John 14, verses 1-14
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.
John 14, verses 1-14
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.
Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.
Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me?
Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, show us the Father?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority,
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me,
or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do,
and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.
We live in a world that has a strange relationship with the truth, don't we?
If you read the newspapers, or believe what politicians tell you,
no one really cares for the truth anymore.
Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight presenter on television,
says in her new book, they are really struggling more and more
to have politicians give them straight answers to straight questions.
What's your favorite color?
And they'll answer something like,
well, what I think the public really wants to know is the color of the sky,
because that's what they can see.
It's so bad that people who write and talk about this kind of thing
say we're in a post-truth culture.
Truth doesn't even matter anymore, I see.
Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth.
It's whatever feels right to you.
Now, Oprah Winfrey made this phrase popular a long time ago,
but it's really now that it's becoming so part of our language
that everyone talks in these ways now.
The President of the United States even talks about alternative facts,
when what he really talks about is lies.
But here's the thing, it's not just politicians or celebrities who talk in this way.
Your truth and my truth sounds like this in our conversations, doesn't it?
Well, if you feel that way, then you should follow your feelings.
You must be true to your own heart, because that's who you really are.
If you feel you are one of the 99 different genders that you can choose,
then that's your truth.
Any way you choose to believe is the right way for you to get to God.
And that's really the part that I want to focus on today,
because if we unpacked everything in that passage,
we'd be looking at it till Christmas 2020 at ELT.
All religions are really the same, aren't they?
That's something we hear quite a lot, that people say.
If someone feels their faith is right for them,
and it feels good, it feels right,
then that's the right way for them.
That is their truth about knowing God.
It's the old story about people climbing up a mountain from different sides,
is how people sometimes describe it, isn't it?
It's the same mountain, it's just different ways to the top,
and everyone gets to the top eventually.
And all different religions and faiths and beliefs
are different ways to get to that top of the mountain.
If you think about it, when you say that,
that sounds a bit arrogant, doesn't it?
Because in a way you're saying,
I'm the only person who can see that everyone else
doesn't know that they're just using different ways to the mountain.
I'm the one who can see what everybody else can't see.
But maybe deep down we like that kind of idea,
because it makes life easier.
If all religions lead to God,
then we don't have to choose.
We don't have to commit.
If you're on the fence about Christianity,
it makes it easier.
Because you don't have to put your faith in Jesus
and commit to everything that he asks us to do,
because any other religion will be okay too.
And if you are a Christian,
and you've got colleagues or family
who are not Christians, friends,
it takes the pressure a bit off
to share your faith with them.
And more generally, just think about society.
We don't like to give offence, do we?
I mean, British people even apologise
to a street light
when they bump into it,
inanimate objects.
So ingrained is that desire not to give offence.
And one of the big buzzwords of our time
is tolerance.
And the whole idea of there being one way to God
is offensive to many people.
So it's really not just people out there
who sometimes think like this.
Christians are also tempted to think like this.
And who doesn't like a bit of freedom?
We've fought wars for freedom.
Nations have been founded to gain freedom.
So freedom in deciding how to know God
is a good thing.
Sounds like it.
Or at least it's not a bad thing.
But we shouldn't be fooled
by that kind of thinking.
It's dangerous.
A wise man once said,
if everything's allowed,
then man becomes a slave again.
A slave of anarchy.
And that's no comfort at all, is it?
Now, you see, in this passage,
Jesus is giving people comfort.
He's starting to say farewell to His disciples.
And He knows soon
they're going to be so emotionally distraught
at His death
that they'll be tempted to moral failure.
They'll be put under pressure
to renounce their faith.
And the Roman authorities
are going to do everything they can
to stamp out this new Christian faith
in favour of worshipping
all their multiple gods,
including Caesar.
And especially Caesar.
Now, at Jesus' kangaroo trial,
Pontius Pilate would already say,
what is truth?
Doesn't he?
And it sounds like he was
way ahead of his time.
That's the kind of question
people ask now.
So maybe our post-truth era
isn't as new as we think.
And this is a massive problem.
Because if all religions
are just really different sides
of the same coin,
and I think we'll see here
that Jesus disagrees,
either that's the case,
or if these gods all do exist,
then we believe in different gods.
Either all religions are the same,
or they are different religions,
and then there are different gods.
And that's a right mess.
So we forget what a mess that is.
Because we don't generally think in those terms.
But in the Roman and Greek times,
I mean, they had multiple gods,
didn't they?
And you always had the problem of,
what if you offended one of them?
What if you didn't please all of them?
You never had the assurance
that you were right with the gods.
And you can't please them all,
so you're always at risk.
