I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life - John 14:6

Introduction

A parable from India: The Blind Men and the Elephant

There were once six blind men who stood by the road-side every day, and begged from the people who passed. They had often heard of elephants, but they had never seen one; for, being blind, how could they?

It so happened one morning that an elephant was driven down the road where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they might see him.

Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.

The first one happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well, well!" he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is exactly like a wall."

The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said, "you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."

The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant is like a snake."

The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that he is round and tall like a tree."

The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold of the elephant's ear. "The blindest man ought to know that this beast is not like any of the things that you name," he said. "He is exactly like a huge fan."

The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could find the elephant at all. At last he seized the animal's tail. "O foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely have lost your senses. This elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree; neither is he like a fan. But any man with a particle of sense can see that he is exactly like a rope."

Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by the roadside all day, and quarreled about him. Each believed that he knew just how the animal looked; and each called the others hard names because they did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as foolishly.

This parable was used in India and is even used today by Atheists and agnostics to show that there is no ultimate truth and even if there is, it is impossible for us to know what it is. We are all like the blind men convinced that we alone have the truth and everyone else is wrong, while the fact of the matter we are all wrong in our opinion.

Here in a moment, we are going to see the fallacy of trying to explain the reality of truth in this way. But for the moment, as we talk about truth, we need to understand this is where our world and culture has arrived at its understanding of ultimate authoritative truth. And we are going to see how Jesus dismantles our understanding of truth and shows us that there is such a thing as truth and it is possible to know the truth.

John 14:1–7 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Jesus is the TRUTH

What is Truth? When Jesus says He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, what is He talking about? This is a concept and idea that has fallen on hard times and criticism over the last couple hundred years during our post-modern era, as the idea of anything being true has been questioned.

Definitions of the word truth:

(1): the body of real things, events, and facts : ACTUALITY

(2): the state of being the case : FACT

a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true

Our post-modern culture has questioned the idea of there being any real truth beyond what we simply perceive to be true for ourselves.

Jesus is making a bold claim that there is truth to be found.

In the example of the Indian parable, we are meant to see that we as people are unable to know the truth. And there is a sense in which it is right because, as a result of our sin, we have been blinded to the truth of who God is and it is impossible on our own to find this truth. We might be able to sense that there is a god just like the men knew there was something like an elephant, but because of their blindness, they had no idea of what this creature called an elephant looked like. In the same way, apart from divine help, we cannot know who God is and what He is like.

However, in this passage, we see Jesus making the claim that there is truth to be known. One of the fallacies of the parable is trying to use it to prove that there is no truth to know or no way to know the truth. Just because the men were blind and couldn’t see the elephant as it truly was does not mean that the elephant was there and didn’t exist in a very specific form. The man riding the elephant knew the creature in its true form. And the narrator of the story explains that there was a true form for the elephant and that the men, though they experienced one part of the creature, were all thoroughly wrong. Doesn’t matter how convinced they were that they were right, they were wrong and did not see the truth of the elephant. If the elephant did not have a true form, then one could not say any of the men were wrong. But all the men were wrong because there was a definite truth of what the elephant was like.

In the same way, there is truth to who God is. In our pluralistic society we hear people say it doesn’t matter what you believe in as long as you are sincere because there is no definite truth.

Charles Spurgeon - “If you sincerely drink poison, it will kill you. If you sincerely cut your throat, you will die. If you sincerely believe a lie, you will suffer the consequences. You must not just be sincere, you must be right.”

Sincerity in what you believe does not change what the truth is. There is real truth and we are called to know and believe the truth, not simply what we want to believe.

And what is the truth that Jesus is speaking of here? Well in one sense, He is speaking of all truth. Anything that is true finds its source in Him. But more specifically, He is speaking of the truth of who God is. While we are blinded by sin, we are unable to know God as He truly is, but just because we do not know who He is or what He is like, does not mean there is not a right way and a wrong way to think of and believe in Him. There is a One True God and there are false gods. Jesus is saying we better make sure we are believing in the One True God and obeying Him in the way He demands.

Jesus is THE Truth

First we have looked at the fact that there is a real truth about who God is. Next, we want to see that there is one truth about who God is and what He says is right and wrong.

So there are some who make the claim that there is no real objective truth and that it doesn’t really matter what we believe. The flip side to this belief is there are some who believe there is truth but truth is subjective based on who you are and where you find yourself. They claim to believe in truth while saying there is no one absolute truth.

