Thank you for reading the scriptures for us.
Do keep your Bibles open, or keep your phone open at the Bible app
! as we look at John's Gospel together,
and particularly we're going to be focusing on chapter 14
!
Why are Christians so devoted to Jesus?
Why do Christians long for opportunities to tell other people about Jesus,
friends, even complete strangers?
Why do they want to take part in a nationwide Gospel mission
to tell more people about Jesus?
Maybe you've been dragged along by a Christian friend,
and they're keen for you to come and to hear about Jesus.
Why?
Well, a great way to answer those questions
is to look at the seven wonderful sayings of Jesus
that we find in John's Gospel that are called the I Am sayings,
where Jesus says things like,
I am the light of the world,
I am the good shepherd,
I am the bread of life.
We can't look at all seven this morning,
but we're going to focus in on one of those great sayings,
arguably the greatest of these sayings,
and arguably the most controversial of these sayings,
where Jesus says,
I am the way,
and the truth,
and the life.
The declaration itself comes in in verse 6,
but I want us to get the context,
so let's work our way towards it from verse 1.
And our passage begins with comforting words
for troubled disciples.
Jesus is eating a final meal with his closest followers
before his arrest, trial, and execution.
So in just a few hours, he's going to be arrested.
There's going to be a trial with the Jewish court overnight.
The next day, he'll be on trial before the Roman governor,
Pilate, he'll be condemned to death.
He'll be nailed to a cross.
The next day, he'll be dead.
And his disciples are deeply troubled.
I hope you've enjoyed many relaxed evenings out in your life,
going out for a meal with family, with friends.
Well, this is no relaxed evening out.
The atmosphere is heavy,
with the distressing and confusing impact of Jesus' words.
He's talked about one of them betraying him,
and then of leaving them,
and saying they cannot go where he is going.
So where is he going?
Why is he going?
Why can't they go with him?
He says they will follow later,
and his most loyal follower, Peter,
the passionate, devoted Peter has protested,
Lord, why can't I follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.
Will you really?
Says Jesus.
No, you won't, Peter.
Three times you are going to disown me.
What words to create a sense of foreboding.
What terrible events could cause Peter to disown Jesus?
So no wonder they're deeply troubled.
And Jesus speaks words of comfort to his troubled disciples.
And he begins by saying,
do not let your hearts be troubled.
Christian, maybe you've come this morning with a troubled heart.
And actually the words that your Lord wants you to hear this morning,
are simply those words,
do not let your hearts be troubled.
But Jesus says that,
but he then follows on with a remarkable call to faith.
He says, believe, or we could simply translate it trust,
trust in God,
trust also in me.
That's how we can let our hearts not be troubled.
It's by trusting in God,
trusting in Jesus.
But what makes this so remarkable,
it's not so much that he tells them to calm their fears
by trusting in God.
That's sort of common enough in the Bible.
What is remarkable is that he calls them
in the very same breath to put their trust in him.
Trust in God, trust also in me.
The implication is inescapable
that he is somehow making himself equal with God.
But he doesn't call them to an ignorant faith,
a blind trust.
He gives them reasons to trust
with three wonderful revelations
about the ultimate future.
So no, he doesn't try to calm their fears
simply by saying,
don't worry, it's going to be okay.
By sort of playing down the pains and sorrows that lie ahead.
Sometimes life is very troublesome,
it's very painful, it's very sorrowful.
Instead, he directs their minds
way beyond the troubles that lie ahead
for them in this world.
And he speaks in verses 2 and 3
about the heaven to come
and the eternal age beyond this world.
And he reveals three great realities about heaven.
The first, according to verse 2,
and please don't miss the beauty of this,
he says that heaven is his father's house.
Heaven is not a sort of a vague,
unimaginable place it is for us,
for Jesus.
It's not vague and unimaginable.
Now, for some of us,
we've just sort of seen far too many
pre-ulaphalite paintings with chubby cherubs
playing harps and floating on clouds,
and that's just a ridiculous image of heaven.
But for Jesus, it's his home.
It's the home from which he's come
and to which he is returning.
Home is the place,
heaven is the place where he has enjoyed
intimate, eternal relationship with his father.
