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DYING WORDS TO DESTROY DOUBT AND DESPAIR: "I AM THE WAY" JOHN 14:1-14 INTRODUCTION Read quote from July 29, 2000 Gazette about woman who found out she had cancer…"It was like getting kicked in the stomach." Most of us live our lives with the expectation that the future is going to be at least as good as the present. But all of us know that we could receive news at any moment that would radically change our future. "You’ve got cancer." "I want a divorce." "Your child is flunking out of school." "I’m sorry to tell you this but there has been a terrible accident." "Don’t come back to work tomorrow." "This is the police. We have your son in custody." "I have an announcement, we’re moving to Illinois." It is not possible to live your whole life and never receive bad news. This fact causes all of us to live with a certain apprehension about the future and some to live in a state of fear. When we receive bad news we respond as did the woman I read about, we feel like we’ve been kicked in the stomach. In the passage we are going to examine today, Jesus’ closest friends have just received that kind of bad news. Jesus has just announced to them that he is going to be betrayed by one of them, he is going to leave them and he has told Peter that he will deny knowing Jesus before the night is over. They are feeling like they’ve been kicked in the stomach. So Jesus commands them to not let their hearts be troubled but that they should trust in God and in him. He goes on to tell them why it is they should not be troubled by the news of his departure, why it is they should trust him. He gives them solid reasons for hope and confidence in the future. Jesus is the only one who can give lasting peace to our troubled hearts. In these verses he gives us the weapons to fight fear and anxiety. MAIN POINT Troubled hearts will only find lasting peace in Jesus because… I. He alone is the way to be welcomed into heaven (vv. 1-6) Read vv. 1-6. In the first three verses Jesus tells his followers where he is going, why he is going there and how his going will benefit them. He is going to the place where his Father lives, to his Father’s house. The reason he is going there is to prepare the rooms in the house so they have a place to live in his Father’s house. The fact that he is going there and preparing a room for them guarantees that he will come back and get them so they can come live with he and his Father in his Father’s home, forever. There are a few questions that we must ask at this point however. Why is it necessary for Jesus to prepare a room for each of his friends? Why can’t the disciples just go knock on God’s door and be accepted into his home? Isn’t he a warm and loving God who accepts all who come to his house? Would he actually turn people away from his door if Jesus doesn’t first go and prepare a place? What exactly does Jesus have to do in order to prepare a place for them? This is such an incredible word picture that Jesus is painting here. The picture is of the son of a great and kind and just king. A group of citizen’s within his father’s kingdom is rebelling against the rightful rule of this great king. They have chosen to be ruled over by his most hated enemy. This rebel king and all his citizens are the sworn enemies of the son’s father. They are guilty of the most vicious kinds of crimes against the king and his citizens. They mock and despise his laws and delight to bring ruin and destruction to all that belongs to the king. The son knows this and so goes into this rebellious region in a disguise. The son delights in his father and cannot stand to see his father despised. His purpose in going is to restore the honor of his father by persuading as many of those who are living in rebellion as he can that his father is great and good and ought to be trusted and obeyed. He plans to return in the future to punish all those who refuse to follow him in honoring his father. While living with the enemies of his father he reveals who he is to a small company of them. They grow to love and trust the son. He wants all those who love and trust him to love and trust his father and to enjoy living in his father’s kingdom for the rest of their lives. But all of those whom now love and trust him have committed vicious and cruel crimes against his father and his father’s kingdom. If he were to bring them into his father’s presence with no preparation his father would have to destroy them immediately in order to uphold justice and show the worth of his kingdom. So he determines that he must leave his new friends behind and return to his father and ask his father to welcome these former rebels as adopted sons. How will he persuade this just king to not punish these new friends when they show up at the front gate? That is the work of preparation that Jesus must do. We should not think of Jesus’ going to prepare a room for us as if he has gone to heaven to clean the rooms and change the sheets in order to get heaven ready for us. Rather, he has gone ahead to make sure that his father warmly receives us and does not kill us on sight. He prepares a place in his Father’s house by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. He convinces the father to be merciful to us, for his sake, because he died the death we deserved to die. The son, after securing the father’s pardon will return to the rebelling region to bring out all of his followers to live with his father and to punish all those who persisted in the rebellion against his father. This is what will happen when