We hear phrases like “Follow Your Heart” or “You Do You.” What these phrases are communicating is that while there is no one truth, everyone has their own truth. You have your own right and wrong and I have my own right and wrong and I cannot impose my truth upon you and you cannot impose your truth upon me. Whatever I feel is good and right is my own truth.

this was the sin in eden. Adam and Eve were tempted to believe they could be their own god and determine fir themselves what is good and evil instead of following God’s standard of right and wrong.

This specifically ties into what Jesus is also saying about being the Way. We all want to think that I can live life my own way by my own truth.

Frank Sinatra - And now the end is here And so I face that final curtain My friend I'll make it clear I'll state my case, of which I'm certain I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this I did it, I did it my way

Sadly there are many who reach the end of life and take pride in the fact that they did it their way and lived by their own perceived truth thinking that was going to fulfill them and get them to where they wanted to go.

Proverbs 14:12 (ESV)

There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death.

when we go our own way, and live by our own truth, we find that we have been deceived, like Adam and Eve by the serpent, and the way we thought would get us to where we wanted to go really just ends up in death.

There is an absolute truth to who God is. And there is an absolute right and wrong. Now, this doesn’t mean there aren’t choices that aren’t morally neutral. What cereal you choose to eat in the morning or what shirt or blouse to wear is not a choice of right or wrong. There are choices that are preference driven. There are also moral choices which require discernment and wise judgment. However, when it comes to Who we worship and how we live our lives in obedience, there is a true way and one absolute right way to live. And I cannot allow my emotions or desires to dictate for me what is right and wrong. Just because I have a tendency to lose my temper does not make it right for me to get angry simply because I felt like it. Just because I was tempted to enter into an immoral relationship with someone does not make it right because I felt like it. Just because i feel the need for extra money does not make it right for me to take what isnt mine.

However, our society is basing truth on our emotions and it is killing us because we are following our sin tainted emotions instead of leading our emotions to follow the absolute truth of what God says is right and wrong.

We are created to live according to the truth of who God is and only in the truth can life be found.

So we have looked at the fact that truth does exist and that there is one absolute truth that we are all created to live according to.

The question that must be asked is, how can we find and know this truth? Like the parable makes clear, we are spiritually blind trying to interpret truth based on what we can feel and perceive with our limited senses.

The Answer is found in Who the Truth is.

JESUS is the Truth

When Thomas asks Jesus to show them the way, Jesus tells them they already know the way because they know Him.

This is a profound statement that Jesus is making here. If you want to know what God is like, look to Jesus. If you want to know how to live a life of obedience to God, look to Jesus. If you want to see God, look to Jesus.

Listen to what He is saying. Jesus did not just come to show us the truth or to tell us what is true, Jesus says He is the Truth.

If you are not keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, you cannot know truth.

John 14:6–7 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

This statement is exactly what the author of Hebrews is making when He writes of Jesus.

Hebrews 1:1–3 ESV

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

In the past, the prophets spoke about the truth of God. Our pastors and preachers can only speak about the truth of God. But Jesus? He is the truth of who God is. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature.

So that’s all fine and good for the disciples who got to see him and walk with him and learn from him. What about us? We haven’t gotten to see him.

If you want to know who Christ is and to know the truth of who God is, look to His Word.

Jesus even tells His disciples that the Scriptures are about Christ and reveal Christ to us!

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

From Genesis to Malachi, and definitely all the New Testament are all about Jesus and is seeking to reveal who He is. When we read Scripture in light of the gospel of Christ and see Him revealed within its pages, we are getting to know the truth of God.

In the parable, the men were unable to know the truth of the elephant because of their blindness. We are spiritually blind and unable to know God as He truly is. However, if the men were to listen to the rider of the elephant, he could have taken them step by step and showed them the truth of the elephant. There is the truth for them to know if they will simply listen and learn.

In the same way, God has made it possible for us to know the truth. Our sin may have blinded us, but God has made it possible to give us sight. How?

Christ came to reveal the Father to us by His perfect life. Christ demonstrated the wrath of God against all sin and the love of God towards sinners by His death on the cross. Christ showed us the power and truth of God through the power of His resurrection. And when we come to faith and trust in His work alone, we receive the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes and can help us know and understand the truth of Scripture and thereby revealing the truth of who God is and enables us to live in obedience to Him. Even when our sin infected hearts are led in opposition to God’s Word, the Spirit is able to exercise self-control over our emotions and desires and to live in the absolute truth of how God designed life to work. We do not have to give in to our sinful desires anymore. Through the power of Christ and His Spirit we are able to live out The Truth that is revealed to us by following the One True Way and find the Life that is in Christ alone!

Conclusion