There's an ancient parable that's found in both Hindu and Buddhist texts,
and in fact, a variety of ancient religious texts.
It's known as the parable of the blind men and the elephant.
And it's possibly a parable that you've heard or engaged with
because it's widely used even in modern circles
to demonstrate how no one's got the full pictures.
Just people have got part of a picture, but not the entire picture.
And the parable is this.
A group of blind men heard that there was this strange animal called an elephant
had been brought to their village,
and they found it, and they were feeling it to try and work out what this thing is.
And I think I've just gone one too far.
Can you go back for me? Thank you.
And the first person grabs hold of the trunk and said,
this thing's a big, thick snake.
And another grabs hold of the ear and says, no, it seems a bit more like a fan.
Another blind man wraps his arms around the legs and said,
no, this elephant is in fact a tree trunk.
A blind man who placed his hands up on the side of it said,
no, elephants are in fact a wall.
And another felled its tail, said, no, no, elephants are a rope.
And another one grabbed the tusks and said, no, actually elephants are spears.
It's been passed down for centuries.
It's a famous parable.
And someone more recently inverted the story in a bit more of a humorous way
and said that six blind elephants were discussing what people were like.
And after arguing, they decided to find a person
and determine what it was like by direct experience.
And so the first blind elephant felt the human being with its foot
and declared human beings are flat.
And all the other elephants felt the human being with their foot
and said, yes, we all agree human beings are all flat.
Now, this parable is used to illustrate,
particularly in our modern world,
to illustrate how world religions all have part of the truth,
but no religion has the whole truth.
And you come to a passage that was just read out to us in Matthew 14, 6,
and you've got to ask yourself the question,
are Christians therefore arrogant?
Or more to the point, was Jesus especially arrogant?
He certainly claimed to have exclusive rights to the God business.
John 14, 6 just read out to us,
I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and no one comes to the Father except through me.
That's an exclusive claim.
And over the next three weeks,
I'm going to be looking at that claim of Jesus
and his claims to be the way,
the truth, and the life.
And in our times when all sense of reason about issues of faith seem to have been abandoned,
I want us to have a reasonable faith.
My hope, as I prayed earlier,
is for the thinkers amongst us to believe and the believers amongst us to think.
I hope for some of us to be led to belief
and others to think deeper about what it is that we believe
and find a deeper sense of joy and confidence and hope.
So we're starting today with the first claim,
Jesus is the way.
I've got three main ideas that I'm running with.
Rethinking Jesus' exclusive claim,
the sweetness of Jesus' exclusive claim,
and humility and this exclusive claim.
So firstly,
rethinking Jesus' exclusive claim.
In these verses,
you'll notice,
as I will read out,
that Jesus is providing
his disciples with truth
that must be believed
if their faith is to be triumphant
and their lives to be at peace in troubled times.
And it is troubled times for the disciples.
They have just heard from Jesus
that he is departing.
And they're like,
their worlds are rocked.
He tells them he's departing
to his father's house
to prepare a room for them.
And then he tells them
that they know where he's going in verse four.
And it's at this point
that Thomas speaks up in verse five and says,
Lord, we don't know where you are going,
so how can we know the way?
Now, blokes in the room,
this is really important.
This must be the only time
in recorded history
where a man actually admits he's lost
and asks for directions.
It's Thomas a couple of centuries ago,
a couple of thousand years ago.
But Thomas's question
is more ignorant
than he actually realizes it is.
His question implies
that the way that Jesus takes
to get to the Father,
to get to God,
is the same way
that the disciples will go
to get to the Father.
And so Jesus stops at that moment
and clears up Thomas's confusion.
He stops talking about his way to the Father
and addresses the way the disciples will take.
And it's there in verse six.
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life,
and no one comes to the Father
except through me.
The way of Jesus to the Father
is via the cross
and the way of the disciples
to the Father is Jesus.
And because Jesus took his way to the cross,
he himself becomes the way for others.
But here's the sticky bit with this.
Jesus insists here
that he is the exclusive way.
He is the way,
the truth,
the life.
