John 14:6
November 25, 2006
I Am The Way
I am the way… what a strange thing to say…I am the way. What does that mean? Jesus says He is the way…but the way to what?
We are in part three of our mini series looking at John 14:6: “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me.” This verse is a description of who Jesus is. Before we asked: “Who are you?” Jesus gave us an answer. He is the way.
Why does Jesus say this? Since we have been looking at this text for the last few weeks it is about time to look at the background of this text. Let’s look back a little as to the reason for Jesus’ saying this. Jesus has just told the apostles he is going to go away, and that he has prepared a place for them and that they know the way. Thomas then asks, “Lord we do not know where you are going so how can we know the way?” Jesus then responds with “I am the way.”
Thomas’s question is not a demand, he is asking and being honest which shows his humility in admitting his ignorance. Without this humility, real discipleship is impossible. The thing to note here is Jesus constantly condemned his Jewish opponents for not knowing His destination. But when Thomas does not know, Jesus answers encouragingly. Because Thomas was loyal despite his ignorance and his intentions were pure unlike those of the religious leaders. This verse, verse 6 of John 14 is really the root of all of John’s theology. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.” If you wanted a single dominant thought from the book of John: this would certainly be a candidate. John is always showing Jesus’ sayings as a revelation of his personal identity and his relation with the father. This verse is one of the best pictures of who Jesus is that we have in all of scripture. This verse describes tells us that we can trust Jesus because He is truth as well as that Jesus is the way to life, that He is the life, and that there is no other way. John 14:6 would be an excellent summary of who Jesus is. Short, deep, and to the point.
We talked last week about post modernity: how right and wrong is simply a relative thing. Tolerance is king. Life has choices. Options. That is what life is all about. I mean think about this: there are always choices. Heaven is a place right? There are all sorts of ways to get someplace. Jesus isn’t the only way…He is just one of a few different ways. Think about it: you can get anywhere you want to go by a number of different routes: there are so many streets and paths that you can take to get someplace. If you want to get to Wal-Mart from here you can get onto 4th and go to Rangeline. Or you can take McConnell to 7th to Rangeline. Or you can take Forrest to 4th or Forrest to 7th to Rangeline. Or you can even cut back and go up St. Louis or Connecticut, or Murphy to 15th Street or to 20th Street and those are just some of the options. Sure there is an easy way. Sure there is a faster way…but there are always options. The same is true with heaven right? Maybe Jesus is just the most direct route but there are other roads that will get you there. I mean seriously there can’t be just one way. There is more than one way to get everywhere.
So how can this Jesus say: I am THE way? Jesus must not have been postmodern. I mean Jesus doesn’t say I am A way. He doesn’t say I am one of many possible ways. He says I am THE way the one and only, the exclusive way. Somebody should have told Him that if He wanted people to follow Him He would have to offer more choices than that. I mean really…what a ridiculously obtuse thing to say.
I want you to watch something.
DO SKIT
Ok, so the analogy is meant to be a little funny. But a lot of people view religion like this. We try to mix and match the things we like and dislike. Well…I really like that religion makes me feel spiritual so I will take that…but I really do not like it when my church asks me to do something. I really don’t like it when I have to sacrifice stuff for the kingdom of God. I mean I love that the church watches my kids for me for an hour…but I also want to be able to go out and get drunk all the time. I love knowing that I am saved, mark me down for salvation all the way…but persecution…no thanks. So I want a church like that. A church that meets my needs. I want a religion that fits around me. And somehow we take something that is all about God…and make it all about ourselves. Church is evaluated on the style of music that you like…the way the preacher talks, how you feel about the service…the vibes that I get off the people…me…me…me…well I have news for you: since it wasn’t you on the cross…its not about you. Christianity is not a route that you can take out of convenience or because it happens to fit with your way of thinking. Christianity follows Christ…and Christ is the way.
A lot of us think of religion like a buffet. You can go up as many times as you want. You can change your mind over and over again. You can pick out the food that you want and leave the food that you don’t. That would be fine and all if Christianity was a buffet you could take what you want and leave what you don’t. But Christianity is not a buffet. Christianity is a bridge. While there may be many different options for what you eat…there is only one way to cross a bridge. That is to cross it.