Jesus comes back to the earth at the end of time. But now notice what Jesus says in v. 4. Jesus’ followers are not simply passive, waiting for Jesus to come get them. Jesus tells these friends that they know the way to the place he is going to. Now Thomas asks a question that shows the continuing blindness of the disciples. In light of what we’ve seen in vv. 1-4, doesn’t Thomas’ question seem stupid? How can he not know where Jesus is going? He just said where he is going, to his Father’s house. In v. 6 Jesus graciously gives an answer that tells Thomas where he is going and how Thomas can get there. This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. I want you to notice three things about this verse. First, notice that the place where Jesus is going and where the disciples are to follow is "to the Father". The reason Heaven is a good place is because God is there. If I were to ask you, "Why do you want to go to heaven?", what would you say? If your first answer isn’t, "because God is there", you’re not thinking correctly. The reason you and I were given life was so that we would go to the Father. We exist for the purpose of knowing God, delighting in God, loving God. If the goal of your life is not to know God better than you know anything else and to enjoy and love God more than you enjoy and love anything else, you are going in the wrong direction. Unless of course, Jesus is a fool and doesn’t know what he is talking about. Second, Jesus says that he is the way, the truth and the life, not a way, a truth or a life. He is not one option among many. The only people who will be welcomed into the Father’s house and given a room to live in are those who have an explicit faith in Jesus Christ. All who try to approach the Father’s house in the name of another Savior or in their own name will be consumed by unquenchable fire. It makes as much sense to think that a human being can show up at the gates of heaven apart from Jesus and be warmly received as to think that a murderer should be welcomed into the home of his victim’s family and given a place to live. Third, Jesus does not show the way, he is the way. Jesus does not simply speak the truth, he is the truth. Jesus does not simply give life, he is the life. This is so important for you to understand. Jesus is not saying that the way to be warmly welcomed by the Father is by living like Jesus lived or by agreeing with what Jesus said. Rather, the way to be warmly received by the Father is to trust Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. Christianity is Christ, not how he lived or what he said but Christ in his person. We are on the path to the Father when Jesus is more important to us than anyone or anything in this world. When we will suffer anything rather than lose Christ. When we will do everything in order to see him and love him more. Troubled hearts will only find lasting peace in Jesus because…
II. He alone is the way to know God (vv. 7-11) Jesus continues his answer to Thomas by making a startling claim. Literally, he says, "If you have known me, you will know my Father also. From now on you know him and you have seen him." Do you see why this is so remarkable? He stands before his disciples as a human being and makes the outlandish claim that to have known him is to know and see God. The disciples know that Jesus is the Messiah and that he is great, but they cannot comprehend that he could be that great. So Philip expresses a wish that while it misses the point is moving in the right direction. He says, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." He at least understands that the happiest thing that could happen to any person is to see God. Jesus answers Phillips request with a question that contains a fairly strong rebuke. Read vv. 9-11. They, of all people, should know that when they see Jesus, they are seeing the Father as well. Jesus and the Father are so united in purpose and in essence that when Jesus speaks he is speaking what the Father speaks and when he works he is doing what the Father does. They ought to know this simply by being with Jesus. D. A. Carson says in his commentary, "The disciples are still asking to see the Father, when all along they have been enjoying the brightest possible revelation of the Father without recognizing it. So blind are the spiritual eyes of man that he cannot by himself see light in its brilliance." Jesus is trying to explain something here that is on one level beyond explanation. There is only one God, yet Jesus is claiming that he and the Father while distinct persons are each one fully God. The Bible teaches that the one God has always existed as three persons, each one distinct from the others with different roles and functions and yet each one fully God. But there is only one God. He exists in a manner that human beings will never fully understand. This makes sense though. The God who made this enormous and amazing universe must himself be infinitely great and amazing. One of the main ways that God is awe inspiring is in the nature of his being. He is a trinity. We do not believe this because we have it figured out but because of what Jesus says here and in many other places. The point that Jesus is making to these men and to us is that if in knowing him you know God and if in seeing him you see God, then why is your heart troubled? If God is for you as he so clearly shows himself to be in Jesus then why are you anxious? Let my read for you a declaration of this security written by a well-known African-American preacher, S. M. Lockridge, entitled, "You Can Trust Him".
