I Am: I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Good morning, Ironbridge. My name is Zach. I am the pastor of students and young adults and it is an honor to consider God’s truth with you this morning.

Let’s kick this off with prayer.

Pray

Pray for your neighbor

Pray for your own heart

This morning you are sitting just a few feet from many people. It is amazing, and sad, that you can be close in proximity and yet a million miles away from relational connection. So close, but so far.

Is that true of you and God?

When we arrive to chapter 14 in the gospel of John, the troubles of the disciples reveal that they are close to Jesus, and yet so far.

As the disciples gather in the upper room, Jesus is on the doorstep of death. A death that he predicted and explicitly mentioned to the disciples.

And yet, the disciples did not fully understand. Here is what they could see from their vantage point.

Judas left the table to go and betray Jesus.

Peter, the most courageous of the group, is told that he will fail (by denying Jesus three times)

Jesus keeps talking about going to a place they cannot come.

They were physically close to Jesus, but far from seeing how good could come out of this confusion.

What do you think the atmosphere was like in that room? What facial expressions do you imagine the disciples are wearing as Jesus continues to talk about leaving, betrayal, and denial?

I imagine that the feeling in that room echoed the feeling that’s often in your chest. Trouble.

God doesn’t want you to walk out of this room with a weighed down heart. You can walk out comforted if you believe these three promises.

First,

If you have faith, you need not fear.

“Let not your hearts be troubled.

If you give your heart permission to be troubled, it will happily oblige. Don’t lend your heart the slippery rope of trouble.

The original word for trouble is similar to the image of shuddering. Is your heart shaky this morning? Does your heart tremble because of the troubles of this life?

When Jordyn and I were in college we would occasionally go on dates to an animal shelter. We couldn’t afford a dog, but at least we could pet one! These different dogs had a commonality, they came from troubled pasts. It was sad to see some of them shake as you tenderly approached them. No matter how soft you kept your voice, your presence was intimidating because of previous owners who hurt them.

How do shuddering dogs return to life? By getting a new caretaker.

Every little touch, every soft whisper, every tender belly rub teaches them to trust. It calms their heart and body.

If your heart is like waves, here is the sentence that can calm the storm.

Believe in God; believe also in me.

In the midst of the darkest night of their lives, Jesus looks into the eyes of Jewish men, and commands them to trust in him in the same way that they trusted in YHWH.

What does this faith look like? They’ve relied upon him for miracles, food, and shelter. Now they will need to rely upon him with their very lives.

They clearly believe that Jesus exists. They can smell him, he’s sitting right in from of them. The belief that Jesus is guiding them towards, involves risk and hope. The belief that he is guiding them towards will have to endure the pain of trial, the confusion of the cross, and the surprise of resurrection.

But he comforts them with the reminder that they already know how to believe in God. Though they have never seen him, they love him and rely upon him.

This morning, Jesus is calling us to believe in him the same way.

You are called to trust in a person, not a set of facts.

Though you cannot physically see Jesus, the solution to your troubled heart is to trust in his heart for you.

We’ll need this level of trust to believe the incredible reality that Jesus explains next...

2 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? 3 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.

This all seems too good to be true. But Jesus is claiming to be too God, to be untrue.

The Father’s house is a reference to heaven. The greek word used in this sentence is meno, which is similar to our word, abode.

Heaven will be less like an auditorium and more like a home. Paradise will feel less like a crowd and more like a family.

Isn’t that a place you want to be? What makes it so wonderful? One answer: the presence of Jesus.

If the Father, Son, and Spirit were absent from heaven would you still want to be there? If the answer is yes, then what you really want is hell.

The presence of Jesus is what makes heaven a paradise.

And if you are resistant towards Jesus, there are two little words that I do not want you to miss: “for you”.

There were many motivations that strengthened Jesus’ legs to carry the cross to Golgotha, but one of them was, you.

And let me encourage you, Jesus did not die a brutal death on a criminals cross to lead you on.

He promised to prepare paradise for you and he will be true to his word.

If it were not going to happen, would he have told you?

