The Way to the Truth and the Life

Intro

The passage that we have just read places us in the early stage of the final crescendo in St John’s gospel account, namely, the crucifixion.

Jesus, only a few verses earlier, is said in (John 13:21) to be troubled in His spirit , and yet here our Lord devotes his attention to the troubles of His dear disciples.

Struggling with the proposition of their beloved teacher being taken from them, Peter, Jesus’ most outspoken follower, declares his loyalty and protection over Jesus, yet even then, the disciples' spirits are crushed from the weight of Jesus’ words to Peter, John 13:38, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

Not only is their leader being taken away from them, but they are powerless to stop it.

We all know something of this feeling of helplessness.

Our family and friends are very near and dear to our hearts, yet we ultimately cannot protect them or even ourselves from the sting of death.

Our physical eyes cannot see beyond the veil of this mortal life to find comfort knowing that they are in a better place.

And so, many of us are tempted to look to the hope of an eternal paradise as the object of our faith. Just give me my ticket to heaven, somewhere to free me pain that my loved ones and I experience here on earth.

What ultimately is eternal life?

In this “I AM” discourse, the Lord Jesus not only promises us a home in eternity but also grants us by faith the sight to actually see the promise of eternity bound up in the person of Christ, giving all believers an assurance in eternity.

The Promise given

The need for deliverance isn't an unfamiliar concept to these Jewish disciples.

The story of God delivering their ancestors from Egypt into the promised land would always echo in hearts as they too long for their own redemption from the tyranny of the Roman province.

It’s helpful here to think back to Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, a picture of hope and the promise of deliverance tied directly to the revelation of who God is and how He has dedicated Himself to His people.

This is important for us to consider, as it’ll help shape how we view the promise of eternity.

Like Moses in Exodus 3, The disciples are challenged by Jesus to place their trust in Him as their deliverer into the promised land.

Jesus does this firstly by positioning Himself in v1 as the object of their faith.

Telling them that, as they believe in God, to likewise believe in Him.

To trust Him despite their anxiety.

It is based on this trust that He assures His followers in v2 that beyond the pains of this life, there is a place of rest in God’s house awaiting them.

They have always been in His heart. God didn’t forget His people in Egypt, and He surely hasn’t forgotten them now.

Not only is there a place personally prepared by God for them, but we see in v3 that just as Yahweh led the Israelites through the wilderness, so too will Jesus return to take His people home.

Why else would he ever leave those whom He loves, but to pave the way for them?

Considering that we are still awaiting His return, we know that this promise is yet to be fulfilled, meaning that, as members of His Church, this was written for us too.

Just as Jesus challenged His disciples, so too are we challenged to trust in Jesus, to take Him at His word and by faith lay hold of the promise that He has so graciously extended to us.

But how do we lay hold of that which we have no experience of?

We have never seen the promised land, and our comprehension of things eternal is veiled by our limitations as finite creatures.

We don’t even know how to begin thinking about heaven.

Yet Jesus in v4 says that we know the way.

The Promise found in the Person of Christ

What is Jesus getting at?

He wants us to see that the promise is found in the person of Christ Himself.

Just as the Lord spoke to Moses, saying that He is the God of Abraham (past), is their

God in Egypt (present) and through to the promised land (future).

So too, Jesus reveals Himself to us as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The initiator, perfecter and end goal of our faith.

How is He our Initiator?

looking again at v4, Jesus emphasises that the disciples already know the way. Why?

Because He is the way.

They have already been initiated onto the path of eternal life by having been made one

with Christ, as Jesus will go on to say in v20 of our text, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

By uniting us to himself, we are freed from our sin, our Egypt.

But we are not in the promised land yet.

We are still journeying through the wilderness.

The journey is difficult, and we all know the struggle too well.

Yet we have a perfecter, a help in our times of need.

Through Thomas, v5, we find a great role model for seeking the Truth.

When in doubt, to whom did Thomas look first for answers?

Not Peter. But Jesus.

Just as John 1:17 proclaims Christ to be the source of all truth.

It is necessary that we lean on His Word alone, lest we fall off the narrow way, never to see the end of our faith, the Lord of Glory – Christ Himself.

Jesus in v6 identifies Himself for the 6th of the 7 times in John's gospel with the great “I AM” from Ex 3

Only He could offer eternal life because, as 1 John 5:20b declares, “He is the true God and eternal life.”

The prize of our race is Jesus Himself.

He is, as the (SOS 3:1) puts it, our beloved “whom [our] soul loves”.

Conclusion

It is fitting that we end here, in the arms of our Lord.

There is no greater remedy for our troubled souls than in the tender embrace of the revelation of eternal life, our Beloved Deliverer, Jesus Christ.

As He holds us through faith’s journey, He reminds our troubled souls to trust Him, that by faith in His death and resurrection, we will be made alive in Him, basking in the radiance of His grace for all eternity, and in that light, all fear is gone. Amen

Soli Deo Gloria