Jn 14:6 - Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Way The Truth The Life
I loved getting my Bible degree in college – from my first introductory classes to the finale senior seminars that were way over my head, I loved it all! My studies married my love of scripture with my fascination history and culture. There is just one problem I’ve found with having a Bible degree: people think I know all the answers!
Let me reveal a little secret about studying the Bible academically – I, and every classmate around me, left Bible college with more questions than we came in with. This phenomenon genuinely surprised and scared some of my fellow Bible majors. “I thought I’d understand more of the whys after school,” a friend said to me once. “If anything, I’m farther from it than closer.” Whatever it is, we all have an it we are seeking, those elusive answers that we think will answer all our questions.
Our passage today lays out a foundational truth of our faith yet is a fundamental many people today cannot get their heads around. And here’s the rub: it’s an it!
Thomas, Jesus’ disciple, asks him this question; “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus is talking about his fast-approaching departure and Thomas’ question seems fairly simple – if you’re not with us, how can we follow you? In classic Jesus-fashion, he bypasses Thomas’ questions for the bigger question. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The only way to God is through me. Simple, clear, concise. Let’s break down these three words: way, truth, and life.
Literally, “way” refers to a traveler’s road, a path marked and walked by previous travelers. Metaphorically, you may have been instructed to view “way” as a certain course of conduct; “Do the Christian life this way like Jesus did.”
Truth is a tricky word because many people don’t think there are definitive certainties that apply to all people. But that is exactly what this word applies to Jesus. Jesus is stating that any information pertaining to God and humans cannot be accurate without Jesus as its filter.
And life (my favorite word of the three) is a built-in superlative. Just like we say King of Kings and Lord of Lords to describe the ultimate King and Lord, this is the life that is truly life.
My question to ask us today has nothing to do with these three words. You and I will spend a lifetime and an eternity afterward to breakdown and understand Jesus as way, truth, and life. The word I’m concerned with for us today is the. How are you doing putting the before way, truth, and life?
To believe Jesus is a way, a truth, and a life is incredibly different than the way, the truth, and the life. To believe Jesus as the only source to God is asking us to plant a flag in the ground, declaring to all that this is what we believe. This is why so many people struggle with Jesus – there is no wiggle room for excess beliefs.
Whether your flag is planted in concrete or there currently is some wobble, today are you are you confident placing the before way, truth, and life? If you’re not quite there, that’s ok! No shame; be honest and ask why. If you’re certain, praise God! I may not have all the answers after Bible college, but I do know that Jesus is my hope for transformation. When the questions stack up, have hope because Jesus is our hope.
John 11
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
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A God Who Weeps
This story resonates with me to the core of my being. For those of you that know me, you know that I have a brother that I’ve prayed to have healing for for many years. But I think this resonates for a deeper reason. I think I desperately long to know that God cares. When I don’t see him moving, it's easy to believe that he doesn’t care. That he’s not compassionate enough to be moved by my pain. It’s funny because since I was little that is what was spoken over me, that I am compassionate. That’s a part of how God chose to have me bear his image. That’s his goodness in me. And that same thing is what I deeply desire to see in God. My favorite stories in the gospels are ones where Jesus puts God’s reckless, relentless love on display to save people. But as I type this, I realize that the very existence of compassion in me proves that God is a compassionate God. And I remember scripture that says “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17). Indeed, we love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). A reflection question for you: what do you most desire to see in God and are those the same traits that he gave you? What keeps you from petitioning persistently like the widow in Luke 18? (for me, it’s doubting that he cares)
Verse 3: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” There’s something to praying to God about God. Praying according to his promises. Moses did it in Exodus 32 when he interceded on behalf of the Israelites who had turned to idols. I can get into trouble when I start to believe I love people more than God does. The sisters were remembering that God loves their brother, he has a plan, and that this is not the way it is supposed to be, when they said this to him.
