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I Am the Way: Reflections on John 14: 1-14

May 15, 2011 by Alyce McKenzie

Continued from Page 1

Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs is often described as "the Way" (derek in Hebrew, Prov. 4:11). The word suggests an action of treading or trampling and calls to mind a path worn by constant use. The implication is that wisdom involves patterns of behavior, not just isolated acts. The purpose of this "way" is the formation of an interior disposition (2:1ff, 10; (3:1, 3, 5; 4:4, 21, 23; 6:21; 7:3). This path is viewed as a gift of the guiding presence of God (McKenzie*, Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self Help Society,* 21).

Jesus himself is a gift from the very heart of God whose teachings guide us and whose Presence sustains and challenges us. We continue, throughout our lives, to ask and ask again the basic questions of "Am I on the right track in life?" and "How can I know God in my life?" The answer Jesus gives is both simple and profound: "I am the Way." We grow into the answer as we live out the months and years of our lives, first wading in it and then swimming. Every time we return to these basic questions, it can be with deepened faith since the last time we asked them.

Sometimes maybe we need Jesus to chide us—to tell us we are not making the progress in the faith that we could be. Jesus' chiding, corrective style in this passage serves a purpose in shaping our discipleship. He is reminding his disciples then and now of what, in the recesses of our spirit, we already know to be true, but continually allow to slip away when we come face to face with sorrow and adversity.

Jesus is saying to his disciples then and now, "Come on, now. You know this. I've taught you this. We've been through this before, you and I. Hold onto this promise. It won't let you down now: 'I am the Way.' In me you see God. In me you meet and will meet God. My teachings will guide your feet. My presence will sustain your spirit. In all the twists and turns your future path may take, 'I am the Way.'"

In the Q-and-A session with the disciples (13:36-14:8) that precedes his extended discourse (14:9-16:28), Jesus asks several questions to challenge us, offers several promises we can count on, and a couple of commands rooted in those promises. Try this exercise as you read them, preferably aloud. After each question, promise, and command, add the phrase "I am the Way."

Questions to Challenge Us
"Will you lay down your life for me?" (13:38) I am the Way.

"If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (14:2) I am the Way.

"Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?" (14:9) I am the Way.

"How can you say, show us the Father?" (14:9) I am the Way.

"Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?" (14:10) I am the Way.

Promises We Can Count On:
"In my Father's house are many dwelling places" (14:2). I am the Way.

"I go to prepare a place for you" (14:3). I am the Way.

"I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (14:3). I am the Way.

"If you know me, you will know my Father also" (14:7). I am the Way.

"From now on you do know him and have seen him" (14:7). I am the Way.

"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9). I am the Way.

"The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works" (14:10). I am the Way.

"The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these" (14:12). I am the Way.

"I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (14:13). I am the Way.

Commands Rooted in These Promises
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me" (14:10). I am the Way.

"Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (14:11). I am the Way.

Making Our Way
There is a legend that goes like this. Judas, after he had betrayed Jesus, found himself at the bottom of a deep abyss. He lay there for a couple of centuries and then slowly began to stir and sit up. Looking up, he saw a faint light at the surface, miles above. He began to climb. Sometimes he would slip and fall back and spend a century or so regaining lost ground. Sometimes he rested. But he kept climbing. As he climbed the light seemed to grow stronger, to glow more brightly. It seemed to energize him and to call to him. He kept climbing, his limbs gaining strength the closer he came to the light. After a couple of millennia, he reached the top, his hands and body scraped and fatigued from the climb. He struggled to find a place to rest his hands to hold up the weight of his body as he hauled himself up through the opening at the top of the abyss. When he did, his muscles shaking with the effort, he found himself in an Upper Room where a young rabbi was having supper with his friends. The young rabbi turned and greeted Judas, his face glowing with pleasure, "Judas, welcome home! We have been waiting for you. We could not continue the supper without you!"

Jesus is the way for those who dwell in an abyss of misery and futility. Jesus is the way for disciples going through the motions. Jesus is the way for new disciples who fear their questions are too basic.

How can we know the way to God?

How can we see God?

Sources Consulted
Robert Kysar, The Fourth Evangelist and His Gospel: An Examination of Contemporary Scholarship (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1975).

Alyce M. McKenzie, Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self Help Society (Abingdon Press, 2002). For background on Jesus' "I am" sayings, see pages 204-207.

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5/15/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About Alyce McKenzie

Alyce M. McKenzie is the George W. and Nell Ayers Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University.

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