I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Hebrews 12:1-2. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverancethe race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Worship Set: Micah

Congregational Prayer: Mike

Children's Message Video: Lydia

Scripture Reading: John 14:1-7

“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.”

Message Intro:

Have you ever found yourself in a troubling situation, wondering about the best way to keep moving forward and not become paralyzed by fear?

Some troubling situations are brought upon us randomly, live the Pandemic we're all living through now, but others are brought on by our own choosing. In either case, I trust we've all found ourselves in a situation where are hearts have been deeply troubled by what could happen.

The paralytic power of fear always preys upon our minds in moments like that, when the worst thing that could happen captures our imaginations.

Here’s a scary situation that I once chose to get myself and my family into. To get you thinking with me about the nature of Jesus’ words in John 14:6, let me tell you about one of the most memorable hikes I’ve ever taken with my wife and kids. It was a famous hike in Zion National Park to the top of a rock outcropping affectionately known as “Angel’s Landing”. They call it that for good reason, because there's only one way up to the top, and when you get there you're literally surrounded by sheer drop off's of over 1000ft. So this is not a place you'd want to venture out to visit if you're afraid of heights.

Illustration: Hiking up Angel’s Landing. (Pictured behind me.)

When we did this hike back in 2010, my kids were 9, 11, 13 and 15. They all made it to the top, and to this day they all remember it as one of the greatest and most memorable achievements of their lifetime.

If you want to do this hike, and especially if you’re afraid of heights, there are three critical things you need to trust: your feet, your mind, and your hands. You need to use your feet to follow the path and stay on it. You need to use your mind to believe you can make it, and to listen your friends and family encouraging you so you won’t give in to the deceptive power of fear. And you need to use your hands to hold on to the hand rails so that you won’t lose your balance and fall to your death.

So, why would I want you to consider an experience like that? Some of you think I’m nuts just for trying it. But I love experiences like this because they offer an exhilarating and memorable experience of stunning beauty. Trust me, the view from the bottom is nothing like the view from the top. But there is only one way to get to the top of Angel’s Landing, and the truth is it's a very dangerous pathway but you can make it. To do that, just carefully trust your hands, keep your balance, and be fully aware that any wrong move could easily mean the difference between life and death.

Now, If you were listening closely, maybe you caught my hint there. You see, what I’m saying is that this journey up to Angel's Landing is something like the spiritual journey each of us is on to a place known as the Kingdom of Heaven, where the Father's House is found. In each case, there's only one way to get up there, and the journey up will almost certainly bring us some troubling moments along the way. But we can make it, if we place our trust in the right things.

So before we go any further toward discovering the meaning of John 14:6 this morning, let's start by wrapping our minds around how the disciples were feeling when Jesus first spoke these words, and what he said to put their minds and hearts at ease.

John 14:1 sums it up quite well. For there, Jesus simply said to his disciples:

Ref. John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me."

Friends, there's a lesson here for us too. In fact, take a moment to imagine Jesus speaking those same words to you too. Imagine him looking you square in the eyes and saying "Don't let your heart be troubled. Trust me instead.”

You see, the lesson here amounts to this:

When trouble comes your way, don’t let trouble have it’s way. Trust Jesus instead.

When Jesus said “Believe also in me”, he wasn’t saying believe that I exist, or believe that I’m a good teacher. He was saying, “Place your trust in me. Like you trust a chair to hold you up when you sit down in it, trust me."

Now, why were the disciples feeling troubled? If you double back to read John 13 you'll quickly see that the story line of Jesus' life was moving swiftly and purposefully toward the cross. He knew he was soon to die, and he was trying to explain that impending reality to his followers. The trouble was, they didn't want to hear it, or believe it. Watching the death of their leader was not what they thought they had signed up for, or how they believed things were meant to turn out. They were expecting something else... like a great victory over the oppressive Romans for example.

They were certainly not expecting Jesus to leave them stranded without his leadership. And they were filled with a troubling mix of fear and disappointment at the very thought of it.

Listen, I know this is only the introduction to my message, but for some of you this might be the most important point I make. Let me warn you here of a common predicament we all face. Our human hearts are often troubled when things don't seem that they'll turn out the way we expected them too. Expectations are a potent force in our minds and hearts.

For example, for the last two weeks I've had this foreboding sense that our Spring Track Season was about to get cancelled. Only three weeks ago I never would have expected that, or believed it was possible. But now it's happened, and the hopes and expectations of my team members are shattered.

Or, perhaps for some of you the feeling is similar with regard to not meeting on Resurrection Sunday to celebrate together.

