We're continuing on this morning with the conversation in the upper room.
This is the conversation between Jesus and his disciples on the evening of Jesus' betrayal and arrest.
Jesus has flat out told his disciples that he is very soon to leave them,
that he's going somewhere that they cannot follow him.
And it's plain to see so far that the disciples are having a difficult time understanding exactly where Jesus is going.
We pick up the conversation with the remarks of Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus.
We're in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verse 5.
Thomas said to Jesus,
Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?
Jesus answered, I am the way.
And the truth.
And the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.
From now on, you do know him and have seen him.
Last Sunday, we considered what it meant that Jesus is the way to the Father.
Boring the words of another,
Jesus himself is the way to God.
He didn't come just to light a path for us or to blaze a trail for us
so that we could follow in his tracks.
Jesus himself is the way to God, to the Father.
It's through relationship with him, on his terms,
that we can get to God.
That we can enter the Father's house, as we heard last Sunday.
That we can take up residence with God forever in his place and live with him.
And there's no other way, says Jesus, except through me.
It's quite a claim.
It's quite an answer to Thomas' question.
But now this morning, we notice that there's a little bit more to this answer.
Not only did Jesus claim to be the way, but more.
He says, I am the truth.
And I am the life.
The claim to be the way to God.
I mean, that's a pretty lofty claim.
But these other two things that Jesus claims in one sense,
they seem almost greater.
I mean, think about this.
Jesus says, I am the truth.
I'm going to borrow again from the poetic words of someone else.
The claim to speak the truth.
Good men applaud.
I claim much more.
I am the truth of God.
If I had to put it in my own words, I would say it this way.
It's one thing to claim to speak the truth.
Or to know the truth.
Or to have the truth.
Jesus claims more.
He claims to be the truth.
Who can make this claim?
But God.
The one who sees and knows all things.
The one who has created all reality and sustains all reality.
The one who never lies.
And who only ever speaks what's true.
Only God can rightly claim to be the truth.
But now.
Jesus.
The man.
Claims this for himself.
I am the truth.
He says.
Wow.
What does that mean?
Well I am sure that I have not got to the bottom of it yet.
It makes me think about all the things that Jesus has been saying.
That he has been teaching.
At the very least.
I think it means that all the things he taught and said are true.
Without error.
Accurate.
And he taught about all kinds of things.
He taught about the kingdom of God and how it is coming.
It means that this kingdom of God really will be and is like all those things that he told us in his parables.
It means righteous living really looks the way that Jesus described it.
Jesus made statements about what will happen in the future.
That he is the truth certainly means that all of these things will come to pass just as he said that they would.
And so I am the truth.
It means this at least.
That all he said and taught was true.
But then I think also about what the truth does when it comes to bear in a situation.
It exposes lies and falsehood.
It brings to light the real motives of a person.
And what is really going on behind the scenes.
And as we have worked through the story of Jesus.
We have been seeing all along the way.
He has been doing that too.
He has been uncovering and exposing hidden things.
Both mysteries and motives.
When the truth, the reality is staring you in the face.
Suddenly the counterfeits and the imposters are obvious, aren't they?
That's how it's been with Jesus time and time again here in Israel.
Because he is the truth.
Then I think about what truth means when it comes to personal character.
If you are truthful, it means that you are honest.
Genuine.
Sincere.
That you have integrity.
That you're not just putting on a show or a face for other people to see.
Maybe to further your own personal ends or to get affirmation or praise for yourself.
It means that you are who you are.
Through and through.
You're the same person alone as you are with others.
The same person in private as you are in public.
You're the real deal.
And that's how it has been with Jesus as we've seen through the gospel.
He is the truth.
I am the truth.
Imagine for a moment how frustrating it must have been for the religious leaders who were opposing Jesus.
Standard procedure for shady fellows like them is to try and dig up some dirt on Jesus.
To catch him saying or doing something wrong.
Or to discover something that he's up to that's duplicitous or even malicious.
Something that he's doing for his own benefit and advantage at the expense of others.
And we know this tactic all too well.
It happens all the time in our world.
It comes out all the time that some public figure has just been caught red-handed.
There's even YouTubers out there who will scour video footage in the news and in people's phone clips.
And try to put that together to expose the hypocrisy of people.
Posting videos of them saying one thing but then doing another.
Or saying this and then saying the exact opposite.
And so I imagine it was quite frustrating for the religious leaders.
Almost like trying to point out the darkness in the sun.
It was pretty obvious that there just wasn't any there in Jesus.
But still.
I mean he must be like us.
When he's alone by himself.
He's quite a clever and skillful handler of himself in public.
But he must be like us when he's alone.
Surely he's lusting after beautiful women.
When he's walking in the street.
Surely he's secretly longing for and coveting the good things that others have.
