Jesus brought out another I AM claim in a different setting.
The disciples were confused and troubled this time by the impeding events coming to light.
Jesus could see their anxiety in their faces.
The anxiety were the many experiences they were having leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion.
They may have felt they didn’t know what was going to happen to them in the upcoming days.
They were losing their sense of direction.
(Pause)
When something changes in our lives
we may feel that we have become disoriented.
Where do we turn?
What if we are not on the right path?
What if the things we always believed are not that way at all/
What if?
(Pause)
The Disciple Thomas was confused by all that was going on around him.
He seemed to be the one who had the courage to speak up for the group.
Jesus wanted to set their hearts at ease.
He said to them, “Stop being troubled.”
He spoke to them with calmness and assurance.
(Pause)
Thomas spoke up and said,
“We don’t know WHERE you are going, and we don’t know THE WAY.”
Thomas was saying, “I’m totally confused. No, I DON’T KNOW the Way, I Don’t GET IT.
I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”
In this setting of confusion, anxiety, and troubled hearts, Jesus made the I AM claim.
“I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
Jesus’ reply to him was PERSONAL.
Jesus did not claim to KNOW the way.
He said, “Thomas, I AM the way.”
(Pause)
How does this speak to us today at times in our life
when we experience the same things as these troubled disciples?
When we just don’t understand?
It is THE WAY:
Thomas expressed this despair of the group by saying,
“Lord, we don’t know where you are going and how can we possibly know the way to get there?”
Do you wonder the same thing in your life,
“How am I going to get through this day at work?”
How to get through the sickness and pain they are experiencing.
(Pause)
Well You might ask, “Why were these disciples so upset when Jesus was right there with them?
It was probably the same as with us,
“They couldn’t quite trust Him totally.”
Jesus’ reply is personal in that
He didn’t just claim to KNOW the way, the truth and the life as a formula He could impart--but
He actually claimed to BE the answer to human problems.
(Pause)
Jesus’ solution is not a recipe,
it is a RELATIONSHIP with Him.
As we get to know Him better, we develop the trust we need to believe Him.
He is the WAY to the Father
because He has a knowledge of God, unmarred by human sin.
He IS the Truth because the power to make life one coherent experience in spite of its ups and downs.
He IS life because He was not subject to death but made it subject to Him.
We can trust Jesus who is the Way
not only to eternal life but who is the WAY OUT of our despair.
It is not just a belief for the future but for right now as well.
(Pause)
I have a story of a woman whose father always told her,
“If you ever get in a blizzard, follow a snow plow.”
One day she found herself in a blizzard and sure enough she spotted a snow plow and followed it.
She kept following the snow plow for quite awhile.
Finally, it stopped and the driver got out and said,
“Lady, I just got done plowing at K Mart and I’m on my way to Walmart.
You can follow me if you like.”
She was following but she wasn’t getting anywhere.
Let us not just follow “some way” that we THINK will bring us out of our problems.
(Pause)
Let’s follow the real WAY out.
THE TRUTH: Going along with His claims of being the way, He says I AM THE TRUTH. John 8:32 says, “and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
“For the law was given by Moses but GRACE AND TRUTH came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
He is the way--the Truth and the life.
Christ was “His own way for by his own blood he entered into the holy place,” (Hebrews 9:12) and He is our way, for we enter by him.
(Pause)
The disciples followed Him and He told them they followed the road
and while they continued following Him they would never be out of the way.
Jesus has made His claims.
What are we going to do with these claims?
(Pause)
Let us come to Him who is the WAY today as Thomas and the other disciples did.
Let us do this together, hand in hand supporting each other
in A Way that will show the Love and Grace
that Jesus has shown each of us and teaches us to share.