And that's really not a very comforting place
to be in.
And Jesus is talking to his disciples,
and he wants to give them confidence
in knowing God,
because that is what they need
when he isn't with them anymore
after his death and resurrection.
So how can we have confidence
in knowing God in a world
that does its best
to take that confidence away?
And Jesus tells his disciples
in verse 1 there, doesn't he,
don't let your hearts be troubled.
And this is our first point.
Jesus says,
you know the way to God,
and it is me.
Believe in God,
believe also in me,
he says in verse 1.
So you don't have to guess
how to know God.
You believe in God,
so believe in me as well.
Have faith in me.
Trust in me.
Now haven't I proven to you
that I am who I said I am?
And Philip asks him in verse 8,
show us the Father,
and he says,
I've been so long with you
and you don't know me.
If you've seen me,
you've seen the Father.
When the Apostle is asking
where he's going
and how they might know
the way to God here,
he tells them,
he doesn't tell them,
you figure it out now.
You decide what is right for you.
What does your hearts tell you?
There are many ways up the mountain.
Find your own way to God.
No, he tells them,
I am the way
and the truth
and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.
Verse 6.
See, it's interesting.
The first Christians
weren't called Christians.
That came later on.
We read in the book of Acts,
they were called
followers of the way.
So, it seems that
right from the beginning
what Jesus is teaching
his disciples here
stuck with them
and caught on.
He doesn't say,
I am making a way.
He says,
I am the way
to the Father.
And it's counter-cultural,
isn't it?
To claim that kind of exclusivity.
It's counter-cultural now,
but it was counter-cultural
in that time too.
And it always will be
because it means
submitting to Jesus.
It means acknowledging
that without him
we've got no way
of getting to God.
No way of knowing God.
And that's a very hard thing to do.
See, this morning
I got in my car
and started it.
But it didn't start.
The radio came on
and the lights came on
but there was no engine noise,
no spark plugs spluttering,
no fan belt turning,
no fuel being ignited,
nothing.
And thinking back over it,
my first thoughts
weren't helplessness.
It was,
what can I do to fix this?
How do I problem solve this
in a way that allows me
to regain control
of this situation?
And it was only when I realised
that wasn't going to work,
that I was helpless
to do anything
in that situation,
that I'd have to leave it
for now
and call someone later
and get to work
on my own two feet,
that I actually came to know
the way of solving
this problem,
is that I am reliant
on someone else.
But that's a hard thing to do
to get to that point.
And that's just my car.
That'll be fine.
And we'll solve that.
But we do the same thing
with our search for God.
We want to be in control.
And that's why
it's so hard to accept
that Jesus is right
when he says
he is the way.
Not a way,
but the way.
The only way to God.
And he can say that
because he is God.
In verse 10 he says,
do you not believe
that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me?
It would be an arrogant claim
otherwise.
It would be an arrogant claim
for any of us to make.
But for him it isn't.
Because he is God.
You see, that's our second point,
is that we know the way to God
because he is the truth.
You see,
Jesus shatters the idea
that truth is an abstract concept.
You know,
an abstract concept
you can apply
and you can debate
and, you know,
if there are any mathematicians here
they probably would disagree with me,
but an abstract concept
is much easier
to make subjective.
If it's something out there,
it's much easier
to kind of,
to approach it
with my view
and your view
and it's much harder
to debate
is this stand black
you know,
than talking about
an abstract idea
of a lectern.
And the message
by Jesus in this passage
is the only way
to God,
that he is the only way
to God
is only good news
because he is God.
He is the truth
because he reveals
the God
who is truth
to us.
Truth isn't an abstract concept,
is it?
It's God's character.
Jesus is truth.
He is the truth.
And he's also the way
and the life.
But in this passage
the emphasis is on
the way to God.
So,
we read truth and life
when he talks about that here
and that,
in light of that.
Why is he the way to God?
Because he is the truth.
Because he is God.
The Son of God.
He's part of the Trinity.
And therefore
he is the only direct way
that we can know
what God is like.
What his character is like.
Here's the writer
of the book of Hebrews
who talks about
how God promised
to be faithful
to his promises.
And he writes
this incredible thing.
He says,
God swore an oath
on his own name
so that by
two unchangeable things
in which it is impossible
for God to lie,
we who have fled
for refuge
might have strong
encouragement
to hold fast
to the hope
set before us.
Hebrews 6.
It's impossible
for God to lie
because his character
is truth.
So,
Jesus is entitled
to claim that
he's the only way
to God
because he's the only one
who can display
the character of God.
None of us
are capable of saying
it's impossible
for us to lie.