He's not opening up the door
for any other opportunities,
any other options,
or ways,
or truth,
or life.
And we must grapple
with the magnitude
of Jesus' claim
if we're to deal with
the person of Jesus.
If you don't deal
with the magnitude of his claim,
you don't deal with Jesus.
It's broadly acknowledged
throughout the centuries
that Jesus was a teacher.
Jesus taught people
to love each other.
He was also very kind
to the poor
in the outcasts of society.
He laid his hands on the sick.
He fed the hungry.
And throughout history,
there have been many people
who have done
those sort of things.
They have told people
to love each other.
They have cared for the sick.
They've been kind
to the poor.
So you've got to ask
if there's many people
who have done that,
why did this one,
why did Jesus Christ
become the most influential
single figure
in the history of the world?
And it's not because
of the nice things
that he said and did.
It's not because
he told everyone
to love each other.
I mean,
that message is everywhere.
It's because
of the controversial things
that he said and did.
it's because
of the outrageous
claims
of Jesus.
You see,
with Jesus,
there is a whole bunch
of humility
but no modesty.
His actions
are humble,
they're gentle,
they're kind,
they're loving.
He weeps
with the weeping.
His heart breaks
at the death
of his mate Lazarus.
He is gentle
with children.
His character
is unquestionably
strikingly beautiful
and compelling.
He is,
and yet,
this Jesus
is always combining
highest majesty
with the greatest humility.
He joins the strongest,
absolute strongest
commitment to justice
with astonishing
mercy and grace.
He reveals
transcendent
self-sufficiency
and yet
entire trust
and reliance
upon his heavenly father.
He is tenderness
without weakness.
He is boldness
without harshness.
He is humility
with absolute
towering confidence.
He is
the perfect combination
of truth
and love.
his actions
and his character
were so
completely
unself-centered.
That is
totally
unself-centered.
And yet,
his claims
about himself
are so
completely
self-centered.
you never
see him
pompous
or offended
or standing
on his dignity.
He's approachable
to the weakest
and the most
broken.
He's never
moody.
He's
never moody.
in fact,
in his book
called
The World's Religions,
Houston Smith
says that
only Jesus
and Buddha,
historically,
only Jesus
and Buddha
so impressed
their contemporaries
that they
asked
not just
who are you
but what
are you.
In the history
of all
religious leaders,
only those
two
were asked
what are you.
Smith makes
the case
that these
two figures
had characters
that transcended
ordinary
human life
to the degree
that that question
became necessary
for people.
And yet,
Buddha
asserted
with great
clarity
that he
was not
God,
that he
was not
even an
angelic
being
or any
form of
divine
being.
He made
it absolutely
clear that
I am just
a normal
human being,
not Jesus.
He was
totally
different.
He
repeatedly
claimed
to be
the God,
the creator
of the
universe.
And so
we don't
come to
grips
with the
real Jesus
until we
come to
grips
with
the
controversial
things he
says.
We don't
deal with
Jesus
until we
deal with
his enormous
claims.
And that
is what the
average person
in this
country
is unprepared
to do.
The
average
person in
our
country
thinks
well of
Jesus.
They're
positive
towards
Jesus
with some
reservations.
Love the
love stuff.
Don't like
the truth
stuff.
Don't like
the claims
of Jesus.
When we
went through
Mark's
gospel very
recently,
we noticed
throughout
Mark's gospel
that Jesus
is always
always
working
hard
to try
and avoid
people coming
to that
conclusion.
You see,
he's not
interested in
people liking
him with
certain
reservations.
If you
listen to
Jesus and
have any
intellectual
integrity,
then what
Jesus does
to us is
he consistently
pushes us
to the
extremes.
you can't
sit in
the middle
with this
guy.
We either
reject him
outright or
we embrace
him outright
and both
of those
are on
his terms.
You reject
him on
his terms,
you embrace
him on
his terms.
What he
says about
himself,
the controversial
things,
is either the
worst thing
that anyone
has ever
said or
it's the
best thing
that anyone
has ever
said.
I am
the way
is his
claim.
