Jesus thought that he was offering words of comfort to his frightened
\ndisciples when he reminded them, \u201cyou know the way where I am going.\u201d \u201cThe
\nway? The way?\u201d We can almost hear the panic in the voice of Thomas
\nwhen he responds to this declaration. \u201cWe do not know where you
\nare going; how can we know the way?\u201d Like Thomas, we need to know
\nthe way, yet are afraid that we do not.<\/p>\n
My youngest son will be going away to college in the fall. As an important
\npart of the numerous preparations, we have been studying the map to calculate
\nthe best route between his new college and our home. Part of my concern
\nis that, as my baby, he knows how to get back home, both literally and
\nfiguratively. But it is also a geographical puzzle. Because of a mountain
\nrange, the Appalachians, one cannot go directly from his college in Cincinnati,
\nOhio back to Washington, D. C. Therefore, one is forced to either drive
\nnorth and then south, or south and then north. But I love figuring out
\nthe most advantageous way to go.<\/p>\n
While I may have trouble telling my left from my right, finding my way
\naround unfamiliar places is a gift that I have been given. I love looking
\nat maps and figuring out how to get somewhere. It is almost as though,
\nonce I look at the map, it becomes a part of my brain. I love to find
\nthe zig-zag short cuts that will save me time or get me out of a traffic
\nback-up. I may have the gift, but I still need the map. Without a map
\nI am lost.<\/p>\n
We have maps to tell us how to get around the city of Washington. We
\nhave maps that tell us how to drive from Paris to Amsterdam. We have
\nmaps that tell us how to sail around the southern tip of South America.
\nMany people do not even need to depend on paper maps anymore. My father
\nhas a \u201cGPS\u201d that tells him his longitude, latitude and elevation.
\nHe takes it everywhere. But, do we have maps that tell us how to find
\nour way to the Kingdom of God?<\/p>\n
Jesus came to show us the way. He is our guide, our map, our global
\npositioning device.<\/p>\n
Words to Comfort<\/strong><\/p>\n From the moment they answered the call to \u201cfollow me,\u201d the The fourteenth chapter of John\u2019s gospel is part of a much longer The Farewell Discourse reiterates the lessons Jesus had been teaching While most of the Farewell Discourse is a monologue, there are three The Only Way?<\/strong><\/p>\n Many find Jesus\u2019 declaration that he is the way to be both comforting Given the world in which we live, a world of instant communication and John is very clear who Jesus is and the importance of Jesus for all In her article on John in The New Interpreter\u2019s Bible (Nashville: Many Christians read the passage literally. They understand Jesus to O\u2019Day argues that, by understanding the contextual nature of the The People of the Way<\/strong><\/p>\n Before we were called Christians, we were called the \u201cPeople of Isn\u2019t it ironic that the only times we get lost, the only time But the God who calls is also the God who leads. As the children of It is the way of justice and love. Jesus lived the way of lifting up As the terrible events of the passion unfolded and the disciples witnessed Love me, follow me<\/strong><\/p>\n The way that we follow is not one that can be found on a map. It has
\ndisciples found themselves on an amazing journey. They saw things that
\nthey had never seen before: blind men given their sight, dead little
\ngirls brought back to life, thousands of people fed with a few loaves
\nof bread and two small fish. They went places they never would have gone,
\nand spoke with people to whom they would never have spoken – tax collectors,
\nSamaritan women, and lepers. But, all along the way, Jesus had led the
\nway. They knew, and Jesus knew, that they could not do it without him.
\nNow, as he sat with them, Jesus knew that, shortly, he would be leaving
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\nsection, 14:1 – 16:33, known as the \u201cFarewell Discourse.\u201d Seated
\nat table, after sharing the Passover meal and washing the feet of his
\ndisciples, Jesus offers words of comfort and encouragement. John\u2019s
\nJesus is calm and in charge every step of the way, from his baptism in
\nthe river Jordan to his last words on the cross. John\u2019s Jesus does
\nnot cry out in agony, \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me.\u201d (Mark
\n15:34) No, after taking care of his mother, and declaring he is thirsty,
\nonly to fulfill the scriptures, he declares, with confidence, \u201cIt
\nis finished.\u201d He had done all that he was supposed to do, and now
\nit was time to return to the father. But before he did that, he needed
\nto assure his friends and followers that he was not abandoning them and
\nwould return to help them complete their journey to the Kingdom.<\/p>\n
\nhis disciples during their journeys together. Jesus, once again, tells
\nthem who he is. He is the way, the truth, the life, the vine. He reminds
\nthem who they are, the branches of that vine. He reminds them what they
\nare to be doing. \u201cHe who believes in me will also do the works
\nthat I do.\u201d And, he assures them that they will be able to do great
\nworks because they will not be doing them alone, \u201cI will pray the
\nFather, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever.\u201d This
\nis truly the good news.<\/p>\n
\npoints at which the disciples break in. First, when Jesus tells them
\nthat they know the way to where he is going, Thomas anxiously breaks
\nin to tell Jesus that they don\u2019t know the way. Next, when Jesus
\nreminds them that, if they have seen him, they have seen the Father.