Verse 4: Jesus very firmly said, “...it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” about Lazarus’s sickness. My honest reaction to this is, “ok, suffering brings you glory in the end, but at the expense of pain... very real pain.” I hate to admit it, but that is my gut reaction thought. This is my dialogue through honestly questioning his goodness. I am not typing this to get your answers, because no one will ever be able to answer this question. But I am being this vulnerable to be able to share what my friend shared with me when I voiced this. Maybe that’s why he wept. Because he knew it was the only way and it would inevitably bring pain. And later on, he wept to the point of bleeding in the garden. He felt it physically. Compassion comes from the Greek word splagchnizomai which means “to be moved in the inward parts especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys.” Jesus has that kind of compassion. When I realize this incredible emotion he has for us, I can begin to trust that in the end, he is good.
Verse 5: “Now he loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus... so he stayed.” At first I wonder why he stayed if he loved them. But then I realize it must’ve been hard for him to stay. As a recovering enabler this also resonates with me. When I enable my loved ones it gives me relief. But God isn’t codependent with us. He doesn’t help us immediately at the expense of our permanent growth. It’s significant that Jesus waited because some at that time believed there was only hope of resurrection before the three day mark. After that, it was believed that the spirit left the body. Jesus had a long term plan. For them to know his power and his glory first hand. So they would have a saving faith. So that others would know too.
The next thing that sticks out to me is verses 6-8. I wonder if the disciples thought that Jesus was staying because of the very real threat of being attacked. They questioned why he was going, but they didn’t question why he stayed. I wonder how often I think I know what God is doing or how often I miss that he’s doing anything altogether. I think his answer about walking in the light points to the fact that they were missing the point. They weren’t seeing with kingdom vision.
I love that Martha asks such an honest question. In verse 21, she says “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Martha is lamenting. Some would brush these honest, doubt-filled questions off as bad. But lamenting is good. Job did it. David did it. It serves the function of bringing us closer to God. If we don’t ask the questions, how can he respond to them? A dear friend of mine recently gave me a book called “The Louder Song.” In it, the author very candidly speaks about her journey through lament. There are biblical examples of the richness it can bring to your relationship with God. Besides, whether you choose to air those questions or not, they are still there. Plus, God can certainly handle them, our doubt doesn’t threaten his sovereignty. I believe scripture shows time and time again that he wants meaningful exchange with us. Not just transactions. He asked the man “what do you want me to do for you?” in Luke 18:41. He wants to converse and be in relationship with the man. This passage brings up real, hard questions for me in walking through addiction and mental illness with my loved ones. My first reaction is to hide and ignore them. I think there’s the temptation to not face them because a gaping hole could be left if I open those questions up to God and they’re not answered. But this year, I would like to be more honest about them.
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” I heard a pastor say recently, when we lament we are actually displaying our faith. We are, in effect, saying “God you are powerful enough to fix this, so why don’t you?” When we lament, he will eventually turn our prayers into praises. Our hearts naturally become more and more oriented towards him. This is the greatest prayer that we can pray for anyone. Not that they would be sober, not that they would be able to hold down a job or be healed of physical ailments, but that they would truly know God. That they’d have a peace that surpasses all understanding and be freed from the circumstances of life, because no matter what, nothing can take away their salvation.
Back to compassion. Verse 35: “Jesus wept.” It's comforting to know that he doesn’t peace out when things get heavy with grief (we all know those people or maybe we’ve been a person who hasn’t been able to sit with emotions). He’s IN IT with us. He has a stake in the game. What pains us pains him. To the point of tears. This is the shortest verse in the bible and I think the briefness of words adds to the beauty. He is simply compassionate. There’s no doubt about it. Nothing to question.
From this verse, we can see that weeping doesn’t always equal lack of faith. Weeping can be a very human, justified response to a fallen world. After all, Jesus himself grieved, but he did not ever lack faith. In the Jewish calendar there is a day set apart for mourning called Tisha B’Av. In “The louder Song” the author asks the question, what would happen if lament became a regular spiritual discipline in our churches? She says “Lament is crucial if we want to build relational bridges with the gospel- if we want to authentically display and declare God’s love to a hurting world... I wonder if many who’ve been ignored or hurt by the church would come home. I wonder if our own suffering would not be quite so unbearably lonely” (pg. 139) Let’s make space for our own and for others’ grieving.
A God who weeps. That is a God that I can admit my shortcomings and sin to. That is a father that I truly want to submit to. That is who I trust to cleanse me of my sin and make me new.
Happy lent. I pray it brings a new awareness of God’s compassion and an openness to your own lament.