And either
he is
right and
we follow
him and
we adore
him or
he is
wrong and
we destroy
him.
But how
dare we
decide to
sit in the
middle and
say we
just like
him.
That is
not coming
to terms
with who
Jesus is.
He polarized
people in
the first
century.
So we
need to
rethink this
exclusive
claim.
But secondly,
we need to
see the
sweetness of
Jesus'
exclusive
claim.
It's
really crucial
for us to
see here
that when
Jesus says
that there's
no one
comes to
father except
through him,
he's not
offering us,
he's not
saying that
you cannot
know anything
about God,
without him.
That's not
what he's
saying.
In fact,
philosophers,
theologians have
argued for
many, many
years that
every world
religion,
philosophical
system gets
some knowledge
of God from
this world and
all of them
are arguing in
one way or
another in that
direction, but
they fall short
because they
don't see
Jesus.
so we can
know something
of God
through general
God has
revealed himself
according to
Romans 1,
revealed himself
in the
created order.
What Jesus
is saying
here that no
one comes to
the father
except through
him, what
he's saying
is there's
no way to
come to the
father and
really know
the father
except through
him.
there is a
real sweetness
to these
words of
Jesus.
Jesus is
promising so
much more
than just
knowledge of
God.
He's promising
intimacy with
God.
Jesus is the
only way to
change God
from being an
oppressive boss
who I need to
please to
being a loving
father who
accepts and
embraces me.
he's the
only way to
turn a
relationship
with God
from fear
and uncertainty
to absolute
confidence and
warmth and
love.
Now my
girls know,
I've got three
daughters and
they know
that if
they tell me
that they're
going to do
a chore,
like unpack
the dishwasher
and go and
watch TV
instead,
that there
will be
consequences
for that.
But they
also know
that the
consequence
isn't going
to be I'm
going to
fire them
from the
family.
They're not
going to get
the sack
from being
in the
family for
that.
Even at
their age,
what they
don't fully
understand is
that they
haven't even
begun to
plumb the
depths of
what me as
their dad and
that as their
mum would do
if they were
in danger.
they
didn't even
plumb the
depths of
that.
Back in
2012, I
was in
Saisha,
it's right
up the tip
of Australia,
I've been
Cape York,
and one
afternoon I
went to
this place,
which is at
Saisha, on
that wharf
fishing.
And I
was up there
with a group
of friends,
and one
of the
blokes had
his four-year-old
son with
us, and
we were on
the deck
of that
wharf doing
the fishing,
and we
were told,
it's about a
four-meter
drop from
where we
were to
the water,
and we
had been
told that
afternoon that
there is a
four-meter
saltwater
crocodile that
lives under
the wharf.
No point
fishing there,
catch anything
decent, the
croc will grab
it, and
there'll be
nothing left
for you.
But this
is my
only time
to fish
at the
top end
in the
Gulf, and
hopefully catch
something of
reasonable
size.
And my
particular issue
with the
wharf at
Saisha is
that there
was no
fence, no
barricades, or
anything like
that.
I'm trying to
enjoy an
afternoon of
fishing, and
I've got this
four-year-old,
who's kind of
an overconfident
four-year-old,
doing this
at the edge
of the
wharf,
looking over
it, and
doing this
along the
edge.
And I'm
thinking,
there's a
four-meter
crocodile.
Your afternoon
tea is what
you are to
this crocodile.
And so I'm
trying to
relax.
It appeared
to me that
this kid's
dad was not
concerned at
all about
this.
He's not
in line,
getting best
dad of the
year.
I'm
going to
do this.
Dad's
over there.
This kid,
for some
reason,
wanted to
hang around
me and
do this.
And I'm
conflicted
here.
I'm wanting
to enjoy
my fishing,
and I
couldn't
enjoy my
fishing,
because at
any moment,
this kid,
in my view,
is going to
tumble into
the water.
And I'm
now conflicted,
because if he
ends up
there, I
feel like I'm
going to have
to jump in
and rescue
him.
And I
don't want
to rescue
him,
because there's
a four-meter
crocodile down
there.
