Preamble
Good morning and a very warm welcome to Medway Community Church. Once again find ourselves in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Now if you were with us last week then you will know that I spent a fair amount of time ‘setting the scene’ - providing background and context. And for good reason. Because for us to fully appreciate the impact of Jesus' words - we need to understand the mindset of the disciples - the emotional turmoil that they were going through.
If you remember Jesus was in the final week of his life - on the Monday he had been triumphantly welcomed into the City of Jerusalem but by Friday he was to be crucified. We read in Luke 22 that he instructs Peter and John to ‘go into the city’ and to meet ‘a man carrying a jar of water’, who would in turn lead them to a house - there they find ‘a large upper room furnished and ready’ for them. It is in this upper room that Jesus spends his last night with his disciples and he speaks his parting words.
They had given up everything to follow Jesus. They had left their jobs and their families - all of their life plans in order to follow Him! They had spent the last 3 years - every waking moment - with Him. They love Him, they believe in Him, BUT they are profoundly confused!
You see, their expectation was that Jesus, the Messiah, was going to establish His kingdom and that in so doing they would be given positions of prominence. But this is not the case. Jesus repeatedly tells them that he is leaving. I am leaving - I am leaving - And you couldn’t come with!
Their hopes and dreams are shattered!
As the reality of His leaving starts to sink in, Peter, their leader, (13:36) asks a question, “Lord, where are you going?”. This is the first of four questions that are asked by the disciples, the answer to which will further add to their doubts and fears. Despite Peter’s genuine statement of commitment to Jesus, and the offer to lay down his life - Jesus tells him that ’rather than laying down your life’ - before the night was out he was going to deny Him three times.
‘I am leaving you - Peter is going to deny me - one of you is going to betray me - and you all are going to be scattered!’
It is into this turmoil that Jesus speaks the words of John chapter 14:1 ‘Let not your hearts be troubled!’.
Despite His own personal anguish - knowing fully what was to happen in the coming hours - knowing fully that the sin of the world would rest upon His shoulders - knowing fully well the loneliness that he was going to endure - he is completely consumed with their sorrow.
This is the heart of the message from last week. “Comfort is to be found in trusting Jesus”. Trusting that although he is leaving - there are many rooms in His fathers house - there is more than enough room for all of us in Heaven - and that Jesus is preparing a place for us - And that he is coming back to take us to be with Him!
The events of the evening cover John Chapter 13-16, and the prayer in John 17.
Introduction
This morning we are going to continue by looking at verses 5-14. At this point of the evening, the reality of Jesus leaving is sinking in and, as mentioned, the disciples are profoundly confused and they ask Jesus a series of questions.
Now - I do not believe - although a little misguided - that these questions are NOT a superficial attempt to solve a problem - but rather that they came from a genuine desire to know the Lord better.
Questions can take many forms and are a critical tool to gaining knowledge and insight. At a very superficial level they can be as simple as - asking my wife where she has put my wallet and keys again? - you know, stuff that I left on the counter, in plain sight, for safekeeping and easy retrieval at a later date - but they can also probe deep into the heart of a matter. When my girls were young children, they would continually ask ‘WHY?” - And the answer I gave - ‘because I said so’ - was never enough - They wanted to know my motivation and reason for things. There seemed to be no end to the WHY’s as they grappled with the information I was providing.
It is this desire to move beyond mere head knowledge, to a deeper understanding, to a heart knowledge that prompts the disciples to question Jesus. And that I believe is at the heart of the message this morning.
Paul expresses this desire so beautifully in Philippians 3
“8 … I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” AND “10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings”.
Jesus doesn’t make it easy for them:
Firstly, the answers that Jesus provides are profound and have deep spiritual meaning, and the disciples are left grappling with the meaning;
Secondly, his responses are at best leading, inviting them to ask more questions.
It is not as though their questions are only a result of being slow to understand, although that is a factor, also that Jesus invites them to seek Him out.
