The Way, The Truth and The Life
Since April 26th we have unpacked some powerful… know Jesus better truths, that are intended to both anchor and shape our lives…
MGCC - Jesus is…
• The Word become flesh
• Mighty God, Immanuel
• The Good Shepherd
• The Prince of peace
• The Lamb of God
• The Head of the body,
• The Bridegroom of the bride,
• The Vine of the branches and
• The Cornerstone of the building
AND – this morning we will unpack the 3 titles for Jesus that just burst with power from John 14:6…
MGCC – Jesus is… The Way, the Truth and the Life
Prayer
NOW - I think a lot of us know and have heard John 14:6 before...
AND LISTEN – what I want to do, as we begin our deep dive into Jesus being the Way, the Truth and the Life...
IS – to try to put those words into their context, LIKE…
• Why does Jesus say these words?
• Who is saying these them to?
• Where is He when He says them? And…
• What is going on when He says them.
OKAY…
SO - it’s Thursday night and Jesus is in an upper room preparing to celebrate the Passover with His guys, with His disciples……
A memorial meal that Jesus has been celebrating for ~ 30 years.
QUESTION – have you ever wondered what it was like for Jesus as a teenager to celebrate this meal every year knowing that one day, He would be the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed…
OR – what it was like for Jesus to walk down the road to Jerusalem and men hanging from a cross crucified?
BUT TONIGHT - He is celebrating the meal with His disciples
NOW – during the last 3 years they had shared many meals together… IN FACT - hundreds of them.
HOWEVER - this would be the last… their last Supper together, before He went to the cross.
AND UNDERSTAND – as they sat in that room I am pretty certain that the mood was sober, anxious and uncertain.
I MEAN – the emotions are so high in that upper room, and not just in the hearts of the disciples, but also with Jesus who says them in John 12:27 (after once again predicting His death)…
“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. – John 12:27
UNDERSTAND - the last few days had been full of such powerful emotions…
• Entering Jerusalem to the shouts and Praises of thousands, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…”
• Mary anointing Jesus feet with expensive perfume and Jesus saying, “she did this to prepare Me for burial… I will not always be with you.” (John 12:7,8)
• And Jesus telling them in Matthew 26:2, “the Passover is 2 days away and the Son of Man must be crucified.”
• Jesus overturning the tables of the corrupt money changers in the Temple, “Is it not written that My house will be called a house of prayer for the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.”
• The powerful showdowns Jesus had with the Pharisees and other religious leaders, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
YOU SEE – as they begin to recline that Thursday night all of the emotions of the last few days, no doubt hung heavy over them…
AND THEN – what happens and what is said during the meal created an even greater flood of emotions…
• Jesus (their Lord and Messiah) getting up, wrapping a towel around his waist and bending down to wash each of the dirty and grimy feet, because no one else was willingly to stoop that low to serve others
• Jesus telling them as he washes those feet that one of them is not clean and will betray Him.
• And them each in turn with their faces downcast saying, ‘Surely not I?’ (Mark 14:19)
AND THEN – Jesus says…
I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. – Luke 22:14-20
UNDERSTAND – the Lord’s Supper, no doubt stirred even more emotions in Jesus disciples… AND THEN – Jesus tells them…
When he was gone,
Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
- John 13:31-38
AGAIN – just try to imagine what you would be feeling at this moment… if you were one of those guys in that upper room.
Troubled, confused, afraid, sad, uncertain, fearful, depressed, panic, overwhelmed,
Ever felt the same way?
UNDERSTAND – it is into this flood of not ‘all that much fun’ emotions that Jesus says to them (and to us when we are at that same place)
Let not your hearts be troubled.
Troubled = tarasso
• To be stirred or agitated
• To cause inward commotion (like calm waters that begin to churn)
• Overcome with uncertainty
• Intimidated by the situation
• Restless, anxious, distressed
• To disturb ones equanimity
Equanimity – mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or stress.
Let not your hearts be troubled.
(Okay, Jesus I hear you, but how do I actually do that)
Believe in God; believe also in me.
IN OTHER WORDS – Jesus wanted them and He wants us to know that whatever is that we are facing that is causing our hearts to be troubled, THAT…He and The Father got it,
THAT - They can handled it
LIKE seriously, if God is who ‘we say’ (He is) and who t’he Scripture’ declare He is… THEN – they really do have and got it covered… AMEN?! Believe in Jesus! Believe in God
Let’s not let our hearts be tarasso-ed and
let’s keep our equanimity.
In my Father's house are many rooms.
OKAY – Check this out.
I just discovered it this week in my studies…
Do you know how many times Jesus uses the word Father that Thursday night (in John 14-17)? 53 times!
QUESTION – do you know what many rooms means?
THAT - there is a place for you
AND LISTEN – the best thing about the Father’s house is not the place – but the person… being with the Father.