And so I'm
conflicted at
this point.
What do I
do?
Will I,
I mean,
for me,
getting eaten
by a
crocodile's
got to be
the worst
way to go.
Potentially,
the worst
way to go.
And certainly
not a helpful
way to go,
that's for
sure.
And so I
cannot
relax.
And to
save me
the possibility
of surrendering
my life to
the jaws of
a crocodile,
I gave up
my one and
only opportunity
to fish in
the gulf by
packing up
and going
back to
the campsite.
Because I
was not
going to
jump in,
well, I
might have
had to have
jumped in
to save
a four-year-old.
Now,
I am
a finite,
flawed,
totally
average
parent.
And it
scares me
to know
how far
I would
go to
save one
of my
daughters.
If that
was my
daughter that
happened to
fall in in
that moment,
I would
not even
think,
not even
think for a
moment,
I would
willingly give
my life
to a
four-meter
crocodile for
one of my
kids.
There is a
real
sweetness
here,
because
Jesus is
saying
that there
is no
other way
for us
to have
this kind
of confidence
about a
relationship
with God,
a confidence
that this
God,
this Father
would love
me and
us so
much more
than any
mother would
love their
children or
father would
love their
children.
There is
only one
way to
have that
kind of
confidence.
And that
is in
Jesus.
That's the
sweetness that
he offers
here in
declaring that
he is the
way to the
Father.
He's offering
us intimacy.
And there
is no other
religion in
the history of
this world that
declares that
God loves us
more than we
love ourselves.
Not a single
religion declares
that God loves
us more than
we love
ourselves.
There's not
a single
religion that
declares that
you cannot
be fired
from the
family like
the Christian
faith.
Not a
single one.
And so
that makes
this exclusive
claim of
Jesus good
news not
good advice.
Every other
religion and
philosophical
system even
the system of
no religion
declares that
if you follow
this advice or
you live in
this particular
way you
obey these
rules then
you will
achieve the
goal of
life.
Not
Christianity.
Jesus has
not come to
show us how
to strive.
He did the
striving.
He didn't
come to show
us a mountain
of righteousness
to climb.
He climbed
it.
it was all
done for
us because
we are
incapable of
climbing and
striving.
You see
the biblical
picture of
the human
nature and
the human
race says
that we need
someone to
intervene.
And
Ephesians 2
1 to 3
we see why
we can't do
it.
It says
we are
dead.
We are
dead in
our
transgressions
and sins
in which
we used
to live.
All of
us also
lived among
them at
one time
so we're
all dead
and we're
all by
nature
objects of
wrath.
You see
God's
diagnosis of
the human
condition is
not that
we're in
danger of
death but
that we're
in a state
of real
and present
death.
And yet
you look
around a
room like
this and
there are
people whose
bodies are
active,
whose minds
are sharp,
personalities
brimming.
And yet
in the
area that
matters the
most,
our souls,
our relationship
with God,
there is no
life there.
We are all
blind to the
reality,
to the demands
and the glory
of our
created God.
We simply
do not
love him.
We simply
do not
love him.
He is
dead
to us.
Ali,
can you
push the
next slide
for me?
As
John
Stott
says,
we should
not
hesitate
to affirm
that a
life
without
God,
however
physically
fit and
mentally
alert the
person may
be,
is a
living
death and
those who
live it
are dead
even while
they are
living.
We are
helpless,
we are
hopeless,
and we
are in
great peril
unless
something is
done for
us.
I've got a
picture up
here of the
philosopher
Jeremy
Bentham.
He died
on the
6th of
June
1832.
And this
guy left
his entire
estate to
the University
College of
London,
University
Hospital
College
Hospital in
London,
on the
condition,
you can
have all
of my
estate on
the condition
that you
preserve my
body and
stick it in
a wooden
box.
And that
my body
in the
box gets
wheeled out
for attendance
at the
hospital board
meeting.
Every hospital
board meeting,
I meant to
be there.
