Adam and Eve made choices. Choices which led them, and all who would come after them, to exile and judgment. But they weren't abandoned, God came to them, covered their shame, and gave them hope of rescue.

In today's reading, Jesus says these words to His disciples who were about to embark on an exile of their own. Their teacher was leaving them; the embodiment of their hopes would soon be gone. Confusion, loss, and fear throttled their minds. Jesus knew they were afraid and bewildered. Instead of giving them absolutes, a timeline, or roadmap, He simply offered them Himself.

He isn't dismissive of their disorientation, oh no, He redirects it. Like many Christians today, they confused reality with their own perception of it. They were thinking two dimensionally trying to figure out where He was going and how they could get there. Many do the same today, thinking heaven is some place on the other side of the known cosmos, but Jesus gives us a clear indication this is not really the case.

There wasn't some mysterious destination to visit with an even more mysterious way ... He is the way ... HE is the destination. When I was a boy my mom would sing a song at church that said "where Jesus is will be heaven for me." Heaven is being with HIM ... and the only way to get there is through HIM. Start to finish, the story is always about HIM.

The disciples wanted to know what was coming; Jesus wanted them to trust Him. Today, as you and I are in our own respective seasons of exile, it is natural to want to know what's coming next, to wonder "what IS the way?" But through this passage, Jesus whispers into our souls, "I am the way ... I AM the destination ... trust me."

True, He is preparing a place for us, one we will physically occupy one day in the New Jeruselum, but the core truth He wanted them to know was He is also with us now! The only way out of exile is through it, and remember, exile was relational before it was geographical.

Even in the church we lift up our eyes so often to say things like "Why me? Why now? Why this?  Which way?" and more. All the while He beckons us to simply recognize that He is the way ... and He's always been the way. He wants us to trust, especially when the path is unclear.

Where are you tempted to demand clarity instead of trust? What would it look like to follow Jesus in faith-filled abandon rather than waiting for all the answers first?

Father, help me to trust You when the path is clear and even more when it isn't. Teach me to walk with you, to remember you are my hope. Amen.