Finally being HOME.
HEY – (whenever things are dark and difficult) don’t let your heart be troubled… BECAUSE – you are not HOME yet.
NOW UNDERSTAND – everyone one us not only has this deep hunger to go home, BUT ALSO – this very clear realization that we are not there yet. In his book Mere Christianity,
C. S. Lewis talks about this very thing…
This idea of there being a home for our hearts.
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
UNDERSTAND - Lewis's argument is that…
If money and power and success and applause and pleasure, Do not provide our hearts - with a home, with peace, with real rest…
THEN MAYBE - we were designed for something greater than those things.
MAYBE – we were designed to live in another place.
AMEN?!
MGCC – here’s the deal… ‘more’ of what you already have or are already doing that is not bringing you satisfaction…is never going to bring you satisfaction.
Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many rooms.
If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him,
OKAY – can I just say that despite the bad rap and insult nickname this guy has had for centuries (doubting Thomas).
I love this guy. I love his honesty. I love how he is not afraid to say out loud what everyone else is thinking.
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
SO - Thomas is like,
"Actually Jesus, we don't know where you're going. How could we possibly know?
LIKE - you're always speaking in riddles and stuff. We don't know what you're talking about, Jesus."
AND LISTEN - I think that underneath his question of,
"We don't know where to go,"
IS – this much bigger and deeper question that is weighing on the heart of Thomas… Jesus, can you get us home?
Can you take us to that place where our souls are finally at peace and rest?
Can you get us home?"
AND LISTEN – when life is (hard and crazy) (dark and uncertain) (difficult and uncertain) (troubled and fearful)
We need to know and remember that we are going HOME.
HOME – to that incredible forever with the God, the place we were always intended to live.
AND JESUS - answers that question with a those incredibly powerful and memorable words… MAN – I am so glad that Thomas was bold enough to speak up!
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
BTW – that’s the outline for the core of this conversation.
It's not very creative, but it is how Jesus will get us home?
SO – let’s talk about how Jesus gets us HOME.
Anybody want to go?
I. Jesus Is The Way To God
UNDERSTAND MGCC - Jesus is the only Savior from the slavery to sin and death.
Let me try to unpack this.
UNDERSTAND - the great chasm between you and home, between you and rest, between you and soul-level communion with your Creator…
IS NOT - more money, not a better job, not another town, not more success, not a better relationship, not a better or more (you fill in the blank)...
INSTEAD - the great chasm that robs you from home is sin and death. B/S - that's what has separated us out.
NOW - unfortunately, we live in a day and age where there is no patience with that kind of language.
I MEAN - who is anyone to tell you what sin is?
BUT UNDERSTAND - when we do that, we actually erode the very humanity out from under us.
I MEAN…
HOW - do we explain what is wrong with us, if we don't have this language?
HOW - do we explain what is good and what's bad, if there is no good and bad, but it’s just whatever we decide?
AGAIN - the real chasm, WHAT - separates you from home is sin and death…
AND MGCC Jesus is the way home.
He bridges the chasm.
NOW – earlier in the text Jesus said… ‘I go to prepare a place for you…”
QUESTION – what does that mean…?
Does it mean that - after He ascended back home to the Father that Jesus went to Heavens version of Lowes, bought some supplies and like Chip Gaines is up in heaven right now hammering away, tricking out your condominium.
NO – I don’t think that is what Jesus is talking about.
Though to be honest, that is how I pictured at one time.
I think some of the confusion at least on my part… is that some Bible translations at the word ‘there’ to Jesus statement. “In my Father house are many room, if it were not so I would have told you. I go ‘there’ to prepare a place for you.
BUT UNDERSTAND - the word ‘there’ is not there…
AND UNDERSTAND – Jesus said that His Father’s house already has many rooms.
SO – what does Jesus mean when He says ‘I go to prepare a place for you…?”
I think what Jesus is saying is… "Guys,
I'm headed to the cross.
I'm going to die on the cross.
I'm going to be tortured and brutalized and hang on that cross,
And when I do… I am going to absorb all of God's wrath toward your sin, and I'm going to be the bridge upon which you will be able to walk across the chasm of sin and death and go HOME!
Understand Jesus prepared a place for you in the Father’s house through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave!
IT - is not a referring to some glittery ‘trick out’ mansion He is building for you in heaven.
INSTEAD - It's being able to commune in that space that your soul was created to commune in.
It's about getting you home.
It’s about being with the Father.
Jesus is the way to the Father. Amen.
IN FACT – Jesus is the ‘only way’ to the Father.
Come one Steve, you can’t be serious (it’s the 21st century) are you really saying that no one gets to the Father except through Jesus.
YES – that is exactly what I am saying, but Jesus said it first.