Heaven is his father's house.
And then he says, second,
that heaven has room
for all who will believe in Jesus.
So the point of verse 2
lies really in the word many,
that in his father's house are many rooms.
Room for all the disciples,
not just for this small group he's eating with,
but room for all who will believe in Jesus
from every people, tribe, and nation.
And then third,
and here is the very heart of the Christian message,
that our place in heaven
is prepared by his going.
So in verse 2 he says,
he must go to prepare
a place in his father's house
for his disciples.
That doesn't mean
he's going to get the place ready.
My wife's parents used to live
quite near us in Haberysheath,
but they then moved down to Cornwall
to be near my wife's sister.
And they were buying a bungalow
and it needed a lot of work doing.
They couldn't live there for six months
because there was building work to be done
and the place had to be prepared.
And then when the building work was finished,
then there was the electrics to do
and the plumbing and the plastering
and then the decorating
and then the carpets had to go down
and then it had to be furnished
and all those things had to be done
to prepare the place for them to live there.
Is that what Jesus has to go and do?
Well, that is a bit ridiculous really, isn't it?
All eternity to prepare the place
and it's not ready?
No, no, no.
It's his act of going
which is essential
if there is to be a place for us
in his father's house.
Our Bible translation here says
I'm going there to prepare a place for you.
Other translations, perhaps more accurately,
simply say I go to prepare a place for you.
I go.
And in John's Gospel,
it's his act of going
which is a big deal
because his going is via the cross.
His going entails his sin-bearing death
followed by his triumphant resurrection
and ascension to the father.
It is going to the cross
to pay for our sins
that prepares a place for us.
Because we can't enter
the father's house
carrying the guilt
and the defilement of our sins,
of our many offenses against God,
the things that provoke his anger,
his holy, just anger.
We can't...
Now, I think this will make sense to you.
We can't barge our way
into the father's house
as enemies of God.
We can only enter his house as friends,
reconciled, forgiven,
through the work of Jesus on the cross.
So that's the third and greatest revelation
in these verses
that our place in heaven
is prepared
by his going to the cross.
Two great reassurances naturally follow.
First, he promises to take us there
to be with him.
You see that in verse 3.
Let's look at that.
He says,
I will come back
and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.
If he's willing to go to the cross for us,
we can certainly trust him
to come back and take us home,
to be with him.
He would hardly endure the cross for us
and then fail to take us home.
And then secondly,
he says,
you know the way to the place
where I'm going,
in verse 4.
And we'll see in a moment
that Jesus is saying
we know the way,
or his disciples know the way,
because they know him.
And what a reassurance that is.
That to know him
is to know the way.
So these are comforting words
for troubled disciples.
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Heaven is his father's house.
Heaven has room
for all who will believe in him.
Our place in heaven
is prepared by his going.
He promises to take us there
to be with him.
And if we know Jesus,
we know the way.
That then is the context
for controversial words
in answer to a troubling question.
Verses 5 and 6.
You see, straightforward,
down to earth,
Thomas doesn't get it.
I don't know whether you attend
a Bible study group
in the church here,
but Thomas would be great
to have in your Bible study group
because he would be quite happy
to say to the leader,
we don't know what you're talking about.
I haven't got a clue.
All this talk of the father's house
has left him confused.
See what he says in verse 5?
Lord, we don't know where you're going,
so how can we know the way?
Now, beyond Thomas' immediate concern,
it is a troubling question, isn't it?
How can we know the way?
If we don't even know the destination,
how can we know the way?
I actually left home on Monday evening
and I've been sort of slowly
making my way up the country
and I am so thankful for Google Maps.
And I have had my phone out numerous times.
But I found the way to get here.
How?
Because every time I put in the destination.
And then Google tells me the way
because I can put in the destination.
But what if you don't even know the destination?
How can you possibly find the way
if you don't know the destination?
And maybe this is the question
that actually haunts you.
It's the troubling question
that keeps you awake at night
or gnaws away at you
when you're not distracted by other things.
What is the destination?
Well, what is life all about?
In connection with the mission
coming up next year,
we've done some national polling
as a passion for life.
And do you know what we found?
