"Lucas:
Joe, I think it's gonna be okay.
Joe: What makes you think that?
Lucas: Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.
Joe: What makes you think that?
Lucas: Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.
-Empire Records,
the movie.
John 14:9, “Jesus
said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you
still do not know me?'...”
This is a small
verse sandwiched in the middle of a rather lengthy discussion between
Jesus and His disciples where He is giving encouragement and
discusses upcoming changes but does so in hidden terms. His
disciples, not catching on to the hidden terminology, are asking
questions and so there is some back and forth.
Two particular
statements are rather startling, Jesus is leaving and He is offering
encouragement about what He will be doing so that they all understand
that there's a plan behind all this.
“I go to prepare a
place...”-vs. 2-3 and “in my Father's house are many dwelling
places”, so Jesus is going to go back into the carpentry business
that He learned (but with better tools) and maybe Joseph, his adopted
dad, will help him out since he taught him the trade. Jesus is going
to build some new apartment complexes and spiral staircases and other
cool things in “His Father's house”. So He's going to be busy
for awhile.
Thomas is confused,
however, about all this talk and asks Jesus specifically where He is
going, so they can continue to follow Him, Thomas is not ready for
any transitions, changes or anything different. He wants things to
stay the same and He is unsure what all this means…
The first startling
statement is Jesus' response, which is both confusing and reassuring,
here's the conversation from vs. 5 summarized…
vs. 5, Thomas:
“Lord, we don't know where you are going, how can we know the way?”
vs. 6, Jesus:
“Thomas, I am the Way”…
What a brilliant yet
enigmatic response.
Jesus has given him
the answer and he has given us the answer...when we get lost, when we
have difficult questions with no easy answers. When quoting a Bible
verse doesn't help, when our medicine cabinet has no options for us
and we can't afford or understand yoga we can be sure that Jesus'
answer is still true….I am the way.
But even more true
than this is Jesus' rebuke to Thomas because it is a rebuke to us as
well, it is the second startling statement:
“Have I been with
you all this time...and you still do not know me?”
You can insert that
response into a lot of complaints you have, concerns, issues, hot
button issues that are sensitive and difficult to answer...insert
this statement and drive on from there.
But that's not an
answer you might say...ah...but it is and often times, complex
questions, difficult issues, cannot be answered with a yes or no, a
quote or a simple step by step procedure. It is often a nuanced,
purposefully vague, answer that will make you think….how does this
fit? That's the answer you are looking for.
John 14:31b,
“...Rise, let us be on our way”
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