Sometimes Jesus says things so “new” they leave his followers completely confused. Some ideas, even if they are no longer new to us, leave people in disbelief. One such topic is heaven. Another is that Jesus is God. In John 14, Jesus speaks to both topics as he prepares his disciples for his death and resurrection.
Going through the story, he again tells his disciples at the Last Supper about his mission to go to the cross. “Where I am going you cannot come.” They are confused. They don’t know what he is talking about so they ask him, “Where are you going? Why can’t we follow you?”
Jesus, looking ahead to what he is about to accomplish, tells them he is going to his Father’s house to prepare a place for his followers. And then this promise, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
This is the heart of God! God’s desire for intimacy and togetherness, for oneness is at the heart of the gospel. He wants to be with us, but sin is keeping us apart. His desire is that we experience his presence in heaven free from sin – “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” It is a promise of not only new eternal life, but one of such a different character than anything we have ever experienced because there is no sin, death, or pain. This “I am” statement is about how we get there.
“And you know the way to where I am going.”, he continues. To which Thomas expresses what they were probably all thinking, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” or in other words, “Huh!?! I don’t get it!”
But here comes the hard part…he part that makes Jesus so controversial even today. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
“Great!” his disciples say, just show us the Father and it will enough.
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
So, there it is: Jesus directly claims to be God. It is this truth about Jesus we must grapple with because it is the basis of his authority. If he is not God then what does it matter if he said “No one comes to the Father except through me.”. If he is not God, we can reject that as “narrow” or “unfair”. If he IS God though…if he IS God, we had better pay attention.
I cannot help but think of this quote of C.S. Lewis regarding this dilemma:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
So, let’s assume for arguments sake that we accept that Jesus is God. It is in coming at this “I am” statement with that point of view that this controversial statement begins to make sense. Remember, this all began with him telling his disciples that he is going to die on the cross and go to heaven and prepare a place for them there. He is the way to heaven. He is telling the truth. He is the life as demonstrated by his miracles and ultimately his own resurrection.
Why can no one come to the Father except through him? Because he IS the Father. It is God himself taking on our sin on the cross and defeating death with his own resurrection. This is no culture war. He died for all people in all cultures. He was not trying to argue philosophies and traditions. His point was that the way to God is knowing him! It is based in true relationship with the Father and knowing his character and purpose in Jesus. He is merciful. He is humble. He is just and righteous and holy. It is the cross which marries God’s holiness and need to deal with sin with his mercy and grace to do what we can not do on our own.
And let’s not forget why! That glimpse of heaven! God’s plan to reunite with us in that place where the former things have passed away and there is no more pain or sin. How can we have heaven if we take our own junk there? It would just be an eternal life of what it is like on earth. That’s not heaven! Then there are many people who want to believe that there is an open door for all people, everywhere, at all times, no matter how they live or what they believe. Wouldn’t that be easy? It would require nothing from us. Not faith. Not obedience. Not sacrifice. Not even knowing God.
Instead we are given a choice. It is the choice of rejecting Jesus as God or accepting his divinity and his claim to be “the way, the truth, and the life.” While the choice is ours, I believe Jesus is calling each of us to him. He loves us each individually and uniquely and is ready to rush to our side if we would have him with us. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” The door is open, but the door is Jesus.
danasdevotions.net 