We found that one in three people said
that what is missing from their lives
is purpose.
But one in three people said
they don't really know
what their lives are for.
What's the purpose?
What's the destination?
Where should I be trying to get to?
And if I can't even answer those questions
about the destination,
then how can I possibly know the way?
So it's a great question, isn't it?
It's a vital question,
but it's also a troubling question.
How can we know the way?
And how thankful we should be
here today for Thomas
for asking the question
because it draws forth from Jesus
this great I am saying,
which consists of a sensational affirmation
followed by a clarifying,
an important clarifying negation.
So this most sensational affirmation,
I am the way
and the truth and the life.
So let's focus on the first part of that
and then I'll say a little bit
about the second and third part.
I am the way.
Not simply,
let me explain the way.
Not even let me point the way.
Not even let me show you the way.
You know,
I talked about my parents-in-law
moving down to Cornwall
and when they were moving in,
my wife traveled down there
as a sort of surprise visit
and to help them move in
and she had to change trains in Plymouth
and she got talking to somebody
and she missed her train.
Can't possibly imagine that happening
but somehow it happened.
Talking to somebody,
misses her train,
she's in a panic.
How is she going to get to her destination?
And she goes to the ticket office
and the lady in the ticket office
is so kind to her
because she doesn't just tell her
where the next train is
and which platform.
She leaves her ticket office
and she shows my wife the way.
Takes her,
leads her to the platform.
But Jesus is saying more than,
he's not just saying
I'll show you the way.
No, he says I am the way.
I am the way.
The way to where?
Well, the way to the Father.
Not simply to the Father's house
in the far off the future
but the way to the Father
in the present
as the end of verse 6
will make clear for us.
Jesus speaks of coming,
present tense,
to the Father.
In fact, of course,
again, I think this will make sense to you.
We cannot expect
to go to the Father's house then
if we do not come to the Father now.
We can't expect to live
our whole lives
estranged from the Father,
distant from the Father,
hostile even to the Father,
pushing him away
and then suddenly,
somehow,
be welcomed into his house
at the end.
Then we need to come
to the Father now.
The destination
that matters now
and matters most
is not a place
but a relationship.
We need a way
to the Father,
to knowing the God
who created us
and to knowing him
as our Father.
and we are lost
until we find that way.
And Jesus says,
I am the way.
And what good news
that is.
Let me just explain
why I think it's good news.
First,
because it means
the way is knowable
and not impossible to find.
because Jesus
has come to us
and you can meet Jesus
this very morning
in the pages of Scripture.
Secondly,
it's good news
because the way
is a person
for us
to trust.
Not a philosophy
for us to get
our heads around.
Now,
some of us are great
at getting our heads
around big ideas.
Some of us just don't
get our heads around
big ideas.
But the way
is not a philosophy
you've got to get hold of.
No,
it's a person to trust
and we can all
trust a person.
Even the children
who've gone out
to their groups
can trust a person.
They can trust Jesus
and so they can know
the way.
And then thirdly,
the way is a provision
that is made for us
and it's not a performance
that is demanded
of us.
So I guess
that some of you
in this room
have just started uni.
How did you get to uni?
How did you secure
your place?
You had to perform.
You can't get into university
without performing,
getting the grades.
It's pretty fair
to say that Europe
is going to win
the Ryder Cup.
How?
By their performance.
And that's what religion is.
religion is a performance
that is demanded of us.
But the way to the Father
is not any form of religion.
It's not a way
for us to walk.
It's not a list of rules
for us to follow.
It's not a set of meditation
techniques for us to master.
we are relieved of all such
crushing burdens.
Because the way
is a person.
The way is a person
that we can know
and love
and trust.
And when we simply
know and trust
Jesus,
he becomes our way
to the Father.
remember
what he said earlier?
Don't let your hearts
be troubled.
Trust in God.
Trust also in me.
That's all he's calling us
to do,
to trust in him.
And as we trust in him,
he becomes the way
for us.
But
how can he
possibly
be qualified
to make
such a claim?
What qualifies
Jesus to be the way?
Well,
it's a matter
both of who he is
and what he has done.
So we've already
thought about
what he has done
to be the way.