\nThis time it is Philip who interrupts Jesus to ask, once more, that
\nJesus show them the Father. Finally, Judas (not Iscariot) wonders how
\nJesus \u201cwill manifest [himself] to us [the disciples], and not
\nto the world.) . After years with Jesus, they still don\u2019t get
\nit. They don\u2019t see or understand who it is that is speaking to
\nthem. They still aren\u2019t able to find their way without him<\/p>\n
\nand challenging. These words comfort us because they do provide us with
\na road map to the Kingdom. I will say more about that shortly. But, before
\nI do, I think that it is important to touch upon a challenge presented
\nby the various ways that these words can be interpreted and their ecumenical
\nand interreligious implications.<\/p>\n
\ninteraction with individuals of other lands and other faiths, this is
\nan extremely important question. Perhaps your city or town is like Washington?
\nPeople of every faith now populate each neighborhood. In fact, if you
\nwere to join me on a drive out New Hampshire Avenue in the suburbs of
\nWashington, we would pass Roman Catholic, Russian and Greek Orthodox,
\nand Protestant churches of every stripe. But we would also pass a Thai
\nBuddhist temple, and a Moslem mosque, and many Jewish synagogues. Deciding
\non how one is to relate to and interact with people of other faiths is
\nenormously important for people and churches. Do we work with them or
\nignore them? Do we respect them or seek to convert them?<\/p>\n
\nof creation. His gospel does not begin with the birth of a child in Bethlehem.
\nHis gospel begins at the beginning, the very beginning of the world.
\nEchoing Genesis, he declares, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and
\nthe Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . And the Word became
\nflesh and dwelt among us.\u201d (1:1, 14). The Word of God that dwelt
\namong us was Jesus and, as John declares later in what one scholar argues
\nis the center of Johannine theology, \u201cNo one comes to the Father,
\nbut by me.\u201d (14:6) In and through Jesus, how we meet God and how
\nwe know God have forever changed.<\/p>\n
\nAbingdon Press, 1995), Gail O\u2019Day notes how these words have been
\nused as \u201ca weapon with which to bludgeon one\u2019s opponents
\ninto theological submission,\u201d and rightfully asks, \u201cHow is
\na contemporary Christian to interpret this central claim?\u201d (743)
\nWe live in a world that is very different from first century Jewish Christians.
\nMust we, O\u2019Day asks, interpret John\u2019s proclamation as \u201cproof
\npositive that Christians have the corner on God and that people of any
\nand all other faiths are condemned?\u201d (743) Do John\u2019s words
\nmean the same to us as they did to the community for whom he wrote?<\/p>\n
\nmean that he, and by extension the Christian faith, is the one and only
\nlegitimate religious expression. Others have come to understand that,
\nwhile Jesus is the way for them, he is not the only way. They reject
\nJohn\u2019s approach. There are other ways, they claim, to come to God.
\nSo, taking a pluralistic approach, they honor many other religions as
\nequally valid paths to God. Is there a middle ground between affirmation
\nor rejection?<\/p>\n
\nmessage, we are able to understand that the writer of the Fourth Gospel
\nwas not seeking to promote Christian exclusivity. He was not, she writes,
\nconcerned about the \u201csuperiority or inferiority\u201d of Christianity.
\n(745) Rather, she argues, he was seeking to affirm who they were as the
\nfollowers of Christ. They were, we are, the people who believe that,
\nthrough Jesus, we come to know God. Jesus is our way.<\/p>\n
\nthe Way.\u201d What does it mean to follow the way? It means to answer
\nthe same call that was issued to the disciples, it mean to \u201cfollow
\nme,\u201d to follow Jesus.<\/p>\n
\nwe need maps or directions, are those times that we leave the known and
\nfamiliar? Yet ours is a God who is continually calling us to new places,
\nnew lives. Abraham was called out of his home, \u201cGo from your country
\nand your kindred and your father\u2019s house to the land that I will
\nshow you.\u201d (Genesis 12:1) The children of Israel were led out of
\nbondage in Egypt toward the promised land. We are the descendants of
\nsojourners and pilgrims, always wandering and often lost. We answer the
\ncall to follow without even knowing where we are going.<\/p>\n
\nIsrael wandered in the wilderness, they were led by a pillar of cloud
\nby day, and a pillar of fire by night. And we are led by the Word made
\nflesh, the light that shines in the darkness of our world. We are led
\nby the one who came to show us the way by living the way.<\/p>\n
\nthose who had fallen, healing those broken in body and spirit, touching
\nthose cast out. We find the way to the kingdom by walking that way. We
\nlive the way when we do the works that Jesus did. Jesus is calling us
\nto step out of the known and familiar and into the path of righteousness
\nand peace.<\/p>\n
\nthe death of their teacher and friend, they thought that they had lost
\ntheir way. Who would lead them? Who would guide and direct them? How
\nwould they have the strength to live the new life? Alone, they could
\ndo nothing, but \u201cWhat is impossible with men is possible with God.\u201d (Luke
\n18:27) They were not alone. The Spirit, the Counselor, the Advocate sent
\nfrom God would lead them and leads us today to lead us in the way.<\/p>\n
\nno geographical coordinates, no mileage markings or speed limits. We
\nhave been called to follow in the way of love. God\u2019s way is a way
\nof relationship and companionship. It is a way that leads us into the
\nlives of our neighbors, friends and enemies alike. And Jesus declares
\nthat, if we love God and love our neighbor as our self, if we trust in
\nthe one who is the way and the truth and the life, then we too will find
\nourselves welcomed into that place that he has prepared for us.<\/p>\n
\n