He's the only one
who was able
to make that kind
of a claim.
He doesn't make a way,
he is the way.
The third point is,
he says,
you know the way
to God
because I am the life.
Now,
we're not talking
about the good life
there in this kind
of sense of
this is,
I'm living the life.
You sometimes hear
people say that,
isn't it?
What Jesus is saying
is that God
is the very source
of life.
God created
all life
from nothing.
He has always been,
he doesn't have
a start
or a beginning
or an end
for that matter,
he is the very
fountain of life
itself.
Knowing truth
and having life
beyond death,
they're the kind
of two fundamental
quests of all humans
to all time,
isn't it?
When you boil it down
to that,
to those two questions,
that's what it comes to.
Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden
wanted the knowledge
of good and evil.
They were tempted
by Satan
to eat of the fruit
they were forbidden of.
They wanted truth,
they wanted the knowledge
of good and evil
at its base.
And because of that,
God prevented them
from also getting
eternal life
other than through faith
so they were banished
from the Garden.
But if you look at it,
right from the beginning,
that's what those two
human beings wanted.
They wanted to be like God.
They wanted truth
and life
for all eternity.
That's why I said,
you know,
we have a strange
relationship to truth
at the beginning.
We pretend like
it doesn't matter.
The world around us
can talk as much
as it wants to
about how we're
post-truth
and alternative facts
and truth doesn't matter
and your truth
and my truth
and subjective truth
and all kinds of things
and we pretend
like that's the case
until we're wronged.
Isn't it?
When someone tells
a lie about us,
we're very insistent
on the truth.
And similarly,
we pretend
there's only one life,
there's only this life,
make the most of it
while you can
and we don't care
about death
until we're facing
the death
of someone close to us
or we're facing
death ourselves.
See,
that's just another way
of saying
we long for salvation.
See,
we long to be free
of the lies
the devil tells us
and keeps on telling us.
We long to be free
from the lies
we tell each other
and the lies
we tell ourselves.
And every sin
is a lie.
Every sin involves
a lie that we're
our own authority
and that we don't
rely on God
for our very existence
when we want
to take control,
when we want
to be in charge.
That's a lie.
So Jesus says
the only way
you can answer
those fundamental
longings
for truth
and life
after death
is with God.
And the only way
to God,
he says,
is through me
because I am God
in the flesh.
I am God
come to you
to make God
known to you.
If you don't
believe my words,
he says,
there doesn't he
in verse 11,
he says,
which are the words
of the Father
who is in me
and I in him.
It's really an
astonishing claim
for him to make
that he is God.
Then believe
because you have
seen the works
I've done,
he says to them.
Believe on account
of the works
themselves.
What did he do?
He did many
miracles.
Probably the most
astonishing miracles
he did was
to raise people
from the dead.
He says,
I have power
over death
because I am
the God of life.
I am life
itself.
See,
there is no
little irony
here in Jesus
saying I am
the way
when he would
soon be hanging
helpless
on a cross
and I am
the truth
when the lies
of evil people
would soon appear
to have a
spectacular triumph
over him.
I am the life
when he would
soon be in a
tomb.
And when he
tells the disciples
not to be
troubled in heart,
he was deeply
troubled in heart
and spirit.
We read in
chapters,
two chapters
before this.
If he is
comforting them
because they
are confused
and uncertain
and scared,
he was about
to endure
the agony
of the cross.
But he could
say these things
without any
irony because
he knew
who he was,
where he came
from,
and after rising
from the dead
where he would
return,
didn't he?
That is where
his comfort
lay in facing
this trial.
And he wants
to give us
that same
comfort in
knowing who
he is and
knowing where
we will go
with him to
God.
Now if he
claimed to have
given the
disciples enough
reason to put
their faith in
him as the
way, the
truth and the
life before
his death and
resurrection,
he has given
them and us
the reason
to do that.
When he
conquered death
and overcame
the lies,
when he
reclaimed life
and when he
proved his
words true.
You see,
later in
John he
says,
and this is
eternal life.
When he
prays to the
Father, he
says that they
know you,
the only true
God, and
Jesus Christ
whom you
have sent.
we face
our own
trials and
uncertainties,
and it's a
very confusing
world we live
in, but in
some ways no
trial is bigger
than the
struggle we
face to be
free from the
lies and
death looming
for each of
us.
No one of
us has a
bigger struggle
to overcome
than admitting
our inability
to succeed
on our own
to reach
God, to
find another
way.
And even
if you're a
Christian already,
putting your
trust in God
is a daily
exercise of
faith.
And Jesus
calls each of
us to put
our faith in
him as the
only way
to God.
Let's
pray.