This concept of “KNOWING” is a key word in the gospel of John - it is used 141 times - but what we need to understand is that there are different levels of ‘knowing’.
Jeanette knows me! We have been friends for many, many years. But does she know me as well as my brother Stuart - NO. He has known me since my birth. They both know me differently, but neither of them know me as well as Zena - she knows me warts and all - AND GET THIS - still chooses to love me! Hallelujah
As we study the book of John we find 4 levels of ‘knowing’.
- Knowing facts [head knowledge]
- Knowing the truth behind the facts [a deeper head knowledge]
- Knowing the truth behind the facts, personally [heart knowledge]
- Knowing the truth behind the facts, personally, and intimately [deepest of heart knowledge]
If you will recall, the bible calls intimacy between a husband and wife as ‘having knowledge’ of them.
- Adam knew Eve and she conceived
- Mary was a virgin in that she had not known a man
This is why, young people, God has told us that he designed sex for marriage, because sex is not just a physical act - as the world would have you believe - and that having sex with as many people as possible will not affect you - the opposite is true.
The greatest level of ‘knowing’ is intimacy - physical intimacy is precious, but deeper than that is emotional intimacy and, most importantly, spiritual intimacy.
When Zena and I first met, some 30 years ago, we started out at the first level - fact and stats - the head knowledge. We learnt about likes and dislikes - our families - where we went to school.
This quickly progressed to the second level - I began to know the truth behind the facts - I started to learn about the inner person, her upbringing and why she thinks the way she thinks and feels the way she feels - what is her view of the world.
We became closer friends and she trusted me more, and more - I began to pursue a relationship with her - I liked her and she started to like me back. In time, through developing a close, heart knowledge relationship, I knew that I loved her - and then, finally, after much pursuing, Zena decided to love me back. We had a heart of knowledge of each other that went beyond facts and statistics.
Today - today it is a continual pursuit of the deepest intimacy in all areas.
Our relationship with the Lord is not dissimilar. It too starts with a set of facts. He created me - he loves me even though I sin - that he was born of a virgin - that he is the son of God - that he died for me - that he rose again and that he wanted to save me.
Over time we started to learn the ‘Why’ - that we were made for his Glory - to serve Him - And that he loved me, not because of my sinful nature - but rather because of HIS nature. I learnt why he chose to die, and what His resurrection meant to me. Head knowledge became heart knowledge, and I placed my trust in Him. Today he is more real to me than ever before.
This I believe to be at the heart of the questions of the disciples. Over the three years that they had spent with Jesus they had gained first-hand head knowledge - For JUDAS this is all it had been, head knowledge, it had never become heart knowledge - but for the rest it had become heart knowledge - And the questions they ask come from a desire to know him more.
John 14:4-6
Let's read the first 2 verses together - actually what I would like to do is to read from verse 4, because in his response to Peter’s first question, Jesus ends with a leading statement. Jesus is placing breadcrumbs down the road and is enticing the disciples to question further - he wants them to have a deeper and more intimate understanding of Him. V4 is a call to action. And in verse 5, Thomas' question directly reflects Jesus' statement and reveals his desire to GO.
John 14:4-6
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
There is something beautiful about Thomas’ open and honest manner. The biblical scholars often refer to him as doubting Thomas, because he doubted Jesus' resurrection. But although he is the one to ask the question, he is asking the question that is on all of the disciples' lips.
Doubt is not always a bad thing. There is a doubt that is good, a kind of doubt that is honestly looking for understanding. And Thomas - our doubting Thomas - is genuinely looking, he wants to understand.
You see, Thomas is not prepared to just nod his head and pretend that he understood. Head knowledge is not good enough for him, he knows he does not know something and he is prepared to stick his neck out.
Jesus has just told them that he is going back to His Fathers House and told them that they know the way. He has just dropped a spiritual truth bomb on them. Thomas hears this and, like the other disciples, is a little slow to understand, but he is devoted to Jesus, he cannot bear the thought of Jesus leaving… and so, in a way he asks Jesus for directions… a map to where he is going… destination and route!
