The Only Way?

Text

John 14:1–14 ESV

“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.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Introduction:

There is an Indian folk story popularized by the American poet John Godfrey Saxe in the 1800s about the six blind men and the elephant. Maybe you’ve heard the story before. The story goes that six blind men encounter an elephant for the first time together and all begin to touch and experience the elephant. As the blind men try to articulate what each one is experiencing, some argue that this beast must be a mighty warrior with tusks for battle, piercing its prey and stamping them down with its immense weight. Others remark that the beast is soft and gentle because they have been able to get on top of the elephant and ride it around. Others say they don’t believe in the elephant at all. They can’t see it, and no amount of experience that the other men have will be proof enough to justify their claims.

This famous story is used as an example to say all religions in the world are like the six blind men, all experiencing God, but from different vantage points. There are multiple ways to understand and know God truly but a different perspective on this doesn't make others inherently wrong. Is there truth to this claim? Is Christianity the only way of salvation offered to humankind or are there meant ways that people can escape the sin and misery of the world?

For starters, this analogy falls apart really quickly because it says the storyteller here has objective knowledge. Skeptics who are looking at faith can see the elephant for what it truly is and can look with pity at the blind men trying to fumble around the explain the elephant.

Thesis: Main Idea of the Message

Today we are going to be talking about the exclusive claims of Christianity and asking ourselves if is it true, if is it good, and if is it beautiful? Is it true, good, and beautiful?

1. Point: Is it True?

Explanation

This is the sixth I am statement of Jesus in the Gospel of John. It comes to us as just as Jesus is beginning what is called the Upper Room Discourse. What Jesus is doing in John 13-17 is teaching his disciples the ways of the kingdom, how to be Christians, and what to do once he leaves them. Up to this point, none of the disciples have understood what Jesus meant when he says he was going to leave them. We read that when Jesus leaves them he is doing to do prepare a room for them in his Father’s house. The purpose of his departure from the world is to make a room ready for his guests. Jesus is saying that he needs to go away because those who follow him will be welcomed by him as guests of honor in heaven. Jesus opens this teaching in verse with with saying “Let now your hearts be troubled, believe in God and believe in me also. Jesus is saying that belief in Him should remove anxiety in your life. And Thomas can’t believe this, he thinks Jesus may be going to another town or city and wants to know how they can follow him. John 14.5 “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus answers him with saying John 14.6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” . Jesus says he is the truth, but how do we know that he really is the truth?

Illustration

This is likely the first level question you hear from your peers here at university. How can you claim Jesus to be the only way to God? You may have often asked yourself this question: Is this all true? Is Jesus the way, the truth, and the life? These are audacious claims of one man to make for himself. Talking with university students, one of the most common objections I hear is that this may be true for me, but it is not for them. Can Jesus be only true for some people, and Mormonism and Islam or “spiritual but not religious” be true for others? The Christian message is saying this is the only standard by which to measure your life by. All humanity falls under the view of God, and all are judged by Him alone. Any other way is a false way, and Jesus is saying that he has come so that he can prepare a room for anyone in the world who would follow him.

Application

Jesus is saying knowing him is the way to have eternal life. So one of the most important things you can do in your time at University is to know God. Now this kind of knowledge isn’t the same level of knowledge you get when you study for your exam. God is not looking for you to pass a multiple-choice test about him, but he is wanting you to know him intimately like a child knows their father or like a wife knows her husband. Believing these points, trusting what Jesus says, will make it so that your hearts are not troubled by the fact that you cannot follow him where he is going.

Point 2: Is it good?

Explanation

So we might agree intellectually that it is true Jesus is the only way but does that mean it is a good way? Next, we get a question from Philip John 14.8 “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”” Philip seems to now intellectually agree with the fact of knowing the Father is the way, but he still doesn't understand how to truly know the Father. Philip has been on the road with Jesus for long spans of time, and Jesus rebukes Philip that he has not seen the Father. He asks John 14.10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Philip has been following the way of Jesus but he still doesn't see him. Now the word way here is the word ὁδός which can mean a road or path but in this context it carries the connotation of a course of behavior or way of life. Jesus is telling Philip that he is the way, meaning following Jesus, becoming like Jesus is the way to the Father. Jesus is astounded that Philip has been following him the whole time and is not able to see that the way he is following is good, that it is a truly better way of being human.

Illustration

We often convince ourselves that true ways are not good ways. It may be true that eating a diet of only pizza and beer for two weeks straight as you cram for exams and stay up all hours of the night is terrible for your health, but is healthy eating and sleep good? It feels good In the moment but after we realize that we were not living in arrordance with the truth. There is a major disconnect in our lives between things that are true and things that are good. What happens most of the time in our lives is that we try to justify the bad as if it is true. “Well, I may have only got four hours of sleep the night before, but I did pass my exam,” We want to justify the bad all the time, but one of the most beautiful tests of the truth is whether it is also good. It is true that eating and sleeping enough is healthy, but it is good because it actually makes you a better student, it allows you to live more.

Application

What that means for you is Belief in Christ is not something that Jesus speaks of as merely cerebral. Jesus says that those who believe in him will do what he does. Believing in Jesus means becoming like Jesus. If someone is not becoming like Jesus, the implication is that they do not believe in him. So your time is the best spent as you think about how to become like Jesus and how your future job will help you become more like Jesus.

3. Point: Is it beautiful?

Explanation

So something might be true, and it might be good, but I think what an unbelieving world really needs to see is that Christianity is beautiful. Finally, in verses 12 to 14, we see that belief in Jesus produces a new kind of reality. Knowing Jesus intimately produces in people a new way of being human. That is why this text is followed by the promised Holy Spirit to believers. Jesus says knowing him leads to works that Jesus does and even greater works! How are believers given that kind of ability, the Holy Spirit in their life producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and every fruit which spring forth from the fountain of living waters.

Illustration

Jesus is making exclusive claims when he says that he is the only way to God. Christianity is an exclusive religion; only those who believe in Jesus are allowed into the kingdom. What's so beautiful about that you might ask? It’s this, Christianity is also the most inclusive religion in the world. Jesus is the only way to the Father, who is welcome to come? Anyone! Even the people Jesus picked to be his leaders of the church didn’t understand his message. They mess up and questioned him all the time and Jesus is offering life to them. Christianity is exclusively inclusive. Only those who believe in Jesus are welcome, and everyone in the world is welcome.

Application

One of the amazing works this allows you to do is share your faith with your friends. Jesus says in John 14.13 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Because we have this newfound life in the Spirit and can tell people that Jesus is offering them a room in his Father’s house for free! Jesus is there right now, waiting to welcome them in. All they need to do is know Him. So you now have the amazing privilege to tell others about this message without fear. You are empowered to offer people the actual way, the actual truth, and the actual life.

Summary & Conclusion

Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life is true, good, and beautiful. This kind of person creates a beautiful community of people who never had anything in common before, but now all come together around the blood of Jesus. If rationalistic materialists or faithful adherents of other religions mock us, we must find what Jesus says more compelling than their logic or dogma. We gladly embrace the reproach of Christ and rejoice in the knowledge of the truth, waiting for his return by doing the works he has done and offering the prayers he has invited.

Let’s pray