I AM Part 7- Way, Truth, Life

The Real/The Rub

The Rub

Have you ever been lost before? Or have you ever been trying to figure out where you were going and just couldn’t? When Bre and I were in college she bought me tickets to see Christ Tomlin and Louie Giglio down in the Dallas area. That’s my favorite worship leader and my favorite preacher. They used to travel the country and lead worship and share a message.

Now this was a surprise so Bre didn’t tell me where we were going. She just said to head to Dallas. That was fine. I knew how to get to Dallas. Go to the Loves in Pauls Valley hang a left on I-35 and eventually you’ll get to Dallas.

Things were great until we got to Dallas. This was before either of us had a smart phone and we didn’t have a GPS either. Not to mention I had no clue where we were going to. When you get to Dallas theres about 30 different major highways that all come together in one spot and its really easy to have no clue what you were doing. I called her dad and he tried to talk me through it but it honestly wasn’t all that helpful.

That was the most nervous I’d ever been driving and I had no clue where we were going to end up or if we were going to end up anywhere for that matter.

We eventually found the church and guess what. We were at the wrong campus so we had to do it all over again! It’s an absolute miracle that we got there in time. We didn’t miss anything! But it was definitely a memorable experience.

Today we’re going to look at a moment where the disciples were lost. They were confused. They had no idea where they were going.

The Read

The last time we met we looked at the fifth “I AM” saying of Christ where he claimed to give new life and he also did give new life physically to Lazarus by raising him from the dead. There’s a lot that happened in between that part of chapter 11 and the passage we’ll be looking at today in chapter 14.

The Pharisees, after hearing about Jesus raising and Lazarus, and after hearing about all the people who are following him now, are finally fed up with the attention Jesus is getting and they feel like their way of life is being threatened. So for the first time they sit down together and actually discuss the idea of killing Jesus and they begin to formulate their plan.

We see that Jesus is kind of hiding out in the wilderness until the passover and then we see this scene of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume.

We see Jesus coming into town on what has become known as palm Sunday. The people are shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” while waving palm branches at him.

We see Jesus and the disciples in the upper room where Jesus washes the disciples feet to show that even the king humbles himself and takes on the role of a servant. This foreshadows that the king will take on the role of the sinner in just a few chapters.

We see Jesus sharing the last supper with the disciples and in this he notably predicts his death and tells them that he’s going to give up his life for a new covenant. And this is where we find ourselves as we step into John chapter 14.

The disciples who have been walking with and learning from Jesus for 3 years now are learning that he’s about to give up his life. This is their mentor. This is their leader. But most importantly this is their Lord. They’re probably confused. They’re most definitely hurting.

Jesus said in starting in verse 1.

Jesus says in starting in verse 1.

(NIV) 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

Jesus says to the disciples who are sitting here in their own sorrow and pain not to be troubled. And I feel like you can really see the heart of Jesus. You can really see the selflessness of Jesus.

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

The disciples didn’t fully understand what Jesus was going to go through. They knew he was going to die but there’s no way they could’ve know just how bad it was going to be. But Jesus did and he chose to care for thier hearts anyways.

Let’s not be too hard on the disciples for not understanding completely but Jesus was the one fixing to go through a terrible trial. Jesus was the one fixing to give up his life. The disciples are here going, “What are we going to do? How are we going to go on? How’s this going to effect us?”

And you know that Jesus has to be thinking, “Seriously? I’m about to give up my life and you’re the ones who are being tormented?” But in true selfless Jesus fashion he says, “It’ll be ok. Don’t be troubled.” And that’s a message in and of itself to show the selflessness and the heart of Jesus but that’s just the beginning line of the passage.

I love the reminder that Jesus gives to the disciples. “Believe in God; believe also in me.”

The disciples had heard the stories of what God had done. They’d hear how God took the hopeless situation for the Israelites in Egypt and used Moses to bring glory to his name.

They’d heard how God rescued Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from a terrible and scary situation to bring glory to his name.

They’d heard the story about Daniel and what certainly should have been the end of his life when he was thrown to a pack of hungry lions. But God rescued him out of that horrible situation to be glorified.

They knew all of this. They’d hear all of these stories. They believed in what God could do in a troubling situation and so Jesus was just reminding them to believe in him also.

He builds on the reason that they can take heart and not live in their sorrow as h moves on in verse 2.

(NIV) 2 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? 3 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.

2 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? 3 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.

Jesus pretty plainly tells them that he’s going ahead of them. He’s going to prepare a place for them. He’s going to get it ready for them because he’s going to come back to get them. He says, “Where I’m going, you will also be.”

