On The Cusp—

John 14:6

I am the way …

Jesus sat with his disciples, giving them the most pleasant of instructions—instructions that concerned the state of the heart, though the human heart, apart from Christ, cannot be trusted. 
Jeremiah described it as “… deceitful above all things and desperately wicked …” (17:9).

But Jesus told the disciples in John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled …” He had spent the better part of three years with these men, and for some reason when He began that day to linger on going away and heaven and things prepared, Thomas just didn’t get it. He doubted and wondered and pondered and questioned: 
            “How will we get to the Father’s House?” and 
            “How on earth are we going to know the way?”

            Imagine being there yourself as Jesus arrested thoughts concerning His departure, addressing two emotions that plague us even now: doubt and fear. He dealt with Thomas’ doubts that day in the same way He deals with ours. He had already said to him, “Whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas may have been “listening to be heard,” for in the course of the conversation he questioned what Jesus had just addressed.

            Then profoundly and prophetically, Jesus declared: “I AM the way …” 
Doubts are generally dispelled by knowledge. 
Knowledge is steeped in education. 
And listening and learning are rooted in a belief system that cries out for understanding.

            These men who would soon “turn the world upside down” struggled with doubt and fear. They had followed the letter of the law with sacrifice and tradition. Now, God incarnate was in their midst talking about leaving them. They were on the cusp of knowledge, having been educated at the feet of Jesus, but their understanding was hampered by their doubts and fears. They were afraid of the future, of being alone without Jesus. That was past their understanding. But He had assured them He would not forget them, that His arm was not shortened, neither was His memory fading. He made them a promise and He would not leave them without a Comforter.

            Philip said in that same meeting, “Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us,” to which Jesus replied. “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” Not an easy concept to grasp! In verse eleven He said, understanding their fears, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the work’s sake.” And then Jesus disclosed a powerfully revealing statement in verse sixteen. “…I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” He wanted them to fully understand that, after He was gone, their doubts would be repressed and their fears dispelled, but only through knowledge and instruction from the Teacher—the instructor in righteousness—the Holy Spirit.

            In a chapter filled with “I AM’s”—the Bread of Life; the Good Shepherd; the Resurrection and the Life; the True Vine; the Door of the Sheep—there could have been no other way but the way of verse six: “I AM the way…” And in Acts 2, that word from Jesus was confirmed. “The day of Pentecost was fully come” and as He prophesied, the Comforter arrived right on time. Praise God! 

Photo of flowers by Ruth Potter. Ruth is my dear friend, a missionary, a true follower of Christ, and a lovely creature of His. She purchased the flowers, arranged them, and took the photos for my first book signing at Atlanta Bread in Cherrydale Point, Greenville, SC.

Jane B. Gaddy, Ph.D.