Going to the cross,
taking away our sin
so that nothing
should stand between us
and the Father.
Becoming the way
to the Father
through his death.
But it's not only
what he's done,
it's also who he is.
He is the way
because in his very being
he is one
with the Father.
Did you pick
that up
from the reading?
That he is
in the closest
possible relationship
with the Father.
So in answer
to Philip's request,
Lord,
show us the Father,
Jesus says,
don't you get it,
Philip?
I am in the Father
and the Father
is in me
and whoever
has seen me
has seen the Father.
In other words,
Jesus is the fullest
possible revelation
of God.
But you might ask,
how can we see
the Father
since Jesus
is not visibly
present to us
as he was
for his disciples?
Well,
the answer lies
in the second half
of verse 10.
That's why we read
that far in our reading.
He says,
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.
Do you see the
emphasis on his words?
And that when Jesus
speaks,
it is the Father
working.
It is the Father
working to make
himself known
through the Son.
It is the Father
speaking to us
through the Son,
revealing himself
to us
through the Son.
And so Jesus'
words
are what matters.
You see,
I can't know you
simply by looking
at you,
can I?
I could just
sort of stand here
for half an hour
just looking at you
and really at the end
of that not feel
I know you
any better.
But if after service
we have a conversation
and you use words
and you speak to me
and tell me about yourself,
then I will begin
to feel I'm beginning
to know you.
And if I want to know you,
I need to listen
to what you say.
And Jesus' words
paint the clearest,
fullest,
most understandable
revelation and portrait
of the Father
that we could have.
And so we see the Father
by listening to the Son.
And so he's fully qualified
to be the way.
And there are two
essential aspects
that first he makes
God known to us
by his work of revelation
and second he clears
the way for us
to know God
by his work of redemption.
That's paying the price
to set us free
from our sins
by dying for us
on the cross.
In other words,
he both makes God known
and makes God knowable.
And then he simply
expands further
on those two aspects
of his being the way
in the rest
of this stupendous
declaration as he goes
on to say,
I am the truth.
Again, he does not merely
speak the truth,
he embodies the truth.
Though all the truth
of God resides in Jesus
and is communicated
to us through him.
And so as the way
to the Father,
he shares with us
the knowledge of God.
And we're not left
in ignorance,
left blindly trusting
a God we do not know.
No, we come to know
the truth concerning God
by knowing Jesus
and listening to his word.
If you want to know
the truth,
you have to know Jesus.
That's the bottom line.
And then he says,
I am the life.
So as the way
to the Father,
he shares with us
not only the knowledge
of God,
but amazingly,
he shares with us
the life of God.
So John's gospel,
this testimony to Jesus,
John,
who walked the roads
of Israel with Jesus,
listened to Jesus,
saw Jesus,
touched Jesus,
wrote his testimony
to the life of Jesus
and all that he said
and did for us.
John's gospel
is full of the promise
of eternal life.
But how does Jesus
give us eternal life?
Not merely by pointing
the way to life,
not simply by telling us
where to find life,
but by giving himself.
And he both gives himself
for us
and he gives himself
to us.
First,
he gives himself
for us on the cross,
taking our place
under the wrath of God,
bearing the penalty
for our sins
so that penalty of death
should be lifted from us
and then he gives himself
to us
by giving us
his spirit.
so the life
that is in him
should flow in us,
he says,
like living waters.
So as the truth,
he's able to take away
the darkness
of our minds
and give us understanding
and as the life,
he's able to take away
the deadness
of our souls
and give us life.
And then he says to us,
I am the way
and the truth
and the life.
And we can come
to the Father
through him.
And as we come
to the Father
through him,
we receive both
the truth of God
and the life of God.
That's a most
stupendous affirmation,
isn't it?
In answer
to a troubling question.
Something to pause
and marvel at.
But Jesus immediately
adds a clarifying
negation.
He says,
no one comes
to the Father
except through me.
This negation
brings great clarity.
It clarifies
that Jesus
is not just
a way,
that he is
the way.
because he says,
no one
comes to the Father
except through me.
No special cases,
no exemption,
no one
comes to the Father
except through me.
You come
to the Father
through Jesus
or you do not
come at all.
