I Am The Way, The Truth, And The Life

Intro

My favorite book of all time is called The Pilgrim’s Progress, which is an allegorical book about a Christian’s journey in life from the Ciry of Destruction to the Celestial City. The fuller name of the book when it was written is actually The Pilgrim’s Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come, and the focus of the book is very much a journey from a bad place to a good place. It is from a city riddled with crime and disease to a heavenly city made of gold.

In our passage today, Jesus himself is towards the end of his journey on Earth and is going to help turn our attention away from the city of Destruction and towards that heavenly Celestial City.

We have just experienced a pretty big time-skip and a lot has happened in the world, the C of D

The Jews have officially put out a death sentence on Jesus’s head

The Jews have also put out a death sentence on Lazarus’s head because people are believing in Jesus after that miracle

With a warrant out for his arrest and a bounty on his head, Jesus goes into the belly of the beast with his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus foretells his death to his disciples

Jesus reveals that one of his own disciples is going to be the one to betray him

Finally, moments before the events of our passage, Jesus foretells that Peter is going to deny him three times before the night is over

So… Things are looking pretty dark for Jesus and his disciples.

Yet Jesus has been preaching about a great hope through his I Am statements, like when he was trying to help Martha see that she has reason for great hope even in the midst of her brother dying; and that is exactly the same theme Jesus is picking up on in our passage tonight.

MP1 Jesus Goes To Prepare The Rooms In A Better Place

SP1 That Place Is Better

Jesus directs the attention away from the present darkness and towards a different place: his Father’s house.

What is his Father’s house? Where is it? What kind of a place is it?

Where:

Is it the temple? That is the house of God, isn’t it?

but the Temple had already been torn down once, and it will be torn down again.

It is not here, it is in heaven. It is in the new Earth.

What its like:

It is not like here, it is far better.

The Old Testament describes it as a place where the wolf can lay down with the lamb, where weapons of war are repurposed into life-giving tools

Isaiah 2:4 ESV

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 11:6–8 ESV

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

The book of Revelation describes it as a place where death does not exist and where no more tears are shed. There is no pain, no hurt, not even the smallest part of sin exists in that place or inside of anyone that lives there.

Revelation 7:15–17 ESV

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

What an amazing place! This is literally a paradise, and there isn’t even a comparison to be drawn between that place and the one we are currently living in.

That is why, despite all the darkness surrounding them, and even facing down his own death, Jesus is able to say

John 14:1 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

SP2 Jesus Goes There When Victory Is Won

When Jesus thinks of his own death, he agonizes over it because he knows that he is not going to die a normal death; he is going to experience the wrath of God on the sin of those who believe in Jesus. But although it caused him agony, Jesus was still able to maintain faith and hope because he knew that after his work was done, he was going to his Father’s house.

But even when Jesus’s work on Earth was done, he wasn’t going to be idle when he goes to that better place. He says that he will be busy preparing a place for everyone who follows him. Within that great house there is an abundance of room, and everyone who believes in Jesus will have a place there.

John 14:2 ESV

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

Jesus is sharing this hope that he has with his disciples because Jesus isn’t planning on going home alone… but he is going to get new rooms set up for his disciples.

And Jesus says that there are many rooms in that better place.. room even for you and me!

And that is wonderful news… but then Thomas recognizes a potential problem.

Jesus says

John 14:4 ESV

And you know the way to where I am going.”

and Thomas responds by saying

John 14:5 ESV

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

And this is an understandable concern. Thomas may know the way to Damascus and to Jerusalem and to Galilee, but none of those roads lead to a place as good as the one Jesus is speaking about. What navigator can manage to find the way to that place?

APPLICATION: And lets stop for a second and put ourselves in Thomas’ shoes. I am sure that all of us, Just like Thomas, want to leave this place behind and go to that better place with Jesus. We all want to move into one of the rooms in Jesus’ Father’s house, but how do we get there? What road do we take, or what mode of transportation?

MP2 Jesus Brings Us To The Rooms

Thankfully, Jesus clears up Thomas’ concerns with another I Am statement, revealing something about himself.

John 14:6 ESV

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

Just before this, Jesus also told his disciples

John 14:3 ESV

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus is explaining that it isn’t a matter of a road that we need to walk or an excursion that we need to set out on, but it is a matter of having faith in Jesus.

We are not the ones who are able to get ourselves into that better place, but Jesus must take us to himself.

And this forces us to understand something about the death of Jesus: it wasn’t some unfortunate accident, or a hiccup in God’s plan for salvation. Every aspect of Jesus’ death was planned, and everything went exactly according to plan. Everything from Judas betraying him with a kiss to the spear that went through his side, God had foretold all of it through the prophets of the Old Testament.

But why was that scripted? Why was that a part of the plan? The cross is the single most tragic and unjust moment in all of history, how and why would God plan that out?

Because there was no other possible way for us to enter the house of God, and God so desired for us to be with him that he endured all of the agony of the cross to achieve that.

God willingly sent his own Son to his death to have us.

The Son Jesus Christ willingly accepted the call to suffer and die at the hands of sinners

The Holy Spirit willingly accepted the call to enter those same sinners and transform them into the children of God

All of this took place for our salvation, for our benefit! This was the only way that our salvation was possible, and God did it.

SP1 There Are Not Multiple Paths

So it is important for us to recognize that there wasn’t another way, and there remains no other way. There is no level of “spiritual enlightenment,” no level of good works, no amount of wisdom that can lead us to the house of God. If there was another way, Jesus did not need to die and everything that we believe is in vain.

But Jesus says that he is THE way to the Father, he is THE truth concerning God, and he is THE life. Apart from him, we do not have God.

SP2 We Are Not Able To Walk The Path Without Jesus

Many people will try to walk this path without Jesus. Either they will rely on themselves and their ability to find their way to God’s house, (like every movie where a dad gets lost somewhere but would rather die than ask for directions)

or they look to the help of things that can’t help them.

But this is not a place that we can get ourselves to, and neither can anyone not named Jesus.

Looking back to Pilgrim’s Progress, at the very end of the book, after all of the events of Christian’s journey and his *mostly* faithful life to God, with the Celestial City in sight, he finds a river between him and that beautiful place. He is told that there is no bridge over it or way around it, but that everyone must enter it. When Christian asks how deep it is, he is told that he will find it deeper or shallower depending on his trust in the King. As Christian enters the river he starts to panic because he can’t feel the bottom, and he is overwhelmed by all the sins he has committed and is sure that he is unfit for the City. He is soon reminded by his friend Hopeful that it isn’t about his own life, but Jesus makes him whole and fit for the life in the City. Upon remembering the goodness and faithfulness of his savior, Christian finally feels the solid ground once more and is able to walk up to the shores of that beautiful city.

This is a river that represents death, and everyone must pass through it. Many will find themselves despairing over it and second-guessing their entire lives, but those who trust in Jesus will find solid footing and safe passage over to the Father’s House.

MP3 All Our Hope Should Be In Jesus

We are all in the same position that Christian was in. We find ourselves in the City of Destruction, and by God’s grace he reveals to us that we must leave this place and seek out a better home. He places a path in front of us, a path of obedience to his Word, but at the end of the day there is only one way to the Father and to his Paradise - and that is Jesus Christ Himself.

There is no good work that we can do, no secret that we can uncover to go from this place to the next. All we can do is place our hope and faith in Jesus Christ, for he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.