But here's the glorious good news. When Jesus said to those guys, "You believe in God. Believe also in me", He knew something they didn't yet know. He knew full well that while it would appear to his followers that his death was a defeat and a disappointment, it would in fact turn out to be a greater victory than they could possibly imagine. So when he said to them, "believe in me... trust me"... "Do not allow your hearts to be troubled".... they had a decision to make. And in the same way, when he says it to us we do too, only we have the benefit of learning from their experience that Jesus really does knows what he's doing. This is an offer not to be refused!!

Jesus doesn't say "trust me", and then leave us hanging. To the contrary, the whole point of John's Gospel, and this chapter in particular, is that Jesus is greater than whatever troubles us. Can you hear that, and choose to believe it!? Let me declare it again for good measure:

Jesus is greater than whatever troubles you!

So that's the back story then, that leads us into the fifth of Jesus' "I Am" statements, which we come to in John 14 down in verse 6.

Now, just to remind you of the ground we've covered over the last several weeks, and to invite you to go back and listen if you missed any of those messages, here are the first four "I Am" statement we've covered already.

Jesus said, "I Am the Bread of Life".

Jesus said, "I Am the Light of the World."

Jesus said, "I Am the Gate for the Sheep."

Jesus said, "I Am the Good Shepherd."

Jesus said...

Ref. John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

As I think about these words, my mind drifts back to a message I heard long ago, when I was a young man attending the Urbana student conference in 1987. At that conference I heard a quote based on this verse that always and often remembered and thought of over the years.

Quote from Ajith Fernando: “Ideologies point to the way, but Jesus said I am the way. Philosophies point to the truth, but Jesus said I am the truth. Theologies (religions) point to the life, but Jesus said I am the life.”

If Jesus is the way, the way to where?

Message Point 2: There’s only one way to get to God's House. Trust Jesus.

Ideologies are all about the ideas and ideals that provide the best way to govern human society. They have both political, economic and social ramifications. In other words, ideologies are about the best way of life for humans to embrace if we want things to turn out well in the end.

For example, socialism is an ideology. Communism is an ideology. Environmentalism can be an ideology. Even democracy and free market capitalism are ideologies. Now here me out here, before you get defensive. I'm not saying all ideologies are equally bad. And I'm also not saying that the one I might prefer is perfect. Here's what I am saying:

All human ideologies fall short of providing humanity with a way of life that will get us into the Father's House. The only way of life that will get us there is following and trusting Jesus.

The only way to get up to the top of Angel's Landing is up the single file trail. There's only one way up. And the same is true if you hope to arrive someday at the Father's House and find yourself at home there.

Who is this Father that Jesus was speaking of? Though Jesus affectionately used the term "Abba", meaning Daddy, the one he was speaking of is the LORD of heaven and earth. He was speaking of the One, True Living God, "Yahweh", whom Jesus knew as his Father in Heaven.

You see, what he was trying to tell his disciples is that he was going there before them in order to prepare a place for them. This is the language of verses 2 and following, where Jesus is attempting to explain where he's going without his disciples.

As the dialogue indicates, they didn't quite get it. "You know the way to the place where I am going" Jesus said to them. But then, speaking for all of them, good ol' doubting Thomas replied "Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?"

That was a beautifully honest confession of ignorance wasn't it!?

But here's an even more beautiful explanation of where Jesus was leading them. He was leading them into the kingdom of heaven, also known as the kingdom of God, which is the place where the Great I Am, Yahweh, reigns supreme. But he was doing it with language borrowed from the traditional promise a groom would make to his newly betrothed bride to be.

In those days, according to custom, right after she had agreed to marry him, a young Jewish man would say to a young Jewish woman, "in my Father's house there are many rooms. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And when I return, I will take you there to live with me."

Can you believe that?.... Isn't that cool? Those are almost the exact words Jesus spoke to his disciples. So perhaps their confusion was understandable. They were like, "Wait.... did he just ask us to marry him!? What's he talking about? I thought just yesterday he told us was soon to die!"

So here's the deal: Jesus was implying of course, that his people... his church, would be like a bride to him. But more importantly, he was trying to give them a metaphorical picture of what he was about to do. He was about to go to be with the Father in heaven again, which is where he had come from in the first place. But in returning there, he was about to make a way for them to go there with him.

Now I realize it's not always a popular or politically correct thing to believe or say, but let's be perfectly clear about this: When Jesus said "I am the way... no one comes to the Father except through me", he was indeed making a statement of exclusivity. He, and he alone, opens up a way for us to get admitted into the Father's house. How can we get there? There's only one way: it's only by trusting in Jesus.