Imagine the martyrs who sang as they died, because they believed his promise.

Picture the face of widows who look forward to being reunited with loved ones, because they believe his promise.

Think of the depressed who were lifted out of bed today, because of the hope of a better tomorrow.

Now, imagine if Jesus’ was lying. That there is no heaven, no purpose, no hope.

Pastor Jon Courson once wrote, "Believers are sometimes accused of being so heavenly-minded that they’re no earthly good. The Bible, however, teaches just the opposite—that we won’t be any earthly good until we are heavenly-minded because, as Paul points out, “if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”

John Lennon imagined no eternity and believed that it would lead the world to peace. Much of the world is living as if there is no eternity and it is leading to death!

Praise be to God, that Jesus’ words are true.

We have a savior.

We have a future.

We have a hope.

I’m no presbyterian, but I love how The New City Catechism answers this question:

“What is our only hope in life and death?

That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Do you belong to him? You can by believing in him.

During the war in Vietnam, many American soldiers were captured and imprisoned. But I only know of one who used golf as a survival strategy. After months of no social or relational activity, James Nesmith needed a way to occupy his mind to fight off despair.

Every day for 7 years in prison he would envision a round of golf at this home course in his mind.

He thought of the smell of freshly mown grass. He would hear birds singing. He would wave to the lady tending to her garden. He would laugh at the jokes of his playing partners.

When Major Nesmeth eventually returned home, that dream became reality. His playing partners were in the flesh. And when he played, he did 20 shots better than his average.

Now I must confess, I chose this story because when I golf, I feel close to heaven. Maybe when you golf, you feel close to hell.

How can we endure the troubles of this life? By hoping in the promise of heaven.

Instead of letting your heart be troubled, let your heart imagine...

beauty that surpasses the sunset

Sounds that are fuller than a symphony

No death

No depression

No fear

And when those dreams become your reality, you will reunite with your loved ones. You will wave at the apostles. You will be held by Jesus.

Heaven is our home and next Jesus will explain how to get there.

If you know Jesus, you know the way.

The verse we are about to consider is one of the most well known in all of scripture. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

If you’re familiar with Christianity, it may be tempting to think that these verses are for someone else. But let’s remember the context, this verse comes at the conclusion of their three year discipleship training with Jesus!

They should be experts about the way to God, but they are are still confused.

You can be so close, but so far.

If we are honest as we approach this text, we will see ourselves....

Jesus said,

4 And you know the way to where I am going.” You would think they should know the way! Jesus told them that the cross was going to happen. Jesus proved to them that he was the son of God. But they were still confused. And the same is true of us.

We know the way is Jesus. But perhaps we are too prideful to actually believe that he is enough.

After all this time, we still are inclined to go the way of self-trust, self-help, and self-love.

Thankfully, someone in the room that night was honest, Thomas. I love Thomas. He reminds me of the kid in class who was courageous enough to ask the question that exposed that none of us have been paying attention to the teacher.

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Thomas may have missed the point, but at least Thomas doesn’t fake belief. When you are in your bridge groups, it would be better to be real about your doubts than to fake faith.

If you are working through an algebra problem and continually arrive at the wrong answer. Don’t keep moving forward. Stop. Retrace your steps to find the starting point of where you went wrong.

Before they all move forward in ignorance, Thomas stops the momentum to make sure they understand.

And as the good teacher, Jesus graciously provides the answer.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Wow. Wow. Wow!

This is no normal religious founder. He said to a group of Jewish men, I am the truth.

Jesus did not say, I know a way, let me tell you about truth, let me show you life. He said, “I AM, I AM, I AM” what a claim!

In our culture of pluralistic relativism, we are sensitive to truth claims.

I once talked to my dad about this modern spirit and he responded, “Instead of being offended that there is only one way, be grateful there is a way!”

The critical thinker may counter, isn’t the claim that there is universal truth the reason there is war and oppression in the world? If none of us can know truth for certain, then who are we to persuade others to believe?

