Christ healing a broken world.

It has been one of those seasons. A couple of really hard weeks. You know… the kind that makes you just wonder how so much can be happening at once. The kind of weeks that make your heart ache for lots of reasons. The kind of weeks that make you weary and tired. Then I read this…. 

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” 

(John 14:5-6)

Here is Jesus Christ, fully divine but nevertheless totally human, anticipating the most horrible kind of experience, yet completely unconcerned at this point about His own experience, and wholly absorbed in the needs of His eleven friends. Surely already feeling the weight of the awful load of sin that He was about to bear, realising that He was about to taste the bitter cup of death for sinners, He nevertheless took a primary interest in the sorrow and the fears of His apostles. As John wrote in 13:1, “ Having loved His own… He loved them to the end.”

If there is a single central message in Jesus’ words, it is that the basis of comfort is simple, trusting faith. 

If you are discontent, worried, anxious, bewildered, perplexed, confused, agitated, or otherwise in need of comfort, the reason is that you don’t trust Him like you should. If you really trust Christ, what do you have to worry about??? The reason the disciples were so stirred up is that they had begun to focus on their problems, and they didn’t seem to be able to put their trust in Christ. So in these verses He reminds them of the importance of trusting Him. 

After all the question must have come to all minds … Jesus is the way. To what? That is the question, the deep question, is it not??

Jesus is the way to life. Full life. Abundant life. Real life. Eternal life. Jesus is the way that is set against the way of death. 

In recent weeks, especially with lent upon us, I have not heard too much from the ‘contemporary Christians” who do not like all the talk of din and repentance and damnation. I don’t like to talk of such things either. And I think they are right in an important way. Christianity is not primarily about sin and guilt. No, Christianity is primarily about life. It is about being the creatures we were created to be. It about the eternal life of God breaking into the dying world. 

But the catch is this. The way is narrow. It is hedged in on every side with temptations. - So Sunday reading illustrated with Jesus three temptations in the desert. When I take a moment to pause and look around death stalks us to the left and to the right. If we would not lose our way, we must keep our eyes on Christ. We must crucify the parts of us that would stray off the path. We must turn around (depend) and come back to the narrow way when we stray. (sin) 

So, reality is as a practical matter, we none the less end up talking quite a bit about the things off the path. If you are building a boat through shallow water and can see a lot of rocks, you are going to talk a lot about the rocks. Be careful of that one on the left. Watch out, a big one on the right. Turn quick, one right in front…. At different points in the journey, perhaps, you have opportunities for different levels of alertness. When the water is smooth take time to enjoy the scenes, while at other times when its most hazardous, just learn how to paddle without tipping over…. The point of the journey is not the rocks, but it is hard to get into the open water if you don’t pay attention to them. 

Jesus is the way. The open waters of God’s kingdom is the goal. The shoals and rocks of sin and death would sink our little boat if we do not help each other navigate through the waters of this world.

In these verses I was given today I believe what Jesus was actually saying is, “You believe in God, even through you can’t see HIm. You also believe in Me. Keep believing. Your faith in Me must not be diminished just because you will not see Me. I will still be present with you. “ 

We live with conflict, disappointment, and pain. We all experience hours of deep tragedy and times of severe trail, but He is with us. Whatever your trouble, whatever mess you are in, whatever anxiety or perplexity you have, just remember, the Lord Himself is there. in a way, it is better than if He were visible, because He is not hindered by the limitations of a physical body. He can be wherever we need Him. While He was here on earth, He could be in only one place at a time. Now He is available to all believers everywhere!!