Whether it's their houses or their belongings.
Surely he's scheming on the inside about how to further his own cause.
Surely he doesn't really care about those schlucks.
His disciples.
If we could only get close enough to him.
We could dig up some dirt on Jesus.
If we only had an inside man.
Well they got their inside man.
Judas.
If you know how the story goes.
Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus.
Did Judas have any dirt on Jesus?
I mean think about this for a second.
When a man's personal life comes into the public eye.
And all his ways come under scrutiny.
It's almost inevitable.
Things he's not proud of.
Come to light.
People see.
Look at the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial.
Some of you probably didn't follow that.
But maybe others of you did.
Regardless of what transpired there.
And which of them you feel more sympathetic to.
Were there not things done and said by both of them.
That were just downright ugly.
And unkind.
Things that they were not proud to have broadcast to the whole world.
And when it comes to the trial.
Accusations are made.
And the accusers naturally bring out the best dirt that they have.
On that person.
Trying to make a case about what they're really like.
And yet what did they have to say about Jesus at his trials?
Nothing seemed to stick to Jesus.
Many of the things that were said were so obviously slander.
Were so obviously untrue.
Testimonies didn't even agree with one another.
It came out more at Jesus' trial.
How wicked and selfish and envious his opponents were.
Than anything else.
And it was obvious to Pilate.
The judge.
The Roman governor.
Why?
Because Jesus isn't like us.
He was and he still is.
The truth.
This is why Pilate felt such guilt.
Such angst in his soul.
About handing Jesus over to be crucified.
Think about this.
He was talking with Jesus.
He was talking with the religious leaders.
It was obvious.
The contrast was stark.
It was like night and day.
Lies and truth.
Pride and humility.
Envy and contentment.
Foolishness and wisdom.
There was something about this Jesus.
He made lofty claims.
Yes.
But then he seemed more than any man to be the real deal.
To be innocent.
Genuine.
Telling the truth.
Certainly not deserving of death.
Pilate felt conflicted.
Because Jesus' very presence.
Was exposing of his sinfulness.
Jesus is the truth.
We could look also at Judas.
This is why Judas felt such despair.
And shame.
And guilt.
Over what he did to Jesus.
And the weight of Judas' guilt was absolutely crushing.
It was so bad that he took his own life.
Why?
Because Judas was not able to console himself.
With having betrayed Jesus.
In fact, Judas knew that he would never be able to console himself with having betrayed Jesus.
Judas.
It would have been one thing if Jesus had been a master con artist.
Just deceiving everyone.
Except the inner few who were in on the tricks.
Just to fatten his own purse.
Or to further his own fame.
Then Judas would have been able to congratulate himself.
For finally helping bring this con artist.
This thief.
This fraud to justice.
Judas.
But deep down Judas.
One of the close friends and followers of Jesus.
He knew.
That Jesus was honest.
He knew that Jesus was genuine.
That he was sincere.
That he really did love.
People.
That he was compassionate.
Kind.
Judas could not deny the goodness.
Of Jesus.
Jesus.
The honesty.
The integrity.
Of Jesus.
And he would have to live the rest of his life with that burden of guilt.
That he was responsible for the best and most beautiful light of truth he had ever seen.
Being snuffed out.
In Israel.
And the thought of living with that for the rest of his life was unbearable.
And so he killed himself.
As I was thinking about this I got realizing truth has an interesting relationship with guilt.
It's when we see the truth of what we've done that we feel guilt the strongest.
And we don't like feeling guilty.
So what do we do?
We fight.
Or we flight.
We fight against the truth.
And try to make it disappear from our lives.
That's what they tried to do to Jesus.
Or we try and escape from the truth.
That's unavoidably staring us in the face.
Let's speak about this in more concrete terms.
How does this pan out in our lives today?
Some of us when we feel conviction about sin in our lives.
And don't want to repent.
And don't want to feel guilty.
We fight against the truth.
We try to make it stop.
Make it disappear from our lives.
We stop reading our Bibles.
We stop going to church.
We stop listening to the things that God ordinarily uses to speak to us.
And to get our attention.
We shut out those friends or family members.
Who desire to say the hard things.
The true things that we need to hear to us.
Because if we don't hear the truth anymore.
No truth.
No guilt.
But that only does so much.
Because deep down inside we still feel it in our conscience.
Which brings us to our other response.
We flight.
We flee.
When we feel conviction about sin in our lives.
And we don't want to repent.
And we feel guilty.
But we don't want to feel guilty.
We run from the truth.
We try to escape the truth.
By plunging ourselves into fantasy.
Fiction.
Recreation.
Entertainment.
Into things that distract us.
And keep our attention from wandering back to the reality.
Of our lives.
And our sin.
The problem is that neither of these responses work.
Whether we acknowledge Jesus.
