Troubled

John 14:1-7

You can understand Thomas’ confusion, and appreciate his honesty. Jesus has just told them they can’t go where he is going (John 13:33). They can’t, of course, follow in the path he is about to take, but he assures them he is going to prepare a place for them. He will come back and take them there. Still, “How can we know the way?” is a real good question.

Besides, I suspect that “Do not let your hearts be troubled” doesn’t capture the compassion with which Jesus would have said it. Consider how “troubled” the disciples must have been. I mean, they left everything to follow him, and now he’s quite willing to spiral on down into a very ugly death. What will become of them? It’s no wonder they made no sense of all this until after the resurrection.

How can someone be “the way” (the connection to God), “the truth” (what is reliable in a world of lies and deception) and the “life” (a matter of relationship with the divine rather than physical life alone) when it appears he will be judged and executed as a low-life criminal? It just doesn’t add up. And the way, the truth, the life? The definite article already makes the claim that all hope rests in him.

The only answer that makes sense of any of this comes immediately in the text: in really knowing him. You can debate around these things endlessly, but the only answer that will ever make any enduring sense is in getting to know him. I know, that presupposes a certain outcome to any debate about his reality, the authenticity of this Scripture, etc. But as for me, I find most compelling what real people, including me, have actually experienced: This Jesus does touch troubled hearts. This Jesus does overcome things that seem insurmountable. To know him is to know the Father. He will come back. He does indeed have a place for you and me. And it’s really, really big.

Prayer:
Jesus, help me just to know you better, through intimate knowledge of your words and actions in Scripture, through my prayer life, through fellowship with other believers, through facing the needs in hearts and in the world that distress you, through the hope you bring in making all things new, and through a church that is truly alive. Amen.