AND LISTEN – I am not upset that Jesus is the only way to God, I am just glad that there is a way to God.
NOW – I understand that Jesus’ statement is an exclusive statement, but at the same time it is… the most inclusive exclusive invitation ever given.
“No one comes to the Father except through Me” – is the most inclusive ‘exclusive invitation’ ever given.
UNDERSTAND – anyone regardless of…
YES - anyone at any time can choose to walk on the way that Jesus (through His death and resurrection) has already prepared for them.
ONE MORE THING… before we move on to ‘Jesus is the Truth of God.’
REMEMBER – I said that Jesus used the word father 53 times on that Thursday night.
That’s a lot. I MEAN – God is only referred or alluded to as Father in the OT a handful of times.
UNDERSTAND – the reason Jesus is so obsessed with the Father on the Thursday night is because…
• He was doing the will of The Father
• He was going Home to the Father
• And he was preparing a place for you with the Father.
II. Jesus Is The Truth Of God
One author I read this week said it this way…
Jesus is God's gracious self-disclosure of himself.
AND - the apostle Paul wrote the following to the church at Colossae.
• In Colossians 1, he says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God (15)… and that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (19)
• In Colossians 2, he says that in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead lives in bodily form (9)
UNDERSTAND – if you want to know what God is like?
Look at Jesus.
AND LISTEN - what you see when you look Jesus…
IS A - type of stunning, scandalous, unexplainable mercy and grace.
AND - we are even seeing it in the upper room on that Thursday night with his disciples.
I MEAN - Jesus is at the cusp of being slaughtered on the cross. AND - they're like,
"What do you mean? I can't believe you're going to leave us."
LIKE - they haven't understood anything that Jesus has he said, and Thomas even has the boldness to say,
"We don't know what you're talking about,"
YET - Jesus says what?
“wow, could you guys after 3 years with Me get any dumber”
NO – He has compassion on them and says
"Don't let your hearts be troubled."
UNDERSTAND…
If you want to know what God is like…
Look at Jesus.
IF you want to know how God sees you…
Just look at Jesus’ encounters with people when He wore flesh and walked on this planet.
LIKE – how did He see, treat and respond to…
• The woman at the well. An extremely promiscuous woman.
• The woman caught in adultery.
• The tax- collectors who are raising taxes from their countrymen to support an oppressive regime that is murdering and raping thousands if not tens of thousands of Jews.
• His often clueless and slow to get it disciples
• The poor, the weak, the sinner, the outcasts, the broken, and marginalized of His day
He encourages them
He speaks life into them
He touches them, He eats with them, He stands up for them
He invites them to follow Him
NOW - later on that Thursday night (actually right after John 14:6) we see Jesus drilling down on this truth that if you want to know what God is like… look at Him.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
(Like they haven’t seen enough already)
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. – John 14:7-11
Jesus is the truth about who God is
AND I made add that Jesus is also the truth of God
about who we are…
LISTEN – in spite of the fact that we are
finite frail fallen sinners…
We are so loved… so valued… and matter so much to God!
And one more thing before we move onto Jesus is the way… R U ready?
Jesus is the Truth…
In regards to what is truth
LISTEN - Jesus is the Truth
And His Word is Truth - Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth… - John 17:17
THEREFORE – Jesus and His Word are ‘the’ truth about…
what is right and what is wrong
how we are to live
what it means to be - a parent, a husband, a wife, a man, woman
Today so many people are convinced that their truth is the only truth… But they are wrong, Gods truth is the only truth.
III. Jesus Is The Life
NOW – Jesus being ‘life’ is not a new concept in John’s Gospel…
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
– John 1:4
Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. – John 5:40
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. – John 6:35
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. – John 6:68
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
– John 10:10
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
- John 11:25
Jesus is the life… (And HE wants you to have life)
AND LISTEN – here’s the deal…
Whenever people look to ‘anything’ else for life… (success, power, stuff, applause, money, pleasure, accomplishments,)
It has not, it is not, it will not and it cannot ultimately deliver.
They will always hunger and thirst again…
HEY – raise your hand if you have ever found that to be true?
JESUS IS…
• The Way to God
• The Truth of God
• The Life from God
I want to wrap up with a quote from a guy named Thomas Kempis… He was a catholic mystic back in the 15th century.
Now I'm not a big mystic guy, but I do think they write
in a way that is more poetic, you know, than the linear thinking that really is kind of new in human history.
Here is what he wrote about John 14:6
"Follow thou me.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Without the way, there is no going.
Without the truth, there is no knowing.
Without the life, there is no living.
I am the way which thou must follow,
the truth which thou must believe,
the life for which thou must hope.
I am the inviolable way,
the infallible truth,
the never-ending life.
I am the straightest way,
the sovereign truth,
life true, life blessed, life uncreated."
