I don’t know if you have ever come across the T.V. programme, ‘Would I Lie to You?’. It is a very funny programme when each team has to convince the other team that what they are saying is true. It is often an incredibly unbelievable story that is true. I decided to try this out once in a primary school. I got two children to try and convince each other that something was true. The first was that the sky is green and the grass is blue. This discussion went quite well, but none of the children were convinced that the sky is green and grass is blue. I was enjoying this, so I tried another one. It was that Walt Disney was a real man or that I was a Disney Princess. This went really well. I was told I was as pretty as a Disney princess and I could dance just like one. I am pleased to say that none of the children asked me to dance to prove this.
There are times when the most ridiculous things can seem true. The things we didn’t expect to be true are.
In our readings today we have heard about the real truth. It is a truth that we are happy to know about.
In our gospel reading (John 14:1-14) we were told of Jesus saying that He was the way, the truth and the life. This is part of a set of readings where we read of Jesus claiming to be lots of things. For example, in the passage before this Jesus refers to Himself as the gate or doorway for the sheep. This meant that, like a shepherd, He protected and guided His sheep. That is us.
Today we are reminded that Jesus is the way. He is God and, if we ever want to know what God is like, all we need to do is to look at Jesus. He is our way, He protects us, He guides us and He shows us the way to be more like Him and to see what He, God, is like.
Jesus said that He was the truth. Jesus is truth, He is everything we need to know about life. Jesus taught us about Himself, He shows us the way to the Father and He teaches us how to love.
Jesus had shown that He was the truth and He continues to do this. The life of Jesus was something that Stephen, who our reading from the book of Acts was all about (7:55–60), was determined to tell and show others. Stephen had found the way, the truth and the life and, in Jesus, he knew that he was living well as he followed not only what was real, but also the one who was real.
Stephen was challenged to turn his back on Jesus but he refused. Jesus was good news and he wanted people to know this news. I always think that it is amazing that Saul, who became the apostle Paul, was watching all this and supporting the people stoning Stephen. Some of the same people that Saul supported would later be seeking to persecute him.
Anyway, back to Stephen, when he was being stoned he was still concerned to tell people that Jesus was so real that Stephen could even see him waiting to receive him.
Stephen, at the darkest moment, saw Jesus waiting for him.
Jesus was waiting for him as He promised the disciples He would be waiting for them and as He promises us. This is the promise that means we do not need to have troubled hearts about the future. Jesus has prepared a room for us in heaven. We will have worries but, ultimately, we live with a promise that comes from the one who doesn’t just speak truth but is actually truth.
Jesus is our way and He is life. That life isn’t just for after we die physically, it is life for now as well, knowing Jesus our way, our truth and our life. This is what we believe.
This is all so true but there is pain and suffering going on around the world. All we can do is know that when we pray for the world God hears us. When we turn to Him knowing His love and His life then we know that He hears us and He weeps over the pain in the world.
Jesus brings and gives life and that life is not for people to be suffering. God loves us all and He doesn’t want to see anyone left out or feeling unloved. This is the truth.
In our reading from 1 Peter (2:1–10) we heard of the love and care of God for those who were suffering.
The reading from 1 Peter is to those whose belief in Jesus as the way, the truth and the life had put them outside of society. They were people who had been thrown out of the temple. They were people who were told that they were nothing.
Yet, in this letter, they were being reminded that because of God, whilst they may have felt that they were nothing, they were in fact something. They were the people of God, loved by God, they were special, they were chosen, they were a royal priesthood. Basically everything good that they could be was all in the love of God, whose love was boundless.
This is the way, this is the truth, this is life. That we will know God as we seek to share His love with others. As we reach out in love. Not talking maliciously about people behind their backs, not spreading gossip, but spreading the truth that Jesus loves us. He is our way, our truth, our life, our everything. Without God we are nothing, with God we have everything, we are in the right place.
This doesn’t literally mean that life is perfect but it does mean that we can have faith that Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, God, loves us and He wants us to share that love with others. May we be ready and excited to share the good news that Jesus, the way, the truth and the life, is for everyone. We have good news, and we just need to make sure that we spread that good news. As we become more like Jesus, may we also tell others about the difference He makes in our lives. AMEN
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