I Am: The Way, the Truth, and the Life

I AM: The Way the Truth and the Life

John 14:1-11

Series Slide

Good morning, Happy Easter, and welcome to worship on this amazing day that the Lord has made. I know, you are asking, “What do you mean ‘Happy Easter’, that was last Sunday.” Yes, but no. Easter isn’t a day, Easter is a season in the Christian Year. Easter is the season from the Resurrection, through the Ascencion, and to Pentecost! So, it is still correct to say, Happy Easter.

Throughout Lent and the beginning of the Easter Season we have been and are looking at Jesus’ statements in the book of John where he claims the eternal name of God, Yahweh in Hebrew, Ego Eimi in Greek, and I Am in English. The statements that follow the statement are significant: I am the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Living Water, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, and today, the Way the Truth, and the Life… but it is what comes before those statements that is most profound. In the use of the word I Am, Jesus is claiming unequivocally to be God in the Flesh before the people. God, living, breathing, walking, and talking in their midst. That alone is a profound concept that some of them couldn’t accept.

Then, in addition to claiming to be God in the Flesh, he goes on to define who God is, who He is with these descriptions.

Today, as we prepare for Holy Communion, we are getting into a passage that so many of us are so familiar with. Turn with me to John 14. We hear it read at most of the funerals, a passage of comfort. I read it with the explanation that Jesus is trying to comfort his closest followers. But, if I may today, let us stretch our understanding of this passage a little more. As we stretch our understanding of this passage, I want us to reflect a little on asking the wrong question. OK, here’s how we will do this… I will read today’s actual passage, then we will back up a few verses to see the context of the passage. We are going to begin in verse 1, then go through verse 11.

John 14:1-11 (NIV)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 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.”

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.

<Prayer>

Series Slide

There is a reason I call the disciples the Duh-sciples sometimes. In fact, I affectionately call Peter, James, and John the 3 Stooges. I’m not sure which one is Larry, Curly, or Mo, but boy, sometimes they just don’t get it.

But, I’m thankful that we see that side of them, because I can be kinda the same way. I can miss the point sometimes. I can ask the wrong questions sometimes. Sometimes I just imagine Jesus up in heaven listening to my prayers and say, “Hoy Veh!” We see it with the disciples here…

If you back up to chapter 13, you realize that 14 is a continuation of the Passover celebration and conversations that took place before Jesus left the Upper Room to go to Gethsemane to pray.

Verses 1-17 are about the foot washing, and we get to hear from one of the Stooges… I mean Peter as Jesus attempts to wash his feet, but Peter says “No Way! I’m not letting you wash my feet!” and Jesus replies that “If you don’t let me do this, then we will have nothing to do with each other.” So Peter says, “well, not my feet but wash all of me!” I might call that, Adventures in Missing the Point!

Then we see Judas, after partaking in Passover with Jesus, go and betray him to the Chief Priests.

After Judas leaves, Jesus begins talking about what he is about to go through and the fact that the Disciples can’t follow him, this is something he must do alone, for them… Like washing their feet, it was something Jesus did for them, it wasn’t something they could do.

Where are you going, Why Can’t I Come With You?

But, Here goes Peter again… sticking his foot in his mouth beginning in 13:36… “But Jesus, Where are you Going? Why can’t I come with you? I’ll die with you!” It’s a statement that belongs in combat. You are my leader, you are leading us in battle, “I will fight with you and if it comes to it, I will die with you.”

Jesus knows what is about to happen… Judas has already left the room, the betrayal has begun, the arrest is immanent, and he knows what will happen. I can only imagine the compassion in Jesus’ eyes as he looked at Peter and said, “Oh Peter, my rock… my guardian… you won’t even make it through the night before you deny me three times.”

Maybe that’s why Jesus starts the next statement with “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, believe, trust, in God and believe in me, trust in me.”

Jesus sees their humanity. Jesus sees that they haven’t gotten it yet, but in just a few hours they would begin to get it.

Here we find another Duh-sciple moment, this time with Timothy asking the wrong question… but it’s really just a re-asking of Peter’s question, because I’m not sure you noticed, but Jesus really didn’t answer Peter’s question.

How can we know the way?

Turn with me, back to our original passage, beginning in verse 1

John 14:1-5

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

We have translated this passage so many ways. It’s where we get the idea of mansions in heaven from… we see it translated “In my Father’s house are many… mansions, room, dwelling places… The New Living Translation actually translates it as “There is more than enough room in my Father’s house.”