Lots of people think that simply living a good life or being a good person will get them there. But if there's anything that should really trouble our hearts it's our own aptitude for self-centered living. Quite honestly, trying to gain access to heaven on your own merit is something like to trying to climb to the top of Angel's Landing without using the path.... and with no ropes. You can try to climb up the side if you like, but you're chances of arriving at the top are somewhere between slim and none. That is not the One way that's been opened up for normal people to arrive at the top.

In fact, let me give you a little break from listening to me and a visual aid that takes us one step beyond the picture I’ve been using. Here’s a short video put together and published on YouTube by a group called SoCal Attractions 360. Notice the pathway that leads up to Angel’s Landing.

HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6K0KoMrco" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy6K0KoMrco

Now that you’ve seen the pathway up to Angel’s Landing, think of it as a symbolic picture of the one, single way that leads to a right relationship with our Father in heaven. Think of it as a picture of Jesus. In short, trusting Jesus is the only way to get to God’s house.

But Jesus isn’t just the way. In his own words, he’s also the truth.

Message Point 3: There’s only one truth that frees us from sin. Trust Jesus.

What about truth? All philosophies attempt to point to the truth. They all intend to help us understand what can be known and how it can be known.

I remember sitting in my college philosophy class and learning about the great insight of Descartes, who famously said "I think therefore I am."

Like Descartes, every philosopher throughout the ages has been dedicated to answering the basic question 'What can we know to be true about life?" Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.

But the trouble with most philosophical conclusions, as with Descartes moment of enlightenment, is that they generally assume there is no such thing as revelation from God. In other words, philosophy is typically very humanistic in it's methodology. It assumes that we as humans can figure out what is true and what can be known with the use of reason and intellect. What it often fails to account for then, is the likelihood of outside revelation, either to guide us into a knowledge of the truth, or to mislead us into the bondage of deception.

So then, all philosophies may attempt to point to the truth. They attempt to help us understand what we can know to be true and what we can know to be false. Yet, who is to say that human reason is faultless and beyond shortcoming? Who is to say that we simply figure everything out by simply exerting a little human brain power?

Do you know what Jesus said? Jesus simply said this: Trust in me... I am the truth.

Think about it. If he was right, that would mean that everything he ever said or taught was true and right. Everything he revealed was without fault or deception. But more than that, it would also mean that his entire life embodied the truth of what he said. He didn't just speak truth. He is truth embodied. He is truth in action. That's like the supreme opposite of the old saying "Do as I say and not as I do."

Have you ever met or heard a person like that?... someone who claims to spout the truth, but whose life doesn't match what they say?

By the way, do you know who that phrase was first coined in jest of? Preachers. Isn't that sad!?

It's a saying intended to poke some fun at those who are hypocritical, and sadly, there are plenty of people that fit that category.

Many people speak one message with their words, but they speak another message with their behavior. And in so doing, essentially they say respect my knowledge and obey my instructions, but do not bother to imitate my behavior. Friends, Jesus wasn't like that at all!

In fact, if we take the Bible at it's word, it tells us that Jesus was the first and only human being to ever live a perfect, sinless life. The only one, out of many billions that is. Imagine that... Jesus was completely devoid of any deception or falsehood. He had perfect integrity. What he said was always matched up with what he did. That's what it looks like to know the truth and to be the truth.

But what I love about Jesus is that he was full of truth and grace, as John puts it. Listen to this:

Ref. John 1:14,17 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth... For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Do you know why that's important? Most people who think they're full of the truth have a way of using it to berate those who disagree with them. But Jesus wasn't like that. He was full of truth, yet because he was also full of grace he had the ability to disarm deception and break people free from it's grip.

Ref. John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You see, the beauty of truth is that it beats and breaks the power of deception and the sin it leads to. And that's precisely what we see it doing in the life and ministry of Jesus. He was constantly about the work of setting people free from the lies that previously held them captive... lies that they believed were true! That's the nature of lies: they always present themselves to us as truths, but they're only disguised as truths.

So when Jesus says, "I am the truth", Trust Him! Trust Him with all your mind and with all your heart.

Trust that when he speak to you, what he speaks will hold greater truth and power than any and every lie you've ever believed. Jesus' heart is not to hide the truth from us, but to make it known so that it can set us free.

For example, is it true that catching the coronavirus could bring an end to your earthly life, or the life of someone you love? Yes, that’s true. Yet there’s an even greater truth more worthy of our focus. It’s a truth that replaces fear with peace.

