How can we trust God when life seems to turn on us? You know what I mean, I am sure. You are going through life with ease and smoothness then all of a sudden things begin to unravel. You put your head down and try harder but it does not work. As one old saying puts it, "The harder I try the behinder I get!" No one in all human history personifies those words better than Job. Scripture speaks glowingly of this good man, describing him as "blameless and upright." It says that Job "feared God." If the prosperity gospel were true, there is no one who would be more prosperous than Job. Don't take my word on Job. Listen to what scripture has to say about him: "There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1:1). It goes on to describe Job's beautiful family and holdings: "There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east" (Job 1:2-3). I can imagine that if Job had an estate it would have to be something like Downton Abbey. Yet, as we study Job's story further, he loses his health, family, and wealth in a very short time. Job knows what it is to feel as though life were turning against him. He is hurt. His wife also is hurt and angry with God. His friends, who come to comfort him, only add salt to his wounds because they just do not understand what is going on behind Job's circumstances.
Despite all this, while Job is down he determines not to measure his life in terms of holdings or even friendships. His response is that of a man of amazing faith. On one occasion, Job says, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him" (Job 13:15 ESV). On another, he says, "He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold" (Job 23:10). How can anybody say such things in response to such devastating loss? The answer is only by faith, a faith that holds onto God despite all else. That kind of faith does not come naturally to any of us. Pastors spend part of their lives on the edge of other people's tragedies and disappointments. There are times when we wonder how people can carry on after deep tragedy. Job is like that. His wife and his friends cannot relate to Job's response to the tragedies and pain he faces. He lives with a confidence that everything would come out all right in the end because his trust is not in what he has or even in those he has around him. Job's trust is in God alone. So near the close of his book we find him saying to God, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you" (Job 42:1-5).
Today's scripture stands as an immoveable rock of trust when we come to moments like those Job experienced. Whether your heart is troubled just now, there is reason to believe it will be for as Job quickly realized, "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward" (cf., Job 5:7 ESV). John puts this certainty in these words: "In the world you face persecution" (John 16:33). The plain truth is that we all should expect to face hard times.
To understand what is happening as John 14 opens, we need to go back for a moment to John 13. This is one of the great pivotal moments in the life that Jesus and his disciples shared together. Jesus and his disciples have just eaten the Passover meal together for the last time. He takes a towel and washes the disciples' feet. He has just restated something he has already told them in a variety of ways before. Now, however, his words have a ring of finality to them. Clearly the time of his departure is nearer than ever before. In fact, it sounds imminent. He tells them that he will be betrayed and that his betrayer is one among them. Equally shocking is the fact that he says the disciple the others must have surely regarded as the strongest among them will deny him when he really needs a friend! Jesus' words stun them.
The words shatter the disciples' collective confidence. All, except perhaps the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, feel devastated.
Now comes chapter 14 to remind us that when the hard times come we are to accept them as part of life and continue to live with a deep inner peace. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me" (v. 1). "Do not let" is a call for how we are to be personally engaged in facing tough times. We are not to sit by idly while our lives are under attack. We have God-given resources for every time of trouble. "Do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'... your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:31-33). "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). All these things Jesus has already taught the disciples as they walked together. So when he says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me," it is really a quick refresher course. The best way to handle life's tough times is to run to Jesus and be safe! Trust God! Trust Jesus!
Jesus tells his disciples that there is much more to life than this life: "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. (The Greek word here, monai, is translated in the Latin Vulgate as mansions, which seems to capture the word 'mansions' used in other translations.) If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (vv. 2-3). While the trials and troubles we face are part of this life, reality is that we are not home yet and the difficulties of this life cannot follow us where we are headed. This prepared mansion is ours and it is already prepared by Jesus who promises to come again and take us to where he is.
The presence of Jesus! It is all joy and pleasure. How can we know? Because God uses David the psalmist to say clearly, "You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).
Jesus then announces to the disciples, "And you know the way to the place where I am going" (v. 4). The Lord could say this because he has been speaking about the faith that leads to eternal life with God. This has been the major theme of his teaching and preaching all through his ministry. For example, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).
Still the disciples do not fully understand what he is saying, and without a clear understanding of where Jesus is going, how could they know "the way." Thomas, seeming to speak for the rest of them, raises his voice in a question: "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (v. 5). It is a request for a definite word from Jesus about their eternal destination and how they would get there.
Now, like a GPS that hones in on our whereabouts from three coordinates, Jesus makes the answer more precise: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' " (v. 6). Let's look at this verse of verses and see three things it said to them and says to us. The three concepts are simple to remember if we assign them each a word.
Salvation!
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way' " (v. 6).
