December 8, 2024
Sunday Sermon
Jesus, The Only Way
John 14:6
Jesus’ death delivers troubled hearts. The disciples had reason to be troubled. Several things had just happened to the disciples that would disturb anybody of people.
Ø Divisiveness had set in among them (Lk. 22:24-30).
Ø Desertion and betrayal by one of them was now known (Jn. 13:18f).
Ø Separation from the Lord had been the topic of discussion (Jn. 13:33).
Ø Denying Jesus had just been talked about (Jn. 13:38).
The scene needs to be clearly viewed, even felt in order to grasp the impact of what Jesus was about to say.
Ø The disciples were greatly troubled: disturbed, agitated, perplexed, worried, tossed about, confused, distressed.
Ø The disciples needed to be settled down and given some sense of peace: to receive some encouragement and some new hope.
(How much like believers)! How often we are afflicted with trouble and need the same words of encouragement and hope.
In this particular lesson, Thomas must have been daydreaming! Jesus had just told them he was going to heaven. Then Thomas caught the tail end of a paragraph in verse 4. “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Thomas woke up from the daydream. “We don’t know the where you’re going,” he blurted out, “How can we know the way?” In answer, the Lord Jesus gave us one of His very greatest texts.
He is the Way! That’s for lost people. He is the Truth! That’s for learned people. He is the Teacher of the truth. He is the life! That’s for longing people.
Illustration: In the grounds of Hampton Court Palace in London there is a maze built of hedges. In the middle of the maze is a seat where those who are tired of finding their way back out can rest and think things over. There is also a bell there. By ringing the bell, the lost person can summon aid. A man will appear, a man who knows the way. Follow him and soon the perplexing paths will resolve into an orderly way. The solution lies in the man!
Let’s look at three questions that Jesus answers.
I. How Can I Be Saved? (“I am the way”) v. 6
There is the difference between pointing the way to a particular place and taking someone by the hand and leading him there. The person who guides a person to their destination literally becomes the way himself. Jesus Christ not only points out and tells a person how to walk through life and how to reach God, he personally shows the person the way. Therefore, He Himself is the Way. Note the repetition of the word “way” (v. 4, 5, 6).
Without Christ we are under the power of the Devil, the father of lies. But God made a way for us, Jesus. He said “I am the way." Aren't you glad that He is the way? Christ is the only way to God.
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest [God’s presence] by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Heb. 10:19-20).
II. How Can I Be Sure? (I am…. the truth) v. 6
There is a difference between telling someone about the truth before them. The one who lives the truth literally becomes the truth.
A. Jesus Christ is the Embodiment of truth (14:6). He is the picture of truth. God not only talks to man about Himself, God shows man what He is like in the person of Jesus Christ. We can look at Jesus and see a perfect picture of the truth of God
“I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).
B. Jesus Christ is the Communicator of truth. He shows man the right way to the truth, and enables man to choose the right way to the truth.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness” (John 3:11).
C. Jesus Christ is the Liberator of truth (John 8:32; 15:3). He sets people free from the great gulf which exists between man and God, between man and his world, and between man and man.
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn. 8:32).
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (Jn. 15:3).
III. How Can I Be Satisfied? (I am…the life) v. 6
There is a difference between telling someone about life and actually living life. The one who lives is the one who possesses life, and the more you live like Christ, the more your life He possesses. Jesus Christ lived perfectly; therefore, He possesses life perfectly. He is the Life: the very embodiment, energy, force, and source of life itself.
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:4).
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (Jn. 15:3).
Christ is the Emancipator from death, the natural man is spiritually lifeless. The person who is out of Christ exists, but he has no spiritual life.
When the prodigal son returned from a far country, the father said, "This, my son, was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found (Luke 15:24). Satisfaction comes through the life of Jesus.
Jesus is the Way to heaven
He is the only Way
He is the Way that joins two worlds
He is the way of access to the father (Do you know Him)
Jesus is the truth
He is the Teacher of Truth
He is Revelation of God to the world
He is the Eternal Truth (Do you know Him)
Jesus is the Life
He is the Giver of Life
He is the Eternal Life
He is the Giver of Life
He is the Living Way (Do you know Him)
Responsive Reading: John 14:1-7
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