May, 2007
I AM the Way
John 14:1-6
INTRODUCTION: In this chapter Jesus brought out the I AM claim in a different setting. The disciples were confused and troubled. Jesus could see their anxiety in their faces. Things were leading up to the crucifixion. They may have felt they didn’t know what was going to happen to them in the upcoming days. They were losing their sense of direction. When something changes in your life you may feel that you have become disoriented. Where do you turn? What if you are not on the right path? What if the things you always believed are not that way at all/ What if?
Thomas was confused by all that was going on around him. He seemed to be the one who had the courage to speak up for the group. Jesus wanted to set their hearts at ease. He said to them, “Stop being troubled.” He spoke to them with calmness and assurance. He pointed out to them promises that they would have a place in the eternal world, that He would prepare for them, and would come again and receive them taking them to where He was going.
Thomas spoke up and said, “We don’t know WHERE you are going, and we don’t know THE WAY.” Thomas was saying, “I’m totally confused. No, I DON’T KNOW the Way, I Don’t GET IT. I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”
Story: A judge was interviewing a woman concerning her pending divorce. He asked her, “What are the grounds for your divorce?”
She said, “About four acres and a nice little house with a stream running by it.”
He said, “No, what I mean is what is the foundation of this case?” to which she replied, “it is made of concrete, brick, and mortar.”
He said, “Do you have a real grudge?” She said, “No, we have a two car carport and have never really needed one.”
He said, “Is there any infidelity in your marriage?” She says, “Yes, both my son and daughter have stereo sets. We don’t necessarily like the music though.”
He asked, “Has your husband ever beat you up?” She said, “Yes, about twice a week he gets up earlier than I do.”
The judge in exasperation finally asked, “Lady, why do you want a divorce?”
She said, “Oh, I don’t want a divorce. I’ve never wanted a divorce. My husband says he can’t communicate with me.”
Thomas was confused by life and felt that things were almost unsolvable, but he was not ready to give up. He was going to ask another question until he could get an answer he could understand. Jesus did not cut him off but kept explaining and clarifying things to him. The COMMUNICATION lines were open between them.
In this setting of confusion, anxiety, and troubled hearts, Jesus made the I AM claim. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Jesus’ reply to him was PERSONAL. Jesus did not claim to KNOW the way. He said, “Thomas, I AM the way.”
How does this speak to us today at times in our life when we experience the same things as these troubled disciples? When we just don’t understand?
1. THE WAY: Thomas expressed this despair of the group by saying, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going and how can we possibly know the way to get there?”
Do you wonder the same thing in your life, “How am I going to get through this day at work?” It is said that people don’t worry about how they are going to get to heaven but how to get THROUGH the DAY. How to get through the MONTH BEFORE the money runs out. How to get through the sickness and pain they are experiencing.
One woman was crying and crying. She said, “If I could just have some peace, I could endure this.”
People are desperate to know a way out of their problems and confusion today and that is why they are trying drugs, alcohol, various religions--all in an attempt to find a solution. You might ask, “Why were these disciples so upset when Jesus was right there with them? It was probably the same as with us, “They couldn’t quite trust Him totally.”
Jesus’ reply is personal in that He didn’t just claim to KNOW the way, the truth and the life as a formula He could impart--but He actually claimed to BE the answer to human problems. Jesus’ solution is not a recipe, it is a RELATIONSHIP with Him. As we get to know Him better, we develop the trust we need to believe Him. He is the WAY to the Father because He has a knowledge of God, unmarred by human sin. He IS the Truth because the power to make life one coherent experience in spite of its ups and downs. He IS life because He was not subject to death but made it subject to Him.
We can trust Jesus who is the Way not only to eternal life but who is the WAY OUT of our despair. It is not just a belief for the future but for right now as well.
Psalm 1:6 says, “the Lord knows the WAY of the righteous.” Why? Because HE IS THE WAY. Psalm 37:5 says to us today, “Commit thy way unto the Lord.” Because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, He is the only means of reaching the Father. People today are trying many ways that seem right to them. Scripture says, “There is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25).
He is the WAY to the Father
The TRUTH about the Father
LIFE with the FATHER
There is no deception here. There are not many paths.
Story: There was a woman whose father always told her, “If you ever get in a blizzard, follow a snow plow.”
One day she found herself in a blizzard and sure enough she spotted a snow plow and followed it. She kept following the snow plow for quite awhile. Finally, it stopped and the driver got out and said, “Lady, I just got done plowing at K Mart and I’m on my way to Walmart. You can follow me if you like.” She was following but she wasn’t getting anywhere.
Let us not just follow “some way” that we THINK will bring us out of our problems. Let’s follow the real WAY out.
2. THE TRUTH: Going along with His claims of being the way, He says I AM THE TRUTH. John 8:32 says, “and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
“For the law was given by Moses but GRACE AND TRUTH came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
He is the way--the Truth and the life.
Matthew Henry says He is the BEGINNING, the MIDDLE, and the END. In Him we must SET OUT, GO ON, and FINISH. As Truth He is the guide of our way. As life he is the end of it. Hebrews 10:20 says, “there are truth and life IN THE WAY as well as at the end of it. He is the TRUE way to life. Other ways may seem right but don’t let anyone deceive you.
Christ is the Way, the highway spoken of in Isaiah 35:8. And in Isaiah 30:21 scripture says, “and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” When we are walking with the Lord, we are going to sense His direction. We are not going to get off the pathway as easy.
Christ was “His own way for by his own blood he entered into the holy place,” (Hebrews 9:12) and He is our way, for we enter by him. The disciples followed Him and He told them they followed the road and while they continued following Him they would never be out of the way.
CONCLUSION: Jesus has made His claims. That is settled. What are we going to do with these claims? I am the WAY--the starting point to the Father by simple belief in Him. You’ve got to believe that He IS INDEED the WAY. He would often say, “Truly, Truly I say unto you--I want you to KNOW that this is a definite fact--I AM THE WAY to the Father and I am the way out of your despair today while you are going about your daily life on this earth. Stop living with troubled hearts. Let the anxiety subside, the worries and the fears be gone. For I am with you daily. And He says that’s the TRUTH for I am the Truth. I am setting you free in your souls. Trust me. You are going to know me and I’m going to set you free. And then He says, “ I AM the life. Once you start out with me you have my life in you from the very beginning.
Jesus is the WAY--Today do you feel you are on a bumpy dead end street or on a four lane highway? Are you like Thomas who expressed His doubts and troubled heart to Jesus?
The Psalmist said in Psalm 42:5, “Be not ruffled and discomposed, be not downcast and disquieted though nations be troubled, let not your heart be troubled. Keep possession of your own souls when you can keep possession of nothing else.”
Let us come to Him who is the WAY today as Thomas and the other disciples did.
Let us Pray:
