The Way, The Truth, and the Life.
I Am • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsAs part of the "I Am" statements of Jesus, this sermon looks at Jesus' claim to be the unique mediator between God and man and removes any room for a plurality of faith claims being equally valid.
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Introduction: I don’t Get it, Teacher!
Introduction: I don’t Get it, Teacher!
Teacher for 14 years. Always assessing the understanding of students. Multiple ways.
“I don’t get it, Teacher.”
Do you ever feel like that student? You’re not alone.
John 13:31-17:26 Upper Room Discourse, longest teaching section in the Gospels.
The major point of Jesus’ teaching is the trinity.
He wants to transform his disciples from Jews looking for an earthly Messiah to trinitarian believers, understanding that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all persons of the same Godhead.
Admittedly a challenging topic on first approach.
Every time the disciples speak up, they are admitting that they don’t understand what Jesus is trying to say. Red letter bibles help with this.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life 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.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
This cycle repeats four more times.
I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”
They finally understand his first point.
In this context of difficult teaching with students who aren’t tracking well, Jesus focuses in on the centrality of his role in salvation.
He is leaving and going back to the Father (John 13:31-38).
He is going to the cross to prepare the way to the Father for them to follow soon (John 13:36-14:4).
Lots of silly things said about carpenter Jesus building on rooms in his father’s house.
He spoke the universe into existence and created all living things in 6 days. Do you really think he needs 2,000 years to build your heavenly dwelling?
Heaven itself was ready, or could be made so with a word.
The preparation that was needed was the way to get there. He can walk the road. The disciples couldn’t yet, but they would be able to do so soon, after his suffering and resurrection.
Jesus is the destination
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.
We needn’t obsess over what our piece of heaven will be like. While it will be glorious and perfect in every way, our hope is anchored in the person with whom we will spend eternity, not in the trappings of the environment.
These are the things that Jesus hoped his disciples would have understood by now, but Thomas speaks up for the group and confesses, “I don’t get it, Teacher.”
Ask Your Neighbor, “Do you get it?” It’s okay if you don’t.
To which Jesus replies with the center of our text today:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We are going to look at this claim of Christ, focusing on the three metaphors He chooses to employ in this context.
Introduce the Signpost
I. The Way
I. The Way
The Old Testament defines the life of faith as walking a well-worn, unmistakable path.
You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”
And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
By identifying himself as “the way,” Jesus is combatting any sense that his teachings are at odds with the revelation that God had already given in the Old Testament.
Not only is Jesus’ teaching consistent with “the way,” He himself is The Way!
In fact, the first followers of Christ identified themselves as “followers of the way (Acts 9:1-2, etc).
“The way” in the OT was well-worn and easily discerned, but Jesus is taking it further. Whereas the rewards expressly presented for those who walked faithfully with God were largely temporal and physical,
Jesus extends our journey and invites His followers into eternal fellowship with God.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
This supports the assertion that what needs to be prepared is not as much the dwelling place that we will enjoy in heaven but the path, through the cross, to get there.
Various obstacles prevent us from walking on “the way” to our destination of fellowship with God. The greatest of which is obviously sin. Jesus removes them all.
And it shall be said,
“Build up, build up, prepare the way,
remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
II. The Truth
II. The Truth
In Western thought, there are generally three theories of truth.
Pragmatic: Truth claims “work.”
A uniquely American definition that values statements which prove useful in explaining experiences and making sense of our observations. They do not necessarily apply in all places at all times.
Cohesion: Truth claims work well together.
No truth claims contradict another in the same system. Applies to all statements within a given argument or body of arguments.
Correspondence: Truth claims rightly reflect reality.
No truth claim counteracts observed or accepted facts of reality. These truth claims can be considered universal.
The Jewish concept of “truth” was from the third, ultimate sense. The truth is that which aligns with reality and is always going to do so.
אֱמֶת ʾemet 127× faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness; truth, what conforms to reality in contrast to what is false
Walking along a way identified with the truth of God is rooted in many OT passages. Jesus is again invoking a well-understood idea.
“Truth” and “Faithfulness” are two English words which translate the same Hebrew word.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
Similar to his treatment of “the way,” Jesus does not allow his detractors to question his words as being untrue. He is the embodiment of the truth.
Jesus himself is the revelation of reality.
Other statements or arguments are as true as their reflection of his nature and being.
The identification of Jesus as the embodiment of the truth is a major theme in John’s writings. 16 references!
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 18:37 “Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.””
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Whatever else John means to convey about Jesus, then, it is at least this:
Every truth claim is as true as it agrees with the life, teachings, and example of Jesus.
Tell your neighbor, “I know the truth. His name is Jesus.”
III. The Life
III. The Life
The first two metaphors employed by Christ have clear and abundant OT precursors.
The OT is less clear about the reward of eternal life that awaits the faithful.
