Jesus is the Way
(John 14:1-11)
1. Misunderstandings happen all the time. Here are some:
My toddler was about to hit her head on a bar at the playground, so I told her to duck. She quacked at me and then hit her head.
A guy ran into a service station and said he needed some 710. They had no idea what he was talking about. So he took off the oil lid from his motor and handed it to the mechanic. It said “710.” When he turned it around, it said “OIL,” all in capital letters.
When I was 5 or 6, I was told to watch my baby cousin who was asleep on the couch. I did. I watched her roll off the couch and onto the floor.
Or how about the 7 year old who told his dad he was done with the homework. The dad asked, “You did it?” The child replied, “That’s not what I said.”
A mom asked her son, as she was pulling out of a parking space on the street, if there were any cars coming. He answered, “No.” Just in time, however, he said, “But there is a truck.”
2. Misunderstandings are everywhere. The context of our text is a misunderstanding by the apostle of what Jesus was saying. Rather than make them understand, Jesus was making it easy for them to misunderstand Him at the time so they would understand His words in retrospect. Sometimes it is better not to understand at the time, but to understand later.
3. Jesus used this opportunity to make clear to all people that He is the only way to God.
Main Idea: Although we should be concerned about how we live in this life, the most important concern is the way to God and thus heaven; Jesus is that way.
I. The BACKGROUND to Jesus’ Statement
A. COMPETING ways to please God within Judaism
1. Halakah of differing rabbis….how a faithful Jew should live on a daily basis…
2. Each Rabbi had his own variation or contribution…accumulated over time -Talmud
3. The Bible deals with many instances of Halakah, in both testaments….
Jeremiah 5:5 is one example of the use of “the way of the Lord” in the Old Testament: “I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God.” But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.”
Ephesians 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
B. Preparing the WAY of the Lord
Isaiah 40:3-4, “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”
C. Jesus uses the term “way” in NEITHER sense.
• The issue at hand is directions to a destination, in this case, “My Father’s House.”
D. Jewish wedding CUSTOMS in the first century
II. The Disciples Are Sad Because They Think Jesus is Going into EXILE (1-11).
A. Jesus uses the imagery of the Jewish WEDDING (1-3).
1. Where is the Father’s house? The Temple? The heavenly Temple?
2. When will Jesus take us to Himself? After His resurrection? At death? At rapture?
B. Jesus told His disciples that they KNEW the way, but they didn’t know they knew (4-5).
1. They perhaps think He is headed for a hiding spot. Perhaps Mt. Gerizim? Or Mt. Sinai where Elijah had fled, the mountain of God? Or Bethel, the House of God?
2. They are well aware that the Jewish leaders have plotted to kill Jesus.
3. When Thomas asks for the way, he is asking for directions to where Jesus is going to live in hiding.
C. Jesus HIMSELF is THE way to the Father’s House (14:6).
1. He is the way because He is the truth.
2. He is the way because He is the source of eternal life and creator of temporal life.
3. He is not one of the ways, or the best way.
4. Some people believe all the roads converge at the top of the mountain.
Acts 4:12, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
D. The Son is the exact IMAGE of the Father (7).
1. Michael Brown puts it this way, “The Messiah is the visible representation of the invisible, the living manifestation of the glory of God” [Source: Answering Jewish Objections V. 2, p. 31].
2. Joke: If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Amal.
3. Founding pastor Dwight Patterson’s son, David, looks just like him.
4. Michael Douglas looks like Kirk Douglas.
Hebrews 1:1-3, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”
E. Like MOSES, Philip asks for a vision of the Father (8).
Exodus 33:18a, Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you…”
F. Jesus answered by explaining that the Son is the REVEALER of the Father (9-11).
Phillip saw something better than the vision Moses saw; He saw the fullness of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. The evidence was clear in both Word and deed.