And it's this negation
that makes the word
such a controversial
answer to the
troubling question,
how can we know
the way?
And I just
imagine
that Graham,
your pastor,
is invited
to some
civic event
in Edinburgh
city centre
with community
leaders from
many different
faiths
and he's asked
to say a few
words about
his faith
and so he
begins to read
these words
of Jesus.
Maybe there
are murmurs
of admiration
as he reads,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
What stirring
words from
the lips
of Jesus
but then
he goes on
and he
completes
the reading,
no one
comes to
the Father
except
through me.
An awkward
silence follows
because no one
can fail to
recognise the
challenge of
the negative.
those few
words are a
challenge to
all of the
world's
religions,
to all of
their teachings,
to all of
their techniques,
to all of
their rules,
their stories,
the words of
their gurus
and prophets
and it's saying
that none of
them will bring
anyone to
God.
that's what
they claim
they will
do but
they won't.
Jesus is
saying no
one comes
to the
Father by
them.
That in
fact by
pointing people
away from
Jesus,
by saying,
claiming there
are other
ways,
that far
from bringing
people to
God,
they must
inevitably
lead people
away from
God,
away from
the truth,
away from
life.
There are
many paths
away from
God but
only one
way to
God and
his name
is Jesus.
And this
negative is
the challenge
that we face
as we think
about bearing
witness to
the Lord
Jesus.
Because
we might be
delighted to
talk about
Jesus being
a way,
but we're
fearful of
talking about
Jesus being
the way,
of urging
people to
come to
Jesus because
there's no
other way.
Our friends
might be
interested as
we talk about
Jesus being
a way,
about truth
and life
being found
in Jesus,
but when we
tell them
there's no
other way,
well that's
when the
conversation can
get heated,
or at least
we anticipate,
we fear it
will get
heated,
so maybe we
never start the
conversation in the
first place.
We fear the
pushback.
So first we
need to
overcome our
fear of
controversy by
trusting in
God.
But we also
need to feel
for ourselves
the forceful
weight of
this negative.
And I
know for my
own part
that this
negative
challenges both
my reluctance
to tell people
the good news
of the Lord
Jesus and
my complacency
about their
urgent and
vital need
to hear this
news.
There is no
room for
complacency.
My neighbours
who do not
know Jesus,
they really
do not know
the way.
And they
can't come to
the Father if
they don't know
the way.
And they
really are
lost.
And they
really are
ignorant to
the truth.
And they
are truly
perishing in
their sins
without life.
And they
will die in
their sins if
they do not
come to the
Father through
Jesus.
And the
same goes for
every single
person we
meet who does
not know
Jesus.
They do not
know the way.
They cannot
know the way if
they don't
know him.
and I
might be the
only Christian
they know
who can
tell them
about him.
And I'm
not trying to
give you a
guilt trip.
I'm just
trying to help
all of us in
this room,
myself included,
just to feel the
weight of that
and not be
complacent.
And I need
to ask the
Father to
help me.
And I need
to rely on
the Spirit
that Jesus
has given me.
And I need
to overcome
my reluctance
and my
complacency and
I need to
tell them
about Jesus
the Son.
Because I
know the
way and
they don't.
Just imagine
that my wife
had gone to
that person
who worked
in the
ticket office
at Plymouth
Station and
says,
what's the
way for me
to get where
I'm going?
And she
said,
well I know
but I'm
not going to
tell you.
I know
the way
and they
don't.
Do I
have enough
love to
tell them
the way
to the
Father?
Where to
find truth
and life?
The good
news of
the Lord
Jesus is
the good
news of
the way
to God.
The God
who created
all things,
the God
who gave
us life
and breath
and all
that we
have,
is the
good news
of the
way
to God
through
Jesus
the
Son.
It's
the way
to life,
it's the
way to
the truth,
it's the
way home.
And through
all of our
everyday evangelism
and through a
passion for life
we want to
encourage each
other and
we want to
help each
other and
urge each
other to
declare this
good news
to those
that God
puts in
our lives.
But he
is the
way,
he is the
truth,
he is the
life.
That's why
we are
devoted to
Jesus,
that's why
we need to
tell other
people about
him.
Amen.