Jesus’ response in v6 contains four of the most radical truth statements made by Jesus, and is one of the most quoted verses in the bible.
I am the way
I am the truth
I am the life
No one comes to the Father except through me (but by me)
I am the way
To the first-century Jewish listener, Jesus’ “I am” statement would have been of particular significance. In the book of Exodus, God had revealed himself to Moses as GOD with a resounding “I AM”, and so by Jesus using the same words to describe himself - he was equating himself with God.
This is not the first time Jesus had made this claim, rather he uses the term “I AM” to refer to himself 20-30 times in John and the book contains seven distinct “I Am” statements.
“I am the bread of life.” (John 6)
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8)
“I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10)
“I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11)
“I am the good shepherd.” (John 10)
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14)
“I am the true vine.” (John 15)
The radicalness of this statement is not lost on the Pharisees’ in John 8, who pick-up stones and try to kill Him.
Jesus in this statement is not meanly telling us that he shows the way, but rather that he himself IS the way.
Jesus is God. And God is equal to each of his attributes. Not only do we say that God has love, but rather that God is love. He is righteousness. He is holiness. Because in doing so we recognise that God is all these things to an infinite degree. And not only is he all these things to an infinite degree but that it is from Him that all these things originate. God has love, God is Love, and from God does all Love originate.
Not only that but if God is Love then in him there can be no hatred! There can be only Love.
It is true that he teaches us the way - it is true that he guides us in the way - and it is also true that he has dedicated for us a new and living way - BUT all of this is only possible because he himself is the WAY!
He is the way from man to God, but he is also the way from God to man. Jesus is the mediator between God and man and access to God the Father is Chirst himself. The way to God is not a set of directions or route independent of Jesus - It is Jesus!
I am the truth
In John 18, Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you a King?” - to which Jesus replies, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth” - Pilate then asks a question - the question that has occupied man through the ages - “What is truth?”
You know we live in an ever-increasingly pluralistic and subjective world, there is no longer a single truth - there is no one single authority to the truth - rather each person has the right to make up their own truth and to believe in their own truth.
This is because in all of our wisdom, we have not been able to find the truth! And in our arrogance we do not concede nor confess our ignorance.
You see man rejects the truth - yet he still searches for truth - even though he claims that the truth does not exist.
Man in all his wisdom has not been able to find the truth and in his pride will not concede his ignorance.
1 Corinthians 1:21
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Okay so what am I saying here! Well, just like “the way” Jesus is the truth! In Him there is no shadow of a lie… no shadow of misinformation…
Just as the way is a living way, the truth is a living truth - It is alive and active - It takes hold of us, influences us - It makes us holy - it guides us - it sets us free.
Man in his own intellect searched for the truth and did not find it. Jesus said, “I am the truth”
Pilate asked “What is the truth” - Jesus answers the question here “I am the truth.”
I am the life
How do you know when someone is alive? I mean if you had no modern equipment, what test would a doctor perform in order to assess whether a patient was alive? A pulse or fog or vapour on a mirror or piece of glass.
When the bible speaks of life, it is all too often referring to spiritual life, as opposed to your heart pumping or the breath in your lungs - equally when it refers to death, it is often referring to spiritual death.
You see a person can be physically alive, but spiritually dead.
Jesus is speaking here about spiritual life.
It is what the rich young ruler recognised in Jesus when he fell at the feet and asked Him how he could have eternal life.
John repeatedly addresses the matter in the gospel, and reinforced the statement that by believing in the Son you would have eternal life. There are a number and I only mention a few.
John 3:36
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
John 6:47
“47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life”
John 11:25
“He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Jesus is the source and the giver of life, eternal life - He has the light of life - He is the words of life - and he came that we might have life and abundance. But again these things are all true because He is Life!
These three radical claims work together, and are active and dynamic. The WAY brings us to God - The TRUTH sets us free - so that we might have a relationship with Him - LIFE. LIFE produces fellowship with Him.
