Friday, February 5, 2016

Is Jesus a tollbooth?

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

 Most people today (including evangelical Christians) would interpret this verse as saying that Jesus is the gateway to God.  It's as if Jesus is sitting in some sort of tollbooth that everyone must get past in order to get into "heaven".  

But Jesus is saying that he is much more than that and that the destination is much more than some place we might call "heaven".  The destination is a Person, the Father.  So Jesus is describing a relationship.  The "way" has something to do with how we should act, our lifestyle or ethical standards.  But we do these things because it's how we get to know our Father.  In a relationship, we try to do things that put us in a better position to know the other person, like re-arranging our calendar to spend time together.  The behaviors themselves have importance only as a way to get to know the other.

The "truth" means that Jesus knows us inside and out.  It also has to do with Jesus' reliability, that he is "true".  And it has to do with our being completely transparent with Jesus, just as he is with us.  In a relationship, being open and honest is the way to deepening the relationship.  We don't want to just know facts about the other person, we want to know her/him intimately.  

The "life" means that knowing Jesus motivates me, he moves me.  He is such a good and beautiful person that I will do whatever it takes to know him more because it is such an enriching and enjoyable experience.  When I engage in a favorite hobby, I become more intense, more energized.  When I talk about that thing I become more animated.  How much more so when I am with a person that I love or when I am talking about someone I find to be good and beautiful.  And having a relationship with Jesus and thus with the Father is even more so because he already loves me more than I could imagine (Rom 5:8).

I John 2:12-14 offers us 3 stages of spiritual maturity.  Children are concerned with what they "ought to do".  Young adults are cognitively developed enough to be able to understand truth.  Elders are those who know God deeply and have a depth of life that is beyond simply being moral or knowledgeable.  The physical powers of an elder may be waning but if s/he has connected with the source of all life, s/he will have a sparkle in their eyes and a zest for life that will find its fullest expression when they are living unfettered in the age to come, the Kingdom of God that will someday break through and transform this currently corrupted world. 

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