One famous Hindu story puts this view into a memorable scene: “An elephant walked into a village where everyone was blind.” One villager bumped into its leg and proclaimed that the elephant was like a tree. Another grabbed it’s tail and said it was like a snake. And a third felt it’s ear and said it was like a fan. Soon an argument broke out about what the elephant was truly like. The moral of this story is that we should all admit that were blind instead of quarreling about realities we can’t see.

Here is the problem with that story. The narrator claims that they can see!

The blind villagers should get to know the narrator.

Author Rebecca McLaughlin’s thoughts are clarifying: “It might sound respectful to Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Jews to say that if they saw the big picture, they’d all realize they each held a piece of the truth. But it’s actually not respectful at all. If you say this what you’re really saying is that (they) are all blind and you alone can see!”

One of the reasons it doesn’t work to claim that all worldviews are equally true is because they disagree on central beliefs.

Let’s just consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Atheist claim that Jesus stayed dead.

Muslims claim that Jesus appeared to die, but didn’t actually die, and was taken up to heaven

Christians proclaim that he physically rose from the dead.

What happened to the physical corpse of the historic man, Jesus Christ? All three claims cannot be true. Either his body began to breath again or it faded into dust.

To consider these claims with your friends is to show respect. You are treating them as people who are able to reason and believe. You are showing them that they are not just a product of their surroundings and upbringing.

So let me ask you, what are you going to do with Jesus?

He doesn’t give neutrality as an option.

C.S. Lewis was on track when he said Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

Pride in our hearts wants to resist any narrow “way”. Unless, of course, it’s our way.

Seriously consider what Jesus is saying here. If he is Lord, if he is the way, what other path would you want to go? His path leads to life, heaven, happiness, relationship, forgiveness, and peace.

How is the way of self-trust working out for you?

How is the way of seeking secret knowledge working out for you?

How is the way of stubborn unbelief working out for you?

He went to the cross and rose from the dead “for you”.

Yes, there is only one door, but the door is unlocked. Yes there is one way to the father, but there are many rooms.

And there is room for you. If you enter through faith in Jesus.

But this begs a question, why would we want to go to the Father if we can’t see him?

Lastly, we will learn...

If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father.

Admittedly, the Ginn family has weird mannerisms. Occasionally, when I would order food in the college cafeteria, the workers would pause, look at me, and say, “Are you related to Jordan Ginn”? “Yes” I’d mutter. “I’m his younger brother.” I felt so “known”.

After three years with the disciples, Jesus reminds the disciples what family he belongs to....

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.

Of course, there is a sense in which they know him incredibly well. They ate together. Went fishing. And sat around the fire telling stories late into the night.

But as the confusion of the cross was nearing, they need to be reminded that to know Jesus is to know God the Father. He and the Father are one.

That is why he could say...

From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Thomas, Phillip, Peter let me show you the Father’s heart. Look at me.

The Apostle Paul describes this mystery like this, “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ.” (Col. 2:9-10)

Jesus is God’s holiness, justice, and love clothed in flesh.

To see Jesus washing the disciples dirty feet is to see the Father.

To see Jesus promise paradise to fickle disciples is to see the Father.

To see Jesus die as our substitute is to see the Father.

To see Jesus walk out of the grave is to see the Father.

If you love Jesus. You’re going to love eternity with the Father.

The men who were physically present with Jesus this night, were going to face troubles in the weeks to come.

Jesus was going to be arrested and killed. Peter would deny Jesus. All would fail jesus.

But we have been given the full picture of what they could not see. Jesus, surprisingly, had to go away. So that he could come back with the reality of all of the promises he made to them in this upper room.

I once heard a story of a cemetery worker who watched in amazement as he saw a girl skip and sing through the graveyard each day after school. One day their paths crossed and he asked her how she was able to sing past the graves. She smiled and pointed to a small white house with a large porch. “Mister”, she said, “I can sing because my home is on the other side.”

Whether Jesus comes back soon to take you home, or you meet him there first, he has a place prepared for you.

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “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.”

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Jesus is the way to that world. Your home is on the other side. Your home is in the presence of Jesus.