John 14:6 - I Am the Way, the Truth, & the Life (Palm Sunday)
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Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever experienced a troubled heart?
Someone might say, “Yes, I’ve had a couple of stents put in,” or “Yep, I’ve had a double-bypass,” but I mean have you ever had a worried heart, an anxious heart, or a heart filled with dread?
Maybe you’re thinking of a situation that troubled your heart, but if not, can you imagine one?
What if you lost your job, lost all your money, lost your health, lost your husband or wife, lost a child, or lost your parents or grandparents?
Would your heart be troubled?
What if you lost Jesus?
Would your heart be troubled?
One of you might say, “But, Rocky, I can’t lose Jesus…” but imagine you didn’t know that, and that Jesus said to you, “I’m going away, and you can’t come with Me.”
Wouldn’t that sound like you’re going to lose Him?
Would your heart be troubled?
About three years before His words in John 14, Jesus began His public ministry. He called His disciples, and through what He did and said, He claimed to be the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ.
Not everyone believed Him, but His disciples did.
They left everything to follow Him.
They said, “We believe and have come to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
They said, “Where else would we go, for you have the words of eternal life.”
And they felt they had followed the right one when, as He entered Jerusalem, the crowd shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
But then Jesus, the Son of God, the one they had followed for three years, the one they called Lord, Teacher, Master, and Friend, the one who had been hailed as King, the one they had laid all their hopes on said to them…
33 “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
To them at this moment, it sounded like Jesus was saying, “You’re going to lose Me.”
So, of course, their hearts were troubled!
But listen to how Jesus comforts their troubled hearts in John 14…
[READING - John 14:1-7]
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
[PRAYER]
[CONTEXT] The scene is the night before His crucifixion in the upper room: Jesus has washed the feet of His disciples, predicted His betrayal, dismissed His betrayer, and predicted Peter’s denial of Him.
There was a lot to trouble their hearts, but most of all it was the news that Jesus would be leaving them.
They would be even more troubled when He left them by way of gruesome crucifixion.
In the second half of John 14, to comfort their hearts, Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
But in this first half of John 14, Jesus promised them two other COMFORTS…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
COMFORT #1: A Place in Heaven (John 14:1-3)
COMFORT #1: A Place in Heaven (John 14:1-3)
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
[EXP] The disciples had learned that Jesus would be handed over to wicked men and be crucified. They had learned that Jesus would be betrayed by one of the disciples, and perhaps some suspected that it was Judas when he left the Passover meal. And they also learned that the faith of Peter would fail so fantastically that he would actually deny Jesus three times. Of course their hearts were troubled, but all of this trouble was introduced to them when Jesus said in John 13:33…
33 “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
And to them Jesus said…
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
These disciples were about to experience all that Jesus has foretold.
They were about to experience the betrayal of Jesus as Judas led the authorities to the Garden of Gethsemane and then handed Jesus over with a kiss.
They were about to experience the denial of Jesus as Peter, warming himself by a fire, swore that he never knew Jesus.
And they were about to experience the death of Jesus as He breathed His last breath on the cross.
Through all of this they were to believe in God and believe also in Jesus.
But what were they to believe about Jesus beyond the His death on the cross?
Well, Jesus’s words in vv. 2-3 imply His resurrection!
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Jesus would not be with them for much longer. They could not go where He was going, and He was going there by way of the cross; He had made that clear.
But afterward Jesus would be alive! That’s the only way He could prepare a place for His disciples in the house of His Father!
Yes, Jesus would go away from them, but He would come to them again and take them to be with Him forever!
And that refers not to His resurrection, but to His Second Coming.
People debate whether v. 3 refers to the rapture of the church when believers are called up to Heaven or to the second coming of Jesus when He sets up His millennial kingdom on earth.
I’m not so sure, however, that those two things are so distinct. Maybe when Jesus returns in His second coming we meet Him in the air, we receive our glorified bodies, and then we come back down with Him to set up His millennial kingdom on earth.
Anyone who tells you they know for sure how its all going to go with the rapture, the return of Christ, and the millennial kingdom is more confident than they have any right to be.
But what is a certainty is what Jesus said.
He has gone to prepare a place for His disciples.
And if He has gone to prepare a place for us, He will come back to take us there be it in the rapture before His millennial kingdom or in the eternal state after His millennial kingdom; either way, where He is, we will be also, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
[ILLUS] Let’s pause for a moment and consider the comfort that Jesus brought to His first disciples and the comfort that He brings us to us today.
His first disciples were troubled that Jesus was going away from them, and perhaps we are troubled that He has remained away from us for what seems like so very long.
{Madelyn} When Madelyn was about 2-3 years old, she was in trouble at home. She was put in the corner, and in a moment of genuine trouble, she earnestly prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus! Come!”
Perhaps that’s a prayer you’ve prayed when you’ve been troubled or when you’ve been in trouble!
{Lillian} Recently little Lillian was having a hard time on a Sunday morning.
She was crying, frustrated about something, and when I picked her up, she laid her head on my shoulder and said, “I can’t do this anymore!”
[APP] Have you ever felt that way?
If so, then you understand the heart behind a prayer like, “Come, Lord Jesus! Come!”
We’re saying, “Jesus, we are ready for You!”
We’re saying, “Jesus, we need You! You’re our only hope!”
We’re begging, “Jesus, come, and come soon! We can’t do this anymore!”
