A short thought today on our Gospel Lesson in John 14:1-11: Our Lord Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.”
We always miss out on the real power of being a Christian when we fall into the temptation of reducing the faith to mere rule keeping. The reduction of Christianity to a set of precepts or intellectual and philosophical thoughts robs the faith of its intended power to transform us.
When the reality is our Christian faith isn’t about following a philosophical idea as much as it is entering into a relationship with a Person.
When the Lord’s disciples asked Him in today’s Gospel Lesson about where He was going and how were they suppose to follow Him if they didn’t know where He was going, The Lord responded above forever calling everyone who would follow Him to understand that it isn’t the destination so much as the Person that is the key to a full and complete life in Christ.
Jesus is the destination. Jesus is the goal. Jesus is the Way. It is only in embracing this central truth that I will ever escape the prideful notion of “just give me the map. I’ll find it myself.” No, we are called to embrace such a mimicking of the Person of Jesus that we become by grace what He is by nature.
And the Church has been doing this for 20 centuries. Within this new community that bears His name we have all the spiritual resources we will ever need to follow The Way.
