John 14:1-14
Notes
Transcript
Context - Comes after Jesus predicting His death - saying that He will be going where the disciples cannot follow - that He is going to die -
No finality, no that’s it - death isn’t the end!
There is a purpose to dying, He has a mission in death itself!
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.
The greek word used for room here is μονή - room, dwelling place, place to abide.
The word comes up again in
Jesus replied, “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 through His death on the cross is preparing a place where we can dwell, abide with Him. It is a place where there is space for everyone - many rooms.
- it is not exclusive or restricted!
Yet also from vs 23 it is not just for when we die, but here and now the Father and Son ‘we’ make their home within us - we become the dwelling place of God!
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
The Way
The Way
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?”
Thomas questions both where the destination is and without knowing the destination how can they know the way?
Guide - Mrs Jester - She knew where she was going, it was her home, I had to just trust her
We don’t need to know how to get there, we just need to stay close to the person who’s come from there and will lead us there - Jesus
“Journeying together with Jesus”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus isn’t saying He is one way of many or one of the many truths or one way of life.
The greek makes it clear:
Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή· οὐδεὶς ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ διʼ ἐμοῦ.
ego eimi - I am - name of God
‘the way’ - singular - way road path
kai ‘the truth’ singular
kai ‘the life’ singular
kai means ‘and or also’ can never mean ‘or - either’
no-one (nothing) comes to the Father except through Jesus.
We live in a world where to say Jesus is the only way can cause offence, but Jesus here makes it clear there is no other way!
Only Jesus has come from God, only Jesus knows the way as our guide, only Jesus has made it possible through dying on the cross as our substitute to cleanse us from all the bad stuff we’ve done, to be able to follow Him into the Holy presence of our righteous yet loving Heavenly Father.
The destination is the Father - it is entering back into relationship with God.
The Truth
The Truth
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.
There is only one truth and that is found in Jesus.
Truth is not subjective or relative, it is objective and definitive
There are many supposed god’s, god’s of different religions, idols of self, of wealth and of health.
Many things are done in the name of a god, both good and evil.
But who is God? Is He real? Is He exclusively the God of the Jesus?
If we want to know the truth of who is God and what does He look like, we only need to look at Jesus.
“The evidence for Christian truth is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. Too often, Christianity has not been tried and found wanting – it has been found demanding, and not tried.” — John Baillie
Jesus says to believe in Him as God, and to look at the evidence of His works and nature both through His life, death and resurrection as documented in the Bible and many other historical books.
But also in the lives of those who have accepted Him into their lives through the generations since and right to today.
The Life
The Life
In Jesus we have life
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
Jesus gives life, now and into eternity - there is now no fear of death because death is not the end and as we can journey together with Jesus now as our guide we can also journey with him as our guide into death itself - where o death is your sting?
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
But Jesus came to bring us life now an amazing full and fruitful life
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
When we accept Jesus and allow His life into us through the Holy Spirit
We are called into a life of fullness that is why we read in:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
In my name means “on my authority”
The Gospel according to John 4. The Father and the Son (14:8–14)
This does not mean simply using the name as a formula. It means that prayer is to be in accordance with all that name stands for. It is prayer proceeding from faith in Christ, prayer that gives expression to oneness with Christ, prayer that seeks to glorify Christ.
We often get this the wrong way around rather than following the example of Jesus - He only spoke what he had first heard.
For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.
When we start praying for things which we hear Jesus praying/ which are on His heart we will be praying in accordance to His will, on His authority - they will then be answered.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So my question to you today is who’s way are you following?
What truth are you standing on?
And are we living out God’s life today?
