I am the truth

Follow the Way

Posted on by Betsy

Today we are going to look at the John 14 passage again and focus our attention on Thomas’ question and Jesus’ answer. I love that Thomas was bold enough to ask what everyone else in the Upper Room that night was probably thinking! My teacher friends tell me that they always appreciate that kid with all the questions. They’re the ones that get all the answers.

John 14 (Common English Bible)

 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. 4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”

     5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

     6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Thomas the Questioner was someone who probably never let a question go unspoken. He was not a doubter in my mind, but just the one who was bold enough to state his confusion. Every small group needs a Thomas! We’ve all known Thomases in our time; that child who barrages you with questions at every meal, the coworker who engages in a debate at every chance, and even the secret places in our own hearts where wondering turns into endless querying, especially in times of trouble. But we have to give Thomas his due here, because his unabashed questioning gave us one of Jesus’ best and most definitive statements of his life. To answer Thomas’ nervous claim that they didn’t know where Jesus was going or how to get there, Jesus gave this calm response “I am the way, the truth and the life” (verse 14:6a). 

Connecting these three things would have meant a great deal to the Jewish men sitting around that table. The Jews have talked about the way for centuries, connecting it to the way people must walk by understanding the ways of God. God told Moses not to walk to the right hand or the left hand, but to walk “in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you” (Deuteronomy 5:33). The Law and all of the rabbinical teachings centered around the way of God and the way people must walk. 

One of the ways that people must walk is by seeking the truth in all things; a truth that would hold up to their teachings. The Torah and the Midrash (rabbinic interpretation) must be studied in order for people of God to learn the truth. Moral truth was the goal and study was the way.

And all good Jews sought a path that led to a good life. Many of the Psalms and Proverbs expressed this desire: “He who heeds instructions is on the path to life” (Proverbs 6:23). A worthy life that was worth living was the proof of obedience.

Jesus clarified that he was the culmination of Jewish expectation, wrapped up in these three pillars of thought and offered to everyone. Jesus provides the way that gives direction to all who wander in confusion and affliction. Jesus is the truth that answers all of life’s mysteries. Jesus is the life that brings hope to those who are dead inside and don’t know how to go on.

The way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the three-in-one answer to all of life’s questions. Looking for eternal life? Follow Jesus.

The Way of Light by Michelle Robertson

Room to Spare

Posted on by Betsy

In just a few weeks, my household will expand to include four more adults, six children, two dogs, and a tortoise named Bob. I have been getting rooms ready for this onslaught of family fun, and have enjoyed turning my upstairs office into a puppy palace for grandchild #4 to sleep in. I was just a little embarrassed recently when I looked at myself in a ZOOM call with my District Superintendent and other committee members and realized that you could see puppy decor hanging from the ceiling fan. Nobody mentioned it but I’m sure they were wondering why there were corgis and lab puppies dangling over my head. I’m just trying to make room for one more!

In our passage today, Jesus told his disciples about the things yet to come.  We join them in the Upper Room on the night before the crucifixion. He had just washed his disciple’s feet and was getting them ready for his trial and crucifixion. Even with such horrors on the horizon, Jesus’ words were meant to comfort them. He had just told them that he will soon die but reminded them of his promise to return for them. He is going ahead to get things ready and assures them that there will be a reunion where they will be with him again. “Where I am, you will be, too,” he promised (verse 3b).    

John 14:1-6

 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. 4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”

     5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

     6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus’ first words about not being troubled are followed by his invitation to trust, which he said twice. Jesus knew how frightened they were. He wanted to leave them with hope as they faced the fearful situation of his departure. Regardless of what they may think heaven is like, Jesus gave them this concrete hope; heaven is wherever I am. Heaven is where God and I dwell. So do not let your hearts be troubled. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the “preparing” of this dwelling. Jesus’ promise to “come and get you” is the Second Coming. 

What a blessing it is to read this today in the Common English Bible, the assigned text for all of my Cokesbury writing assignments. The phrase “room to spare” opens up an entirely new promise for us. You may be more familiar with the phrase “My father’s mansion has many rooms,” but that imposes an image in our minds of a static house built with a set number of rooms. But “room to spare” implies an open-ended invitation to anyone who wants to come in. Like Hermione’s tent in The Goblet of Fire, God’s eternal presence will just keep expanding and adding space for everyone to fit in.      