No one comes to the Father except through me
There remains no more radical and exclusive statement today. Jesus' statement here is clear - the only way to enter into a relationship with God is via Jesus - He is the ONLY way.
As stated, we live in a pluralistic society, where we don’t want to offend anyone, and we certainly don’t want to exclude anyone - we would rather be accepting of people's lifestyles and their beliefs that offend them - we would rather pervert the truth than confront people with the truth.
You may have heard this claim before “All roads lead to God!” [x2]
And you know what? It is TRUE.
Romans 10 reminds us that
“10... we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’
“All roads do indeed lead to God!”
But there is only one way that leads to the Father! A Father who loves us and forgives us.
You see not everyone is God’s child, people think that they are all God’s children - but they are not
He is your creator, but he not your father - not until you invite Jesus into your life
One day a great multitude will stand before the judgement seat of God, and they will not know Him as their Father
God loves everyone and he gives us a choice - a free will to choose - but many choose to reject Him and choose their own path.
Hebrews tells us that God is an all consuming Holy fire - sinful man and a Holy God are incompatible
But for those that believe - for those that follow Jesus - He provides a way to the Father - The ONLY WAY.
V7 - Once again Jesus ends his reply with a leading statement and a call to action.
“If you really know me, you will know my Father as well”
John 14:8-14
And with that Philip steps up to the plate
Let’s read again, this time verses 8-14
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 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’? 10 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 on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
We have spoke this morning about the movement from head to heart knowledge, and it is this what Philip was seeking when he said “Show us the Father” - He wanted God to be more real in his life
Jesus, despite the gentle rebuke, explains that knowing him is equivalent to knowing the Father. They are one in essence and purpose and that His works reflect the Father's will.
Jesus promises that those who believe in him will do even greater works than he did.
He also assures them that prayers made in his name will be answered. And that the purpose of answered prayers and the works of believers is ultimately to bring glory to God the Father.
Now unfortunately for the sake of time this morning I won’t be able to go into greater detail here, but I do want to draw your attention to the desire of Philip's heart.
You see, I don’t believe that his question was an expression of doubt, nor was he questioning Jesus' claim that He is one with the Father. Philip simply wants to know God better.
You see folks - the longer we are saved, the more our desires should change - we should become more interested in God himself, rather than just in what God can DO for us.
Now please don’t get me wrong, Jesus wants us to bring our needs to Him, and to ask these things in His name - and our answered prayers are to the Father’s Glory - But we cannot be stuck with hands out!
When we were born again, it is because we needed something - mercy and forgiveness - So we come to God wanting something we need.
Great! After that, we realise that God can provide more than salvation, like joy, peace, guidance, and help - And tangible needs like financial and health needs - again there is nothing wrong with this - God wants to be your source of needs
BUT as we grow in grace - we should become less interested in the gifts of God and more interested in the God of the gifts - It should be less about what God can do for me, and more about my desire to know Him better
This is a whole new level of spiritual maturity.
We need to talk about how to go that next level and know God more deeply and how He can be more real in our lives!
Conclusion
Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians, while writing to the church and its leaders says the following:
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
“1… I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still worldly.”
I wonder, that night, did the disciples fully understand and appreciate the impact of Jesus’ words - did they just hear His words and store it away as facts - or were they taking them to heart in the room - based on the questions they asked I truly believe that they were grappling with it meaning - you see the journey of head knowledge to heart knowledge is all to often not an easy route
I have no doubt that in the days, months and years that followed, that they kept on coming back to these words and continued to grapple with their ultimate meaning - as we do today
I have no doubt that they would have reminded each other and as it became more real they would have shared with each other
You see the journey to understanding fully appreciating that Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE is a lifelong journey, but just like Jesus call to action for the disciples - HE CALLS US TODAY!
Are we like the church in Corinth, stuck, are we still too worldly - Are we consuming milk while we should be on solids
He calls us today to move beyond mere head knowledge, to seek Him out, and build a heart knowledge relationship with Him.
