"I Am The Way And The Truth And The Life” - Presentation In The "I Am Series Of John’s Gospel” Part 1 Series

“I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE” - PRESENTATION IN THE “I AM SERIES OF JOHN’S GOSPEL” PART 1

This talk was given in a seminar on the series, “THE I AMs OF JOHN’S GOSPEL”. Because the message is long, I have split it into two parts. This is PART 1.

John 14 v 1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

[A]. INTRODUCTION:

To open I want to use a small section from a pervious message to the Zion Church. The Lord was about to go to the cross and on the betrayal night, He had a very lengthy time with His disciples, and He revealed things to them that they did not understand but they were becoming agitated. The opening verse for today is John 14 verse 1. The disciples were becoming troubled. Now for a quick look at something from that pervious message –

{{John 14 v 18 I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.”}}

Verse 18, “I will come to you.” My dear Christian friends, in the dead of night in your loneliness, He will come to you. In the tossing boat on the seas of your troubles, He will come to you. In the turmoil of family problems and heated up emotions, He will come to you. In the aspects of failing health and dwindling mental abilities, He will come to you and hold your hand. There is no one else who is closer than a brother. He loves His sheep. He will never leave one of his sheep as orphans. He will never leave a sheep by the wayside, but if necessary, He will draw near to it and carry it on His shoulder. So many times we need the Lord to carry us. The journey is too great for us. The obstacles are too many. The enemies are too powerful. Do you feel alone? No, never feel alone, because you are not alone. “I will come to you,” is our verse. Reach out your hand and place it in the hand of the Saviour because He is close, right near to you. Your eyes of faith see Him there beside you. I am His, and he is mine, in a love that can not cease.

When you read the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament, especially in what is known as the Pastoral Epistles, you will see special attention being commanded for the care of widows and orphans. That is because God understands those who have had loss, and those who are rejected, and alone in the world.

{{John 14 v 20 “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”}} In verse 20, which must have seemed a great mystery that night when the Lord spoke the words, He is saying that the resplendent light that came with understanding after the resurrection, and later on at Pentecost, would cause the disciples to know with absolute certainty that there are unbreakable bonds between Father and Son, and between the Lord and His own. That bond is what Christians possess. No one can remove us from the Lord’s hand. No one can remove us from the Father’s hand.

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We now come to the study for today, so let us return to John 14 and verse 1.

[B]. THE TEACHING ON THE PASSOVER NIGHT:

Verse 1. “Troubled”. “Do not allow your hearts to be troubled.” I don’t know if you are like me, but when things are troubling me, they just keep revolving around in my mind, and if you shut the door to exclude them, they seem to open another door to trouble you further. The Lord knew their hearts were troubled, or disturbed. What had caused this? The answer is clear in the previous chapter, 13. Firstly, Jesus reversed roles, and washed His disciples’ feet, a task of a servant, not a Master, as John records – {{John 13 v 4 “rose from supper and laid aside His garments, and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. John 13 v 5 Then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”}} This act seemed to be out of character, even though He said to them, {{“What I’m doing you don’t understand now, but afterward you will know.” (verse 7).}} That was a mystery.

Then He revealed to them that one of them was going to betray Him – {{John 13 v 18 “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen, but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me’.”}} Now add to that, what Jesus revealed next - John 13 v 21 When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit and testified, and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” (The disciples must have noticed the troubled spirit of the Lord). Shortly after, and on top of all that, He told them He was going away, and they could not come. In {{13 verse 36, Jesus answered Peter, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow later.”}} To close the chapter, Jesus told Peter he was going to deny him. He had just presided at the Passover Supper, and the night was long. These words He spoke to them just before they arose to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. Their hearts were troubled, agitated, shaking back and forth (literally). They understood none of it. No wonder they thought they had been put into a washing machine. From the human perspective, no wonder their hearts were full of anxiety and turmoil.