And over
the years,
they have
reworked that
requirement to
the point
where once
a year,
I think it's
at the
AGM,
the cabinet's
wheeled out
to the
board table
and the
chairman says,
Jeremy
Bentham,
present but
not voting.
Weird thing,
that is,
this guy
will never
raise a hand
in response,
he never
submits a
motion,
he's there
in body
but he's
been dead
for 175
years.
I believe
his head
is now
waxed.
Been dead
for 175
years.
You see,
dead people
can't do
anything for
themselves and
that is all
of us
spiritually.
We need
someone to
act for us
and yet the
very next
verse in
Ephesians
declares the
good news of
Christianity.
Have a look
at it up on
the screen.
Because of
his great
love for
us,
God who
is rich
in mercy
made us
alive with
Christ even
when we
were dead
in our
transgressions.
It is by
grace that
you have
been saved.
In our
state of
deadness,
spiritual death,
God acted
with grace.
God knows
our true
state and
what is required
to fix it.
We are dead
in transgressions
and sin and
so the Lord
Jesus took
that deadness
upon himself
that is
God,
the created
God took
on human
form,
identified
with us,
took on
death for
us,
broke that
curse so
that we can
have access
to God.
He went
to the cross
to open the
way for us
back to God.
And so what
that means is
that Christianity
is not good
advice on how
to improve
your life.
it is
life-altering
news that
declares that
the only way
that you can
have your sins
forgiven and
be saved is
Jesus.
The only way
you can be
raised from
death to
life is
Jesus.
The only way
you can know
God as a
father and
not as an
oppressive
boss is
Jesus.
God's grace
allows the
weakest to
come.
It allows
every dead
person to
come.
Every
spiritually
dead person
to come.
It excludes
no one.
So,
that means
that Jesus'
claim here
to be the
way is
an exclusive
claim.
But it's
the most
inclusive
exclusive
claim there
is.
In our
world,
everyone's
making
exclusive
claims.
But this
is the
most
inclusive
exclusive
claim because
of the
grace of
God.
When
someone
says,
you know,
surely a
good moral
person can
find their
way to
God,
they are
being so,
so exclusive
at that
point.
The premise
behind that
exclusive
claim is
that the
good moral
people find
God,
but all
the bad
people don't.
So,
some people
are in,
some people
are out.
It elevates
that exclusive
claim,
elevates
certain people
in society
over others.
Jesus
says,
in actual
fact,
those who
acknowledge
that they
are in fact
dead and
sinful and
bad come
to him
and trust
him and
his work.
They're the
ones who
are in.
It's those
who see
their sin
against God
and their
offense against
God.
It's the
humble who
are in
and the
proud who
are out.
And so,
yes,
this claim
of Jesus
is exclusive,
but it's
sweet because
it's the
most inclusive
exclusivity
because it
is open
to everyone.
Everyone.
So,
thirdly,
my third
point is
humility
and this
exclusive
claim.
Christians
are the
only people,
the only
people whose
exclusive claim
leads to
humility,
not arrogance.
If you,
for instance,
belong to
a religion
or a
philosophical
system that
says you
are in,
you're part of
the in
group and
you get
access to
God because
of your
effort or
belief or
knowledge or
culture,
then ultimately
what that
means is you
start to feel
superior to
people who
don't hold
those views.
You start
to see
those other
people as,
look at those
poor people
who don't
have the
same knowledge
or belief
that I've
got.
If you are
a secular
person who
thinks that
all religions
are the
same or
that they're
relative or
they've all
got bits of
the truth,
then ultimately
you will
feel superior
to those
poor fools
who think
that their
religion is
the only
true one.
Remember that
parable I'd
said right at
the beginning
about the
elephant and
the blind
men?
The point of
that parable
is that
every religion
has part of
the truth but
no one sees
all of the
truth.
And that
is how
vast ways
of our
society
view it.
The problem
with that
is the
only way
that you
could possibly
say that
all religions
have part of
the truth but
no religion
has the
whole truth
is if you
think you
see the
entire
picture.
You're
working on
the assumption
that you've
got the
picture.
You've got
the truth.
truth.
