6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through me...”
- John 14:6a, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Insert your own object. It might be a wallet, a set of keys, maybe even an old, worn out stuffed animal. Whatever it is, it is missing. And everyone in the household is searching frantically to find it. Furniture is moved. Cushions are lifted. Drawers are rummaged through. Pockets are checked and double-checked.
As long as that item of value is missing, emotions are high and tempers are short. The tension grows as the mind begins to wonder “What if...?” “What if my wallet has been stolen? All my credit cards were in there.” “What if I can’t find my keys? How will I get to work on time?” “What if we don’t find that stuffed animal? If we don’t, we are in for a long night.”
Most of us have been in this position before. We misplaced something. We can remember how we anxiously searched for it. We can also remember what it felt like when that lost item was found. There was a sense of relief mixed with euphoria. We could finally relax. We didn’t have to be worried anymore because the search was over.
As long as people have been living on this earth, they have been searching. Based on what they see in the world around them, based on what the conscience tells them, they know in their hearts that there is a god. They know that this god is powerful. They know that this god is wise. But they don’t know who this god is, so they try to find him.
Some have searched for god in forces of nature, in the sun above or in the seas below. Some have created their own gods out of wood and stone. But the uneasiness and anxiousness doesn’t go away for these god-seekers because they are looking in the wrong places.
The one and only true God reveals himself to us in His Word. Only the Bible tells us who God is and what he has done for us. It might sound like I am stating the obvious. But even today, even with Bibles in every pew and Bibles in every one of our homes, we need to come back to this important truth because it is under attack.
In fact, Satan is engaged in an all-out assault. He encourages people to be spiritual, but not religious. He wants everyone to find a spiritual identity as long as they don’t identify themselves with Jesus Christ. His goal is to lead as many as possible to an eternal dead end.
That is why the words of Jesus before us this morning are so important. They are like a road map that shows us the way. They are like a light that guides us through the darkness. They assure us and reassure us that as far as our salvation is concerned...
THE SEARCH IS OVER
I.
Jesus is the way
II. Jesus
is the only way
The disciples were probably feeling more than a little
anxious on Maundy Thursday evening. And
Jesus knew that. He knew what was on
their minds. He knew what was in their
hearts. That is why he told them not to
be afraid. That is why he comforted them
with his promises. That is why he told
them that he was going to prepare places for them in heaven. And then he said: “You know the way to the
place where I am going” (14:4).
Like many other Jews, the disciples had been waiting for the promised Messiah. Along with a handful of faithful Jews, the disciples recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. Even though they had lived with him and learned from him for three years, they didn’t quite get it. They didn’t fully understand what Jesus was saying. They didn’t fully comprehend what Jesus was about to do. Speaking for the rest of them, Thomas said: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way” (14:5)?
There were two ways to respond to that question. Jesus could scold his disciples or instruct
them. He could throw up his hands in
frustration or wrap his arms around them in love. Jesus chose the latter. He answered Thomas’ question, but his words
were directed at everyone in that room: “I
am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6a).
Jesus didn’t say: “I
can show you the way to heaven.” He
said: “I am the way.” Jesus
didn’t tell them: “I have come to testify to the truth.” He proclaimed: “I am...the truth.” Jesus didn’t say: “I will give you eternal
life. He stated as fact: “I am...the life.” Salvation is so intimately
connected, so inseparably linked, so completely dependent on Jesus that he IS
the way, the truth and the life.
A 1993 Barna Research poll found that 86% percent of Americans
(almost nine in ten) believe that all people will eventually be judged by
God. That is actually pretty good
news. It means that most people believe
a) that there is a god, and b) that this god will judge people based on some
standard of right and wrong.
Now
for the not-so-good news. A 2001 Barna
Research poll reported that over 1 in 2 people (51%) believe that “if a person
is generally good, or does enough good things for others during their life,
they will earn a place in Heaven.” There
is no mention of Jesus, no mention of forgiveness, no mention of God’s
grace. Apparently, half of the country
has chosen not to believe the words of Jesus, but instead to apply these words
to themselves: “I am the way.” Or put another way, “I
am my own way to heaven.”
Statistics don’t
always tell the whole story, but they do serve a purpose. The fact that so many people (some of them
confessing Christians) are willing to stake their eternal fate on their own
ability to do good and avoid evil sends a powerful
message.
