For centuries, the apostles and their Jewish ancestors had been praying to God in the psalms “Teach me your way, O Lord” and here Jesus was saying, “I am the way.” They like their ancestors had been imploring God in their daily and weekly prayers, “Teach me your decrees” that “I may walk in your truth,” and here Jesus was saying, “I am the Truth.” They had been begging God in times of difficulty and oppression, “Show me the path of life,” and here Jesus was claiming, “I am the Life.”
In this profound declaration, Jesus declared to the apostles to be the answer to their deepest and most insistent prayers.
But these desires and prayers were not exclusively Jewish, of course. They point to the deepest religious desires and needs of every human soul.
I’d like to focus today on that first pronouncement, where Jesus says, “I am the Way.” He is the answer to our desire to be rescued from being lost. Probably every single one of us has had the experience of being lost. I used to wander off and get lost in big department stores all the time as a kid, and the front desk would have to page my mother: “Would Charmaine Estabrook please come to the front desk. Your child is lost.”
We hate getting lost. Many of us carry around sophisticated Global Positioning Devices and satellite-connected maps with us wherever we go at this point. Being lost can be terrifying. It’s destabilizing. Many people avoid traveling because being in strange places with strange people is unsettling.
Sometimes we even reach points in our life where we feel lost in an existential sense. The loss of a job, the death of a spouse, a financial blunder or setback, leads us to question, “what do I do now?” Seniors in high school often feel lost amidst choices about their future: do I go to college, to get a job, do I join military service, or volunteer with the peace corp, or do some missionary work. They stand lost at a crossroads.
Sometimes we feel lost when faced with an ethical or moral decision: what is the right thing to do? This question is at the heart of so many of our decisions. What is the right thing to do? What is the right thing to do to be happy. What is the right thing to extend my health. What is the right thing to do with my money, with my time?
For thousands of years, in nearly every culture, we’ve seen humans asking this question regarding their ultimate destination. If I want to live forever, if I want to enjoy the best possible afterlife, if I want to avoid eternal punishment, if I want to live in a way in which I can rejoin my ancestors? What is the way to the best possible outcome of my existence?
And as Christians, we believe we have the answer to that question. Jesus is The Way. What is the best way to live. Look at Him, follow Him, listen to Him, learn from Him. What is the way to endure your trials: Jesus Christ. What is the way to live forever and be happy in eternity? Jesus Christ.
Now, many people don’t believe this simple truth. They think they can be happy without him. But let’s be honest, there are a lot of people, who are settling for so much less than what they are capable of, and what God wants for them. And they are exhausted, unhappy, and unfulfilled because of their lack of faith.
Christians proudly profess that we should not settle for anything less than the best way—the only way: Jesus Christ. We are lost without Him. And if you meet someone who has dismissed Jesus, or who downplays the importance of following Jesus. They are lost. They are wandering in darkness. They are settling for less. And they are likely deluded in the belief that they are okay without Jesus. They don’t need him, not really.
Why do people choose not to follow Jesus? His Way is not always easy, it’s certainly not popular. It’s a blow to one’s ego to admit you need God. Americans especially, we like to pretend we are so self-reliant, that we can build a life on our own. We don’t need anyone telling us how to live, thank you very much. God, we wrongly believe is an affront to our freedom.
But we know that not every use of our human freedom leads to happiness, not every avenue leads to human flourishing. Just like at the data. Look on the nightly news or the cleveland west side police blotter. Look at what happens when God is replaced with drugs, with promiscuity, with the pursuit of internet celebrity. A life centered on the false gods of the world will always result in exhaustion and unhappiness. But when we seek to follow Jesus in all the multiple facets of our lives, we become grounded in reality because He is the author of reality, we become grounded in Truth because he is the truth, we walk along the way of righteousness because He IS righteousness itself.
St. Thomas Aquinas writes, “If you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way. If you are looking for a goal, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the truth, where we desire to be…If you are looking for a resting place, hold fast to Christ, because he himself is the life. Therefore hold fast to Christ if you wish to be safe. You will not be able to go astray, because he is the way. He who remains with him does not wander in trackless places; he is on the right way. Moreover he cannot be deceived, because he is the truth, and he teaches every truth. And he says: For this I was born and for this I have come, to bear witness to the truth. Nor can he be disturbed, because he is both life and the giver of life. For he says: I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly”
During the easter season, Christians seek to follow Jesus more deeply, with more seriousness, conviction, and courage. And when we do Jesus becomes evident in our lives--in our speech, works, prayer life, gentleness, joy, and charity. May we follow Jesus The Way with all of our minds and hearts, and draw others along with us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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