The word here that we translate is the Greek word monai and it comes from the root of meno which means “to stay”, or “abiding place”. The idea isn’t so much about a specific room as much as it is about abiding with God.

Maybe Jesus was talking about Heaven here… that is comforting to think about, but when you put it in the context of all that is going on in this complete passage that goes all the way through chapter 16, you realize it may be about more than just when we die.

Maybe, just maybe Jesus is talking about a place of intimacy with the Father. And Jesus “coming again to them” may have not been about the Second coming, but maybe it was a little more immanent that some day in the distant future… maybe Jesus was telling them that he would return to them after he died… that he would rise again.

We know this is likely from Jesus’ comments later in this chapter; (14:18;20;23) “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you…Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Jesus is referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit after his ascension, who will be the means by which Father and Son make their home in us.

Thinking about this passage from that perspective is a radical shift in thinking in and of itself. If you’re taking notes, write that down…. Go home and reflect on it… It’s a lot!

But, we aren’t done with the idea of asking the wrong questions. Another adventure in missing the point, Thomas has to ask, “Lord, We ain’t got a clue where you are going, how can we know the way?” (That’s the East Texas translation if you were wondering)

In other words, Thomas is asking for a map and a compass. Thomas wanted facts. He wanted hard evidence. He wanted details.

Jesus’ answer to Thomas is the same as it was to Peter, “Trust God, Trust Me.”

I not sure who all it is, but some of you need to hear that right now. You need to hear Jesus remind you… “Trust God, Trust Me.” You are all wrapped up in the details and trying to figure it all out… you’re trying to find the details and the answers when Jesus is looking at you with eyes of compassion and saying, “trust me.” You’re saying, “Lord, give me a map and a compass so I can see what you’re doing, so I can see where you are leading me, so I can know the way…

But here we read Jesus’ words of reassurance… He looks with eyes of compassion at Thomas, and he looks at Peter, and he’s looking at you and me and he is saying”

“…I am the way, the truth, and the life.” No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know the Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (v. 6-7)

It’s like Jesus is saying, “Listen, you don’t need to understand all this. You simply need to trust me. Don’t look for a ‘way’ apart from me. Don’t look for a route or destination—some concept or technique or system of thought that is separate from me. I’m not going to give you information or instructions so you no longer need me and can instead depend on the information or instructions. No, just trust me. Everything you need is in me. I will bring you to my Father’s abiding place. ‘The way’ or ‘the truth’ or ‘the life’ aren’t things separate from me. I am these things, so you’ll find them in me! Whether or not you know what I’ve been talking about, if you know me, you know the Father, you know the way, you know the truth, you know the life.”

Jesus’ response is also a play on the word “know.” Thomas is asking, “How can we have intellectual clarity on where you’re going and the route to get there?” But Jesus replies, “You don’t need intellectual clarity; you need personal knowledge. It’s not a matter of ‘knowing about,’ but rather ‘knowing.’

Thomas a Kempis wrote, “Without the Way there is no going, without the Truth there is no knowing, without the Life there is no living.”

We don’t need a map and compass… Jesus is our map and compass!

Ok, one more adventure in missing the point. This one isn’t such a question as it is a statement with a question in the background. This time it’s Philip. Flip over to verse 8

Show us the Father

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

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)

Peter asks Jesus, “Where are you going?” and Jesus says, “trust me.”

Thomas asks, “How can we know the way?” and Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life… I am all you need.”

Philip asks, “Just show us the Father and that will be enough.” And Jesus says, “We are the same… if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. I am in Him and He is in me!”

Sermon Slide

It’s so easy to point at the disciples and call them Stooges… or call them the Duh-sciples… because they just don’t get it. Time after time, they just don’t get it.

But I don’t think we would have been any different. The way of Jesus… the Way, the Truth, and the Life is such a radically different way of existing, of being, of living, that we still don’t get it all the time.

We try to make life about the religion and not the relationship. We make life about the law and not the love. We just don’t get it sometimes…

Like this Holy Meal.

Theologians have argued for 1500 years or more about what this meal means.

Some say we are consuming the actual Body and Blood of Jesus.

Some say it’s just symbolic, remembering the sacrifice of Jesus

But we as Christians in the tradition of John Wesley say, it’s both. At the table and within the elements is Christ, we remember the sacrifice when we gather around this table, we partake in the sacrifice through receiving these elements, we take Jesus, the Christ, into us that he may change us from the inside out.

Then, we arise from this table to live out the radically different way of living that Jesus has called us to.