The only
way you can
see that
every religion
is blind in
some way is
if you think
you're not
blind.
The only
way to say
nobody has
the superior
knowledge is
to assume
that you
have the
superior
knowledge.
Whichever
way you
come out
of it,
your exclusive
claim leads
to pride,
leads to
arrogance,
because it
elevates you
over others.
But if
you're a
Christian,
you are
saved by
grace.
This means
that when you
talk to an
atheist or
you talk to
a Buddhist,
it is likely
that they are
better than
you.
But you're
not saved
because you're
better.
You are
saved by
grace.
Christianity
is the
only
exclusive
claim that
creates a
spirit of
humility.
Christians
therefore should
be the most
loving towards
people who
disagree with
them, who
have different
views than
they have.
Christians
should be the
most forgiving.
Christians should
be the most
patient.
Christians should
be the most
humble.
And friends,
reality is
until we
are,
why should
our society
believe this
incredible claim
of the Lord
Jesus?
Until they
see this
incredible claim
of the Lord
Jesus producing
in us
humility and
grace and
mercy and
patience.
the reason
most people
don't see
it in
Christians is
because most
Christians either
don't understand
they're saved by
grace or
forget they're
saved by
grace.
Could that
possibly be
you?
Up on the
screen, have
a look at
verses 8 and
9 of
John 14.
Jesus
answered,
don't you
know me
Philip?
Even
after I've
been among
you such a
long time,
anyone who
has seen
me has
seen the
Father.
How can
you say
show us
the Father?
You see
what Jesus
is saying to
Philip there?
Have you
been around
me for so
long,
Philip, and
yet you
still don't
know me?
See, Jesus
claims to be
the way to
God.
He died that
we might
have intimacy
with God.
In fact,
intimacy with
God is what
the universe
is about.
It's what
the cross
is about.
And my
question,
potentially for
you, if
you're sitting
in church
for years,
is what
Jesus says
to Philip
here something
that he might
be saying
to you?
Is your
relationship
with God
knowledge
about him
or is it
intimate
knowledge
of him?
That is,
deep
in your
heart,
do you
sense the
warm embrace
of the
gospel?
Do you
sense the
warm embrace
of the
Lord Jesus?
In the
moments of
failure,
do you
sense the
warm embrace
of the
Lord Jesus?
where he
won't
sack you
from the
family?
Secondly,
that warm
embrace of
the gospel
is what's
at stake
for our
world when
we as
Christians
back away
from the
outrageous
claims of
Jesus.
When we
want to
not offend
anyone with
the outrageous
claims of
Jesus.
Jesus has
been offending
people for
2,000 years.
Why stop
now?
We go
soft here
and intimacy
and yet
that is
what is
happening.
A few
years ago
there was a
large
ecumenical
service in
one of the
cathedrals,
Christian
cathedrals
in Hobart
to mark
an anniversary
of the
Port Arthur
massacre.
One Christian
minister,
a guy I
know,
was asked
to do
the Bible
reading.
The passage
for the
Bible reading
was printed
on the
service sheet
and it
was John
14
verses 1
through to
the first
half of
verse 6.
it stopped
at the
second half
of verse 6
which reads
no one
comes to
the Father
except through
me.
And the
organizer
said to
this minister
I know
that it
was very
important
not to
read
that bit
of the
verse
so as
not to
offend
anyone
as if the
rest of the
verse 6
didn't offend
anyone.
but not
to read
that
specifically
so that
people
would not
be offended.
My
friend
said
I
in fact
submit
to a
higher
order
of being
and I
will be
reading it
and so
he did.
I'd never
been asked
to do it
again but
he did.
It is
so so
crucial
for us
to stand
firm in
those moments
and not
be
embarrassed.
To stand
firm on
this claim
of Christ
because all
hope is
lost.
Intimacy
with God
is lost.
It's so
crucial for us
not to back
away from
this claim
because as
Acts 4
12 says
this about
Jesus
salvation is
found in
no one
else for
there is no
other name
under heaven
given to
mankind
by which
we must
be saved.
Amen.