The truth.
Or not.
We are still.
Guilty.
Of sinning.
Against God.
And there's only one way.
To be whole.
To be happy.
To escape.
Justice.
Which is coming for us.
And that's to repent.
It's kind of a Christian word in many senses.
But the word simply means to turn in your heart to God.
And to acknowledge the wrong things that you've done.
To him.
And to seek his forgiveness.
From your heart.
And the good news of Jesus is that if you do.
Repent.
God will forgive you.
Of your sins.
He will take away your guilt.
Permanently.
If you haven't done that yet.
I pray that you will soon.
Or maybe you have done that.
Before.
But there are some habitual sins.
That have got a hold of you.
I pray that you would repent.
Of those.
The reality is.
One day soon.
The truth.
Will return to this earth.
And he will.
By the authority given to him.
By the father.
Judge.
All people.
The living and the dead.
You and me.
And the truth.
Will prevail.
And so I want to encourage you this morning.
Don't wait until it's too late.
Acknowledge the truth today.
Acknowledge Jesus.
Today.
I am the truth.
He said.
He also said.
I am the life.
We're going to skip over that.
Maybe we'll come back to it another day.
That in itself is another whole.
Huge claim.
But as I said earlier.
Who can claim these things but God?
I don't know for sure.
But maybe some of the disciples around the room.
Were just sitting there thinking.
Whoa Jesus.
I am the truth.
I am the life.
How do you down here on earth.
A man.
Get away with saying things like this.
So casually.
I mean these are God claims.
These are exclusive kinds of claims.
How can this man sitting here in the room.
Say such things.
Perhaps that's what some of them are thinking.
Which kind of almost leads in.
To verse 7.
Jesus says.
If you really know me.
You will know my father.
As well.
From now on.
You do know him.
And have seen him.
Now there's some important debate.
About which translation is correct here.
If you have.
Seen other translations of the Bible.
On this.
Or if you have a different one.
That's on the screen.
You're going to wonder.
Well why are the words different.
It's a good question.
And it's an important question.
Mostly it has to do.
With the tenses of the verbs.
And.
What kind of conditional statement.
This is.
Some translations say.
If you had known me.
You would have known my father also.
Others say.
If you have known me.
You will know my father also.
Others just simply say.
If you know me.
You will know my father also.
Basically.
Basically there's ancient manuscripts.
That have.
The whole range of these.
Options.
And the trouble with picking a side.
Or taking a position.
Is that it.
It kind of comes with some implications.
Is Jesus implying.
That the disciples.
Up until now.
Have not known him.
As they should.
Arguments could be made.
That that's the case.
Or is Jesus simply stating.
A principle.
If you know me.
You will know my father also.
Whatever the case.
The main point here.
Seems to be.
Jesus relationship with the father.
What is he saying?
He's saying.
Knowledge of me.
Equals.
Knowledge of my father.
If you know me.
You know him.
Also.
It could be.
That Jesus is emphasizing.
This unity.
That he has.
With the father.
Because of these.
Claims.
That he's just made.
Or.
Perhaps another reason.
As we heard earlier.
In this series.
The disciples are worried.
They've got troubled hearts.
What are their thoughts?
Jesus is leaving.
He's going to the father.
Wherever that is.
How will we ever get there?
To be with you?
I mean.
God is.
Way up there.
And we're.
Way down here.
We don't know.
God.
Like you do.
Jesus.
We've never seen God.
Like you have.
Jesus.
It's almost as if.
Jesus is saying.
Actually.
You know.
Him.
Better than you think.
You've seen him.
More than you realize.
If you.
Know.
Me.
You will know.
My father.
Also.
And actually.
From.
From now on.
He says.
From all this time.
That we've been together.
And on.
You do know him.
You have.
Seen him.
I imagine.
The faces of the disciples.
About now.
Are all.
Scrunched up.
Like.
What are you talking about?
Jesus.
Philip.
Feels free.
To speak his mind.
He says.
Lord.
Show us.
The father.
And that will be enough.
For us.
I love the humility.
Of.
Philip.
Here.
It's almost as if.
He's saying.
Jesus.
If all I get.
Out of this.
Following you.
Deal.
Is the chance.
To see.
A glimpse.
Of God.
That's enough.
For me.
I mean.
That's something.
Very few.
Can claim.
To have seen.
God.
Would you show.
God.
To us.
Says Philip.
Ironically.
Philip.
Has completely.
Missed the point.
Of what Jesus.
Just said.
And so.
Jesus.
Says it again.
Jesus answered.
Don't you know me.
Philip.
Even after.
I have been among you.
Such a long time.
Anyone.
Who has seen.
Me.
Has seen.
The father.
How can you say.
Show us.
The father.
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.
From myself.
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.
What a passionate.
Plea.
