I am lucky enough to be part of a generation that still used a Melway. A Melway is a detailed map of the entire city of Melbourne where I live. It is as heavy as a telephone book, and it is the gift you give every 18 year old who gets their license. My children will never know the joy of getting somewhere using a Melway. They will simply ask “satnav” where to go. Many a Melway has been precariously perched on the laps of drivers as they try to navigate the streets of our state, all the while hoping it doesn’t accidentally drop from their knees unto the pedals. Until GPS systems took over, the Melway was the main method by which people navigated. It was absolutely essential to own a Melway if you wanted to find your way. Much like a Melway, in our passage Jesus helps us navigate the spiritual road. Let’s have a look.
Scripture: John 8:21-30 (ESV)
So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
In some ways, this passage feels a bit dark. Jesus has just been explaining how he is the “light of the world”, illuminating our spiritual darkness. But now he says, “I am going way and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” That seems pretty bleak. But Jesus is in fact shining the light that he has just claimed to be, onto their spiritual state. He has highlighted the fact that we are all hopelessly lost without spiritual GPS or Melway.
The thing is, the Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking, thought they knew the path to God. They thought that as long as they lived good lives, obeying the Torah and all the extra rules that had been added to it, that they would be holy enough for God. They were so sure of the path they were on that they couldn’t recognise their own lostness.
It’s like that classic situation where a husband is clearly lost, driving around in circles, and his wife gently suggests, “Why don’t we just ask for directions?”. But, of course, the husband insists, “I know exactly where I’m going!”. The Pharisees were a bit like that, except they didn’t know where they were going. They actually ended up rejecting the path back to God through Jesus and so Jesus confronts them: “…you will seek me, and you will die in your sin”.
Jesus is shining his light on their spiritual darkness. Later in John Jesus will point out that not only is he the light that shines of their spiritual darkness, he is actually also the way back to the Father. Jesus has come to earth not just to shine a light on our darkness, but to make a way for us to reconnect with God.
He will do so on the cross, something Jesus alludes to here in our text when he says “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he”. To be lifted up is a direct reference to the cross, the very way in which Jesus makes a path for us to get back to God. The question for us is, will we follow that path? Will we walk on the road Jesus sets out before us? Our passage shows us that as Jesus was speaking, “many believed in him”. That is how you walk on the way he makes.
Will you walk it today?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I recognise that I am completely lost without you. Thank you that you have helped me see it with your light, and have made a way for me to be saved. Please strengthen my faith every day to trust in you and not my own works. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge
Today, think of an area of your life where you’ve been trying to find your own way. Ask Jesus to help you see his way instead.