He came to bring Eternal, Abundant life, WITH HIM! Now, He’s saying, “I’m leaving, but don’t worry, its okay, because you KNOW the WAY!” We might be in the same place as the disciples today when we think about eternity. We might be blurting out, “Wait a Minute! I DON’T KNOW THE WAY!” We might feel skeptical about life after death or even firm in shaking our heads and saying, “You can NOT get there from here…so don’t even try!” You might feel sure of your own self and say, “Oh You can TOO!” And set out, determined, to find YOUR OWN WAY! I want to share with you, however, the TRUTH of how Jesus answered His disciples. He said in verse 6, “I AM THE WAY!!! NO ONE can come to the Father EXCEPT through ME!” In essence, He tells Thomas, “Yes, you DO KNOW the WAY! You KNOW ME!!” JESUS is THE WAY!! There is NO OTHER Way to relationship with God, to reconciliation with God, to Abundant Life with God, or to Eternal Life with God, than through Jesus Christ! The word used here for “Way” means, “A natural path, a road, the mode or means.” Jesus is the road, the path, the mode, and the means to Relationship and Eternity with God Almighty! There simply is NO other way! Some people get very offended at this thought, thinking this WAY is far too narrow! Jesus agrees the road is narrow! In fact, it is ONE person wide…Jesus wide! He tells us in Matthew chapter 7, “Wide is the gate and Broad is the road that leads to destruction, and Many will enter through THAT! But small is the gate, and Narrow is the road that leads to Life, and Few will find it!” The Road is ONE person wide and that person is JESUS CHRIST! He is the road! What is Amazing is that He is able to lead the whole world through that gate, down that road and into eternity IF they choose to follow HIM, but not many will make that choice! Many, He says, will make the choice of the widely used, easy and comfortable road made by their own choices! I want to challenge us that Instead of complaining about the fact that there is only ONE Way, let’s Rejoice and Celebrate that there IS A WAY!!! Before and without Christ there is NO WAY!! IN terms of right relationship and eternity with God it is Only when you are without Christ that you could truly say, “You can NOT get there from Here!” Those of us who choose Him can BOLDLY say, “OH You Can TOO!! And I’ll Show you the WAY!” There is an old song my mom used to sing to me. It says this, “Jesus is the Answer for the world today. Above Him there’s NO OTHER, JESUS IS THE WAY!” Whatever your question, Jesus is the Answer! If you’re looking for eternity, Jesus is THE WAY!
“And there is Salvation in NO ONE else, for there is NO OTHER Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved!”
Scripture to meditate on: John 14:1-7, Matt. 7:13-15, Acts 4:12, 1 Tim. 2:5, John 3:36
