Is Jesus the Christ?

Where is Jesus going? How can they follow him if he leaves them? Why does he have to leave? The disciples have been with him three years. They thought they knew where they were headed. Now he is talking about leaving them. How will they go on if their leader leaves? Abandonment is what it feels like.

“Trust me,” Jesus says. “Trust God… I’m going ahead to get ready for you. I’ve shown you the way. Now come along.” John 14:1-4 paraphrased. They are confused. They don’t remember going over any maps. They don’t know where he is going, so how can they get there?

Then come the verses that plague this generation. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7 Is Jesus the only Way? What is Truth? Is Jesus really the only Truth? What about other religions? Isn’t each person entitled to his own faith and his own religion. Why are Christians so exclusive?

These verses force us to answer the question, “Is Jesus the Christ?” Is he who he says he is or is he a good person with a lot of good ideas – a prophet? How can we know? And if the disciples who broke bread with and touched the man Jesus are struggling here, how are we who only experience him as Spirit and read about him in the Bible supposed to get through this one? Chanting, “I believe,” and “I think I can,” are not going to cut it here. I need to know that I know that I know that Jesus is the Christ if I am going to be a Christian – a follower of him.

“Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.’” John 14:8-11 If you can’t take my word for it, at least believe what you see! What have the disciples been seeing for the last three years? They saw water turned to wine, they saw thousands being fed on just a few small loaves of bread and a couple of fish, they saw lame walk, they saw blind receive their sight, they saw lepers healed, they saw forgiveness and restoration among people who were outcasts of society, they saw storms subside and winds die down. Jesus is telling them, “If you can’t grasp that I am indeed God with you, can you at least grasp that in my presence people find sustenance, love and healing?”

Jesus’ purpose in coming was to establish that God loves us and that he is the source of healing and goodness. Yet, how many people, because they can’t get over the hurdle that Jesus is the Christ, walk away from that healing and miss out on the goodness of the loving relationship with God that he wants for us to have? Why is it so hard to believe that Jesus is the Christ?

Maybe it is because if Jesus is the Christ, then I am not my own Christ. If Jesus is the Christ, I must become subservient to him – his will trumps mine. I like to be in control of my life and I like to make all the decisions concerning me. I like to know that I have a job and know where my next meal is coming from and know how much money I will have saved up for retirement. I like to choose which people I will associate with. I want things the way I want them. I can plan and take care of myself!

If Jesus is the Christ and I become his servant, what will happen to me? Will I have to give away everything I have? Will I have to move someplace I’d rather not live? Will I have to look stupid to my friends because I’m not saving for retirement? Or worse yet, will I become like some who call themselves Christians who spew hatred toward others who don’t think like them? After all, I pride myself in my open mind and acceptance of others. I don’t want to become close-minded and hateful.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14 That doesn’t sound like anything that I fear. If I will be doing what Jesus has been doing, I will be bringing healing to others around me. I will be showing love and acceptance to those others have rejected. I will be spending time with the Father and letting him by my mentor. I will have confidence that the Father loves me and I will love him. Maybe he will ask me to go without a meal sometime so that others may eat. Maybe he will ask me to spend time with someone who doesn’t smell good or who isn’t much fun to be around so that they will understand for the first time in their lives what it means to be loved. He may ask me to be his hands as he reaches out to touch the lives of others. He may even ask me to give my life so others may live.

But even as he asks the hard things of me, he also promises that, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 That must have been so comforting for the disciples. They loved this Jesus they had been hanging out with and to be able to be with him again was all they wanted. That is what I want to – to be able to go to the One I love, to the One who loves me and feel all the goodness, peace, joy and comfort that comes with being with the One whom I love – my Jesus, my Lord.