The first time the term Christian (which is derived from the term "Christ Ones") was used to define the followers of Jesus Christ was in Antioch, Syria (Acts 11:26). Until that time, the more general name for Christ's followers was simply "people of the way." Saul of Tarsus, for example, planned to go to Damascus to search out "any who belonged to the Way, men or women" (Acts 9:2). The name was born out of the lifestyle of the early Christians. Their way of living -- not their words -- designated them as disciples.
A pastor friend took a trip to Ireland with his wife. At the airport in Dublin they rented a car and set out to drive to their first night's accommodations. They had not been driving long when they realized they were lost. Stopping in a village square, they asked a local: "How do we get to Ballymacswindle?" The man said, "Let me take you there." With a certain amount of trepidation, they opened the car door and allowed a stranger to sit beside them. At first the two of them were thinking about what they had done. Silently, the man and his wife each thought, "Who is this fellow? Why is he so friendly? Is this a set up?" It was not. They later reported that it was a wonderful trip. As he gave them directions, their new passenger regaled them with stories about the history and personalities in every village they encountered. When someone offers to take us to the place where we want to go, that offer goes far beyond just telling us the way. That person, in fact, becomes our companion for the journey. That is what Jesus says to his disciples and to us in these words, "I will take you to the Father."
In our postmodern world, some people -- even some church people -- say that all roads lead to heaven. Jesus disagrees! "No one comes to the Father except through me," he says. What might have happened had my pastor friend not accepted the offer of the man he asked for directions? He very possibly would have gone farther in the wrong direction. Many people think that the way to heaven comes by doing good deeds, working hard, or trying their best. That is not what the Bible says. Nowhere do we read, "Do your best and heaven is yours." Nowhere does scripture say, "A good moral life is enough."
There is only one way to heaven and it is through Jesus. I know this teaching offends some people but these are not our rules. These are God's standards. People who believe Jesus is the only way are sometimes considered narrow-minded. But do you know why this truth bugs some people? It is because Satan hates truth. The Bible calls him, "the father of lies" (John 8:44).
Sincerity!
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth' " (v. 6).
When Jesus calls himself "the truth," he means that he is the truth about God for all generations and that all knowledge begins and ends in him. That reality has not changed in 2,000 years. It will never change because truth as Jesus means it is objective truth. It is not truth that depends on public opinion polls. It is the same in darkness and light. It is true on every continent and on every planet. Objective truth is that which, when you stop believing it, does not go away. When Jesus becomes our "truth," we step up to a level of learning that will be constant for all eternity. No one can get any more certainty than that!
As God's truth, Jesus tells us three things about God: First, he tells us that people can know God personally and intimately through his Son. Second, he tells us that God cares more about us than about himself. If you ever doubt that let me remind you of that Friday afternoon at calvary when God gave up his own Son for us. Third, Jesus does not offer us yet one more religion to add to the world's list of religions. Instead, he offers us a relationship with himself.
In this one statement, Jesus Christ puts his credibility on the line as no one else in all history for either he is who he says he is or he has misled more people than all of history's cruelest tricksters combined. If Jesus is not "the truth," every great movement begun in his name is a house built on sinking sand, everyone who ever laid claim to being a disciple is a fool, and every great hymn of tribute that Christians sing to Jesus is of no more spiritual significance than, "You Ain't Nuthin' But a Hound Dog!" Without his way there is no going; without his truth, there is no knowing.
Satisfaction!
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life' " (v. 6).
When Jesus calls himself "the life," his definition of life is so large that the Greek language has a special word for it. The common Greek word for life, bios, gives us our English words biology, biological, and so on. Biological life can be measured in terms of its beginning and ending. For Christ "life," the Greek word is zoeh, means life without limits; life that is immeasurable in terms of its length and depth. We have no idea how big our lives will be until we trust him for new life.
Where is your life leading you? If you died today, where will you spend this evening? Where will you go when you die? Jesus says, "Because I live, you also will live" (John 14:19). But, where will we live forever? That is the most important question that will ever confront us.
There are just two ways to get to heaven. The first way is the Plan A way. The A stands for accomplishment. To get to heaven under this plan all you have to do is live perfectly from the moment you are born until the moment you die. That is it: Just be perfect. Never make a mistake. Never think an evil thought. Never say an evil word. Never do anything that is not completely perfect. If you can do that, you can qualify for heaven under Plan A.
My guess is that none of us qualify for Plan A. So let me tell you about the only other way to get to heaven. It is called Plan B. The B stands for Believe in Jesus. Because he knew that none of us would qualify under Plan A, God came up with Plan B. Under this plan we begin by admitting to God that we cannot qualify for Plan A. We need to believe Jesus Christ when he says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He was the only person who ever qualified for Plan A and by trusting in his perfection and establishing a relationship with him, we get in on his goodness.
Without Jesus' way, there is no going. Without his truth, there is no knowing. Without his life, there is no growing. These are life's three firm foundations. Now go out into the world to build your life with him and you will live the life abundant.
Our only hope is to trust him! That is the power of the trust factor!