John 14:6-7
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Matthew 6:9-13
The LORD's Prayer
9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
There are many different things that make me believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life -and one thing is His inclusion of each and everyone of us...This is not an easy thing to do when we think about it...Every society has their set of outcasts...There are people in societies who look up to people, and sadly, there are people who other people look down upon...People seem to stay away from certain groups of people or stay away from some person for whatever reason...The ethnic outsider is often defined and looked down upon as a person...I am not sure how many countries in the world that include each and every single person and group as all inclusive...I do not know if there any countries who do not look down on one or more groups at all and are together completely as on united country...And for that person or that group, who is considered an outsider, it is not a good or comfortable feeling...The feeling that comes with being looked down upon is a sad one...This looking down on others, seems to get in or has gotten into man's nature over time, or maybe just be a part on our nature, or be a part of mankind, somehow -because we sin and have a sinful nature...Man looking down on others, probably happened at the time of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden...And as we think about this, there might be one or a group that we feel uncomfortable about, or maybe look a little down upon or do not want to be around...
When Jesus was here, He was the Greatest Man ever to walk the earth...And He did not look down on anyone...He included everyone in His Way...Anyone can follow Him...That is something unique about Him, and there are many unique ways about Him and in His teachings...When I think about the great men or great leaders of the world, how many really included those who just wanted to teach mankind all about the right things?...Many, if not most of history's great leaders of the past, when we think about it, were military leaders, and they always were looking to battle the next nation, or country, or people to overcome or overtake...Most of the leaders of history wanted to rule by force...They sought our outcasts and groups to defeat them...Take time to think of history's past most famous leaders and compare them to Jesus and how He became a Leader versus how these other leaders became leaders and gained fame...And look at the foundation of these different leaders, and what they stood for...Jesus was never out to overcome or overtake a person or any group of people...He told His Disciple Peter, that if we live by the sword, we will die by that very sword...No, He just wanted and wants us and everybody to follow God, and God's will...He was a Jew, but He did not look down on the Samaritan, the Canaanite, or the leper, or anyone who was poor or sick or who mourned...Women were somewhat looked down upon in His time and did not have the same rights as men...Yet, He included them in His ministry...Not one did He look down upon, even though some of the people of His country did look down upon others...Jesus blurred the lines of the ones other people labeled as an outcast...And how did He blur these lines and include each and every group in His teachings?...I often feel when reading the gospels that the outcasts in His time and society are His main followers...Yet, everyone know matter who they were or are wants to know who He is, or at least something about Him...That is the Way He is...He has this mystique about Him, to make everyone outcast or non-outcast feel comfortable around Him...Yet really, His own Personal comfort was not that important to Him, as we read His Great Sermons, of the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain...He sees comfort much different than other people do...His Sermon on the Mount and His Sermon on the Plain are very much against what we normally think...But His thoughts are not our thoughts...He sees the outcast much differently than others do...He really does not have a person who is an outcast in His mentality...Everyone is included and can be with Him, believe in Him, and follow Him...Everyone is invited to His banquet and His Kingdom...And the leaders that follow His teachings thoroughly and completely would now have to include outcasts in their ministry (and I think this would be difficult)...He never tried to be politically correct...
Why should the first be last and the last be first?...Why should the greatest be the least?...Why should the best religious leaders of His time or at least the most knowledgeable ones, be the ones (it seems to me) to be His greatest opposition?...After all, they were suppose to know more about the Bible than all the others...Yet, it seems that most of His opposition and clashes with people are with the religious leaders and the ones most familiar with the Bible and Scripture of His time...
As we read His parable of the Good Samaritan, Him helping the Canaanite woman's daughter, Him healing lepers, Him teaching and talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, we should learn from Him...He includes...We learn about diversity from Him...He was way ahead of His time in diversity with outcasts, women, ethnic groups, lepers, minorities, and others...When the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought Him a woman, who had just committed adultery, He did not go into a sermon or speech on the rights and wrongs of adultery...No, He just helped her with His wisdom...He just did not put people down, or look down on people...He LOVES everyone...He forgives everyone, who asks Him...Everyone is precious to Him...He is that Way, that Truth, and the Life for everyone...He just does not think in the terms of looking down on people and those we might consider as outcasts, on the fringe, or different...He came and dwelt with us, and taught us about God, and the Holy Spirit, and gave us His teachings of the Gospel...He teaches us how to pray and gives us His Prayer...And these things have made Him the Greatest Leader ever to live and walk the earth...He includes everyone and wants us to believe in God, the Spirit, prayer, and His teachings...