The lion share of “life-as-reward” passages speak of living this mortal life in blessing and fellowship with God.
There are several notable glimpses, however, into the blessed hope that the New Testament reveals so clearly.
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
The relatively few references to eternal spiritual life and resurrection mixed in with so many promises of an abundant life for the faithful, receiving the blessings of God in the land, helped to conceal, even from the disciples, the true mission of Jesus during his first advent.
Jesus was clear that his goal was to open the way to eternal life.
As before, the granting of eternal life to the followers of Christ is a major theme, if not the main theme, in John’s gospel.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Jesus’ claims to being the only one who could open up “the way” to eternal life are a major theme of the new testament as well. This was the consistent testimony of the apostles and early preachers of the faith.
Even in this life, we who have found Christ can have life to the fullest in that we have hope and peace in Christ.
“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”
Corrie Ten Boom
IV. The Narrow and Wide Way
IV. The Narrow and Wide Way
The statement of Christ in this passage and by the Biblical authors who followed Him are very, very narrow.
When Christ identifies himself with these three metaphors, He does so using the definite article. The way, the truth, the life. He is not one way among several. He is the only way.
This exclusivity is not left up to interpretation, as he follows this claim with an emphatic statement of uniqueness.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In fact, all of the “I AM” statements of Christ in John’s gospel are exclusive. The Door, The Good Shepherd, The Bread of life, etc.
This exclusivity was picked up on by every NT author.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Thomas a Kempis, a medieval monk who championed an intimate walk with Christ in all areas of life, summarized well the call of scripture to walk the narrow way.
300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church The Way of Christ Is the Only Way
This is the way, and there is none other; the right way, the holy way, the perfect way, the way of Christ, the way of the just, the way of the elect that shall be saved. Walk in it, persevere in it, endure in it, live in it, die in it, breathe forth your spirits in it.
THOMAS À KEMPIS*
This exclusivity runs cross-grain to our pluralistic culture.
We want everyone to be happy. Everyone to be okay in the end. We want to value all perspectives and affirm all convictions.
We cannot do this and remain in “The Truth” and on “The Way” to receive “The Life.” Submission to the Lordship of Christ and receiving the gift of his suffering and resurrection are the only ways to avoid the wrath of God.
The exclusive nature of the claims of Christ are made all the more intense when we understand what’s at stake.
We aren’t talking about whether or not we are accepted into a club or invited to a fancy dinner party.
Eternity is forever. Hell is real and indescribably horrible. The eternal bliss of Heaven’s glories outrun all the ability of language to convey. This couldn’t matter more.
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,
and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Do not be deceived by the lies of our culture. All roads do not lead to God. All faiths are not equally meaningful, as long as you’re sincere. Not all people go to heaven.
Cut off other signs
The way to heaven lies along One Way, through One Truth, to the One Life in Jesus Christ.
We have to qualify the narrowness.
There are churches who disagree with us on a number of issues, but they are still on the narrow way.
Complementarianism vs. Egalitarianism
Pre- or Post-Millennial Rapture.
Methods of Baptism
However, the invitation of Christ to eternal life is not merely narrow. It is also phenomenally broad.
The plan of God has always been to bless every nation, tribe, and language.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
The way is open to all people, regardless of race, gender, or social standing.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
The way is open to those who have lived “good” lives and those who have not. We are all sinners.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
How do you enter into this life?
Believe
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
Confess
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
Follow
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
It is your part to believe, to confess, and to commit to follow.
It is God’s part to restore you, to forgive you, and to bring you to glory.
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Will you begin your journey along this narrow way to life today? Nothing else you could ever do will matter in the end. No purpose or intention will count in the scales when you stand before the Lord at the end of your life.
Only this matters: That you have walked the way of Jesus; that you have embraced the truth of Jesus, and that you will now enjoy the eternal life of Jesus.
Call up Praise Team.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 2.12: Leo the Great, Gregory the Great (Catholic Edition) (VII. Who It Is We Have to Hear)
He is “the Truth and the Life,” He is My “Power and Wisdom.” “Hear ye Him,” Whom the mysteries of the Law have foretold, Whom the mouths of prophets have sung. “Hear ye Him,” Who redeems the world by His blood, Who binds the devil, and carries off his chattels, Who destroys the bond of sin, and the compact of the transgression. Hear ye Him, Who opens the way to heaven, and by the punishment of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent to the Kingdom? Why tremble ye at being redeemed? why fear ye to be healed of your wounds?
If you were like those students I referenced at the beginning who just “didn’t get it” before, but you do now, I am going to invite you to join me a prayer of confession before the Lord. The words are not magical. This is not some spiritual formula to save you. You must believe the truth of Jesus’ words and confess that you need Him to save you. I am simply suggesting wording to you. After we pray, I am going to ask you to obey the words of Jesus and to publically acknowledge the decision that you’ve made this morning. Let’s pray.