Jesus Speaks

JESUS SPEAKING

            “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

            Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?”

            Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14: 1-6.)

INSPIRED THOUGHTS

            Peter has just been told he will deny Christ three times before sunrise.  Jesus has also just made his disciples aware of his impending crucifixion, which was not a plan that was pleasing to them.  Their hearts were troubled, and so he addressed what was troubling them.  He pointed them to their belief in him.  Faith was the cure for what ailed them.  He imparted hope to them; hope of a future with him after his death and resurrection.  He wanted them to know that their time apart would not be forever.  Many of us know this scripture is speaking of what is called, ‘The second coming.’  He reminded them that they knew the way to the place he was about to go to.  Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?”  Jesus responded with three statements pertaining to himself; he said I am, “the way, the truth, and the life.”  He also implies that no other religion, or philosophy, or way of life could bring them to that place.  ‘The way’ is a path, a direction, a road that leads from one place to another.  In life, there are many paths, and many roads, and each leads to a different location.  There are people who are leading others down these pathways, with promises of great rewards, but all fail to deliver what they promise, which leads to the second claim Jesus makes.  He says that he is ‘the truth.’  The truth is a characteristic of God alone.  God never lies, never fails to honor a promise, and can always be trusted.  There are many liars that seek to mislead people.  He revealed that he is the only way to get to God, making other religions and their leader’s empty deceivers.  So, either Jesus is a liar and there is another way to get to God, or he is telling the truth and every other religious leader is lying, whether willfully, or in ignorance.  He also claims to be ‘the life.’  God is life, and He is eternal, and those who follow Jesus enter in to eternal life; the promise of God is that we can be with him, where he is.  Death is the absence of God, so all other ways lead to a place where God does not exist.  There is one way to God, and one truthful guide in a sea of liars.  There is one destination where God is and where we may be with him for an eternity.

            Jesus gave an excellent illustration describing the following of false prophets and spiritual leaders; he talked about ‘the blind leading the blind.’  He said, “Can the blind lead the blind?  Will they not both fall in to a ditch?”  Blind people are completely dependent upon someone who can see to direct them and lead them safely to where it is they are going.  There are many people who claim to see, but they themselves are blinded.  The religious leaders during the time of Jesus Christ were these blind guides he was referring too.  Today, we still have blind guides who are attempting to gain followings for themselves and not Jesus Christ.

              ‘All roads do not lead to God,’ as is the proper speech in our culture today.  The message of the Lord is not one that is politically correct.  If the message was, we would not have seen the deaths of the apostles, or the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, or the persecution of the church today.  To suggest that anyone’s beliefs are not correct will bring distain and contempt.  If Jesus Christ is telling the truth, then Buddhism leads to death, as does Islam, as does scientology, as does Judaism (without Jesus Christ), as does everything that is not a belief and a faith, and a following in Him.  To follow him, is to follow God.  (When we speak the truth, it is important that we speak the truth in Love; how we say something can be the difference between someone listening to our testimony, and turning away from the Lord because of our testimony.)

            “Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You today and we ask that You lead us.  Help us to give our entire lives over to You, and to listen to You and to trust You, and to have faith in You, and Your return.  Give us that future hope daily, that we may know and follow You, and be with You for an eternity in that place where You are.  We love You Father, we praise You, and we thank You, and we ask and pray all of these things, in Jesus Christ’s name.  Amen.”  God bless all of you.