Even though we
confess that we are not worthy to stand before God, we are not immune to this
kind of thinking. Even though the words
of Jesus are unmistakably clear, we are not so secure that we cannot fall into this
temptation. Because we are naturally
opposed to God, because we are inclined to rely on ourselves, because the
sinner doesn’t like to hear that he is completely at the mercy of God, we need
to beware of the traps that Satan sets along the way.
One pitfall looks
something like a ladder. The ladder
invites us to start climbing. It
promises that if we continue to climb, we will eventually reach God at the top. But this is nothing more than a lie. No one is able to reach the top. No one can attain perfection. The more a person climbs, the longer the
ladder gets. And life becomes a
never-ending cycle of failure as we chase after something we can never achieve.
A little bit farther
down the path is another trap shaped like a set of scales. The scale on the right is marked “good.” The scale on the left is marked “evil.” The scales promise a shortcut to heaven. All you have to do is make the scales tip in
your favor. All you have to do is a little more good than bad in your life and
you will be rewarded. But this is
another lie.
Not only is this
impossible. It is not scriptural. God
doesn’t say: “Do the best you can.” God
doesn’t say that 51% is good enough. God says in no uncertain terms: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect” (Matthew
Just in case the
first two traps weren’t able to do the job, the devil sets one more near the
end of the path. It looks like a mirror,
but this is no ordinary mirror. When you
stand in front of it, it makes you look bigger and better than you really
are. Other people appear to be smaller
than you. Other people’s faults appear
to be greater than yours. You distorted
view of the world gives you a distorted view of God. It leads you to believe that if there is a
heaven, you will be one of the first to pass through the gates.
Like the other
traps, this is a lie. When Jesus comes
to judge the world, he won’t be grading us on a curve. He won’t be comparing us to others. God will judge every person
individually. And he will judge every
person according to his standard of perfection.
These traps may be different,
but they have a number of things in common.
They are all opposed to John 14:6.
Jesus said: “I am the way...” Satan
whispers in our ear: “No. You are the
way.” Not because he believes that, but
because he wants us to fail.
These traps are very
real. They are flattering to our
egos. They are appealing to our reason.
And they are causing many people (Christians included) to take their eyes off
the path, to abandon God’s way.
Finally, these traps
are equally dangerous. Salvation becomes
the work of man, not of God. Salvation
depends on what I do for God, not on what God has done for me. That is not the way to heaven. That is the fast and easy road to hell.
On Maundy Thursday, Jesus
comforted his disciples with the words: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” But
Jesus didn’t stop there. He added: “No one comes to the Father except through
me.” Those words are important because they qualify the previous
statement. Not only is Jesus the way to
heaven, he is also the only way to heaven.
Every summer we try
to visit my wife’s family in
The northern route
through the U.P. is longer. Much of it
is two-lane road, and it is easy to get caught behind a trailer or a slow
moving vehicle. But there is not nearly
the same amount of traffic. And we have
a beautiful view of
We have gone both
ways. Each route has its advantages and
disadvantages. But both ways work. Both ways get us where we want to go in about
the same amount of time. Unfortunately,
there are many people in the world who take the same approach to spiritual
things.
The thinking goes
like this. The many religions in the
world present us with equally valid options.
Different religions may lead people down different paths, but they will
eventually end up in the same place. We
may have different names for God, but the God we worship is the same.
What does Jesus have
to say about this? “No one comes to the Father except through
me.” Christianity is an exclusive religion.
The only way to approach God the Father is through Jesus. And when Jesus spoke these words to his
disciples, he was not being mean-spirited or arrogant or rude. His words are words of great comfort.
For those who know
Jesus as their Savior, there are no other leads we need to follow. There are no other gods we need to
appease. There are no other holy books
we need to read. We don’t have to wonder
if we missed something because we have everything. Our search is over.
In fact, there is
nothing we need to do because Jesus has done it all for us. Jesus removed our sins forever when he died
on the cross. Jesus removed our guilt
forever because he stepped in and took our place. Jesus sacrificed himself to give us unlimited
access to our Father in heaven. And
Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus leads us on the way to eternal life.
In Acts 11:26, Luke
reports that “the disciples were
called Christians first at
But in the early
church, Christians were called by another name, a name that was used quite
often back then but very seldom today.
Jesus’ followers were also known as people who belonged to “the Way” (Acts 9:2 and others).
The Bible doesn’t say
where that name originated, although it is probably safe to say that it was
derived from the words of our text. And
I don’t know when or why it fell out of use.
But at least for today, I would like to bring it back again. Today we rejoice because our search is over.
Today we rejoice because we are followers of the Way.
Jesus is the Way. Jesus is the
only Way. Amen.