You Can Trust Him S. M. Lockridge * No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He's enduringly strong; He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast; He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful; He's impartially merciful. He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's Son. He's a sinners Savior. He's the centerpiece of civilization. I'm trying to tell you, Church- You can trust Him! He does not have to call for help, And you can't confuse Him. He doesn't need you and he doesn't need me. He stands alone in the solitude of Himself. He's august and He's unique. He's unparalleled; He's unprecedented; He's supreme and pre-eminent. He's the loftiest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He's the supreme problem of higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He's the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion. He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you can call Him. I'm trying to tell you-you can trust Him! He can satisfy all of our needs and He can do it simultaneously. He supplies strengths for the weak. He's available for the tempted and tried; He sympathizes and He sees. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors; He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble; He blesses the young. He regards the aged; He rewards the diligent. He beautifies the meek. I'm trying to tell you-you can trust Him!
He's the key to knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway to peace. He's the roadway to righteousness. He's the highway to holiness. He's the gateway to glory. You can trust Him! He's the Master of the mighty. He's the Captain of the conquerors. He's the Head of the heroes. He's the Leader of the legislators. He's the Overseer of the overcomers. He's the Governor of the governors. He's the Prince of princes. He's the King of kings. He's the Lord of lords. You can trust Him!
His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you! He's indescribable because He's incomprehensible. He's irresistible and He's invincible. You can't get Him off your hands. You can't get Him out of your mind. You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him Pilate couldn't stand Him when he found out he couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him. And thank God the grave couldn't hold Him. There was nobody before Him. There will be nobody after Him. He had no predecessor, and He'll have no successor. You can't impeach Him, and He's not going to resign. YOU CAN TRUST HIM! *This quotation, by the late S. M. Lockridge, was shared in the keynote sermon of Reformation "99 by Dr. Armstrong. Scores of people asked that it be rerpinted for further use. Troubled hearts will only find lasting peace in Jesus because…
III. He alone is the way God show’s off his greatness in your life (vv. 12-14) These last three verses have been some of the most troubling verses in the Bible for me personally. They seem to teach that every Christian ought to experience a level of spiritual power that exceeds that of Jesus. Read vv. 12-14 from the NASB. "Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in me, that one also will do the works which I am doing and greater than these will he do because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that will I do so that the Father might be glorified in the Son. Whatever you ask me in my name, that will I do." According to this, every Christian will do greater works than Jesus. Have I ever done a greater work than Jesus? Do I know any Christian that has done something greater than Jesus? If I have not done greater things than Jesus, then am I a Christian? What is Jesus saying here that helps us not have troubled hearts? How does what he says in v. 12 relate to his promises regarding prayer in vv. 13-14? The central question to be answered is this: In what sense are the works that a Christian does greater than the works of Jesus? It cannot be that greater means "more sensational". What could be more sensational than Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead after he had been buried for four days? Could it mean that every Christian will do a greater number of works than Jesus did? Again, it is hard to imagine any particular Christian doing more teaching and miracles than supposed in passages like Matthew 4: 23, "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." It can’t be referring to the collective work of the church through the ages because it says that each person who believes in Jesus will do what he does and will do even greater things than he does. The key to understanding what Jesus is talking about is the last phrase in v. 12, "because I am going to the Father." The reason that each Christian does greater things is because Jesus’ dies for the sins of his people, rises from the dead and ascends to the Father where he now intercedes for us. What was the work Jesus was doing while on earth? It’s what he just said to Philip. He was showing forth the greatness of God in his person and in his work. He was showing how wise and just and loving and powerful God was in sending his Son to save