Imago Gospels - 52 - Hippo Crossing

John 14 - Signs

Signs in South Africa were quite different from what we have here in the US. Yes, there were the usual signs of speed limits, stop signs, and so forth. But there were also some that were quite unique such as the one pictured here - Hippo Crossing. This was the only one that we saw in our travels and we missed getting a picture of it initially but were very glad to get to see it coming back that same route a few days later. We also saw signs for Goat Crossing, warning signs about Baboons, Kudu Crossing, and so forth.

This morning, I read that very well known passage in John 14 where Jesus is speaking to his disciples at the Last Supper and he says that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and I thought about signs. I thought about signs such as the ones in South Africa that we saw that really caught our eye. We definitely kept our eyes open for hippos and goats and kudus when we saw those signs (although we clearly forgot some of the warnings about baboons). Jesus acts as those signs for us - he points us to the way we are to live just as signs point us to the directions we are looking to head. Jesus is the truth as he reveals to us the honest reality of who we are and what we are called to be and do in this world. Jesus is the life as he wants to give us life abundant here and in the life to come - just as signs along the road are there to help us get from one place to the next alive.

Yes the analogies may be a bit stretched, but that’s ok because there is no possible way to capture all of what this line in John 14 truly means but I am thankful for the insight this morning that I heard as I read this passage and thought back to our blessed experience in Africa this summer.