Jesus says that it’s not going to last forever. Will they miss him? Sure. Will they be sad he’s gone? Sure. But they will end up in the same place.

The apostle Paul said in 2nd Corinthians that our light and momentary troubles are achieving and eternal glory for us and that eternal glory far outweighs the struggles.

Jesus was saying the same thing. They didn’t have to let their hearts be troubled because their situation was temporary and the place he was going to prepare for them was going to be great.

And I just get this mental image of what it looks like for Jesus to prepare a place for us. Jesus is sitting on his throne at the right hand of God the father and when someone comes to faith in him I just picture the pride he has when he say to God, “There’s another one! That one’s mine! That one accepted the gift!” And I just picture the excitement of Jesus as he get us and he goes and he begins preparing the place for us! He doesn’t send the servants, he does it himself just like the feet washing scene that happened right before this! And I wonder if he pays attention to the fine detail as he knows us better than we know ourselves and he prepares a place that waits for us that we will love to call home forever! And I wonder if he just can’t contain his excitement when he gets to start the process all over when another sinner comes to faith in him!

Jesus continues on.

(NIV)

4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus the Way to the Father

Jesus after talking about this place tells the disciples that they know how to get to where he’s going. And Thomas, who is probably thinking what all the other disciples are thinking, says we don’t even know where you are going? How are we supposed know the way to get there?

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

And as I’m reading over this passage I think. Of course you know the way! Jesus has given you the way! 5 times already he’s told you in different forms that he is the way. He is the option! He’s fixing to tell them one more and then he’ll tell them a seventh time how to get there.

And this is just what we have recorded. We don’t know about every private conversation that Jesus had. We don’t know about every time in public that Jesus mad the same claim in maybe a different way. John’s gospel says that Jesus did and said many more things than these and there’s not enough paper in the world to record them. So we don’t know how many times Jesus has shown them the way. At least seven.

But do you know what it makes me think of? How much does Jesus love us? How much grace does he give us to keep telling us over and over and to keep giving us chance after chance to follow him. The disciples knew the way but they were hung up on the where. And I think sometimes we can get hung up on the destination that we forget about the journey. But the journey is often times just as important and there’s usually a lesson to learn and a purpose to be had in that.

Jesus doesn’t always work the way we think he ought to. Sometimes he wants us to go on the journey before he shows us the destination.

(NIV) 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

God called Abram to go and said that he would show him the way now, and show him the where later.

will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

So maybe there’s a reason that Jesus didn’t reveal every little detail to the disciples. Maybe he was making sure that they were going to be faithful to the way before he revealed the glory of the where.

9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

But Jesus, in his grace, for a sixth time tells them the way.

(NIV) 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

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

Jesus says three different things about himself here, while making one big claim.

First Jesus says he is THE way.

Most of you know, some of you are finding out for the first time, that I grew up in a small down called Byng, OK. Wonderful little town. My parents still live there. We still go down there to visit a few times a year so see family.

Without really putting much thought into it I can come up with about 8 different ways to get from here to there. If I wanted to think about it I could come up with a lot more and If I wanted to get out a map there’s no end to the number of ways I could find to get to Byng. And then when I got to Byng there’s a bunch of different ways to get to my old house that I grew up in.

Jesus says that there’s only one way to the father and it’s him.

Jesus says he’s THE truth.

There’s a pretty popular philosophical thought called relativism. This basically means that there is no absolute truth. That truth for me may be different than truth for someone else because they came from a different background than me. Or because they’ve had different experiences from me. Or because they have a different perspective for me.

This is an incredibly flawed system for more than one reason. For one thing, relativist don’t believe it themselves. When they say that there’s no absolute truth the will stand by that statement and if you disagree you are ignorant. But if fact they are saying that that what they relativism is an absolute truth.

I’ll tell you what can be relative. Opinions can be relative to the person. But there’s still a truth.

What relativism says is, “There is not absolute truth. It depends on the eyes of the beholder. It depends on different things. What’s true for me is true for me. And what’s true for you is true for you.” But if they were honest, what relativist mean is, “I don’t like that truth so I’m not going to live by it.”

So here’s a question? Could we be wrong about Jesus? Ya we could. I don’t think we are but we could be. If we are wrong, there’s still a truth out there.

Jesus was claiming to be that truth. To people who were hearing all of these different opinions about Jesus and about works based faith they were looking for the truth and Jesus was claiming to be it.

People are looking for truth today also and Jesus claims that he’s it.