his people. But how effective was he in that work? His closest friends, just hours away from his death do not get it. They don’t know who he really is or how great God is in him. Jesus, while on earth never experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that enabled people to grasp how truly great he was and the Father was in him. Though he was God in the flesh, his closest friends thought he was just a great, human prophet while he was with them. Every Christian since Jesus died, rose and ascended to the Father’s side has known and experienced God’s glory in ways that no-one other than Jesus experienced before his death. Now, the most ordinary of Christians, by simply living their life and talking about Christ when they have an opportunity are effectively showing off the greatness of God in a way that Jesus never did while on earth. The fact that every Christian now sees that Jesus is God, that God in his being is a trinity, that Jesus’ death on the cross secured forgiveness and an eternal home in heaven is infinitely greater than anything Jesus was able to accomplish in the lives of anyone while he was on earth. Look with me over at Acts 2, page 771 in the red Bibles. This takes place 50 days after John 14. Jesus died, was buried, rose from the dead and appeared to the apostles and other Christians over a period of 40 days teaching them about God’s kingdom. 10 days before the events in Acts 2 Jesus ascended to the Father’s right hand and now in 2:1 he sends out the Holy Spirit upon all his followers. Peter delivers the first Christian sermon. The sermon simply describes how great Jesus is. Look at the end of the sermon beginning in v. 32 (read 32-41). As the result of this one sermon 3000 people saw that Jesus was God and the only Savior and in seeing him, they loved him and trusted in him. The greater thing is not the number who believed because not every Christian is going to preach a sermon where 3000 believe. What is greater is that each one of those 3000 saw the greatness of Jesus more clearly than even the disciples did before Jesus was crucified. They saw and were impressed with Jesus through the lives and words of Christians. They knew more about God’s glory from a 20 minute sermon than the disciples did through living with Jesus for 3 years because Jesus had now died and gone to the Father and sent out the Holy Spirit. Now, go back to John 14. Why does Jesus make these promises about prayer following this statement in v. 12? Notice in v. 13 he promises to answer our prayers for one reason and one reason only, "that the Father might be glorified in the Son." Do you see the connection? Glorifying the Father in the work of the Son was Jesus’ work while on earth. But it was not effectual in the lives of people. So after he dies and rises then Christians will do the work of glorifying the Father in the Son by asking the Son to do it in them and through them. Philip asked Jesus for the greatest thing he could imagine. But Jesus could not give him what he was asking for. It would require Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension before Jesus would be able to give Philip what he was asking for. Jesus wants desperately to show how great and all-satisfying the Father is to his disciples but he can’t until the price has been paid, until God’s wrath has been satisfied. So he declares that after he has gone they can ask for the greatest thing they can imagine, seeing and loving the greatness of God, and Jesus will himself give them overwhelming displays of the greatness of God. He will do it by providing the physical necessities of life as we ask for them and by giving us a spiritual sense of the greatness of God in Jesus so that we are satisfied with him. What is the most stupendous thing that you could imagine asking God for? What’s the greatest miracle you could ask God to do for you? Let me show you the answer that the apostle Paul would give to that question. Turn to Ephesians 3: 14-21 on page 828 in the red Bibles. Read it. Notice that Paul wants us to know that God will do greater things for us than we ask or imagine. What is it that he has just asked? That we would know God’s love in Christ and so be filled up with God. Is that not the greatest thing you can possibly ask for? If you don’t think that to be full of God is the greatest and happiest state to be in, then you do not know Christ. What could be better? What could be more secure? It’s not necessarily wrong to ask God to provide for material help or for help in the regular course of life. But the reason we are to ask for these things is not because we believe they are what are most necessary for our happiness but because we know that these tokens of God’s kindness will help us know his love more. If you really want to ask for something great, ask God to so show you his love in Christ so that you are full of God. This is why Christ came, this is what we will spend eternity enjoying, this is the greater work that every Christian will do. Troubled hearts will only find lasting peace in Jesus because…
© Copyright
2000 John Swanson.
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