So… why hasn’t He come?
There are a few answers to that question from the Scriptures.
One answer comes from 2 Peter 3:9…
9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Jesus hasn’t returned because there are still more to be saved.
Because Jesus hasn’t come, we know there are still more who will turn from sin and death by by trusting in Jesus who was crucified and resurrected to save us from sin and death.
Are you one of the ones who has yet to repent of sin and believe on Jesus for salvation?
He does not wish you to perish; He wants you to turn from your sin and trust in Him today.
Another answer comes from Matthew 24:36…
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Jesus said these words during His public ministry before His death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father in Heaven, so it very well could be that Jesus now knows the day and the hour of His return, but we don’t know that for certain.
What we do know is that it seems from Matthew 24:36 that there is a specific day, and even a specific hour, that the Father has selected as the day and hour of Jesus’s return.
Obviously, because Jesus hasn’t returned yet, that day and that hour hasn’t yet come; but when it does come, it will be unexpected.
Jesus will come like a thief in the night; He will come while things still seem at least well enough for people to be eating and drinking and getting married. When Jesus comes it will be as visible as lightning flashing from east to west and just as sudden.
Are you ready for His coming?
Most people are not ready because they haven’t believed on Jesus for salvation; they haven’t called out to Jesus for salvation; and because they haven’t, Jesus will not be their friend when He comes.
Will He be your friend when He comes?
He will only if you trust Him.
But a third answer as to why Jesus hasn’t returned is found right here in John 14:2-3…
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Jesus hasn’t returned yet because the place He is preparing for us isn’t ready yet.
When our place is ready, He will come for us, that where He is, there we may also be.
He doesn’t wish anyone to perish.
The day and hour set by the Father hasn’t arrived yet.
And He’s still preparing a place for us.
While we wait—when we are troubled—let us believe in God, and believe also in Jesus who suffered the cross and all its indignities to bring us home.
[TS] But, after telling His disciples that they couldn’t go where He was going, but that He would return to take them to where He was going, Jesus then shocked His disciples by telling them in John 14:4…
4 “And you know the way where I am going.”
Thomas asked the question everyone else must’ve been thinking, “How do we know the way?”
Jesus responds with our second COMFORT this morning: Knowledge of the Way…
Comfort #2: Knowledge of the Way (John 14:5-7)
Comfort #2: Knowledge of the Way (John 14:5-7)
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
[EXP] Thomas was confused like the rest of the disciples; Jesus said that He was going away and the disciples couldn’t follow Him wherever He was going. That troubled the disciples, but now Jesus was saying that they knew they way to where He was going. How did that make sense? Thomas spoke up, “How do we know the way?”
Thomas didn’t realize that Jesus was talking about going to His heavenly Father, that Jesus was talking about going to Heaven to sit at God’s right hand with all authority in heaven and earth given to Him, but Jesus revealed to Thomas and all of us the way and the where of His going.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
First, THE WHERE: Jesus is going to the Father.
First, THE WHERE: Jesus is going to the Father.
Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Jesus soon went to the cross and breathed His last, and when He did, He stepped into the presence of His Father.
Yes, His body was laid in a tomb, but as Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
To go to the Father is to go to Heaven; it is to go to salvation.
It is to go to love.
It is to go to eternal joy and happiness.
It is to go to the presence of divine glory and holiness.
It is to go to no more tears, pain, suffering, or death.
It is to go to the only refuge for sinners, and Jesus is the only way there!
Don’t you want that?
Don’t you want to live forever in the loving presence of the Father?
Well, if we do, we had better follow Jesus because…
…secondly, Jesus is the only way to the Father; He is THE WAY!
…secondly, Jesus is the only way to the Father; He is THE WAY!
He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him.
Jesus is the way because we are spiritually lost without Him.
Jesus is the truth because we are spiritually confused without Him.
Jesus is the life because we are spiritually dead without Him.
No one finds God, knows God, or has life from God apart from faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God crucified and resurrected.
He is the way, the truth, and the life!
If we know Him, we know the way to the Father!
That’s what John 14:6 is about.
If we know Him, we know the Father!
That’s what John 14:7 is about.
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
[ILLUS] I wonder if you really believe these things. Some people don’t believe these things. Some people think they can get to Heaven without Jesus. Some people think they can know God without Jesus.
I was talking with a man on Friday about Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. When I told him that Jesus was the only way to Heaven and that the only ones in Heaven would be those who believed on Jesus for salvation, he sort pursed his lips and looked like he was going to object, but then He had to admit that Jesus said what He said in John 14:6-7.
[APP] Don’t object to Jesus as the only way of salvation.
God didn’t have to provide any way of salvation, but in His grace, He has provided one way, and that way is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Do you believe this?
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
If this is what we believe, then we must confidently share it with others as God provides us opportunity.
To help you do that, we have for you this morning a tract written by the late Billy Graham called I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Will you pray that the Lord would give you the compassion and boldness to share a couple of these with others as we lead up to Resurrection Sunday?
Put it in the hands of someone and say, “I want you to know that Jesus is the only way of salvation; the only way to have a home in Heaven. I’m praying you come to know Him as the way, the truth, and the life. I’m praying you experience the comfort of knowing Him.”
The comforts in John 14 ought to motivate us to believe on Jesus for salvation, and they ought to motivate us to tells others about the comfort for troubled hearts that can only be found in Jesus.
[PRAYER]