This phrase also provides a beautiful counterpoint to Jesus’ first night on earth when there was no room to spare for him and his parents at the Inn. The majesty of an endless eternal dwelling place replaces the harsh lowliness of Jesus’ first night in a feed trough. This place with plenty of room to spare will be a function of our relationship with God, where God dwells in us and we dwell in God.

So let us be untroubled. Let us trust in God and his Son. Let us make ourselves ready for that place with room to spare. And let us be sure to invite others in, too.

Who Let the Dogs In??

Smoke and Mirrors

Posted on by Betsy

According to the CDC:

• Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes.

• Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

I am a victim of second hand smoke. My parents both smoked cigarettes when I was a child, and I have strong and unpleasant memories of a care-giver who watched me while my mother worked. She was a chain smoker. I remember riding in her car in the New Jersey winters with all the windows shut, breathing in her cigarette smoke as we ran errands in her VW bug.

I have had respiratory issues all my life. Coincidence or exposure?

It occurs to me that there are other ways of encountering second hand smoke, as in the kind of smoke that comes with mirrors, or the smoke that someone tries to “blow up your chimney.” In this context, smoke is understood as “the obscuring or embellishing of the truth of a situation with misleading or irrelevant information.”

Does this sound like the news? On any platform?

Essentially we are all victims of second hand smoke and mirrors. Nobody delivers the news any more. Nobody is telling the truth. It is all opinion, innuendo, and click-bait. Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him? The truth is obscured, misleading, and irrelevant. Today’s news can make you heart-sick. 

And it is definitely toxic.

So what is truth? Truth is that which is consistent with the mind, will, character, heart, and the very being of God. Truth is God, expressed.

Psalm 25 New International Version (NIV)

In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.

2 I trust in you;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.

God alone is our only source of truth.

God alone is our savior.

In this age of constant confusion, lies, misdirection, second hand smoke, and cracked mirrors, our only hope is for God to guide our path, teach us truth, and to show us the way.

1 Corinthians 15 The Message

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection.

But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

That’s the truth. You can stake your life on it. All the rest will all pass away. The troubles, trials, and fabrications of this world will all bow down to the truth of Christ-resurrected.

When that time comes, do you think anyone will care about today’s headlines? What is trending on TikTok? What is going viral on Facebook or YouTube?

Nope. All that will wither away in the face of truth.

So stop spending your day inhaling the toxic fumes of untruth of what is currently playing on the news. Quit logging in to the shattered mirror of social media. Turn your eyes instead upon Jesus. 

And the truth will set you free.

Smoke by Michelle Robertson

I Am the Truth

Posted on by Betsy


Today’s Scripture is a continuation of our study this week of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse,” which runs through John 16:33. Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension were imminent, and he explained the significance of the events that were about to unfold and tried to direct his disciples to the life they would soon be living without him. If the first verses of John 14 sounds familiar to you, it is because they come from one of the preferred readings in our United Methodist funeral liturgy. If you’ve been to funerals in your church, you most likely have heard this passage read.

In a very real sense, Jesus was preaching his own funeral.

John 14 (The Message)

1-4 “Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

We struggle today with finding and knowing the truth about many things. Biased news reporting, social media substituting for “truth,” bent politicians who habitually lie to keep their power … what is truth, and where can we find it? John would point us back to the only absolute truth, which happened when the Father was revealed in the Son. It is an everlasting truth, and the only truth we can count on.

The epiphany Jesus hoped to reveal in that moment was that he was the incarnate God, the Word of God made flesh, and in him all truth could be known. The word “truth” in this passage is taken from the Hebrew understanding of truth, which implies an intentional commitment and connection to God’s righteousness and the absolute guarantee of God’s promises. God’s steadfast love was fulfilled in Jesus on the cross, where the truth of God’s plan of salvation was finally revealed. Thus nobody gets to the Father without Jesus, as it took knowing the son to understand the father.

The mystery of the incarnation confused the disciples and may be confusing to us as well. We can see by Thomas and Philip’s questions that the truth of Jesus’ relationship with his father was still troublesome. John 3:16 assures us that God loved the world so much that God sent his only son. But in the moment of standing in front of this man named Jesus who had been their friend and had led them for three years, the disciples still couldn’t receive or process the truth.

So Jesus asked them simply to trust him. To trust what they could not see; to trust what they could not know; to trust what they could not understand. God-made-flesh is a beautiful mystery that requires faith and an unencumbered belief, because seeing it is not possible. Perhaps that is the best kind of epiphany: One we see with our heart, not our eyes.
Do you believe Jesus is the only way to the Father? Do you trust him with all your heart?

God’s Beauty by Michelle Robertson