Our world is all about choices. You can’t turn on your T.V without seeing 100 different options for how to fill that whole in your life that thing you have been missing for so long. We live in a world of choices. Both for products and for beliefs. I mean you have Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, Jew, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness. You have tribal religions, pagan religions, and mixes of all of these. I met a lady one time who was a practitioner of I think it was like seven different religions. She has practiced Kabala which is a weird religion that has something to do with colors.
Even within Christianities own ranks we have choices: liberal or conservative, Church of Christ, or Christian church. There are Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Pentecostals, Methodists, Lutherans, Assemblies of God…and the list keeps going on and on. No wonder people are confused. No wonder they have a hard time knowing what way is the right way. Do you realize that people are just throwing all the religions of the world into a giant pot and mixing them together. They see so many different options it only makes sense to pick the one that works best for you.
When I was a little boy my family went on a vacation to Yellowstone National park. I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 at the time. Now I have what some people call an overdeveloped imagination. It really does not take much to keep me entertained. I am the first born in my family and am certainly the most social by nature. It did not take me long to make a friend with another boy or relatively the same age as me from a nearby camping site. Now I was a troublemaker to be sure. For those of you who have raised boys you know that even the sweetest little angel of a boy can become quite troublesome in the right company. The more little boys you put in one place…the more likely you are to have some behavior issues arise. This boy happened to be a mischievous child as well…we were a recipe for disaster. So here we are two boys…with an overactive imagination and a strong desire for adventure standing in the middle of a huge mountain with woods all around us. So we decided to go exploring. Now a responsible adult would know that if you are leaving a group of people you are with, it is a good thing to tell someone where you are going. An adventurous boy…is not so aware of that. We ran through the forest pretending to be cowboys, pretending we were knights at war, pretending all sorts of different things as we crashed through the woods in our little adventure. We were a regular Lewis in Clark bolding the wild…exploring new grounds…blazing a trail. Then it happened. Now most boys have a strong sense of adventure. But Mom’s you know what the only thing stronger than your little boy’s sense of adventure is? His appetite. After a good long time of adventuring through the woods we started to get hungry. So we thought it would be a good idea to head back. Here is the problem: for everything that my imagination is…my sense of direction is not. I have a terrible sense of direction now…I could get lost in my own driveway…back then, it was even worse. We had wandered for a very long time, what seemed like all day and not taken the time to note a single sign of which way we had come from. We had been running around with our chests puffed out all day pretending to be heroes…now…we could tell the light was starting to dim. It was evening time. We were hungry and we were lost. We could not remember which path we had taken to get here. Some things looked familiar…but it’s a forest everything looks familiar. We had no idea how to get back to camp.
You see…if you are looking to get lost you can go any direction you want. It doesn’t matter where you start or where you turn or where you go. If you are looking to get lost you can go anywhere. But when you are trying to find your way back…there is only one way to go. If you want to wander off you can go any direction you want…but when you are lost…there is only one direction that will lead you back. You can really get lost in the ideas of postmodernism or pluralism. If you want to run or do your own thing, then one path is not better than another. For any road can get you lost. But only one can get you back. There is only one way to get home.
This story is true for all of us. We got lost. No matter what route you took you got lost. We all may have taken different routes to get lost…but we all got lost. Now its time to find our way home and there is only one way to do that.
Notice how this is worded: Jesus is the way. Jesus is not a way…not one way…He is the way. The implies exclusivity or uniqueness in nature. The inclusion of the word ‘the’ tells us something…but the exclusion of something else tells us something as well. Jesus does not say: I am the right way. Saying that He is the right path and all other paths are wrong. He simply says He is the way. Ok, but what does that mean? If Jesus was the right way it would imply that everyone is moving. That everyone travels down a path and some of those paths are wrong, but Jesus is the right path. That is not what He is saying. The exclusion of ‘right’ here shifts the message, subtle though it may be it says something else. Not moving is still wrong. If Jesus was the ‘right’ way then the only problem would be people needing to find His path. If Jesus is ‘the’ way…not only do they have to find His path…they have to stop standing around and follow it. Staying put does not help you. If you get lost a lot of times people will tell you to stay put and not to wander. This will keep you from getting more lost. But that is not the case here. You see you may be lost- but you have directions. Directions that will lead you down the way. Directions that will lead you to the life. For that is the question isn’t it? If Jesus is the way…what is He the way too? Jesus is the way to life. If you follow His path…you will find life. But the trick is: you have to follow it.
