John 14:6 I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This is one of Jesus’ most famous but also contentious sayings. Some have been outraged over the centuries that he dared to say this because possibly they thought there were other ways to reach God. Some say all religions lead to God, but Christians would argue that whilst there is a similar central truth in all the great religions, they can lead their followers to the foot of the mountain; only Jesus can take the faithful to the mountaintop.
Jesus made his astonishing claim to his disciples on the day before he was crucified, it seems like he was trying to cram as much information into them as he could before his final death, but the disciples did not know what to make of it.
Philip said Lord show us the Father and we will be satisfied. To which Jesus gave quite a complicated reply, but the response contained a particular golden nugget of divine guidance; Jesus said;
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do… John 14:12 NRSV
Jesus provided us with a template of the perfect way of living through his works and the way he conducted himself during his life on earth.
Today, no doubt as was the same in the time of Jesus, people live with fear, dread, and negativity. Our minds can endlessly ruminate about past events or what the future might hold. Jesus was not like this, though, his mind was always in the present, and he had a stillness about him that underpinned his spiritual strength.
I cannot think of one instance where the bible tells us Jesus was really fed up with something that had been said or done to him. Although he could express righteous indignation, he actually asked his father to forgive those who crucified him – he said they didn’t know what they were doing.
Perhaps this is how we, too, should live our lives out by carrying on the works Jesus asks of us. He asked us to live in a quite different way to the accepted norms of those times, and probably these times too. However, this way of living stills the mind allowing peace to enter our souls as a result of our love for Him.
The Sermon on the Mount provides a wonderful manual of how we can become more like Jesus. You can read the whole sermon here, but below are a few examples from, possibly, the greatest sermon ever delivered in which Jesus unpacks how to become more like him.
Rejoice: Matthew 5:11–12
Let Your Light Shine: Matthew 5:16
Be Righteous: Matthew 5:20
Keep Your Word: Matthew 5:37
Turn the Other Cheek: Matthew 5:39
Go the Extra Mile: Matthew 5:40-42
Love Your Enemies; Matthew 5:44
Pray: Matthew 6:5-8
Forgive: Matthew 6:14-15
Store up Treasures in Heaven: Matthew 6:19-24
Don’t Worry: Matthew 6:28
Seek His Kingdom First: Matthew 6:33
Don’t Judge: Matthew 7:1-2
Don’t Cast Pearls before Swine: Matthew 7:6
Ask, Seek and Knock: Matthew 7:7-8
Live the Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12
The more we practice becoming like Jesus, the more the Holy Spirit is able to work within us. Then we begin to not only be a witness of Christ to the world, but also true peace and contentment can begin to take hold within us, and day-to-day concerns lose their hold upon us.
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