C.S. Lewis said there’s only three options. Jesus is Lord, Liar, or Lunatic. Jesus is either telling the truth. He is the Lord. He is who he says he is. Jesus is not telling the truth. He is a liar. He isn’t who he says he is. Or Jesus is a lunatic. He believes what he’s saying but it isn’t true.

Some people claim that Jesus was just a good person that we should model our life after. Some people and even religions claim that the historical Jesus was a good teacher and we should listen to his teaching. But there’s no room for that. If Jesus is good, he’s telling the truth and his is the Lord. If Jesus is a liar then he’s not good and we shouldn’t model our life after him. If Jesus is a lunatic we can’t put stock into what he said or did.

So we each have to decide what we believe to be true about Jesus and I’m banking on the evidence that has been presented throughout history and scripture that Jesus is truly the Lord.

The third thing Jesus says about himself is that he is THE life.

Jesus had claimed before the resurrection of Lazarus to be the resurrection and the life. Jesus knew that unless someone went through him, they could have no real life on this side of eternity or on the other side of eternity. Do you know that one thing every person on the planet has in common is that we were created with a desire to worship. We all worship something.

And God created us to worship him. But too often we worship other things. Money, fame, ourselves, whatever and we are left wanting more. It isn’t until we channel the worship, that we’re all giving, into his name and his glory that we really experience life that way its supposed to be experienced.

The other side of that is that to experience eternal life we have to follow him also. And that’s the ultimate form of worship. To be with Jesus for all of eternity, praising him for all of eternity.

And Jesus wraps this up by saying that No one can come to the father unless they go through him.

There are several different schools of thought that come to the conclusion that all roads lead to Heaven. If you’re a good person, you’ll go to heaven. If you do more good deeds than bad, you’ll go to Heaven. If you give away your fortune you’ll go to Heaven.

And really what Jesus was combatting mostly here was the works based faith that the Pharisees were trying to push on everyone. For them, it was about keeping the law. They believed and taught that if you dressed a certain way, ate a certain way, sacrifice a certain way, participated in festivals a certain way, and did a million other things a certain way, then you would be with God.

Jesus came in and said, “No I’m all you need!” I’m your ticket in. I’m your free ride. I’m going to take on the sins of the whole world and that includes you! I’m it! Follow me!”

The Ready/The Response

And for some of you that’s the message today. For some of you, you’ve been trying to earn God’s favor by doing good things. Some of you have been trying to earn God’s love by doing good thing. And I’d being willing to bet that some of you also feel like you can’t touch God’s love because you’ve not earned it.

Guess what? You can’t earn God’s love. He doesn’t love you anymore because you’ve done good or any less because you’ve done bad. He loves you more than you could imagine because he created you and wants to be with you.

Jesus has been gracious with you like he’s been gracious with me and like he was gracious with the disciples. He’s given you chance after chance to follow him.

Every single week of this series there’s been an opportunity for you to follow him. Every single week there’s been an opportunity for you to believe he is the Lord.

And I don’t know what keeps you from following him. But believe me when I say, it’s the most important decision of your life. He’s the way, he’s the truth, he’s the life. Don’t leave this place without putting your faith in and following him because there is going to come a time when it’s too late.

Maybe today you are here and you just need to be released. Believing that if you behave a certain way will help you to earn God’s love is crippling. And maybe you feel that way because that’s what your earthly father has shown you. Maybe you have trouble accepting the undeserved love and undeserved gift of Jesus because of what you’ve been shown in this world. And I’m sorry that it’s been that way for you. But God’s love isn’t limited by your life and behaviour.

You don’t have to work so hard or worry so much to receive it. You just have to believe in him and receive his free gift of love and new life.

Or maybe you need to be released from the thought that if you mess up he’s going to take his love away.

How many of you have seen Frozen 2? We went and took the kids the day after Thanksgiving. And I’m not giving the movie away but at the very end Anna apologizes to Kristoff and he says, “It’s ok, my love is not fragile.”

God’s love is not fragile and it isn’t dependent upon you making a mistake or living a perfect life. He’s never going to take his love away from you.

So I wonder if there’s anyone here today who wants to pray and accept Christ for the first time. I wonder if there’s anyone here today who wants to just feel the weight of having to do everything right all the time lifted off of them and just receive the love of God.

In a moment we’re going to worship and remember God’s love for us. If you’d like to pray for any reason gather around the stage here or go to another room or get someone to go with you or pray right where you are. Whatever you do just make sure that you don’t leave here without having followed Christ and letting him show you the way to life and love.

If that’s you please talk with myself