From Jesus.
To his disciples.
And again.
The point.
Seems to be here.
Don't you realize.
Philip.
All this time.
That I've been with you.
You have been.
Seeing.
God.
You have been getting to know.
The father.
The father is here with you.
Now.
Through.
Me.
And in.
Me.
Says Jesus.
The question of verse nine.
Really strikes a chord.
In my deepest soul.
Don't you know me.
Philip.
Imagine this.
Jesus is staring you in the face.
And he opens his mouth.
And he says.
Don't you know me.
Philip.
Who's talking here.
Is this just Jesus.
The man speaking.
Or is this Yahweh.
The creator.
The Lord.
The father.
Speaking.
Through.
The lips.
Of Jesus.
To Philip.
Don't you know me.
Philip.
After all this time.
That we've been together.
He.
The father.
Is in.
Me.
I.
Am in.
Him.
We are one.
Together.
The very same God.
Even the words.
That I'm speaking to you.
Says Jesus.
They're not my own.
They come from him.
And all the.
Works that you've seen me doing.
They're not.
Just from me.
That's him.
Doing his work.
And if this is true.
If this is who Jesus really is.
If he is.
God.
Like the creator.
Here.
Walking among us.
Suddenly it makes perfect sense.
How he can say things like.
I am the truth.
Faith.
And I am the life.
You can't come to the father.
Except through.
Me.
There's something so profound.
And wonderful here.
If we're willing to.
Really linger.
And listen.
To Jesus.
Let me ask it to you.
This way.
Do you want to see God?
Do you want to see.
God.
Basically what Jesus is saying.
You've seen.
And known.
The Jesus of these pages.
You have.
That's how God reveals himself.
To us.
Through his son.
Through Jesus.
It's a noodle baker.
It's a mystery.
Like how can he be.
Both God and man.
At the same time.
Aren't those two.
Kind of mutually exclusive.
Exclusive.
That's what the Bible teaches.
He's the one true God.
The one who created all things.
And at the same time.
Fully human.
In the person of Jesus.
Here with us.
He is both the creator.
And the descendant.
Of one of his own creatures.
At the same time.
How does it work?
It's a mystery.
It's a miracle.
Something God only understands.
But I encourage you.
To open your heart.
To this reality.
Of who Jesus is.
Do you want to see.
God.
If you have seen.
And known.
The Jesus.
Of these pages.
You have.
This is a special moment.
For Jesus.
We might wonder.
How is it.
That the disciples.
Haven't figured this out already.
That Jesus.
Is God.
Here.
In human flesh.
My answer to that.
Goes like this.
Jesus.
Didn't have.
A golden halo.
Above his head.
There weren't.
Rays of light.
Shining out of his face.
At all times.
Like in the stained glass depictions.
That you might see.
At the Catholic church.
Jesus had skin.
He had bones.
He had flesh.
He had blood.
Just like we do.
When he fell.
And skinned his knee.
He bled.
When his hands were punctured.
By the nails.
He bled.
Just like any human being would.
But this is a special moment.
This is a moment.
In which Jesus.
Reveals to his closest followers.
His friends.
I'm not only.
The Messiah.
I'm not only.
The son of David.
I'm not.
Only.
Just.
A man.
God.
The father.
Is in.
Me.
And I.
Am in.
Him.
So much.
So that after all this time.
We've spent together.
Father.
I speak the truth.
When I say to you.
You.
Have.
Known.
God.
You have.
Seen.
God.
Because you have seen.
Me.
You have known me.
Believe me.
When I tell you this.
Says Jesus.
Believe.
Do you believe.
Jesus.
Do you believe.
That Jesus.
Is God.
That he is the creator.
Do you believe.
That the things that he said.
Were not his own things.
But the things of God.
Do you believe.
That Jesus.
Is the truth.
Next Sunday.
We'll go on.
We'll hear.
Jesus.
Reason.
With his disciples.
About.
Why.
They should believe this.
He's got some pretty compelling.
Reasons.
And what can they expect.
To see happen.
For themselves.
Because of all this.
And so I encourage you.
To come back.
Next week.
To hear how it continues.
Let's pray.
Father in heaven.
Thank you.
For this.
This word.
That you've preserved.
For us.
Over all these centuries.
That we have.
The conversation.
That you had.
The Lord Jesus.
With the disciples.
We wish we could have been there.
In the room.
But we thank you.
That in a sense.
We can be.
Because you've.
You've kept these words.
For us.
I pray that these words.
Would sink deep.
Into our hearts.
That we would really.
Ponder them.
And consider them.
And embrace them.
And trust them.
You are the truth.
You are.
God.
And we pray in us.
That you would.
Transform our lives.
That you would.
Turn us upside down.
In your grace.
Your love.
And your mercy.
In your name.
Amen.