Here it is: The sting of death has been overcome by the promise of resurrection and new life for those who trust in Christ Jesus. This is how Paul could say, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I’m not suggesting we should have a cavalier attitude toward the virus… but what I am saying is that those who are in Christ shouldn’t allow their hearts to be troubled by the fear of catching it. That’s not truly trusting in Jesus.

So when I walk into Meijer to buy our groceries, I think to myself, Jesus you’re not just watching over me, you’re with me. My life is in your hands. I choose to trust you, and I refuse to let my heart be troubled with fear.

In the same way but facing even greater risk, if you’re a nurse or doctor working at the hospital, like several of our CCV members, how do you go to work every day without allowing your heart to be overcome with the trouble you’re facing? Many may try to just muster up the courage. But the best mindset to have is to choose trust in Jesus and commit your work to Him.

We don’t just trust Jesus to get us to heaven. We need to trust Jesus to help us walk in truth and not be troubled every day of our lives.

That brings me, last but not least, to life… the life of Jesus offered to those who follow Him.

Message Point 3: There’s only one life that all people long for. Trust Jesus.

Think about this with me. What's the main objective of every religion on earth? It's not just about what to believe about God. Even more than that, it's about what to do and how to live in order to please God. It’s about what we need to do to attain favor with God. So every religion has a defined set of best practices, including how to worship properly and how to live life.

Theologies and religions teach men and women how they need to live to be right with God. But here's the trouble with that: They can't all be true if they teach contradictory things, which means that some are actually false religions that mislead people. If one religion says we should worship many God's, and another religion says we should only worship one God, which is right? If one religion teaches that a man can marry many wives, and another religion teaches that a man should only marry one wife, which is right... what's the best practice to experience a good and godly life? If one religion teaches that good works will gain you access to heaven, but another teaches that only by humbly confessing your sin can you receive grace from God, which is it?

Should we just try a little harder to do the right thing? Or, is there a better life available to us in some other way? You see, all religions point to the life we should live. They say do this or don't do that and these behaviors will take your life in the right direction. Practice this form of obedience and it will place you in right standing with the one or many Gods.

Religions point to the life we all want to live. But Jesus said, I am the life.

In fact, did you know that every religion except Biblical Christianity amounts to a form of works righteousness, where humans have to behave well enough to earn God’s favor. Perhaps you’re simply weren't aware of this, or perhaps you’ve held the conviction that all religions are simply different paths all leading to the same destination.

Guys, back in the days before GPS and Google maps, did you ever refuse to ask directions for how to get somewhere despite the pleading of your wife?

Here’s a little cartoon that pokes some fun at that kind of self-reliant attitude, and the mindset that any form of religion will serve the same purpose

You see, Jesus was different, and the movement he began is fundamentally set apart by this one singular difference. Jesus fulfilled and thereby replaced the Old Covenant of the Law, which was based on good works, so that we could attain abundant and everlasting life by placing our trust in Him. This makes eternal life a gift to be gratefully received, not a reward to be earned by good behavior.

As Paul put it in...

Ref Ephesians 2:4-9. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

When you place your trust in Jesus, good works become a grateful response to God’s mercy, not a way to earn something. The life of Jesus is a gift from God received by faith. So stop acting like you can manage to impress God with how you live your life, and start welcoming the Spirit of Christ and the life of Christ to fill you and guide your actions.

As we saw a few weeks ago, in John 10:10, speaking on this same subject Jesus said,

Ref. John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they [you] may have life, and have it to the full.

So the kind and quality of life Jesus offers us is his own: Life to the full, or abundant life. Which is to say, it's really his life in us.

This is huge! It means that the fullness of Jesus' life is made available to us simply by trusting in Him.

To bring this all together for you, Jesus statement amount to this reality: There’s trouble all around us, but the truth is there is one and only one way that leads to life abundant and everlasting, and it’s trusting in Jesus.

So to finish up, let me take you one last time back to my Angel’s Landing analogy. Think of Jesus like this: All at the same time, He is like the pathway that gives direction up the mountain. He is like the companion telling us we can actually get there if we trust Him to help us. And He is like the hand rail that guards our life.

And whenever anyone discovers this and places their trust in Jesus, the Word of God tells us that every Angel in heaven rejoices over the salvation of that soul.

Friends, I invite you and urge you to trust Jesus now more than you’ve ever trusted him before.

Let’s pray.

Important Reminders/Announcements:

Uganda Mission Trip - not yet cancelled.

Prayer Focus for April - Prayer Ministry

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Benediction:

The Aaronic Blessing from Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”’

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HYPERLINK "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A29-34&version=NIV" https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A29-34&version=NIV